Jace woke up at six, his usual time. He got dressed in shorts and a sweater and went down to the gym. After an hour of working out, he went back to his suite and hit the shower. His meeting was at eight. He dressed more informal, but still stylish.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Then he went to a coffeeshop downstairs and enjoyed his breakfast. Afterwards he drove to his meeting. The meeting went quite well.
He returned to his suite and spent another hour in the phone with his assistant. Afterwards he FaceTimed with his father, Scott.
"Dad, how you're doing?" "Great son" "Dad, I wanna tell you something, but I want it to stay between the two of us. Mom don't need to know, okay?" His dad frowned, concerned. "Okay, son, whatever you want." "Dad, you know Riele is here in Italy, right?" His dad paused but quickly composed himself. "Well I'm here in Venice where she's having her fashion show." His father's eyes widened . "Uuuhh"
Jace smiled. "I'm gonna get her back, dad." His father searched for words. When he got himself together at last, he smiled back at him
"Best news I've heard so far, my boy." Jace beamed barely believing the response he just got. "Really, dad?"
"Jace, son, I raised you to make your own decisions and you're a grown man and I respect you. I mean , it's tough , I'm not gonna lie to you, not after the last episode, but you pulled through, my boy. And I'm proud of you. Besides, you know your mother and I always loved Riele. And we still do. Yes, Jace, your mom still has your Pictures in the living room. Riele is the only person that could talk some sense into your head."
Jace huffed indignantly. " Excuse me, dad, I think I've been making pretty good decisions for myself without her (it hurt him to add this part).
"I know, son, but with her by your side, you can make even Better decisions. And you'll be happy. Which is all I want. Besides, you can't have kids on your own can you? And didn't you tell me you were gonna have five kids before you were 25?"
Jace rolled his eyes. 'If Riele could hear you now...dad, you know she nearly took my head off last time I said that." "Now you see, Jace, that's what I was talking about." he chuckled.
After they said their goodbyes, Jace,s dad sat with his eyes closed, silently praying for his son. He wouldn't call himself religious but after finding his son unconscious, not breathing, on his bedroom floor, he started to believe in prayer. He shivered slightly as his mind took him back to that day.
Jace had just returned from Europe after he had failed to convince Riele to give up her life there and return with him. He was severely distraught and could not be consoled. They found him on that fateful day lying there with a note clutched in his hand. " I'm sorry, Riele, I want you to be happy, but I just cant be happy without you." If they didn't arrive in arrive in time, he could have been gone. He spend two weeks in hospital, recovering. After four months of therapy he finally came out of his depression.
Jace and him spent a lot of time together after that. They regularly took hiking and fishing trips together. During that time they really cemented their father and son bond. He mostly listened to his son, never being judgmental or probing. Scott did consider involving Riele but Jace would have none of it. He felt too ashamed of his actions and did not want her to feel guilty because of him. So his dad let it go.
Thankfully Jace grew stronger and more mature. He started to focus on getting his busin esses off the ground and ever since then it remained his main focus.
As for women, he has basically been giving them a wide berth. Every now and then he would date, but it never lasted. Scott knew it was mainly for their benefit that he went out with these girls.
Jace once told his father "dad, I only know how to love her. " He didn't know how to answer him then and he realised now it would have been pointless. Jace was determined to get her back and heaven only knows what kind of stunt he might pull over there. He sighed deeply . "Riele,child, I hope you are ready."
