HAPPY WEEKENED, guys! Enjoy reading! Please, don't forget to share this story. Thanks:)

CHRISTINE's POV

Jace looked stunned as if he just received the most shocking news of his life that he couldn't even utter a word. His lips parted, his eyes went wide and he looked funny. I gently flicked the tip of his nose with my fingers.

"You look so funny." I said with a hint of amusement. He swallowed hard as his eyes never left mine. He really looked like he couldn't believe what I've just said.

"D-Do you mean..."

"Yes." His eyes widened once again and before I could react, he cupped my face with his hands and then kissed me hard on the lips which almost robbed me off my breath. We were both catching our breaths when he finally decided to end the kiss.

I smacked his arm. "Are you planning to kill me?!" He laughed heartily. He looked so lively, like a kid on Christmas eve.

"Of course, not. I'm just so happy right now. Damn. I can't believe that this day could actually happen." He sounded so happy and full of energy but I gaped at him when tears suddenly fell from his eyes. He chuckled when he realized that he was already crying and then wiped his tears with the back of his hand.

"Why the tears?" I couldn't help but ask, hiding my amusement. Jace was always been a proud man but softy inside. He frequently says in the past that our family was his weakness and now, I could see the proof of that.

He hates it when other people see him being weak but he never hides that side of him from me even before we got separated three years ago.

"Because I can't believe it. I-I thought, you would never forgive me anymore. I thought, you don't love me anymore because you kept on pushing me away and insisting for us to get divorced." He caressed my cheek as he gazed at me full of love. "If this was a dream, I don't want to wake up again."

I couldn't hold back my laugh. "You're still as corny as ever."

Suddenly, I've come to realized that this was the lightest conversation that we had ever since we got separated. There were smiles on our faces and it was refreshing.

Instead of commenting, he remained staring at me in awe as if I was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid his eyes on. I waved my hand before his face.

"Hey. Stop staring at me like that." I rebuked softly. A sweet smile appeared on his face. He took my hand and then kissed the back of it.

"You're the only one who brings out this side of me. I hate being corny but when it comes to you, my corniness spontaneously comes out just like that. You're the only one who has this effect on me. I love you, mi amor. So much that it hurts so bad everytime you're robbing it on my face that you want to divorce me." He was about to kiss me when I remembered something. I gently pushed him on the chest. His eyebrows furrowed.

"W-Why, mi amor?" Worry passed through his eyes. I took a deep breath.

"I have something to tell you first before anything else." I caught a glimpse of his Adam's apple move, indicating that he gulped.

"What is it about?" He really looked worried. I took another breath before answering.

"If you want us to be together again, I have a condition. It's up to you if you accept it or not. If you think that you can't follow it, then let's pretend like this conversation never happened and go on our separate ways for good." His eyes widened as panic registered on his handsome face.

"But if you think that you could do it, then we're good. I only have one condition." I stopped for a second and he looked like he was holding his breath.

I continued with a serious face. "I don't want you to keep any secrets from me, so if you're hiding something, tell me now." He looked like he was caught off guard. He couldn't answer right away and he even looked away. I zeroed my eyes at him. I could tell that he's indeed keeping something from me.

I even saw fear that passed through his eyes for a second and it only made me want to know about it.

"Jace..." I warned him with a serious tone, wanting him to spill the beans out already. He squeezed his eyes shut for good three seconds before opening them again. He then sighed in defeat and the look of worry on his face became more evident. Our eyes met again.

"Listen to me carefully, mi amor." He began and for some reason, my heart started beating fast. I felt like I wouldn't like what he's planning to say.

"I love you and even if I'm so scared right now that you might change your mind after you hear this, I still want to be honest with you. I don't want this to strain our relationship now that we're about to start again. I Hope that you open your heart and try to understand me." He took a deep breath. "R-Remember ET VINDEX?" My eyes widened upon hearing that familiar name.

"When you told me to quit the organization three years ago, I did what you told me to do because I didn't want to worry you. Our relationship was beginning to start rumbling that time that's why I chose you and JC and left ET VINDEX.

"You and JC were my life and I knew that the ET VINDEX could understand me if I left. I thought, I would never see them again after leaving the organization but before I came here to Houston weeks ago, they approached me again and offered me to go back to the organization." My breathing became hard as anger started flaring inside me.

Just hearing about that organization was making me remember the tragic events in the past. My heart clenched painfully.

"At first, I didn't have any plan of considering about their offer because my priority was to fix our marriage. I knew that you hate them and I was afraid that you might not accept me into your life again if you discovered that I still have a connection with them. I knew that you would never want me to join them again, but then, something happened that's why I recently accepted their offer." I gasped, couldn't believe of what I've just heard him say.

I gritted my teeth and then pushed him away which surprised him. I then sat up and was about to get off the bed when I felt Jace's arms wrapped around my waist.

"Mi amor, please, listen to me. I am being honest with you this time because I don't want to repeat my mistake in the past. I joined them again in order to protect you. They're capable of erasing any enemies out there that's why most of the people underground are afraid of them. I need their help to make sure that no one could ever touch you." He explained. His voice was slightly trembling.

I could hint the fear in him. Maybe, he was afraid that this could change my mind, push him away again and leave him for good.

"How would that protect me when they're the reason why JC died?!" My voice was loud and shaking a little bit as I looked at him full of resentment. I felt like he deceived me once again. I tried to unwrap his arms from hugging my waist but he didn't let me go.

"No! JC died because of those monsters, mi amor. Not ET VINDEX. I quit ET VINDEX before the incident took place that's why they couldn't help me protect our family. When I left the organization three years ago, I asked them not to approach me ever again.

"Those men ambushed us because apparently, they knew that I already quit the organization and left vulnerable. Everything happened because I was too weak to protect you and JC. When you finally came back, I promised myself that I would never repeat the same mistake again. Now, ET VINDEX is offering their help because they knew that you're in grave danger." I looked at him confusedly.

"Why do you need them anyway? I am not in danger and if I am, we can just contact the police, so you don't need to go back to their organization! Even if they're not the one who killed JC, they brought that upon us! Their enemies attacked us because they knew that you were a former member of ET VINDEX!" I chided full of resentment. He sighed wearily while shaking his head.

He cupped my face and then stared into my eyes pleadingly. "No, mi amor. Those people are enemies of the law. If there's someone to blame about all that happened aside from those bastards, that's me. I made a lot of enemies underground because of my job at ET VINDEX. I tried to be careful but they still managed to track me down until they discovered about you and JC.

"These past few years, I've been blaming myself too because I felt like I was the one who did that to you and JC that's why when you blamed me because of what happened, I didn't say anything because I knew that you were right." He smiled bitterly.

"Do you know why it took me three years to show myself to you again?" He then asked.

"Because I finally went home to New York and you thought that I have moved on and forgot everything that happened?" I answered. It was a question rather than a statement. He shook his head.

"No. It took me three years to approach you again because I took revenge of what happened three years ago." I gasped as my lips parted in shock.

"W-What? You took your revenge on those people?"

"Yes, mi amor. I destroyed and eradicated them because of what they did. I was full of rage that I was thirsty for justice. It took me two months to track them down and I succeeded on destroying them. But after that, I still felt empty inside. I thought that the moment I finally gave justice to what happened to JC, I could finally start living again, but my heart kept on looking for something and that something was you.

"I went here to Houston to see you but I didn't have the courage to face you knowing that you'd push me away again. Just like I've told you before, I became your stalker. Everytime I had the chance, I would come to Houston just to catch a glimpse of you.

"When you finally came home to New York, I couldn't hold back myself and went to the hospital just to see you, but instead of talking to you and ask you to come back to me, I became a coward and acted cold and jerk towards you. You already know what happened next after that.

"I was determined to win you over and start a quiet life with you, but lately, I discovered something; that group who killed JC, which I eradicated years ago, were nothing but a puppet of a bigger organization. According to my source, this bigger group is the brain of what happened three years ago and they're the real enemy. Util now, they're still alive and living like they didn't do anything to us and I can't accept that.

"Now, they're after you. I don't know why they have their eyes on you, but I will never let them harm you again. They will have to kill me first before they could touch even a strand of your hair." He uttered the last sentence through gritted teeth as his eyes turned dark.

I was at lost for words. I wanted to get mad at him but for some reason, I couldn't. All I was feeling was fear and loathe for those people who took our son's life. I sighed wearily.

"I don't know what to say about this, Jace. Yes, I appreciate the fact that you're being honest with me right now, but I can't help being scared and angry. Yes, I've realized that I still love you and I learned to forgive you because you managed to melt the thick wall in my heart. But I think, that's all I can do for now. These past three years, I was living a peaceful and quiet life, but I wasn't happy at all.

"But now that we've finally got back together, I wanted to be happy together with you but I am scared that this might break us apart again. You just said that they're after me this time so a quiet life is out of the question now. What if they're going to succeed on getting me? I am scared and at the same time, my rage is livening up again. Maybe, it is better if we part ways again and—" Before I could finish what I wanted to say, Jace closed the gap between our faces and then sealed my lips with a kiss.

The kiss he gave me was full of love, coaxing me to kiss him back. It was so passionate that it melted my resistance within me just like that.

"Please, don't say that, mi amor. Even if we're going to get separated, they're surely going to come after you. Being away from me makes you vulnerable to any kind of danger and I will not let that happen. Call me jerk and selfish but now that you finally admitted that you still love me, I will never let you go anymore. Never." He then embraced me tightly as if I would disappear any moment from him.

"These past three years, you probably didn't notice it, but my men were guarding you from afar. I was so paranoid that something bad might happen to you. Wherever you went to and whatever you did those past three years that we weren't together, I made sure that I had eyes around you.

I chewed on my lower lip, didn't know what to say or do. I didn't know that he was actually protecting me all these years. I squeezed my eyes shut and then took a deep breath before asking him the questions that have been bothering me since years ago.

"Tell me. What is ET VINDEX really?" He looked surprised. "You mentioned to me years ago that you couldn't spill any information about that organization because it was highly confidential. But now, my life is in danger and I want to know everything. What is ET VINDEX? What do they do? What about their enemies? Who was the group that ambushed us? If they weren't the one who was behind all that, who? What was their motive?" I barraged him a lot of questions as my eyes began watering.

Talking about the past was bringing my heart indescribable pain. I inhaled and exhaled a couple od times in order to calm myself and not to break down.

"Okay. If answering those questions would make you feel better, I'll answer it." Jace answered which surprised me. I thought he would say that he couldn't say anything again because it's confidential.

"Are you sure? I thought, you can't say anything about them?" A small smile appeared his face.

"Yes, I can't but I am willing to break the rules just for you." He then inhaled before continuing. 

🗽©️💞ⓙ 🗽

What do you think of this chapter?

Is the death of JC considered as Jace's fault? 

Is it really possible that their family would be complete again? 

After this conversation, is Christine going to stay with Jace or not?

COMMENT, VOTE, SHARE & FOLLOW