Chapter 556
Should I? Even after everything Jace had said, I wasn’t sure. He was watching me, waiting for an answer, his eyes steady and patient. Finally, I said, “Let me check with Hayden.”
His expression shifted, a flicker of something unspoken in his eyes, but he nodded and stepped back, giving me space. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Jace. I did. But I trusted Hayden completely. I just needed to hear it from him.
When he picked up, Hayden’s voice was low, calm—the kind that could make my heart skip a beat without trying. “Something wrong?” he asked, like he already sensed it.
I swallowed, forcing myself to sound steady. “Hayden, there are two people watching me from my hotel café. Are they with you?”
“Table 3A?” he asked, not missing a beat. I glanced over; that was exactly where they were sitting. Even from a distance, he knew everything going on around me, down to the tiniest detail.
There was no need to explain that Jace was here. Clearly, Hayden already knew, which saved me from spelling it all out. So I cut to the point. “Jace told me how dangerous this is. I need to know… should I go home, or do I go where Jace suggested?”
There was a pause on the other end. I was about to say something else when he finally replied. “Why are you asking me?”
‘Because I trust you.’ But my pride wouldn’t let me actually say it. “Because this involves you too,” I said instead.
Another pause. Then, finally, “He wouldn’t put you in harm’s way.”
So he was agreeing with Jace. Telling me to go with him. And for some reason, that just made me angry. Last time, he’d handed me over to Jace’s care, and then got all moody when I’d helped Jace with a blood transfusion. This guy—sometimes, I had no idea what he really wanted.
Before I could say anything, he switched topics. “Have you made arrangements for Yuna?”
“Yeah, she’s already with…” I started, but then I heard a soft, clear voice on his end. “Hayden, what do you think of this ring?”
I froze, the words catching in my throat. A woman picking out rings with Hayden. It wasn’t hard to figure out who that was. How did this happen so fast? Chadwick had only announced Hayden and Yara’s engagement at the banquet, and now they were already ring shopping. That kind of speed meant things between them had to be serious. But we’d only been apart a few days. Had he been seeing Yara even while we were together?
A sharp pain stabbed through my chest, and my hand started to shake. The phone slipped from my fingers for a second, but I caught it, pressing it back to my ear.
“Keira…” His voice came through the line, but it felt like acid, eating away at me, leaving me raw and hollow. Every part of me wanted to hang up, but instead, I held the phone tighter. “Yuna is settled. If you’re worried, you can have someone check on her… And, am I interrupting something?”
The words burned coming out, every syllable scraping my throat. I hoped—no, needed—him to say something, anything, to explain. I knew I had no right to ask, but somehow, I couldn’t stand the thought of him picking out a ring with someone else.
But he stayed silent. So I hadn’t misheard. He really was there with her.