Page 142 of Stolen Fate

The door was open, and I looked in to see Jace sitting on his haunches in front of Elliot, with Elliot was sitting on one of the two black recliner chairs, his little legs not even reaching the floor.

Elliot always had such a boisterous attitude that I sometimes forgot he was only five years old. Though tall for his age, he looked infinitely small and fragile in my eyes then, and my chest hurt just looking at them.

I almost lost him.

“You can’t do that, do you understand, Elliot?” Jace said softly, but firmly.

Elliot looked down. “I’m sorry, Daddy.”

“Do you know how important you are to me?” Elliot nodded. “What would I do if I lost you forever?”

Elliot’s lips formed in a slight pout, though thankfully he didn’t cry. I didn’t know what I would have done if he did. “Are you mad at me, Daddy?”

Jace shook his head, and I didn’t have to look at him to know his eyes had softened, some of his worry from earlier giving way. I knew, because I was feeling the same way. “No, Elliot. I’m not mad at you. Never at you. But you have to promise me you won’t ever run off like that again. Okay?”

Elliot brightened and I smiled a little at that. “I promise. Pinky promise, Daddy. And you know we can’t break a pinky promise.”

Elliot held out a small pinky and Jace hooked his pinky over it. Elliot smiled, showing teeth, before his face turned serious. “Are you mad at Evelyn?”

I made a small noise from hearing my name, and both father and son turned to me, the identical blue eyes taking me in with markedly different expressions. I focused on Elliot, not wanting to see the coldness in Jace’s eyes anymore.

Elliot jumped off the recliner and ran toward me, wrapping his arms around my middle and burying his face in my stomach. I rubbed his head, moving the unruly dark strands around, before wrapping my arms around his shoulders.

“I’m sorry for running off, Evelyn,” he said, his voice slightly muffled by my shirt.

“It’s okay, baby.” I looked up, bracing myself for Jace’s gaze, and sure enough those icy blues of his flashed cold, and it was taking everything in me not to run.

“Elliot, why don’t you go color in your room for a bit, yeah?”

He brightened at that. “Okay. Then we’ll have dinner, right, Evelyn?”

I smiled but didn’t say anything, because I honestly didn’t know if I would still be here by then. Though I had admitted to myself that I loved Jace, I wondered if he felt the same for me. Or whether today’s events made him feel differently in any way.

We hadn’t been together very long. And he had never even told me he loved me, and now I wondered if it was more one sided than I thought.

I kept my eyes on Elliot as he moved out of the room and made his way up the stairs. I kept my gaze on the spot he had disappeared to long after he was gone, not wanting to look at Jace. But I knew I had to face my reality sooner rather than later.

I turned to him then, and the coldness in his eyes hadn’t really gone away.

“I’m sorry, Jace. I looked away for just a second, and I didn’t even know he had gotten out of his chair, and…” I trailed off, not knowing what more I could say. I didn’t want to be one of those people who made excuses for their actions. What happened was my fault, and it was inexcusable.

“What were you thinking? I pay you to watch him, to keep him safe, and you lost him.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t cover it, Evelyn,” he said, his voice rising a bit. I moved back from where I stood, only to be blocked by the door frame. “I need to know that I can trust you to keep him safe. Otherwise, I can’t leave him with you.”

Hurt stabbed at my heart and tears stung my eyes. I took one step closer, but his unchanging expression stopped me from going any further. “You can trust me,” I said. “What happened today won’t happen again. Never again. I promise.”

“How do I know that? Huh? Why did you even take your eyes off of him in a crowded mall? What if it wasn’t Elliot running away, but someone taking him? How could I ever get him back then?”

“I’m sorry. Simon texted when he went to get our food—”

“Fucking Simon. You didn’t have to text him. What you should have done was watch my son!” he yelled.

I shook my head and opened my mouth, but nothing came out. The tears I had been trying so hard to hold in fell over my cheeks, but I didn’t wipe them away. I didn’t do anything but stand there, looking at him with wide eyes, fear keeping me frozen.

Jace wouldn’t hurt me.

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