Chapter 20
Gemma
I was tired of the antics, and I was tired of the secrecy. I understood why Talon couldn’t tell me any more than he could, but for now, what he’d said had settled my mind. I still wasn’t keen on Talon being the man that got information that way, but I figured that would come with explaining at a later date. But right now, I was focused on Jace. Jace and his temper. Yes, I’d come into the house with tears streaming down my face and yes, at the time I’d been heartbroken. But that didn’t give him permission to break Talon’s jaw any more than seeing that woman on his porch gave me permission to kick him in the nuts.
Though every single part of me wanted to.
Jace’s eyes were flaring, but as I kept approaching him, he kept backing up. His eyes were locked on Talon, who was probably still standing in the bathroom. But I didn’t care where he was. I didn’t care what he was about to do. The only thing I cared about was getting this situation under control and communicating with my brother that if this was something I wanted to do, then I was going to do it.
With or without his permission.
“This doesn’t involve you, Gemma,” he said.
“Oh, it’s got everything to do to me. And you’re going to sit down, so I know you’re listening,” I said.
His knees hit the back of a chair, and he sat down, then I pulled up a chair and sat down beside him. There was still a fire in his eyes while his gaze held Talon’s, and I looked back just in time to see the man I loved exiting the bathroom. He came and stood behind me while my brother’s face grew red again, but I grabbed his hands before he could make a move.
“Jace, I need you to calm down,” I said.
“He’s not good enough for you,” Jace said.
“He’s not daddy.”
Those three little words caused my brother’s attention to be locked right onto me. I knew this was what this was all about. This was about Talon being like Dad. Up until my father got hurt and drank down his pain pills with beer, my father was a quiet man. A smart man. A man with morals and a desperate need to protect his family. It was easy to equate the two even though they looked nothing alike, and I knew that’s what was going on with Jace.
Even if he didn’t realize it.
“Yes, Talon’s quiet like Dad was. And he’s intelligent like Dad was. And he’s even fiercely protective. Just like Dad was. But he’s not Dad. He’s nowhere near it,” I said.
I felt Jace’s grasp on my hands slowly loosen, then his eyes turned back to mine.
His focus was finally off Talon and back where it needed to be.
He looked down at my hands and saw the gauze wrapped around him. He saw the tape that donned my skin and felt the coolness radiating from my palms. Immediately, he brought the backs of my hands to his face and sighed, and I took the opportunity to cup his cheeks. I needed to get him to understand that he had no control over this. That he couldn’t just keep chasing people away, he didn’t like. I had to communicate to him that Jace couldn’t be everything I needed, just like Dad never could be everything he needed for Mom.
“I’m so sorry, Gemma,” he said.
“You need to be. You shoved me pretty hard. That’s how I know this isn’t about Talon and us being together last night.”
His hands gripped mine tightly, and I winced before I pulled my hands from his face.
“Okay, so it’s a little about that. But you know Talon’s not the only man I’ve slept with, right?” I asked.
“Gemma, don’t,” he said.
“You need to hear it, Jace. You need to hear that I’m not a little girl anymore. I’m a woman, with a degree and job prospects and needs. I’ve gotten drunk. I’ve had sex. I’ve gone to plenty of parties-”
“Can we please stop?” he asked.
“When it fucking registers, sure,” I said.
There was a chuckle that wafted across the room, and it tugged a grin upon my cheeks while Jace sat back and sighed.
“You came home and said you thought Talon loved you, but he didn’t. What the fuck was I supposed to do?”
“Go over to Talon’s fucking place and talk to him,” I said. “Not beat him to a bloody pulp in the middle of the mechanic’s shop after pushing your damn sister over. See the difference?”
I watched him rake his hands across his face, trying to process everything I was telling him. Jace had always been a hot-head, and his gut reactions had always been to fight. Telling a fighter not to fight was like telling a fish not to breathe underwater. I was questioning the whole of the way Jace had lived his life. I was questioning the entirety of the path he’d set himself on as a teenager.
But this had to sink in. Otherwise, it was going to rift us.
“Jace. I’m in love with Talon. I always have been.”
I looked up at the man I loved, and his eyes were fully trained on me.
“And I love your sister,” Talon said. “I have for years.”
I felt my heart soaring to heights as I heard those words tumble from his lips. I stood up from my seat and threw myself at him, my arms threading around his neck while I giggled into his skin. I couldn’t not touch him after an admission like that. I couldn’t not feel his skin against mine after hearing those words pour from his lips. I peppered kisses into the crook of his neck while he held me close.
But the groan that came from Jace pulled us from our moment.
“This is really happening, isn’t it?” he asked.
“Yep,” Mac said. “So suck it the fuck up.”
“It’s about time you got over this shit anyway,” Fox said. “Grow up a bit.”
“If you do, your sister could have what Syd and I have,” Hawk said. “Don’t you want that for her?”
My eyes panned around the garage before landing back onto Jace.
“I would never hurt Gemma,” Talon said.
“You did this morning,” he said.
“If you’d let me fucking finish, I’d explain that,” Talon said.
Jace sighed but didn’t make any sort of rebuttal.
“I will never hurt her, and I’ll always protect her, which is what happened this morning. I knew that I couldn’t explain to her what was going on because then she’d know too much. She’d become a target. But I couldn’t go after her because I needed to know what Calista knew. And I was fucking glad I made that choice because that’s why we’re actually here right now. Because we’re trying to figure out how to protect ourselves,” Talon said.
And for the first time since I’d gotten to the shop, there seemed to be an ounce of understanding that crossed Jace’s face.
“I will always love her, and I will always protect her. That’s all I was doing this morning,” Talon said.
His arm tightened around my waist as Jace stood from his chair. Instinctively, Talon stepped in front of me, and I knew what he was doing. He was trying to still make good on the promise he made me. He was still trying to prove to me that he could be the man I’d always needed.
The man I always knew he was capable of becoming.
He was trying to shield me from Jace’s anger, just like he said he would.
The two of them stood toe-to-toe for quite some time. I backed up towards Hawk as he draped his arm around me, and for a split second, I thought they were going to fight again. I looked up into Hawk’s eyes, and he smiled, trying his best to comfort me while his grip slowly tightened. He was doing just what every other man would do in a situation like this.
He was poising himself in case he needed to quickly get me out of there.
But, before anyone could say anything, there was a loud scream outside.
No, not a scream. A shriek.
A blood-curdling shriek.
In an instant, Hawk had me turned around and was running for the back of the mechanic's shop. I felt my legs carrying me as fast as they could while the shrieking continued, but when I turned around Talon was standing there, too. I heard the roaring of motorcycles racing up the street while fear flooded my veins, and in a heartbeat, Talon’s lips were upon mine.
“Stay back here, and don’t move until I come get you,” Talon said.
“What’s happening?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but don’t move. No matter what you hear and no matter what happens. Do not. Come. Out.”
I nodded my head furiously before Talon led me into the back of the shop. There was a cot and a little fridge that was probably stuffed with snacks and drinks, but there wasn’t much else. It was almost like this room had been made for scenarios like this, and the thought shivered me to my bones.
But what brought tears to my eyes was watching Talon pull a gun from his back that I didn’t know he had… and cocking it before he shut the door and left.