Chapter Four

“I CAN’T believe it!” Cecil shook his head and grabbed hold of Jace’s arms. Clearing his throat, Jace reminded his former lover they weren’t alone. Not that Bruce would find their behavior suspect, but it was the man’s office, after all, and he wasn’t about to show such disrespect.

Cecil straightened and resorted to laying his hand on Jace’s shoulder. Oddly, it brought Jace no sensation at all.

“I’ve been searching everywhere for you. When I couldn’t find you, an acquaintance recommended I come here. To think I—” He stopped and glanced over his shoulder at Bruce before leaning into Jace. “Do you think we could talk somewhere privately?”

“I think I’ll go in the kitchen and get myself some coffee,” Bruce said gruffly. “Excuse me.” The door closed behind him, and for a split second, Jace could have sworn the man had appeared almost… troubled. He put the thought aside for now and turned back to Cecil.

“You were going to hire a detective to track me down?” he asked skeptically. “Were you going to pay for it with my money?”

At least Cecil had the decency to look abashed. “I’ll get you the money, I promise. I know you think I’m a crumb for doing what I did, but I did it for us.”

Jace was stunned. “You can’t be serious. Are you telling me you used me, betrayed me, and abandoned me, for our sake?”

“Jace,” Cecil pleaded, “I didn’t want you to keep supporting me. I wanted to contribute. When I became engaged, I realized what a mistake I’d made. My love for you was more important than any amount of money. Please, give me another chance.”

“You have no idea what I’ve endured,” Jace replied through his teeth, infuriated by the man’s gall. “I was living on the street, Cecil. I lost everything. And you were nowhere to be found. Is that how important I was to you?” He could see the desperation in his former lover’s eyes, and although it pulled at his heart, Jace couldn’t bring himself to forgive Cecil.

“But I knew you’d be okay. You were always so very good at everything, so resourceful. Look at you now. You work here, don’t you?” The way he was eyeing the place didn’t sit well with Jace. He could practically see the greasy little wheels turning in Cecil’s head.

“Yes, I work here. Thanks to the generosity of a very good man, who despite knowing me less than a week, has done more for me than you’ve done in all the years I’ve known you. Thanks to him, I’m getting my life back, and I’m sorry to say, Cecil, it doesn’t include you in it.”

Cecil went white as a sheet; the idea Jace wouldn’t take him back had obviously not crossed his mind. Then the crocodile tears started. “Jace, please, I’m begging you. I made a terrible mistake. Don’t throw our love away, and on Valentine’s Day of all days.”

Oh, for crying out loud! Was Cecil serious? How had Jace not seen it before? Thinking back on it now, he could see Cecil had never loved him. Jace had been nothing more than a convenient arrangement, and at the first sign of something better, Cecil had taken off. “Get ahold of yourself. Have some dignity.” The tears dried up, and Jace received a most malicious look.

“You’re selling yourself to that brute in exchange for room and board, aren’t you?” Cecil spat out bitterly. “You honestly think such a man wants more from you than to make you his whore?”

The punch Jace delivered to Cecil’s cheek had the man reeling, nearly knocking him off his feet.

“I can’t believe I didn’t see you for what you were sooner,” Jace stated with a heavy heart. “Please leave. I won’t stand here and listen to you defame my character or Detective Shannon’s.”

For a moment, it looked like Cecil might break into genuine tears, but some manner of pride prevailed—either that or the warning in Jace’s eyes—and with a nod, Cecil left the office and slammed the reception door behind him so hard it rattled the windows.

“How’s your hand?”

“Fine.” Jace sighed, rubbing his sore knuckles and turning to find Bruce leaning against the kitchen doorframe. “You heard everything, didn’t you?”

Bruce scratched his stubbled jaw and grimaced. “Yeah, kitchen walls are paper-thin.” He knocked on the hollow-sounding wooden panel for emphasis.

“Swell.” Jace dropped down on the edge of the desk with a groan. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not,” Bruce replied matter-of-factly, getting Jace’s attention.

Jace had come to read the man’s expressions, or lack thereof, pretty quickly over the last couple of days. “You know something.”

“Top right-hand drawer,” Bruce said, waiting quietly as Jace pulled out a manila envelope with last week’s date on it. He opened it up and slid out a large black-and-white photograph, his eyes widening when he saw two men kissing in a shrubbery-enclosed area—one of those men being Cecil.

“How’d you—” Jace shook his head. “Never mind.”

“You sore?”

“I should be, but I’m not.” Whatever Bruce’s reason for what he’d done, Jace was certain they were far more sincere than whatever Cecil’s had been for coming to find him. “What would you have done if I’d forgiven him and decided to give him another chance? Would you still have shown this to me?”

“Yes.”

Jace was surprised by Bruce’s lack of hesitation. “Why?”

“Are you kidding? And lose another secretary? I didn’t take the picture, by the way. A fellow shamus over in Brooklyn did. We’re not the only ones to have seen it.”

Jace’s jaw nearly became unhinged. “You mean…?”

“Yep. Miss High Society got suspicious after Cecil gave her chauffeur one too many lingering looks. That would be the other mug in the picture. The engagement ended posthaste, and both of them were given the gate.”

“No wonder he was so eager for me to take him back,” Jace said with a frown. “So is that the only reason you would’ve stopped me?” he asked casually, returning the photograph to its envelope, then placing it on the desk.

He held back a smile at Bruce’s sudden interest in his shoes. The man shrugged, his hands shoved into his pockets. Jace wasn’t about to let him off the hook, but Mittens beat him to it, jumping on the desk and clawing at something poking out from under the blotter.

“Get away from there, you Nosy Nelly,” Bruce grunted, swiping at Mittens’s paw.

“What’s that?” Jace asked curiously. “Do you need me to mail something?”

“Huh? No, it’s nothin’. Somethin’ I picked up this morning at the pharmacy when I stopped for a deck of Luckies.” He slid it out and shoved it at Jace. “Speaking of cigarettes, I could use one right now.”

Leaving Bruce to light up, Jace opened the envelope, wondering what on earth it could be. When he saw what was inside, he thought his heart might burst out of his chest.

On a small card was a picture of a black-and-white kitten sporting a big red bow, and in its paws was a great big, red heart with a message in white, scripted letters. Jace read it out loud.

“If you won’t be my Valentine, it’ll be a CATastrophe.” His head snapped up as Bruce ducked into the kitchen. No doubt to hide. Jace skipped in after him, beaming like a loon. “You bought me a Valentine’s Day card?”

“Don’t make a big deal out of it,” Bruce grumbled, filling another cup with coffee. “It ain’t like I’m courtin’ you or nothin’.”

With a chuckle, Jace turned Bruce around, straightened his tie for him, and trailed kisses along the man’s wonderfully prickly jaw. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” He let out a soft laugh as Bruce walked him backward, out of the kitchen, and toward his desk.

“You know,” Bruce began, the fire in his eyes threatening to set Jace ablaze, “maybe this Valentine’s Day thing ain’t so bad after all.”

Whether he had the heavens to thank or whoever had left the door open for him to walk through, Jace couldn’t agree more.

It was by far the most wonderful Valentine’s Day ever.