A Slave to Broken Hearts (A Slave to Love Sequel)

Chapter 51: Charming

Though I had assured Ace he had nothing to make up for with his emergency meeting the other night, he was adamant about it and well...it wasn't like I was going to argue when hanging out with him was something I enjoyed. So I took the bus over to his place after work to meet him after yet another meeting, but he hadn't replied to my recent messages saying I had arrived. Unsurprising if he was in a meeting, it wasn't always easy for him to sneak a text message, so I'd just have to find him the old fashioned way.

I had a slightly better lay of the land since I'd stayed here a while, but I got turned around in minutes anyway. I had a vague sense of where the private side of the house was and which side was where business was held, but honestly, they all kind of looked the same to me and at this point in the evening, the halls were pretty quiet so there was no one to ask for help.

I checked my phone, but still nothing from Ace, so I pulled up Loren's info to see if maybe he had a better idea when I crossed an intersection in the hall and smacked right into someone.

"Oh shit! I'm so sorry," I said, making sure we were both steady before I let go and stepped back from whoever I ran into. "I didn't see you."

"Unless you've got bionic vision, I don't see how you would have," the guy said, jerking his thumb at the hall he'd just turned from.

"Good point. Though around here, anything's possible," I said drily, noting his very brown and very human eyes. Interesting. I hadn't encountered many humans around here, certainly not wandering the halls on their own, and definitely ones who didn't work here, which was easy to tell as he wasn't in any kind of uniform, instead this guy was in shorts, sandals, and an oversized tank top, like he was on his way to the beach.

"I'm Bryce," he said, extending a hand with a smile.

"Kiana," I said, taking it reluctantly, eyes roving him and the halls around us but they were tragically empty.

"Kiana? No way!" he said, letting go with a look of awe. "Dude! Wow. I knew you and Ace were tight but I never thought I'd actually get to officially meet you, face to face. Wow."

I tried to smile politely, but I wasn't sure I'd ever get used to random people knowing exactly who I was.

"Sorry," he said, passing a hand over his face, but it didn't stop his megawatt grin. "Excuse the fanboy behaviour, I'm not usually this lame but you kind of took me by surprise. I'm Jaime's boyfriend."

"Oh," I said, relaxing. "Right. Hi. Don't worry about it." As far as reactions went, it was a bit embarrassing but at least there wasn't a horrific breach of physical boundaries nor pure and utter spite on his face, so I'd take this any day.

"So um...thank you for your service? Is that a lame thing to say?" he said, hands stuffed deep in his pockets, scuffing the aged carpet with his sandals. "I mean, I do mean it, but like...is that weird? I probably shouldn't bring it up, it probably wasn't a very fun or memorable time for you. But like, seeing the way Jaime was being treated before and how miserable she used to be was terrible to watch, especially knowing she couldn't leave and there was like nothing anyone could do, and she actually enjoys her job now and she's so much happier. So like, thanks."

"You're welcome?"

"Okay, I'm going to shut up now," he said, sucking in a sharp breath through his teeth as he rocked on his heels. "So have you seen Jaime? I know they're in session but for the love of God I can never get used to these confusing hallways and I have no idea where I am and she's not picking up."

"I'm actually looking for Ace myself," I admitted, "We can look together? At some point one of them is going to answer so it might be better to go together."