The page underneath slipped free, and with shaking hands, I picked it up, confused by the document.
It was a deed.
One that had been transferred. It originated in Jace Jacob’s name.
I gasped when I realized it’d been signed over to Joseph.
This house.
Oh, God, he’d given us this house.
Our dream.
Our dream.
A staggering surge of emotion flooded me.
Love.
So much love, I couldn’t see.
I climbed to my feet, and I knew one thing.
I’d let him walk away once. I wasn’t about to do it again.
Forty-Nine
Jace
“Are you sure you have to go?”
Ian rocked on his soles on the edge of the curb where we stood at the front of his building, my new car parked at the valet.
I tossed my suitcase and laptop case into the trunk, my shoulder still aching like a bitch but not coming even close to the ache in my heart.
“You know I do. I can’t stay here with her that close. It just hurts too fucking bad.”
Didn’t have anything left to hide.
No reasons to give other than the one that was the truth.
It just fucking hurt.
“You haven’t even talked to her, Jace.”
My head shook as I pushed the button to close the hatch. “Don’t start on me, Ian. You know why I can’t do this. You know why I can’t stay.”
“You’re a fool.”
“Yeah.”
I’d been a fool for thinking I could find a life here with Faith.
I’d put her in danger again and again.
Lied to her.
Hurt her.
I’d never forget the expression on her face when she realized just how far those lies went.
I refused to hurt her any longer. Refused to drag her back into my life that had always been filled with turmoil. A disaster from the start.
She was free.
Finally free.
That was the only thing that mattered.
Ian pursed his lips, his hands stuffed in his dress pants, his sleeves rolled up and showing off the scars that lined his arms, covered in all those tats that screamed his pain.
Dude was a storybook not a soul could read.
Except for maybe me. Because I knew all those stories. I’d done my best so that they might be written differently, but I’d failed there, too.
God, if I could write all of them differently, I would.
He looked up, carefully eyeing me. “What if I said I wanted you to stay?”
“Then I’d tell you to come visit me. Atlanta is a big place. Plenty of room for all of us.”
“That’s not home,” he told me, voice hard.
“And this is?” It came out a little more bitter than I meant for it to.
He huffed out a frustrated sound. “I think you know the answer to that.”
I blew a strained sigh through my nose. “You didn’t see her face, man. I saw it, all the way to her soul, and she won’t be able to look at me the same. I don’t want to live with that. I don’t. She and I both deserve better than living with his ghost.”
I moved toward him, hesitating for a second before I hugged him tight, not caring that my shoulder screamed. “I’m not even sure who I am after all of this. After everything I’ve done.”
Ian squeezed me back. “You’re my brother. The best guy I know. You are more than you’ll ever see.”
I squeezed my eyes, fighting the emotion, fucking hating to say goodbye but knowing I couldn’t stay. “I love you, brother. Take care of yourself. Settle the fuck down and stop being stupid. Don’t make me come back here and kick your ass.”
I attempted to tack some playfulness on the end.
I pulled back, but Ian wasn’t smiling. “I’m not the one who’s being stupid.”
I gave a tight nod, knowing what he meant. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
He sighed. Shook his head. “Drive safe.”
“I will.”
Without another word, I hopped into the driver’s seat. When I pulled out onto the street, my guts were in knots and my heart was bleeding all over the fucking seat.
Dripping out with each mile that passed.
My cell rang, the number lighting up on the dash.
My first instinct was to reject it. Put it all in the past. Leave it the way I had to do.
But the rumble in my spirit had me pushing the accept button on the steering wheel.
“Courtney.” Her name was grit.
“Jace . . . you need to go out to the plantation.”
Concern lit, but I bit it back. “I’m already on my way out of town.”
“Then turn around,” she snapped.
“I’m not playing games, Courtney. I’m leaving.”
“Neither am I, and you need to turn your ass around. Faith needs you.”
“Is she hurt?” I was unable to stop the panic, the throb inside me that drew me right back to the girl. That place that would always belong to her.
Courtney’s voice quieted. “Yes, Jace, she is hurtin’ like crazy, and I’d venture to say you are, too.”
“Don’t do this to me,” I almost begged.