Jace gave a derisive laugh. “Right. Because God forbid your buddies on the force find out who you really are.”
“That’s not what this is about.”
“Sure it’s not. Those guys know that you share women with your roommate? Or that you like to fuck other dudes sometimes? Cane ’em on occasion?”
Andre winced. “Fuck you, Jace. Don’t be an asshole just because you don’t have the balls to open yourself up to something real for a change.”
Jace’s neck muscles tightened, his blood beginning to roar in his ears. “Last time I checked, learning from an utter failure was smart not chickenshit.”
The muscle in Andre’s jaw ticked, a sure sign his own anger was grabbing hold. “You did not fail your marriage, Jace. Diana used you. She manipulated you so well with that fake-ass victim, please-take-care-of-me act that she still has you thinking you’re the one who wasn’t good enough. She wanted your money and to control you. When those two perks went away, she found someone else to manipulate. End of story. You were just too smitten to see her for what she was—a well-groomed leech. Evan is not Diana.”
Jace ground his teeth, the images of the day he walked in on his wife packing her bags flooding his brain. Jace had been busting his ass trying to get Wicked off the ground, doing his best to prove to Diana—who’d been categorically against the venture—that leaving his father’s business wouldn’t alter the comfortable lifestyle she enjoyed. He’d had his first big day of sales and had come home with an armful of roses and her favorite bottle of wine only to find her preparing to leave. A total fucking blindside.
Without a lick of emotion in her voice, Diana had told him she’d been cheating on him with his former co-worker for months and that she was pregnant.
When Jace had asked if the baby was his, she’d shrugged and said, “How could I trust you to raise a child? You can’t even take care of me.”
The child had turned out not to be his, but he’d felt the loss as much as if it had been. He never wanted to feel like he had when she’d walked out his door that night. He’d rather be alone forever than experience that kind of emotional filleting ever again.
“This discussion is over,” Jace said, going cold at the memory. “Two months . . . if Evan agrees. We’ll be exclusive with her during that time. Then we all wash our hands of it. That’s the only way I’m in.”
Andre’s eyes burned with all the things Jace could tell he wanted to say, but finally he nodded, his jaw tight. “Fine. Two months.”
“Thank you,” he said, the fight draining from his voice. As insane as Andre was, he couldn’t blame the guy for considering more with Evan. She’d opened up an ache a mile wide inside of him, too. But clearly they hadn’t had the same effect on her. She hadn’t given them any indication she wanted anything more than sex. She was in love with someone else, and they needed to keep that vital fact at the forefront of their minds.
Andre gave a weary sigh and crooked a thumb in the direction of the dining area. “That’s the third phone call you’ve gotten in ten minutes. You may want to get it.”
Jace stalked across the room, his mind still spinning from the argument, and grabbed the phone. “Hello.”
“Finally! Where the hell are you?” his sister demanded. “I’ve been trying to get ahold of you all morning.”
“I’m out of town . . . at a client’s. What’s wrong?”
“Mom’s in the hospital. They think she had a heart attack.”
“Oh, God.” All the air whooshed from Jace, and his grip tightened on the phone.
“She’s okay,” she added quickly. “They’ve stabilized her, but they’re doing a lot of tests to see what the problem is. She may need surgery.”
He headed toward his bedroom. “Which hospital?”
“The Baylor in Southlake.”
“I’m about an hour outside of the city. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Thanks,” she said, relief in her voice. “And fair warning, Dad’s on a rampage about everything—the ambulance response time, the nurse, you name it. He even snapped at Wyatt.”
“Jesus, the apocalypse must be near.” Jace couldn’t even recall his dad throwing a firm word in his oldest brother’s direction. Wyatt, with his genius IQ and oh-so-responsible nature, had never been able to do any wrong in his father’s eyes. Jace had been half-convinced his brother had come out of the womb a grownup. “Tell Mom I’m thinking of her and will be there in a little while.”
Jace exchanged good-byes with his sister, tossed the phone on the bed, and grabbed his bag off the floor to start packing his clothes.
“What’s going on?” Andre asked from the doorway.
“I’ve got to head back.” Jace explained the situation as quickly as he could while gathering his things and stuffing him into his duffel bag. “Can you tell Evan what’s going on? I hate running out like this.”
“I’m sure she’ll understand.”
Jace sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was leave Evan behind after all that had happened in the last day and a half, but he had to see for himself that his mom was okay. At least he knew Andre would take good care of Evan for the rest of the weekend. “If Evan agrees to the deal, tell her that I want her back here next weekend. No excuses. She has two months before she gets married. I plan to help her make the most of it.”