Beautifully Knight (Jordan Knight Fanfic, Liadan #5)

Romances and Robes

-GRACE-

I let out a ragged breath as I held a crumpled tissue in my hand and stared at the giant screen in the theater room of my childhood home with the same endearment and rush of emotion that I'd had the million other times I'd watched the ending scene of The Notebook.

It was a symptom of my unhealthy addiction to Nicholas Sparks movies and romances in general, but I had no plans of ever seeking treatment. It was my guilty pleasure and I blamed it all on my Gram and Mom who suffered from the same affliction and had passed it on to me and my sisters during our many, many girls nights over the years

Another favorite movie of mine that stirred a different, but equally emotional response, Indecent Proposal, began to load up in the queue. I dabbed my runny nose and stifled a yawn as I used the app on my phone to pause it.

"I don't know about you guys, but I think I'm all cried out for the night," I said before I turned to glance down the row of seats and realized that Faith and Hope had slipped away at some point during the movie already and Mom was sound asleep with her popcorn bowl still in her lap.

I softened and turned off the screen before I folded my body from my chair. That movement snapped me from my state of romantic bliss and sent a jolting pain through my body that made me involuntarily groan as I gripped onto the back of my theater seat.

Mom stirred awake and nearly knocked her bowl over as her eyes landed on me, "Gracie? Are you alright?"

"Fine," I nodded quickly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I just moved a little too quickly. I'm fine. Just sore, that's all."

She frowned as she stood up anyway.

"You're sure? I know you said you had an accident at the rink, but I can call the doctor and get them to come out and check on you. You don't want there to be any underlying problems, honey," she tucked her dark hair behind her ear. "I can't take any more emergencies. Not right now."

I softened at the worry in her eyes and silently reminded myself that was exactly why I hadn't told her about the incidents with Spencer or Antonio. She had plenty enough on her mind at the moment without me adding more problems to her list of concerns.

Instead, I planned to talk to Jace about it and get his insight first. He had a way of calmly rationalizing through things that I was sure would settle my concerns. Well, the ones I had related to Antonio. I had no intention of mentioning what had happened in the locker room with Spencer. They already had a rocky history from Hawaii that had taught me that if it came down to it, my husband would toss all caution to the wind. We'd laughed plenty of times since he'd first joined the security team about how I didn't really need security and what would happen on the off chance that we found ourselves truly in danger. I always teased that I'd jump in front of the bullet for him and he always replied that he'd never let that happen—he'd protect me no matter the cost.

It'd always just been a joke until I'd actually been in danger and he'd rescued me from the ocean. After performing CPR and making sure I was safely hooked up to an oxygen tank back on the boat, Jace had proven that he wasn't kidding. Up to that point, I'd only seen the calm, cool, and collected side of him, but I'd realized there was another much more aggressive, fearless side as he'd threatened to splatter Spencer's guts all across the entire ship and throw him overboard—in vivid, graphic detail. The only thing that had stopped him was one of the other, older bodyguards who'd stepped into his pathway and told him to consider the people he cared about. How would they feel if he threw his life away over some spoiled punk? His angry, tearful eyes had locked with mine with such an intensity that I didn't know how to describe besides defining it as true love.