Deciding to give whoever’s bothering me a piece of my mind, I get out of bed, carefully, now more mindful of the pain in my chest, and wrench the door open. My mouth is already forming the words to send any visitor away. If a brother wants sex tonight, they can fucking think again. But I slam my lips closed when I see Ace standing there, twisting his hands nervously.
His brow furrows as he looks at me. “Trixie…”
His appearance reminds me of why I put myself through what I did tonight. My voice cracks when I simply respond, “Ace.”
He steps forward, his arms going around me. He's crushing my ribs, but I’ll take that pain just to know he’s safe and here. Then, as I catch my breath, I realise he’s sobbing, and that his tears are mingling with mine.
Pulling him into my room to give us both privacy, I kick the door closed behind us. I don’t know how long we stand, holding each other and crying. It’s cathartic, much like a cleansing.
Still with his head bowed against my shoulder, he begins, “I knew something was dead wrong when the removal van arrived and started packing up Toni’s house.” He pauses to hiccup, then continues, “I wanted to ring Dad, but she snatched my phone out of my hand. Trixie, she lied to me. She tried to persuade me the Kings were a bad influence, that they killed indiscriminately, dealt in hard drugs, and ran a sex trafficking ring. She said she was going to save me. I tried to argue with her…” he breaks off, sobs overwhelming him again.
“It’s okay, you’re safe. I got you, buddy.” I smooth my hands over his hair.
“Then… then.” A mammoth sob racks his body, tearing my heart out. “Candyman arrived, and I saw his cut. He was a Mojave Devil, from the club that attacked the compound. I triedto warn her, but she wouldn’t listen to me. I was so fucking scared.”
“Oh, Ace.” I hold him tighter, ignoring my pain as I try to comfort him, knowing how much he must have been scared.
“I tried to run, but they overpowered me. I had no phone. I couldn’t do anything. Toni kept telling me I had nothing to worry about, that they were friends. I tried again to tell her what she’d said about the Kings was true of them, but she told me I knew nothing. I was only a kid.” He breaks off, takes a gulp of air, and his words tumble out one after the other with little structure. “They forced me into an SUV. There were child locks on the doors. Toni got in beside me. Candyman and the other man, Oscar, were in the front. I was trapped and couldn’t escape. All I could think of was how Dad would be disappointed in me.”
“No, Ace.” I cup my hands around his face and force him to look at me. “Your dad wasn’t disappointed. He was furious with himself for not watching out for you better.”
I’m not getting through to him. “I should have seen that Toni was lying to us. Should have known there was something wrong. Instead, I pushed Dad and her together.”
I give him a little shake, determined to comfort him, while worrying that even now, Toni’s getting her claws into his dad once again. “Ace, you couldn’t have known. She fooled you both. And I don’t believe Toni meant harm to come to you. In her twisted mind, she thought she was taking you somewhere you’d be safe.” I break off to roll my eyes. “It was obvious Toni didn’t know who the MDMC were. She was taken in by her so-called brother.” A question comes to me. “Where were you last night, Ace? Why didn’t they take you straight to that warehouse?”
He purses his lips. “I got the impression they were supposed to move Toni out on Sunday, but as dad had planned that’s when he was going to come back, they came a day early. Candyman seemed upset about that.” He pauses and catchesmy eye. I swallow hard.Because he wanted to be there when Freak arrived, so he could kill him.He’d said as much at the warehouse. “They took us to this house in the suburbs. There were locks on the doors that they used to keep us in. Candyman had business in the city, so we were left alone, but I couldn’t escape. Toni wouldn’t let me. She kept telling me it was all for my own good, that I’d soon learn what a poor dad Freak had been. That she’d do much better by me…” His voice trails off. I want to slap the shit out of the woman who’d tormented him with lies, took away his control, and left him without being able to contact his father, whom I know he adores. After taking a breath, he continues, “Then, today, they got us back in the SUV, and we continued the journey.” He tells me, “All last night, I was begging Toni to believe me, but she wouldn’t listen. She just kept on and on with her lies.” Sobs start again, and my heart breaks. Of course, she hadn’t been able to brainwash him. What was he to believe? The truth he’d lived with for the last fifteen, almost sixteen years, or the untruths his newly found aunt was telling him? Fuck knows I’m going to go after Freak myself if he brings that evil bitch into his life again.
“I’m here for you, Ace. I’ll always be here for you.” It’s a vow I don’t make lightly, and one I’m determined to keep.
He tightens his hold on me. “I knew why they wanted me. I’m not stupid. Well, I must be. If I hadn’t boasted to Toni about how good I was at hacking, they’d have never known.”
I’ve got to stop him there. “No, buddy, you’re wrong. Remember Griz?”
He swallows hard, then asks, “The prospect?”
“Yeah. Well, he was a plant. He was a member of the MDMC, and he betrayed us to them. He would have told those bastards everything about you. So when they found Toni was related to you, they saw an opportunity and took it. You didn’t have a chance. They were going to take you one way or another.”
His sobs start to falter, and he looks up at me. “What are the fuckin’ chances that they found the right person to get to me?”
I snort. “One in a fucking million. But that’s the odds, kid. Sometimes you just can’t predict them.”
For another moment, we just hold on to each other. Then he pulls away. “What the hell made you put a tracker in my jacket?” He adds quickly, “Not that I mind. I’d…” His voice trails off. Neither of us wants to even think he would still be in the hands of the MDMC if I hadn’t taken that initiative.
Now I smile. “I didn’t trust Toni and just wanted to know you were safe. You wanna shout at me for invading your privacy…?”
“Shout at you?” He looks astonished. “I fuckin’ love you, Trixie.”
In a whisper, I give his words back. “Fuckin’ love you too, kid.”
“Can, can I stay here with you tonight? I don’t want to be alone.” His tone makes him sound far younger than his years.
After all that’s happened, I know Freak will want him close. “You won’t be alone. You’ll be with your dad. If you want, I’ll walk you back to the clubhouse.”
He’s quiet, worryingly so. “What’s worrying you, Ace? You think your dad is mad at you? If that’s what’s wrong, you can get that right out of your head. It wasn’t you who tricked him. You’re completely innocent. I know for a fact your dad’s beating himself up because he thinks it’s all his fault.”
Ace bites his lip, his brow furrows, and when he looks at me with those big brown eyes so reminiscent of his father, I see fresh tears forming.
“Ace, sweetheart. You’ve been through one hell of an experience today. Being kidnapped, having to face up to that bastard, Candyman, seeing Toni hurt, being threatened because you weren’t prepared to do something that went against all your instincts. And then seeing two men killed.” I huff softly. “Andthat escape from the building, that was fuckin’ tense, huh? Look, bud, you’re not going to get over something like that in a few minutes.” I reach out and wipe the tear that’s escaped from his eye.
