“Love you, Dec.”
I closed my eyes for half a second.
In the ballroom, applause rose as one of the kids scored on the synthetic shooting pad near the stage.
“Love you too,” I said.
The words were not a lie.
They were not enough either.
When I ended the call, I stayed in the corridor longer than necessary.
By the time I returned, Jace was beginning to slip.
Most people would have missed it. He was still smiling. Still polite. Still giving sponsors answers that sounded normal. But his responses had shortened, his left hand was working the button of his suit jacket, and his attention kept jumping, exits, cameras, Vanessa, me, the kids crowding the autograph table, the servers moving too close behind him. The room had gotten louder as the auction picked up. Voices overlapped with music, glassware, laughter, the bright chaos of children running on sugar and excitement.
Roman moved first.
A sponsor caught him with a handshake and a question before he made it three steps.
Jace turned too quickly and nearly backed into a server with a tray.
I crossed the ballroom.
“Holloway,” I said quietly when I reached him.
He looked at me like he’d been dragged back from somewhere far away. “I’m fine.”
“No. With me.”
Vanessa stood a few feet away. Roman had stopped pretending not to watch. Tessa found me across the room and assessed the situation in one sweep.
I did not touch him.
I walked toward the service corridor.
After a beat, Jace followed.
The hallway was not private. Staff moved at the far end. Music thudded through the walls. Anyone could turn the corner. It was safer than an empty room with a door and more dangerous because we both knew it.
Jace stopped beside a stack of folded linens and put his hands on his hips. “I’m okay.”
“Save your energy. You don’t have enough left to lie convincingly.”
His laugh was thin. “That’s encouraging.”
“Look at me.”
He did.
“Breathe in.”
His chest moved too fast.
“Again. Slower.”
He tried. Failed. Frustration flashed across his face, sharp enough to cut. He hated this part, I knew that now. Hated needing a reset. Hated being watched when his own body refused to cooperate.
