Page 61 of The Fire We Make

“You’re sneaky.” Ace said, catching her eyes.

“And you’re nosey,” Joy replied, holding his stare.

“I’m a lawyer baby. I notice shit and ask questions.”

“Yeah, well, stop Sherlock Holmes.”

Ace chuckled but acquiesced. “Aight you got it.”

Ace cut into his ribeye and for a moment, they sat in a comfortable silence with nothing but the chatter from other customers, the soft ambient music, and the clank of silverware hitting plates being heard.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Joy said, breaking the silence.

“You didn’t answer mine.”

“If I recall, I answered three. I think that deserves one.”

Ace wiped his mouth with the napkin. “What was your question, Rose?”

”Are you close with your parents?

”It’s complicated,” he said.

Joy pushed a forkful of salad past her supple lips and chewed slowly then asked, “How so?”

Ace shifted, loosening his tie a bit at the neck. “Spent most of my life preparing to follow in my father and his father’s footsteps. My mom pretty much turned over raising me to my old man and he was more of a teacher than a dad.”

Joy nodded. Their eyes held in silent understanding for a few moments.

“What about your siblings?” Joy asked. “Are you close with them?”

“Kinda,” Ace said. “We were real close when we were young but the older I got, the more time I had to spend preparing. I’d kill and die for them but I couldn’t tell you any of their favorite colors. We don’t spend that much time together anymore if it’s not about business.”

“That… sucks.”

Ace shrugged. “Gotta pay the cost to be the boss. You have siblings?”

“A brother. We aren’t close though.”

“Why is that?”

Joy heaved a deep sigh, the action making her chest rise and fall dramatically. He could practically see her walls slam back into place and before she even opened her mouth, he knew he wouldn’t be getting an answer. “Like I said, it’s complicated,” she answered, back to stabbing at her salad.

Ace didn’t like the shadows that passed over her face. They were the same ones he saw the night they met when she admitted to not having anyone. He had yet to understand why her emotions impacted him so much.

He’d never cared about the feelings of anyone whose last name wasn’t King aside from Remy, and the fact that he was so in tuned with Joy’s emotions was unsettling.

Ace had been a cold motherfucker since he was born. Maybe it was the ruthless King blood flowing through his veins. Maybe it was the sociopathic tendencies ravaging his brain. Either way, he’d always had to work hard to care about people or at least pretend to long enough to get what he needed from them.

It came naturally for Joy though. He briefly wondered if she’d done some voodoo shit on him. Only the supernatural could explain the connection he felt to her.

He didn’t realize he’d been sitting in silence, staring, until Joy spoke up again.

“Are we done playing 21 questions?” she asked.

Ace chuckled. “You got an attitude problem, you know that?” He took another swig of his drink, finishing it off. “I like that shit though.”

Joy just rolled her eyes in response. “No, I have a nosey nigga problem.”