Twenty-five years of treating the sweetest, most precious angel on Earth like a pawn. Like she was nothing. It kills me just thinking about how lonely Ace must have been throughout her life. How sad and fucking exhausted she must have been. Her father was her one savior from her mom, and then the cunt took him away from Ace.
My left palm twitches, and I look down at it, turning it over in my lap, staring at her name inked into my skin. One day, there will be a band sitting over the E. But wedding ring or not, I’m hers.
And she’s mine.
And when I get her home safe and sound, I’m going to strip her down and teach her what happens when she disobeys me and does something so fucking dangerous. I’m pretty sureI’ve had three fucking mini-heart attacks since the call came through. She won’t sit comfortably for a while.
It shouldn’t surprise me that Ace took it upon herself to face her mother on her own. She isn’t the type to have someone else do her dirty work. That’s what’s so fantastic about the Ace in a deck. It’s higher than the Queen but can go to the lowest of lows in the right game. And my job, at this moment, as her man, is to have her back in whatever way she needs.
I’m still debating hunting Knox McCray and his brothers down, but Luciano’s words weigh heavy on me. I fucking hate that. My respect for him is growing. What else was the guy supposed to do? He knew if he didn’t give her what she asked for, she’d find it elsewhere. Because Ace is determined. It’s one of the things I love about her. It’s also one of the things she’s going to get in trouble for the most with me. I just know it.
Luciano calls Ace’s phone number, but it goes straight to voicemail. He shakes his head, throwing his device to the floor. “God, she drives me fucking insane! I hope you plan on punishing her ass for this goddamn stunt.”
His outburst makes me chuckle as I side-eye him. At least I’m not the only one she’s driving mad. Though his comment about punishing Ace makes me wonder about the type of lifestyle he leads. It hadn’t dawned on me before, but Luciano and I have a lot of similar traits. Except he’s a dick, and I’m not.
As soon as the driver slows to a roll at a set of gates, I open the door and jump out, rounding the back of the SUV right when Luciano hops out, too. I pull my gun and jog into a cluster of bushes, where the gates turn into stone walls. I quickly climb it and swing over, pushing myself off, so I land on my feet, the air getting knocked from my lungs when I do. Luciano lets out a grunt and stumbles against the wall.
“Fuck, we’re not as young as we used to be,” I mutter as I suck in air.
He laughs and shakes his head. “No shit! I think I just pulled my hamstring.”
I snort, and together we take off toward the house, my blood running cold when we get to the front porch. The front door is ajar, but other than that, the house is dark and silent.
“I’ll go upstairs, you look down here,” I tell him as I start to cross the foyer to the grand staircase.
Luciano holds his gun in front of him as he heads toward a wide hallway that leads to one wing of the house.
As soon as I get to the second landing, I know she’s up here. I can smell her. My girl.
“Pst,” I signal Luciano.
A second later, he appears again and jogs up the stairs two at a time, his icy eyes alert. He hears the hushed voices. We both start moving toward the sound, the tension so thick, I can feel it even in this monstrosity of a house.
The closer we get to a set of closed French doors, the louder it gets. Finally, I hear snippets of the conversation, and it makes me want to vomit.
CHAPTER 43
Ace
I sit back leisurelyin the tacky chair, licking my lips. The woman who was supposed to love, protect, and want only the best for me sits up, looking plastic and fake as she twists toward the nightstand and flips on the bedside lamp.
When she turns back toward me, she fumbles with her glasses for a second before sliding them over her surgically shaped nose. When she looks me up and down, noticing the gun resting on my lap, she gasps and puts her hand on her chest, like she’s horrified.
“Lacey, what is that? Why do you have a gun?” Her voice is shriller than I remember, but that could be because I’m pointing a weapon at her. Little does she know, the same daughter she attempted to murder is about to do the same to her. Except, unlike my mother, I do my own dirty work. Just like my father would have done for me. She killed the first man who loved me. The one I loved with my whole heart. Lorenzo Ricci wasn’t a perfect man, but he was good to us, I know that.
“That ring,” I say as it casts a prism onto the ceiling. “You wore that ring when you came into the hospital and tried to inject something into my IV. Before Luciano came in and scaredyou. It was you. You were trying to kill me because your hit man didn’t succeed.”
Clutching at her pajamas, as if she needs to cover herself, my mother shakes her head, her mouth opening and closing several times. God, she’s so fucking fake. Even now, her movements are measured, like she’s putting on a show.
“Lacey, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Are you high? Is that what this is? Are you on drugs?” she asks, slowly moving one hand toward her nightstand where her phone is sitting.
I rise and aim my pistol toward her. “Don’t you fucking dare.”
When she stops, I walk around the bed and snatch the device off the table myself, squeezing it in my hand as anger radiates through me like a bolt of lightning.
“You don’t get to call for help. This is between you and me, bitch. It’s about time you told the truth for once in your fucking life,” I say as I hurl the device over the top of her head, watching it shatter into pieces when it hits the wall above.
She cries out as bits of it fall on her, her body trembling.
