Jace wanted that more than anything, but what they were about to walk into was Callahan’s life, and he would be well served to remember that.
“This is your reality,” he answered.
Callahan pursed his lips and gave a jerky nod, then turned and took two steps away, stopping so quickly he nearly tripped over his feet. He held his hand out behind him for Jace, still on the curb.
“I won’t forget you this time,” he said, in earnest.
Jace wanted desperately to believe the lie as he slipped their hands together, fingers interlocking, but the bar was too high. He swallowed and followed Callahan onto the campus, through a lush garden quad surrounded by tall concrete buildings with large windows. Jace found a sense of comfort in the architecture, reminded of Chicago and the weekends he’d spent getting lost in the city after he was adopted.
Jill and Ted had hated the way he would run off, unaccountable for his whereabouts or his activities. He’d lasted three weeks before he got in trouble for it. That was the first time anyone had cared about him enough to worry, and he keenly recalled the sense of relief and fear he’d felt when Jill had met him at the door, red-eyed and worried. It wasn’t a feeling he’d trusted then and, even now, he found it hard to place into the building blocks of his life.
“God, that building is a monstrosity,” Callahan muttered under his breath, and Jace looked up, following his stare. The building in front of them looked much like all of the other buildings, Jace thought, except this one was branded with Callahan’s surname above the front doors.
“McMillian School of Marketing,” Jace said. “Sounds prestigious.”
“That’s a word for it.”
Daniella, Sebastian’s wife, rushed past them, her cocktail dress a blur of golden sparkles, her blonde hair tied tight into a bun at the nape of her neck. They both turned to watch her go, then their eyes landed on a defeated and tired looking Sebastian, perched against a tall tree off to the side of the building.
“Is he okay?” Jace asked, tilting his head in Sebastian’s direction.
“I don’t know.” Callahan started off toward Sebastian, taking Jace with him, but they were intercepted from the west as Rhys arrived at the same time.
“Are you all right?” Callahan asked Sebastian before Rhys could speak.
Sebastian blinked up at him, his eyes shiny with what Jace would have wagered to be unshed tears. He frowned, but stood straight and adjusted his bow tie.
“What are you thinking?” Rhys hissed, yanking Sebastian by the arm. “This is not the place to cause a scene.”
“I’m well aware,” Sebastian answered, trying unsuccessfully to free himself of Rhys’s hold.
“Can you control your wife for four hours so you don’t embarrass your family?”
“I can’t.”
“Excuse me?” Rhys snapped.
“I can’t control her.” Sebastian gestured in the direction Daniella had run off. “I can’t dictate everyone’s emotions, Rhys. I can’t orchestrate every moment in their lives.”
“Can’t you?”
Rhys’s sharp question was like a lightbulb in Jace’s brain, and suddenly the motivation, the action, the reaction, of everything that had happened to him in the last day clicked into place. These people were not like him, and it was more than their money and their names that set him apart. He looked at Callahan, waiting for his reaction, hoping he hadn’t been wrong.
“What if I want out?” Sebastian said to Rhys, but imploring Callahan with a desperate look.
Callahan’s shoulders tensed, like the question had been one he’d heard before, but he didn’t say anything. His stare drifted from Sebastian, to Rhys, to his name on the building, and back again.
“You should go get your wife,” Callahan suggested.
“She doesn’t want to be here.”
“Neither do I!” Callahan nearly shouted, dropping Jace’s hand and throwing his hands into the air. Beside them, Rhys made a disgruntled noise, but didn’t say a word. Callahan looked around and dipped his chin, lowering his voice. “I don’t want to be here either, but it’s expected and that’s what we need to do.”
“Is it?” Jace interjected, the sorrowful expression on Sebastian’s face already haunting him.
“Of course it is,” Rhys answered.
“I’m not speaking to you.” He pointed at Rhys, then looked to Callahan. “Is it really what we need to do?”
