Graces POV
I should have known Jace was going to fall off the wagon. It was always coming, he'd been too good for too long. I left the house and got a cab too Atlas. I don't know why I came here. I was hoping I'd find some manuscripts to go through as soon as I walk into the building I know it's a mistake, I don't even know where my office is. I go to a receptionist who looks up.
"Here I thought I was the only Grinch who works over Christmas." I smile and force a laugh.
"Grace Atlas office?" I reply. The women raises a brow but decides she can't be bothered to query who I am.
"Top floor, office on the left." I nod. I walk to the elevator and hit the top floor button. The lift takes a while, I'm not surprised it's a really tall sky scraper. The elevator dings and I step out. A pretty lady in her 40s smiles at me.
"Hi." She says.
"Hello."
"Are you looking for someone?" I shake my head. I can see my name on the office opposite Jaces.
"No I'm just here to work."
"Oh I'm so sorry there's no open desks on this floor. This is just the board floor sorry." I smile.
"My office is just there." I point and smile.
"Oh my god I'm so sorry. I'm Ivy. You must be Grace." Ivy..Jaces assistant.
"Hiya, is everything set up in there?"
"Yes I literally just put the manuscripts sent over from Edinburgh office."
"Thanks." I walk to my office and open the door. It's decorated like my Edinburgh one. The view out of this one is far superior though. New York peeks through the cloud layer. I sit in the chair and just look out into the sky. I hear a knock at the door at first I panic it will be Jace but I know he's drunk again.
"Hi Grace, I'm Harvey." I smile.
"Hi Harvey"
"I'm head of PR. My office is just over there." He points to the one to the right of Jaces.
"Nice, thanks."
"Seen as it's just you me and Ivy in do you want to grab some lunch?" I look at the clock it's nearly half 1 now.
"I'd love that." He walks in and passes me some menus.
"Email me your order. My treat."
"Thank you." He walks out the office with a wave. I send him over a order for a burger and fries. He replies with a smiley face. It's not long before Ivy pops her head in.
"Food is here!" I smile and follow her into a meeting room.
"This is where all the board normally meet but I figured we can eat here." I smile and nod Harvey hands me my food. Everyone's so nice.
"How was your Christmas?"
"Um well, Jaces company kinda came under fire because of my family so it wasnt great but it was nice up till then." Harvey looks up.
"I completely forgot you are Jaces wife. How is that?" I raise a brow.
"Being Jaces wife?" He nods me and Ivy look at each other and laugh.
"It's different, I'm not like a rich person, so him just buying stuff is a bit crazy to me. He pulled strings and got me into Columbia. I'd never have been able to even afford to go there if it wasn't for him."
"Shit Grace. Columbia? That's amazing!" Harvey replies. Ivy and Harvey seem really nice. Harvey seems young to be so senior in a company but then again so is Jace. My chest squeezes at the thought of Jace. I finish my lunch and thank Harvey promising the next one is on me. I return to my office with a coffee and dig into a manuscript. I make comments and advise. I email authors with recommendations and design teams for cover ideas. I write a draft email for Jace with all the attachments and my comments as per my job role. I don't send it yet, I don't want to tell him where I am although I question if Ivy might have. I glance at the clock it's 6pm. I walk to the corridor and peak my head out, Ivy and Harvey are no where to be seen so I assume they have left. I pick up the next manuscript and go lie on the sofa. I'm absorbed in reading it until I clearly drift off.
I wake up to my phone buzzing. I roll over and glance at my phone. It's 3am. I have 50 missed calls from Jace. I'm not normally one to avoid but I don't have the energy to argue with him again. I turn my phone off and roll back over. This sofa is surprisingly comfortable.
When I wake up my face is buried in the sofa. I can see daylight which means it's atleast 8am. I roll over onto my back and my eyes meet Jaces. He's sat on the arm chair by the end of the sofa. He's in his black hoodie and joggers, the bags under his eyes tells me he didn't sleep again last night.
"Were you here the entire time?" His voice is rough, low and emotionless. I nod.
"Have you calmed down?" He asks, I raise a brow.
"I've made peace with the fact my husband isn't the person I married anymore. Yes." He brings his hand to his lips and takes a deep breath. He bites his lip like he's trying not to fight me.
"Don't say that." He says bluntly.
"Why not? You were the exact person you said you weren't going to be." I look him in the eye, his eyes are dark, empty I can see he's broken.
"I did what I had to do." I roll my eyes
"Sure you did." I stretch and stand up. He is beautiful even in pain. I walk past him and go to open the door but it's locked. Fuck.
"Let me out."
"No." He's stood up now and has his arms crossed over his chest. He's closed all the blinds in the room before I woke. No one can see anything. I know they won't hear anything.
"How long have you been here?"
"Since 4." I nod of course. I turn my phone off and he appears an hour later.
"Unlock the door Jace." He sits on my desk. His arms still crossed.
"No." I'm getting frustrated now. I know he wants to talk clearly but holding me hostage at work isn't the way to. I walk over to him and pat his jogger pockets looking for the key. I search in his hoodie pockets it's not there either. Where is all his stuff? He's watching me pat him down, I can tell he's secretly enjoying himself here. I admit to myself he isn't going to let me down till he's ready. I huff and flop onto the sofa and stare at the ceiling.
"You could just talk to me?" He offers.
"I have nothing to say to you."
"Nothing at all?" I shake my head. The truth is I have a million things to say. I just can't bring the words out.
"Guess we will be here all day then." He's stubborn so I know he isn't joking. I decide to roll back over and try sleep again. All I can feel is his eyes on me though. I huff and role onto my back.
"You're the exact person I ran away from." Jace walks around the sofa and sits on the table opposite me.
"What do you want me to do about it?" He raises a brow. I don't know if he's trying to provoke me but it's certainly not the answer I was looking for.
"You know what you've done right? You picked me up, you healed what you broke, I forgave you. We got this opportunity at true happiness. Right now. Then you turn into the person you use to be. It's not fair Jace. You either need to love me how I deserve or leave me. We know I don't have the power to leave again. But this isn't fair. This isn't love."
"You weren't suppose to find out yesterday. You weren't suppose to know. We were suppose to carry on like we had been."
"So lying was the better option was it?"
"We wouldn't be here now."
"You should be the person you have been, the person you promised and we wouldn't be here."
"I can't keep that promise anymore." He looks down and then up at me through his eyelashes.
"Don't leave me Grace, not again." My heart breaks hearing those words. I stand up and go look out the window. I'm madly in love with this man, I've came to realise he's got equal parts light and dark. If our love is going to survive I have to love that part of him but how much of myself do I have to let go for that. I turn to face him and bite my lip. His eyes meet mine and he doesn't break our eye contact. I know I'm responsible for part of his darkness, I owe it to him to stand by him.
"Say something. Anything." He begs
"I can't save you." He looks up at me.
"I don't want you to."
"You're equal parts dark and light now. You said it yourself about knowing when we need to stop." He bites his lip.
"Grace please don't do this. It's different, we've been through so much. Please don't do this." It's really strange seeing someone so powerful beg. Beg for your time, your love and trust. I sigh and bite my bottom lip.
"Unlock the door Jace." He looks up at me with dark eyes. He wants to say something but just stands up and unlocks the door and stands to the side. I walk over to the door and stand in front of him. His eyes meet mine and I lean up to kiss him. He wraps his arms around me and kisses me back.
"I'm so sorry baby." He whispers against my lips.
"Don't say sorry. You're going to do it again. So you're not really sorry."
"I don't know what else to say." He replies.
"Take me home." He nods. We take the elevator to the service entrance. I'm surprised to see my Bentley parked in the car park. Jace holds out the key but I shake my head. We climb in the car silently. Jace pulls out of the car park.
"I got you something. It's in the glove box." I lean forward and open the glove box. Inside is a box of chocolates and a box. I lean in and grab the box. It's a Tiffany box I'd recognise it anywhere. I open the box. Inside is a beautiful diamond eternity ring. I gasp. He can be so thoughtful. It's beautiful and really me.
"When did you get this?"
"Last night. I had a dinner planned but you never came home." I nod. I know he's waiting to see if I put it on. He will know if he's forgiven then.
"I can take it back if you don't want it."
"Its beautiful." I slide it on to my finger.
"Grace I am really sorry for getting that bad. I know what I promised but I'm in a situation here. I'm not going to sit here and promise it won't happen again because it's going to. When I made that promise the situation was completely different. Please I need you, you keep me right and you are everything to me. Without you it's really fucking dark. The ring isn't to buy you or make you forgive me it's to show you how much I care it's an apology for being such a shit husband. I won't promise you it'll never happen again, I'll do the opposite and guarantee it will. I won't lie next time, I'll tell you. Grace I'm sorry, but I love you and I'm hoping that's enough here."
"I'll never be okay with you doing drugs to solidify a business deal"
"I know."
"I'm not going to sit here and say I support your choice to do it either. You fucked up Jace, again."
"I know."
"When we have a child you cannot do this shit."
"What?" He turns to me and smiles.
"You heard me."
"Thank you Grace. When we have children I'm not going to be in this place. It's why we have to wait."