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“Oh. Hi,” Jace croaked out.
Ares clenched his jaw and stepped forward, forcing Jace to move back or collide with him. Jace shuffled backward, surprise showing on his face along with a sliver of panic.
Ares kicked the door shut behind him and before Jace could get too far away, he reached out to cup his face in his hands. Jace went completely still, and he wasn’t even sure he was breathing, but he was more concerned with the state of his face right then.
Ronin hadn’t held back from the look of it. He didn’t doubt he could’ve broken something. It sure as fuck wouldn’t be the first time.
“He’s a dead man,” Ares growled under his breath.
That seemed to snap Jace out of it and he jerked away from Ares.
“Ouch,” Jace exclaimed, face scrunching up in pain.
“Do you have ice?”
Jace blinked at him, then stared for a full five seconds before he said, “Uh, yeah. Skinner gave me some.”
“Well, put it on.”
Jace rolled his eyes, then winced. He walked to the bed and sat down, grabbing the pack of frozen peas, holding it up to show Ares before he put it against his eye.
“Happy now?”
Ares only managed a grunt. No, he wasn’t fucking happy. He wanted to gut Ronin. He wanted to blow his brains out. He fucking hated that man.
As much as he wanted to slam his fists into Ronin’s face, he knew he couldn’t. Not without shit going sideways, and he wouldn’t be the only one who ended up dead. He couldn’t risk Jace getting hurt. More hurt. Fuck. Things had to change. Somehow.
CHAPTER NINE
Jace
HE’D JUST walked into his room when he got a text from his brother telling him he needed to go on a food run because they were running low. It was no surprise with how much those men ate. Well, and they had parties every fucking weekend, too, and for being tiny women, some of those club bunnies ate a hell of a lot.
His eye was still sore, but the swelling had gone down a bit. It helped when he remembered to ice it. The painkillers helped, too. Someone had even managed to get Doc out to see him. He didn’t have to guess who.
“Hey. You got a moment?”
Jace looked up from his phone, frowning at Ares who was standing in the doorway with a bashful smile on his face. Ares stepped closer and moved his hands in front of him.
He held back a curse when he saw the state of Ares’ knuckles. The dumbass tended to hit something or someone when he lost his temper. It didn’t happen often, but when it did? Maximum damage.
“Have a seat,” he said, motioning at the bed.
He pulled a chair in front of Ares, then grabbed his supplies and got to work cleaning the wounds.
“What happened?”
“It’s nothing. An accident, really.”
Ares gave Jace a forced smile. Oh, he was trying to play it off as nothing? As if he’d let that slide.
“Your fists accidentally connected with someone’s face?”
He cocked a brow at Ares who pressed his lips together and avoided his gaze.
“Maybe,” Ares mumbled.
“Maybe?” Jace repeated with a huff.
