Reckless Faith

Elle had one hand out the window, letting the wind slip through her fingers as they drove down the street. Jace’s fingers felt warm on her leg. He’d barely stopped touching her in the weeks that had passed since Stephanie’s attack. And she wasn’t complaining about that one bit. She needed his touch as much as he needed to touch her. She needed the reassurance that they were both okay, alive and breathing.

“What are you thinking, Tink?”

She turned her head to study him, a small smile curving her lips. “How lucky we are to have each other.”

His fingers tightened around her thigh. “I think about that every day.”

“So it was a good decision to come home?”

“The best decision I’ve ever made. Other than the one I made as a kid to be your friend, that is.” He lifted her hand and kissed the back.

Her heart gave a little pitter-patter as she looked back out the window.

“But that’s not all you were thinking about.”

Elle frowned as she turned back to him. He was right. “What do you think will happen to Stephanie?”

His muscles visibly tensed. She probably shouldn’t care. The woman had tried to kill her, both by her own hand and by hiring someone to do her dirty work, and in the process, she’d killed Boyd and shot Casper. Whatever happened to her, she’d brought on herself.

“It depends what her psych assessment ends up looking like, but regardless, she’ll likely be shut away from the public for life.”

Elle nodded. “Is it strange that I kind of feel sorry for her?”

“Not strange, Tink. You have a big heart. But she can’t be around people. It sounds like she wasn’t in the best mental state even before Dean died, and his death tipped her over the edge.” He flicked his gaze to her before looking back at the road. “I hope she gets the help she needs though.”

“Me too.”

Jace turned right, and she saw Meridian up ahead, a few cars parked at the curb.

“You think we’re the last ones to arrive?” she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

He chuckled. “I know we are. You can blame me.”

It was definitely his fault. He’d decided to interrupt her shower and, well, then it had taken three times as long to get out of the house.

They were meeting his brothers, their partners and Avery at the bar. It was a Monday night, so the bar was closed, which meant they’d have the place to themselves while they ordered takeout for dinner.

Jace pulled up in front of the bar before looking at her. “Ready?”

“With you? Always.”

She climbed out, and Jace was by her side in seconds, slipping his arm around her waist and tugging her close.

When they stepped inside, it was to see the guys standing by the bar, and the women and Avery sitting around a table. Everyone looked up and greeted them with smiles. It felt warm and comforting…like family. Not just Jace’s family, a found family.

Elle made her way around the room to greet everyone, then Jace kissed her cheek before moving to the bar, while she took a seat beside Sadie.

Sadie grinned at her. “How are you doing?”

The woman had checked in on her every day over the last couple weeks, always with cupcakes and coffee in hand. She knew exactly how she was doing. “I’m really good, considering. Jace has been…God, I don’t even have words. Amazing. Loving. The best partner I could ask for.”

Sadie’s smile softened as she looked at the men. “They’re great guys, aren’t they? Strong. Protective. And man, do they love hard.”

That was exactly what the Walker brothers were. “I feel so lucky to have him,” she whispered. “For so long, I thought I had to let go of the idea of him and me together. I thought he’d never return my love in the way I needed.”

Sadie bumped her shoulder. “Yet he did. And I think he was always going to come back for you.”

Thank God for that.

“Sadie!” Avery yelled. “Tell them about the cookies we baked yesterday.”

Sadie looked at Avery, love in her eyes as she happily obeyed.

For the next hour, Elle tried to concentrate on the women around her, but she couldn’t stop staring at Jace.

She loved him. She loved him so much that sometimes when she wasn’t with him, she ached. And now he was hers, and she was his. She didn’t know what she’d done to deserve him, but she wasn’t going to question it…just appreciate every moment she got with him.

“You look happy, brother.”

Jace nodded at Cody, who stood behind the bar with Eastern beside him, while Kayden sat on a stool beside Jace. It felt good to be with family. It was only over the last few days that he’d started feeling like himself again, but being here, surrounded by the people he loved, helped a lot.

“I am,” he finally said. “There are moments every day where I think back to seeing Elle’s crashed car in the driveway, not knowing where she was or whether she was okay. I remember that fear, and it drives me crazy for a second. But it also drives me to love her harder and reminds me to never let her go.”

Not that he needed reminding. Every time he looked at her—hell, thought about her—he knew there was no way in hell he could not be with her. He’d done that already. For years he hadn’t even been close to her, and those years had been the hardest of his life.

Kayden clenched his shoulder. “I know that feeling. When I almost lost Tilly, I thought I’d lose my mind.”

“It’s a hell no one should have to live,” Eastern said quietly.

Jace’s gaze returned to the women. To Elle. Focusing on the way she lit up when she smiled. The warmth on her face when she laughed.

“I knew you two would end up together,” Cody said as Jace turned back. “I think I even made a bet with one of you. It’s time to pay up.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Kayden said. “I was the one who made that bet. If anyone’s paying up, it’s you.”

“Hell no, it was me,” Eastern interrupted. “I said it the first time I heard her sneak through his bedroom window.”

The first time? “You knew she snuck in?”

Cody laughed. “We all knew. Even Dad.”

“Just like we knew you’d end up together,” Kayden added.

Jace shook his head. “It seems everyone knew but me.”

“A part of you did know, though, didn’t you?” Cody asked.

Had he? “I wanted to be with her. I loved her for so long that I forgot what not loving her was like, but there was this block. This voice telling me I couldn’t have her. That I had other shit to do first.”

“I’m glad you came out the other side of that,” Eastern said.

“Me too.”

Over the next hour, they pulled tables together, ordered pizza, drank beer and cocktails—mocktails for Avery—and talked and laughed. He slipped an arm around Elle’s shoulder and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

She sighed. “This is nice.”

“This is everything.”

She turned to look at him, a soft smile on her lips. “Thank you, Jace.”

“For what?”

“Coming home to me.”

He leaned in and hovered his lips over hers. “Something tells me it was always going to end this way.”

“Thank God.”

He kissed her, and the second his lips touched hers, he felt that thing he’d spent years chasing. The high. The adrenaline. The pumping of his blood.

He vaguely heard the click as the door to the bar opened, but it wasn’t until he heard a few loud gasps that he lifted his head and turned to find the last person he expected to see—their last remaining brother.

Lock.