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Her lips pressed together for a moment. “Oh, honey, I’m well aware. I’ve been there. Z and I, we had a long history before we got married. We spent seventeen years apart because he couldn’t put me first. Or even second.”
I lowered my lashes, unable to look at her as the memories flashed over her face, causing her pain. She sighed heavily before putting on a smile. “I hated him for a little while, or so I kept telling myself. But the heart wants what the heart wants. Still, I had my pride, and I couldn’t let him know that I never stopped loving him.”
“I’m sorry, Annabelle. That must have been hard. I know…a little of what you went through from Lucy.”
“There are days I don’t even want to get out of bed because I miss Michelle so much,” she murmured, her eyes filling with tears. “But Z helps me through those days. We usually lie in bed and hold each other. We have a really good cry, and then we go visit her little grave.”
I reached over, squeezing her hand. “You’re so strong. I wish…I really wish I were like you.”
“We all face our own obstacles, sweetheart. Losing your mom must have been just as hard as me losing my baby.”
I nodded, my throat clogging with emotion. “I miss her every day.”
We were quiet for a moment, both of us trying to get hold of our emotions. Needing a change of topic, I asked the one question I’d always wondered about her. “How did you forgive Zander? How do you forgive and trust someone after they’ve proven that you weren’t their number one priority?”
“It wasn’t easy. I mean, we still work hard on that, even today. He tried to quit the band once, to show me I was more important to him than all of that, but I couldn’t let him do it. I don’t think I could have lived with myself if I let him, you know?”
I nodded, knowing exactly what she meant.
“But that was the start of putting us back together. And I can’t honestly tell you when it all just fell into place. It was little things every day that he did to show me he loved me, that we belonged together, and that I meant more to him than anything else ever had or ever would.”
She pushed her cup and saucer away and squeezed my hand. “All I’m saying is, if you love Jace, it will all eventually work out. He will pull his head out of his ass and realize exactly what his priorities should be. Don’t give up on each other.”
“That’s easier said than done,” I grumbled.
“True. But anything worth having is worth fighting for. If you love him, if you need him, things will work out in the end.”
While I was digesting that, my phone rang. Seeing Riley’s name on my screen, I picked it up. “Sorry,” I told Annabelle, but she waved her hand as I lifted the phone to my ear. “Hey, what’s—”
“Oh my God, Kin!” Riley was freaking out. “Nate was just arrested, and I can’t leave this fucking store because I have zero help.”
“What?” I cried. “What do you mean, he was arrested? Calm down for two seconds and tell me what is going on, Riley.”
I heard her suck in a deep breath and then release it. “I had to come into work on my day off because my mom is out of town and there was only one of our staff that isn’t out with the damn stomach bug. Nate slept over last night, and your psycho ex showed up, pounding on the door. It woke Nate up, and I guess it looked bad because Jace started throwing punches before Nate could even explain he’s with me. I don’t fucking know!” She was sobbing now. “The neighbor broke them up. He’s a cop or something. The guy called the super, and now Nate and Jace are both in a jail cell for trespassing and disturbing the peace and assault.”
“Oh shit,” I whispered, and Annabelle asked me what was wrong. Shaking my head, I looked around frantically for Aunt Emmie, who hadn’t returned yet. Seeing her near the bathrooms, I saw that her phone was still pressed to her ear, and she looked anything but happy.
The look she gave me earlier made sense now. She’d gotten a call from Jace.
Of course, he would call her. She would need to be the first person he called because this was going to blow up all over entertainment news and social media. It probably already had.
“Kin!” Riley screamed in my ear. “Kin, please get him out of there. I can’t leave. Fuck. I can’t go and take care of him, and it’s killing me.”
“It’s okay. He’s going to be fine,” I assured her, my tone soothing. “I’m leaving right now. Do you know where he’s being held?”
“I wrote it down. I’ll text it to you.” Her breathing hitched, and I could hear her sniffling. “Tell him I’m sorry I can’t come myself. I want to. I need to. But this goddamn store is overflowing with people today with our Friday sale, and I can’t leave Cindy all by herself.”
“He will understand, Riley. Don’t worry about him. I’ll handle everything. Just stay calm. I’ll get him out.”
Chapter 21
Jace
After Kin left the night before and Gray kept me from following after them, I waited ten minutes before sneaking out with an excuse of having to go to the bathroom. Zander had been telling stories that had everyone but me rolling with laughter, and Gray probably figured Kin had plenty of time to have gotten well on her way home by then.
As I took a back exit Harris showed me before, I pulled up the phone locator app on my phone and punched in Kin’s number and passcode, hoping she hadn’t changed that on her own app. I was acting like a fucking stalker, but she was leaving me no choice. I just wanted to talk to her, damn it.
The app let me in, and I got a hit right away on the GPS. I ran to my car and followed it.
