“Miss, could you help me?”


    A slightly frail, middle–aged voice startled me, and I looked up to see an elderly woman with graying


    hair and pleading eyes.


    “How can I help you?” I asked politely..


    “Oh, I was hoping you could buy me a cup of coffee,” she said, catching me off guard and stirring a


    bit of pity in me. “I haven’t had one in so long because I don’t have any money.”


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    Without thinking, I nodded. “Of course,”


    “Thank you,” she replied, gesturing to the chair across from me. “Could I sit here to drink it?”


    Since I was already getting her the coffee, letting her sit didn’t seem like a big deal. But just as i was


    about to agree, Jace’s voice cut in.


    “Excuse me, ma’am, would you mind taking a seat elsewhere?”


    I looked up, startled to see him still there. I thought he’d left.


    Before I could fully process it, Jace had guided the woman to another table, slipped some cash into


    her hand, and sent her on her way.


    I watched, puzzled, as she walked off without even looking at the coffee counter. Frowning, I looked


    back at him.


    “You saw that, right?” Jace said, his voice low. “Her real goal wasn’t coffee.”


    1 shook my head, still not quite following. “So… she was just after the money?”


    “If you’d let her sit there and bought her a coffee, in less than ten minutes she would’ve started


    foaming at the mouth and fainted. Then someone would call the police, and as the person who


    bought her the coffee, you’d be taken in for questioning,” he exined, reminding me a little too


    much of the mess Steve got pulled into recently.


    A chill ran through me, though I hated to believe it. “You don’t have to assume the worst of people.”


    Jace’s brow furrowed, and he pulled out his phone, showing me a video of an elderly woman pulling


    a scam on a young woman, just like he’d described.


    “These kinds of scams have been on the rise,” he said. “They target young women, hoping they’ll


    be kind enough to fall for it.”


    The video was hard to argue with. I stayed silent, processing it, and Jace didn’t push me further.


    Instead, he shifted gears. “Did you get in yesterday?”


    I answered with a quiet “Mm,” my gaze drifting down to his hand, where a thick scar marred his


    wrist.


    Thinking back to his car ident, a pang of guilt tugged at me. I couldn’t say it was my fault, but I


    knew my words that day had hit him hard.


    His hand was scarred–but what about the rest of him?


    I didn’t know, hadn’t seen him until now, and all I could go by was his face. He looked noticeably


    thinner, his usual glow missing.


    Jace nced at the coffee cup Wade had left on the table. “Were you meeting someone?”


    “Mm.” Just that one word again.


    Hearing myself, I realized I sounded exactly like Hayden whenever he answered me with the same


    curt” Mm.”


    Jace pointed to the empty seat. “Mind if I sit?”


    “…Mm.”


    Jace chuckled. “Is that all I get now? Just ‘mm“?”


    As he sat down, I admitted, “I don’t know what to say to you.”


    I took a moment, looking him over, really seeing how much he’d changed. “Are your injuries fully


    healed?”


    A faint light flickered in his eyes as he smiled lightly. “Yes. See? I’m perfectly fine now…” He


    hesitated before adding, “Keira, the ident was my own fault. It wasn’t because of our


    conversation. Don’t carry that.”


    “I’m not dwelling on it,” I replied. “And besides, if you’re the kind of person who’d risk his life over


    something someone said, then that just means I was a fool.”


    After all, I’d loved him for ten years.


    Jace’s face froze slightly, he understood exactly what I meant.