JACE-1(Lane Brothers, Book 3)(13)

Really?

“I just fu—I just did, Ma. Tracy is engaged and getting married in a month or two or something, and she’s hanging with Satan and her one-woman crew, okay? I don’t trust any of this and I want her here under our roof where she’ll be safe.”

Another sniff hits me and I close one eye in surrender.

“Well why didn’t you just say so in the first place, dear? Really. Give Mama Tracy’s address and I’ll get her over here for dinner while Jared and Miah pack her things up and bring them home. And, Jace, darling? Get rid of the restraints. Mama can handle Tracy well enough that you won’t need to do something that will only make you feel guilty,” she says knowingly, making me bite my lips to stifle a chuckle as she walks to the door.

I look longingly at the restraints, thinking of the benefits of leaving them for a time when Trace will actually appreciate them and my expertise with certain sexual aids.

“Now, Jason!”

Christ. Thwarted by my own freaking mother.

“Don’t tell the others!” I yell after her, hoping like hell that none of my brothers are in residence or even within earshot.

All I get for my efforts is a drawn-out chuckle and a wave over her shoulder. Great, now instead of a week spent in bed, trying to convince Tracy that she does not hate me, I get to look forward to my brothers’ teasing and Tracy glaring at me. Just great.

My phone rings not ten minutes later and I get to listen to Wyatt laughing his ass off for a good minute before he manages to choke in a breath and calm his ass down.

“You let Ma catch you planning a kidnapping? Dude, that’s why I took Ellie to Uncle Gardner’s place instead of going home, man. Seriously?”

“Shut up, you fool. Where did you want me to take her once I grabbed her, huh? They know about Gardner’s place and the cottage on the estate is too close to the boundary for my peace of mind. Here is the safest option I have, you ass, and thanks to Ma’s penchant for snooping…”

Wyatt laughs again before sobering and getting down to business, just like my big brother.

“So Ellie and Ma said that Trace is getting married.”

I start pacing to work off the energy that’s been building up since this afternoon and seeing Trace hug that viper’s spawn. It’s just gotten worse the longer I think about it, which is all day thanks to the last few hours spent working silently in what was supposed to be an under-the-radar way.

“Was. She was getting married. Now she isn’t. Unless you count me already talking to the justice of the peace and making arrangements for next week,” I snarl, feeling that tightening in my chest again.

You do not believe in love, Jace, remember? Just belonging. Just. Belonging.

I keep telling myself that and maybe I’ll actually believe it sometime in the next twenty years, I think with a snort and an internal eye roll.

“Bro, take it from me, man. A woman needs to have her choices.”

That makes me grunt out a laugh.

“Pardon me? Did you just spout that shit after the way you got your girl, Wyatt? Far as I can recall, you drugged her while she slept, tied her to your bed, and kept her prisoner in Gardner’s house for days before she took a shine to you. Oh! And did you forget your plan B, asshole?” I goad, liking the way the tables have suddenly turned.

“Ellie wanted a baby, too!”

“Huh, true. And yet you didn’t exactly ask before you tried to impregnate her, did you?”

“You little bastard.”

“Asshole.”

“Idiot.”

“Moron.”

“Okay! Look, I just want to say a few things that I feel I should say as your big brother. First, women want and need to have their choices. That’s just true and you know it, so don’t go thinking you can just marry Trace without her agreement. And I wanted to say congrats, man. I always liked Trace and it bummed me out when you broke things off with her. Just…be careful, yeah? You’ve got a lot going on right now and you can’t afford a distraction.”

“Trace is not a distraction,” I say, leaving my room and taking the stairs two at a time.

I have the overwhelming urge to see my girl right now.

“Bro, that is not true and you know it. It’s one of the reasons your fool mind decided to let Tracy go. You’ve seen Miah lately, right? The man is so wrapped up in the love bubble, it’ll take a nuclear explosion to wake him up, and he’s gone rogue, hunting that Grimes guy. Love is a distraction.”

“I do not love Tracy.”

“Tell that to someone with less intelligence than me, asshole. Now stop running down the stairs before Ma catches—”

“Are you trying to break your neck?! Stop running and get in here, Jace. Mama has some good news.”