Chapter 410

“Keira, are you with Jace right now? Could you ask him to take my call?” Tanya’s voice cut through the silence in the room. You could practically hear everyone gasp, their eyes bouncing between me, the phone, and Jace. I didn’t care what they were thinking, and I definitely wasn’t looking at Jace. Keeping my cool, I replied, “Did you call the wrong number? Why are you asking me to chase down your boyfriend?”

The room was so quiet, it felt like time had frozen. “He’s not answering my calls,” Tanya’s voice was shaky and pathetic.

I smirked. “Oh, and you think he’ll answer just because I tell him to?”

Before she could respond, Jace stormed over, snatched the phone out of my hand, and ended the call. I glanced up at his furious face, my amusement barely hidden. “Wow, Mr. Johnston, doing that’s just going to make her think I’m the one keeping you from talking to her.”

Without a word, he grabbed my wrist and started dragging me toward the door. “Jace,” Steve stood up, his voice full of concern.

“Move!” Jace snapped, shoving Steve aside. Steve, worried Jace might lose it, tried to follow, but someone held him back. “Dude, don’t get in the middle of their drama.” In their eyes, even after everything, they still thought Jace and I might work things out.

Jace dragged me out of the room, but I yanked my arm free. “Why don’t you handle your own problems instead of pulling me into it? I don’t need to be cleaning up your mess.”

His face twisted in anger. “Aren’t you dating someone? So why are you still all buddy-buddy with other guys?”

I blinked, caught off guard. I thought he was mad about me putting Tanya’s call on speaker, but he was grilling me about my personal life? Then it hit me—he wasn’t mad about Tanya at all. He was jealous. Of Steve. Seriously? Still stuck on that old idea that something went down between Steve and me.

So that’s what had him all worked up tonight. I didn’t bother figuring out if it was jealousy or just possessiveness. I shot him a sarcastic smile. “Mr. Johnston, do you really think you get to question who I hang out with?”

“Were you and Steve a thing while we were still together?”

Wow. His question just showed how petty and messed up his thoughts really were. I stared at him, disgusted. “Do you think everyone’s as shameless as you?”

His face paled, but he didn’t blow up like I expected. Instead, he looked down. “I know I messed up. If treating me like this makes you feel better, then fine… go ahead.”

Walt—what? I blinked, confused. Just then, the elevator doors opened. I stepped inside, but Jace’s voice stopped me. “I’ll take you home.”

“No thanks,” I said flatly, stepping in without looking back. He didn’t argue, just followed me in. We walked out of the building side by side. After a beat of silence, he spoke again. “Does she bother you a lot?”

It took me a second to realize he was talking about Tanya. “When you don’t pick up, she comes after me. She still thinks we’re somehow connected. Like you’re my…” I paused. “Sidekick.” Just like how people used to think I was his sidekick.

Jace clenched his jaw, but didn’t say anything. I thought about how Tanya had ended up living in the apartment above mine—something Jace had arranged—and couldn’t help but add, “Jace, you’re acting like a kid.”

He looked genuinely confused. “Huh?”

I rolled my eyes. Either he was playing dumb, or his acting had seriously improved. Picking up my pace, I headed for the exit. He followed, not missing a beat. “It’s late. It’s not safe for you to walk home. I’ll drive you, or I’ll have my driver take you…”

By the time he finished talking, we were already outside the hotel.