Lennox
“Why?” I ask, wondering what it was about this movie that finally made him rebel.
He shrugs. “It was the first script I received that wasn’t a young adult or children’s movie. It was so far out of my comfort zone and I was tired of filming the same movie with a different title.”
I raise an eyebrow at the man who seemingly loves his routine. But knowing what I know now, maybe he’s been trained to by his restrictions as opposed to needing them for himself.
“Then I heard you were playing Ryan Wilson. I was curious and…competitive. It was the month after you beat me out of the Silver Screen award and I think I felt like I had something to prove.”
I smile because my guy is nothing but competitive. He’s a perfectionist, and that has nothing to do with his forced environment and everything to do with who he is.
He dazes into the void, glancing down at the ground and I imagine he does that a lot, especially after an encounter with the complete psychopath that is his mother.
I dislike my parents. I disliked some of the group homes I stayed in. Disliked some of the foster homes even more. But I can say I never hated any of them. Sure, I could have. Easily. But, I never wanted to carry that around with me. That sort of energy wasn’t worth weighing me down.
Jace’s mother though. I think for the first time in my life I feel hatred like I never have. I fear it’s consuming my soul, the burn is spreading through every cell in my body and if I was a lunatic—thank god for her I’m not—I’d fucking kill her, just so he can be rid of her.
I imagine Jace at sixteen trying to sort through the onslaught of thoughts and horror of what he went through. Just to be berated and blamed, instead of loved and supported like he should have been.
“I’m glad you did. I couldn’t imagine doing this movie without you,” I tell him, because it’s true.
He remains silent with just a whisper of a nod, so I continue.
“What did she mean by the court will grant her everything she wants?” That statement stuck out.
Especially with that snarky tone of hers, with a tad more edge than usual.
“Oh, god.” He huffs out a long breath as he runs his hands through his hair. “I shouldn’t tell you anything else. There are NDA’s, court restrictions, a gag order—”
“You can gag me after you tell me.” He scoffs, shaking his head, but still I got a smile out of him.
He lets out a long exasperated breath, his eyes closed like he’s trying to decide what to do.
“I filed a petition to get the conservatorship lifted. To get my life back. She’s fighting for even more power over my rights.”
Oh.
Now his constant stress of our actions makes sense.
“The court is reviewing the case for the next thirty days and I’m going to have some court investigator watching me. I can’t keep doing stupid shit like this.” He palms his face.
“I see.” I nod, standing, and walk over to the bed and sit next to him.
“Shit. I really shouldn’t have told you all of this. You can’t say anything, Lennox. Not a word, nothing at all. I could lose everything.” There’s so much fear in his voice, my heart aches for him.
“What more do you have you lose?” I ask, rhetorically of course.
He slides me a sideways glance with a pleading look and I put my hands up in surrender.
“I would never say anything or put you at risk like that.” He nods, hearing the sincerity in my voice and I lock my eyes on his. “I promise.”
“I don’t want to stop spending time with you,” he admits quietly and it’s fucking adorable. It makes my entire body light up like the Fourth of July.
“Well, I hate to break it to you, but we’re going to be touring for the next month and you’re sort of stuck with me.”
“I mean like this…in private.” Fucking hell, he’s being more open than he’s ever been and I swear if I thought Jace Wilder was my weakness before, this version will literally be the death of me.
“So, we sneak around.” I wiggle my brows. “I kinda like you being my dirty little secret.”
“You’re so much trouble.” He smirks and doesn’t even try to hide it, clearly liking my answer.
“I can behave myself.”
Another one of those genuine smiles grows on his face. “No, you can’t,” he replies.
I inhale sharply at his statement, being my dramatic self as usual. “I’m a professional actor, thank you very much,” I say, shoving my shoulder into his.
“But, you’re right. I can’t help myself around you.
You’re entirely too irresistible. Soooo, we lay low, dodge that court-appointed babysitter, or whatever he is.
Howard will work his voodoo magic on all the other stuff—he’s a bloody brilliant AI robot by the way, and we’ll get through the next thirty days.
No marks, no indiscretions, absolutely scot-free until the conservatorship is lifted. ”
He side-eyes a look in my direction before fully turning his neck to look at me.
“That’s too much for you to deal with, Lennox. I’m just…not worth all that.”
“Respectfully, you have no concept of your worth, Jace. You’ve spent the last ten years hearing all the wrong things by all the wrong people.
” I lean in and whisper, “I told you last night, you’re so fucked, especially when it comes to my obsession for you.
You’re priceless and worth more than you’ll ever know. ”
He blushes, my adorable man flushes pink.
“I’m not going anywhere, Moose.”
“You don’t see me any differently? Knowing what you know now? Luca was killed because of me, Len. It was reckless and stupid. And I never properly paid the price for what happened.”
“Oh, you’ve paid the price.” I swirl my finger around the room, gesturing to the prison he’s lived in—the one his own mother has kept him in.
“Besides, you shouldn’t have to. Luca made his decision, too, you know.
You were sixteen years old, for fucks sake.
You didn’t get behind that wheel. It’s time you stop blaming yourself for the part he took in it. You don’t deserve this.”
He nods, absorbing my words and I feel like it’s the first time he might actually believe them.
I glance at my Casio, noting how much time has gone by and we should be leaving for our wardrobe fitting with the fashion coordinator soon.
I’ve been looking forward to this press tour, knowing how much time I’ll get to spend with Jace, but also getting to dive back into Ryan and James’ world. I loved who we got to be when we were in character and I love that we get to relive it again.
An unavoidable smile grows on my face as I think of all the moments they had together…and can still have, actually.
“Lennox…” Jace says like a warning, “that smile is disconcerting.”
“I promise Lennox Rome will be on his best behavior, but I can’t promise that Ryan Wilson won’t be all over your sexy arse every chance he gets.”