39. Kayla
When I heard that Jace lives at a campus for hitmen, this was not at all what I was expecting.
I stare at the rows of beautiful houses complete with small yards that line the road. There were a bunch of larger buildings closer to the entrance and the middle of the area that looked like apartments, but in here, it’s all freestanding houses.
Checking the text I received on my brand-new phone, I make sure that I have the right house before I walk up to the door. It really would be such a shame if I ended up getting shot in the face just because I rang the wrong doorbell.
The house before me is stunning. It’s elegant and made of dark wood, and there is a yard that wraps around the house. A black Range Rover is parked on the street outside, which should hopefully mean that Jace is here. It’s also nine o’clock on a Saturday morning, so he won’t be in class at least.
Stopping just outside the door, I raise my hand and ring the doorbell.
Nothing happens.
I frown at the door.
Maybe the doorbell isn’t working?
Raising my hand again, I decide to knock instead.
No answer.
A scowl pulls at my brows.
I knock several more times.
Still no answer.
Heaving an annoyed sigh, I try to simply shove the handle down and pull the door open instead.
To my utter surprise, it works.
For a few seconds, I just stare at the now open door in confusion. The guy lives at a university for assassins, and he leaves the front door unlocked? What the fuck is he thinking?
Shaking my head at his carelessness, I walk across the threshold and into the hallway beyond.
The inside of the house is as beautiful as the outside. Floor and walls made of smooth dark wood, an elegantly curving staircase at the end of the hall, and ornate lamps in the ceiling. It looks like something straight out of my world. The world of the obscenely wealthy.
Or it would have, if it wasn’t so fucking messy.
I step over a bat that is lying on the floor in the middle of the hallway. Making my way farther in, I glance into a room on my right. It turns out to be a study, which is surprisingly neat and clean. But there is no sign of Jace, so I move on to the doorway on the left instead.
Shock pulses through me as I step into a combined kitchen and living room.
The walls and floor in here are also made of dark wood, there is a grand dining room table in the middle of the room, a kitchen island and stainless-steel appliances in the kitchen side on my right, and a cream-colored couch in front of a large TV on the other side of the room. It would be a beautiful space if, again, it wasn’t so fucking messy.
Empty glasses and whiskey bottles litter the kitchen island. There is also a bat there. And another one on the floor next to the table.
I sweep my gaze over the room in disbelief.
Then my gaze snags on the couch.
A mop of messy brown hair is spilling out over the backrest.
I move towards it. While passing the bat on the floor, I bend down and pick it up. Just in case.
But when I reach the couch and walk around it, my suspicions are confirmed and I do indeed find Jace there. The sight of him still shocks me, though. Not because it’s him, but because of how he looks.
There are dark circles under his eyes, and he is scowling even though he is clearly asleep. His knuckles are bloody, he is shirtless, and there is blood splattered across his bare chest as well. An empty bottle of whiskey sits on the low coffee table in front of him, but no glass.
He looks… broken.
Pain spears through my heart at the thought. It’s so intense that I almost lose the grip on the bat.
But then it’s immediately followed by a flash of anger.
No. He does not get to self-destruct like this just because we had a setback. Yes, things went to hell. And yes, with hindsight, we should’ve done things differently. But it’s nothing we can’t fix.
Stepping up next to him, I poke him with the bat.
His eyes snap open and he shoots up from the couch.
My stomach lurches as he spins me around, yanks the bat out of my hand, and slams me up against the wall. A huff rips from my lungs at the impact, and I blink repeatedly.
Jace is standing right in front of me, one hand buried in my collar and the other gripping the bat.
For a few seconds, his eyes are wild and unfocused, as if he still hasn’t figured out what happened or where he is or who I am.
Then he blinks.
Blinks again.
Realization slams into his face like a shovel.
Jerking back in shock, he releases my shirt and stumbles a step back. The bat slips from his hand and clatters to the floor.
“Kayla,” he blurts out, his wide eyes still staring at me as if he can’t believe that I’m actually here.
I cough air back into my lungs and then smoothen down my shirt. “Yeah, I really should’ve seen that coming after the air horn episode. Surprising you when you’re sleeping really is a terrible idea.”
Jace is still gaping at me. “You’re here.”
I arch an eyebrow. “Very observant of you.”
“You’re here,” he just repeats, sounding absolutely dumbfounded. “How…? Why…?”
Ignoring his questions, I nod towards the empty whiskey bottle on the table. “Did you drink all of that last night?”
He glances at the bottle before meeting my gaze again, still looking bewildered. “Uhm, yeah. I think so.”
“Where is your shirt?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Is that blood?”
His gaze drops down to his bare chest and the blood splattered there. Then he meets my gaze and shrugs. “It’s not mine.”
I roll my eyes. “It’s cute how you think that’s supposed to be comforting.”
At long last, a hint of light returns to his eyes. The sight of it makes my heart jerk. A grin ghosts across his lips for a second, and he rakes his hand through his messy hair.
Keeping the stern look on my face, I stride over to the sink and grab a glass from the cabinet next to it. After filling it with water, I walk back to Jace and shove it into his hand. He blinks at me, confused.
“Drink that,” I order. “Then go and take a shower.”
His eyebrows shoot up.
I raise mine too as I demand, “Did I stutter?”
Now, he’s properly grinning. The sight lifts the weight that had been pressing down on my chest.
Raising the glass to his lips, he drinks it all in a few long gulps.
“Good,” I say as I take the empty glass from him. Then I stab a hand towards the doorway. “Now, go shower.”
His eyes glitter as he chuckles. Then a sly smile pulls at his lips and he rakes a deliberate glance over my body. “Have I told you how fucking hot you are when you’re bossy?”
My spine tingles and I can barely manage to suppress a grin of my own. But I keep my hand pointed towards the door and simply say, “Shower.”
With that smile still on his lips, he raises two fingers to his brow in a mock salute. “Yes, ma’am.”
I laugh softly as he strolls out the door.
While he showers somewhere upstairs, I walk around the living room and kitchen, idly studying it. When I’m done with that, I move on to the room across the hall. It’s the study that is neater and cleaner than the rest of the rooms downstairs. I drift along the shelves, looking at the titles on the spines.
“Find anything interesting?” Jace suddenly asks from behind me.
“Not really,” I answer as I begin to turn around. “But I haven’t…” I trail off as my gaze lands on Jace.
His brown curls are still damp from the shower, and they have been swept back from his face in the hottest fucking way I have ever seen. And to top it all off, he’s only wearing a pair of sweatpants.
I stare at his sculpted body. At the lone drop of water that runs down from his hair, over his neck, and then down his bare chest. At the absolutely sinful V that disappears down into his pants.
Heat pulses through me.
“Ah,” Jace says, sounding entirely too pleased with himself. “I see that you’ve finally found something interesting.”
With great effort, I tear my gaze from his body and snap it back up to his face. Then I arch a pointed brow in silent question.
He just shrugs casually as he saunters towards me. “You only told me to shower. You didn’t specify that I had to put on a shirt afterwards.”
His eyes glint as he closes the distance between us until he is standing so close that my back is pressed against the bookshelves behind me. He trails two fingers up my throat before placing them underneath my chin, tilting my head back so that I meet his gaze. Lightning skitters across my skin at his touch.
“And now that you’re properly distracted,” he begins, a wicked smile on his face. “I can finally trick you into answering my questions. Namely, how are you here? Where is your new bodyguard?”
A matching grin spreads across my own mouth as I give him a knowing look. “Oh, he’s probably still waiting for me to come out of a café restroom.”
Jace raises his eyebrows in surprise.
I chuckle. “Oh, I’ve pulled that same trick on at least half a dozen bodyguards before you.” I narrow my eyes at him. “Though no one else has been as annoyingly perceptive as you.”
I can practically see Jace’s ego inflate. But before I can poke a hole it in again, a serious expression blows across his features, and he studies me with intense eyes.
“But I thought…” he begins and then trails off before finishing with, “when you didn’t answer my calls or texts.”
Slipping a hand into my pocket, I pull out the brand-new phone that I had to get after Dad confiscated my old one. Jace glances at the phone, and understanding floods his face without me even having to say it.
“Oh,” he says.
“Yeah.” I slide my phone back into my pocket. “And I couldn’t exactly find your phone number again by just searching for it on Google. Since you’re… well, you.”
He grimaces. “I was worried that you blamed me for screwing things up for you and getting you stuck with another overbearing bodyguard.”
“Why would I blame you for that? I’m the one who suggested that we should start dating even though you were still working for my father.” I roll my eyes at his silliness, and slap his chest with the back of my hand. “Moron.”
A relieved laugh escapes his lips. Then that seriousness returns, and he searches my face again. “So, where do we go from here? You’re still stuck with a new bodyguard who will shoot me on sight.”
“Yeah, Dad is… kind of pissed.”
“Kind of?”
“Okay, very pissed. But that’s probably because he actually saw us naked like that. If he’d just heard about it, he wouldn’t be nearly this furious.”
“Thank hell he didn’t walk in when I had you bent over that table then.” His eyes gleam with mischief. “Or when you were crawling up to me naked.”
Mortification crashes over me at just the thought of my dad seeing that. “Oh God. I think I would’ve shot myself if he had seen that.” Shaking my head, I shove that horrifying thought aside. “Anyway, yes, he’s angry right now. But it will pass. And then we can start dating publicly again.”
“And until then?”
“Until then, we’ll have to keep our distance. We can talk on the phone, but I can’t sneak off to see you. It will only work against us.”
He heaves a deep sigh and rests his forehead against mine. “Fuck.”
“Are you…” I begin. My heart is suddenly slamming in my chest, and I flex my hand nervously. “Are you okay with that? I mean, I remember that you told me that you’re usually pretty… uhm, active.”
Jace frowns down at me, confusion evident on his face.
“So, we don’t have to be exclusive during that time if you don’t want to?—”
“What?” he blurts out as realization suddenly crashes over his features. “Of course we’re exclusive. I would rather cut off my own cock than touch someone else.”
My heart swells, and I’m momentarily lost for words. “Oh.”
“And you, little demon,” he continues. His fingers brush lightly over my throat. “You’re of course allowed to touch someone else if you want to. But just know that if you do, I will hunt him down and kill him. Very slowly. And very, very, painfully.”
A dark thrill ripples through my soul, and a devilish smile spreads across my lips as I hold his gaze. “Good. Then we’re on the same page.”
“Indeed we are. So?—”
His words are cut off by a low moan as I trace my fingers along his bare skin right above his pants. A shudder rolls through his powerful frame. I slip my hand inside his pants and wrap my fingers around his cock.
A strangled noise comes from Jace’s throat, and he throws out an arm to brace himself against the bookshelves behind me, as I tighten my grip and draw my hand up and down his shaft. It hardens immediately.
“So I suppose we’re just going to have to make the most of our time today then,” I say, moving my hand again.
Jace curls his fingers into a fist against the bookshelf and draws in a steadying breath through his nose. “We should?—”
The front door is yanked open.
“Wake up, Golden,” a now familiar voice yells from the hallway outside the study. “And get your ass downstairs before I beat you up for wasting my time.”
Jace starts in surprise and tries to turn towards the door. But I keep my hand around his cock, stopping him from moving more than his head.
The front door is slammed shut again. Then three pairs of footsteps sound from the corridor, coming closer to us. I remain exactly where I am as I slide my hand up and down Jace’s cock again. His gaze darts to me. But before he can say anything, three men appear in the doorway.
Eli, Kaden, and Rico.
“Oh, you’re up,” Rico says, his words a lot less threatening than Eli’s were. “Great.”
I draw my hand along Jace’s cock again.
A shudder ripples through his body, and he bites his cheek to stop a moan. After a warning glance at me, he twists his head to look at his brothers.
“Yeah, uhm,” he manages to press out. “A little busy at the moment.”
I shift my hand up and down again, and a whimper almost slips past his lips.
They all frown. From that angle, they can’t see me behind his huge body, so they have no idea that I’m jerking him off.
“Can you just…” Jace croaks, his hand clenching and unclenching on the bookshelf. “Wait in the living room for a minute?”
He sucks in a deep breath as if to steady himself. Right when it looks like he has almost composed himself, I tease his tip with my thumb.
His knees nearly give out.
“Please,” he gasps out. And I’m not sure if he’s talking to his brothers or me.
Kaden snickers, but Rico says, “Sure.”
They all start to turn.
“Oh and, Kayla?” Eli suddenly says.
My heart leaps into my throat. Could they actually see me?
Leaning my head out from behind Jace’s body, I meet the amused stares of his brothers.
“Driving Jace insane like that while he’s trying to act normal?” Eli says. Wicked delight glitters in his golden eyes as he flashes me a grin. “We approve.”
All three of them chuckle. Rico even winks at me.
Warmth spreads through my soul.
And just like that, I feel like I’m a part of the family.