Page 95 of The Fire We Make

“I have a full fucking plate and I still can’t get you out of my head.”

Joy hated the way those words made her feel.

Hated the way it softened something in her chest and made hope and something foreign bloom there.

So she did what she did best — she killed it.

She swung, catching him off guard, and clipping him in the mouth.

Ace's head snapped to the side with the force, and his hand slowly went up to his mouth. He wiped at his busted lip and lowered his hand, his eyes blazing at the crimson smeared on them that wasn’t Joy's lipstick.

“This is the second time in three days you’ve marked me, Rose. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to claim me.”

At the mention of what she’d done, she swung again but he caught her hand mid-air. He gripped her wrist in his large hand then took possession of the other, pinning them both above her head.

His hands were rough and warm and his body pressing her firmly against the door should’ve felt threatening but it made her feel secure instead.

She could've freed herself from his hold. If not by force, then with the help of her sharp heels and the switchblade in her bra.

But she didn’t want to.

With her hands still in his grasp, he leaned down and took her lips in another kiss. Joy fell into it immediately, damn near melting as the seam of her lips opened to allow Ace's tongue to slip inside.

She tasted the metallic tang of his blood on his lips and felt the hardness of his erection as his hips pressed into her.

Ace released her hands and moved one hand to her neck to gently grip her throat. He nipped at her bottom lip, pulling a whimper from her.

Joy felt like putty in his hands, her earlier resistance waning and with it, her control. She happily handed it over to him, if just for a moment.

After a few more kisses, he released her with a final tug at her bottom lip with his teeth.

Ace rested his forehead against Joy’s, both of them sharing the same air to catch their breaths. “You push me away because I see you,” he whispered, his breath fanning her lips.

“You don’t see shit but what I want you to see,” Joy whispered back.

Ace shook his head. “You’re not as good an actress as you think you are Rose. I see you. The real you. Not the one you pretend to be.”

He moved to speak into her ear. “I like what I see. I only wish you’d stop hiding it.”

His lips brushed the shell of her ear as he continued. “I think I’m about done letting you hide from me though.” He punctuated his statement with a kiss on the cheek.

The kiss was soft but final. Like a kiss of death.

“Goodnight, Rose.”

Joy quivered at his contact and declaration then stepped back before her body could betray her again.

He was already sliding back into the SUV when she’d finally found her voice again.

“Goodnight, Adonis.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Ace sat in the back room of August’s casino, The Jade Room, with a cigar between his fingers. Surrounding the card table with him were the leaders of the Italian and Jamaican families of the Council. The room was dim, with a thick smoke from the cigars they were smoking and the scent of expensive alcohol permeating the small room.

“Surely you can understand our concerns, King. From the outside looking in, it doesn’t seem like you have your house in order,” Leonardo De Leone said, tapping his cigar lightly until ash fell from the burning tip and into the crystal dish.

Ace took a puff of his own before answering, using the extra time to calm himself.