Jace had been waiting for Ariana to get back for over two hours and he'd heard nothing from her. He finally went upstairs to bed and stayed up staring at his bedroom ceiling having nothing to do but wonder about her.
The second his phone rang, he pushed out of bed and grabbed for it from the bedside table picking the call before the second ring.
"Yes?" He answered,
"Hey."
"Jack." Jace sighed,
"Oh, please, don't sound too excited," He said, "Everything ok?"
Jace closed his eyes and opened them,
"Yea. Everything's...fine."
Jack stayed quiet on the other end of the line knowing he wasn't.
"You thought it was Feilman," Jack said, "I can hear your disappointment all the way from there."
Yes, he did.
"What's up?"
"I'm calling about her."
Jace sat up straighter,
"Is she okay?"
"She's fine," Jace answered quickly before his friend started to worry, "I just left her a while ago, she'll probably be on her way back to your place."
Jace got out of bed and placed his phone between his ear and shoulder and pulled some pants on.
"Left her?"
"Yea. She would tell you all about it." Jack was doubtful,
"Ariana. Tell me about something," Jace huffed, "That would be a miracle."
"It concerns you so...she should."
Jace could hear it in Jack's voice that he wasn't sure about that. She said she was going to another underground fight. If Jack was involved, he figured that wasn't the case.
"Well got to go," Jack said, "Talk to you later, man."
"Yea. Thanks, Jack."
Jace hung up and headed downstairs to the living room. He tried to sit down while he waited for her but he couldn't so he paced back and forth in the living room but stopped when he heard her bike pull up out front. He padded barefoot to the front door just as Ariana dismounted her bike and made her way into his place.
Just as she reached the front door and reached for the knob, the door was pulled open and she stood there staring at a half-naked Jace. Her breath caught in her chest as her gaze betrayed her and drifted slowly down his ripped body. Jace hadn't expected her to openly stare at him like she was doing and he most certainly hadn't expected his worry and slight anger to die down at the sight of her.
Something inside Ariana stirred as her gaze slid lower and lower and then she caught herself.
What was she doing?
She snatched her gaze from his body and lifted it to meet his waiting gaze.
"At least you're back."
Ariana frowned at what he said just as Jace sighed and reached for her and pulled her into him and slammed the door behind them. Ariana was too shocked to move. His body heat seeped into her cold one and she let out a slow and inaudible breath.
"You're okay." Jace's hands were placed on the small of her back and at the top of her spine, below her neck.
Ariana pulled back to look at him,
"Why wouldn't I be?" She took a step back slipping away from his arms, she side-stepped and walked into the living room.
"Jack called a while ago." Jace turned and followed her,
Ariana stopped in the centre of the living room.
"He didn't say much. Actually, he said nothing hoping you'd tell me what happened."
Ariana turned around and looked at him. Jace stood a few feet away from her. A safe distance away from her. Not so safe. But she'd take that over his arms around her.
Jace's anger started to return just as slowly as it left. Ariana noticed the change in his mood but said nothing.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"It was nothing concrete, I just had to follow up on a lead." Ariana peeled her biker jacket from her body.
"Didn't sound like 'nothing concrete' when Jack called."
Ariana looked down at her boots wondering why things had to get this way. She just wanted to be able to do her job without anyone breathing down her neck every single moment. Even the director didn't get in the way every single moment until the briefing. She understood that this was Jace's life and he didn't trust her enough to handle things on her own just yet. But he needed to remember that she was there to protect him and wouldn't do anything that would jeopardize his safety.
"Ariana?"
Ariana looked up to meet his gaze when he called her name. Goodness. There was something about the way he called her name. He was standing much closer to her now.
"Do you want to tell me what happened?" He asked softly,
"I'd like not to," Ariana said, "But seeing as you want to know..."
Jace raised his brow.
"Sit." She gestured to the sofa next to the one she stood in front of.
Jace did as he was told Ariana remained standing.
"Ben Navaret, he's on your payroll. Works Tuesdays' and Thursdays' night shift with the security team." Ariana said, "He was caught on footage letting the masked men in."
"Does this have to do with the phone call you got last night?"
Ariana stared at him and said nothing which was everything. Jace nodded getting his answer.
"So, you went to check him out."
"He wasn't home. But..." Ariana said, "His wife gave me another lead and I walked in on two men interrogating him."
"And...?"
"He's innocent in all of this. They threatened his family." Ariana said the last part more to herself more than she was telling him.
"Who were the other two?"
"If I had to guess, they're the ones who trashed your office, they fit the profile," Ariana said, "But they've been taken in for questioning, let's hope we get something substantial to prove that they're the ones and get a lead to whoever's behind this."
"You still don't believe it's Mark?"
"I thought we said we were going to wait to have some proof."
Silence filled the space between them as they looked at each other.
"What about Mr. Navaret's family? Protective custody?"
Ariana nodded,
"He'll join them after he's been questioned." Ariana sighed, "Can't wait for all this to be over so he and his family can get back to their normal lives."
"What about you?" He stood up,
"What about me?" Ariana's gaze lifted with his as he got up,
"What are you going to get back to after all this is over?"
"Work obviously," Ariana said, "Hopefully the director doesn't take me off the team again just to put me on another undercover bodyguard assignment. Almost feels like I'm babysitting."
"I'm not a child." The corner of his lips quirked up slightly as he suppressed a grin.
"No. A big baby, maybe." Ariana held back her smile,
Jace grinned, his eyes crinkled at the sides and Ariana was too stunned at how incredibly sexy he looked at that moment. Sexy. Hot. Handsome. Those words weren't enough to describe him.
"Let's see if you still think that after I get my hands on you."
Ariana's heart did a flip and the rest of her body froze as she stared up at him and he stared back at her with a smirk. Her insides felt like a cage of butterflies had been let loose and her lungs like she was low on Oxygen even though she was breathing erratically. Something crawled up and back down her spine, it almost felt like an electric current.
Ariana swallowed hard at the alien feelings she was feeling at that moment. Her lips had gone dry and she clenched her jaw to stop her tongue from sticking out to wet them.
Jace leaned down, bringing his face closer to hers and Ariana fisted her hands holding back from doing something she would have done to any other guy in his current position. Her chest rose and fell as he brought his lips to her ear brushing her cheek in the process. She felt a tingling sensation when his breath fanned her ear.
"And I'm getting impatient." His voice was between a rasp and a growl and it went down her spine to her toes.
Jace pulled back and headed towards the stairs to his room leaving Ariana standing there shocked and breathless.