“No. Look, you just wait for me. If Papa calls, tell him I’m spending the night at her house, please.”
From my peripheral vision, I see Ace raise an eyebrow. He’s intrigued to know who I’m talking about. Carolina. Sweet, ignorant Carolina doesn’t deserve to face Ace’s wrath. So, I don't mention her name at all.
"I’ll be back to her place before you know it.” The lie comes so easily but the relief in my bones vanishes with one question. And I don’t think the blow has landed enough for me to handle before I realize that I’ve dropped the phone.
“But are you?”
I can hear the things Carter can't say aloud. Would you spend the night somewhere else, Raine?
"That phone cost a lot, you know?" Ace startles me by casually picking it up to inspect the damage before pocketing it. Shit, will he demand cash? Or worse, do I owe him now?
Fidgeting, I have no words to say other than apologizes. "I'm sorry. I can buy you one if you like?"
He stares at me for so long that I'm about to take back my words when he laughs. Loud, carefree. Not the way I'm used to hearing him. Suspicion creeps into my bones and I have to look away to stop my heart from flattering.
This looks real, he looks real.
Someone who isn't afraid to show his emotions.
Someone I can actually forgive.
WE MAKE THE REST OF our way without talking. The tension is heavy on the air, trying to choke me on it. And no sooner we are passing the familiar alleyway, and then the small house which used to be mine once. Does anyone live there now? Can they see the cracks we left when Nick and I drifted apart? Can they feel my sob wrecking through the halls?
“Come on.” My thoughts scatter hearing an urgent tone. His. Looking up I see why. It’s like we are in an alternative universe. This place looks nothing like the time I was here. Instead of the men with suits and darkness in their eyes, it’s filled with laughter from kids and teenagers bantering with each other.
I've heard the rumors, but to actually see it...
He wraps his arms around me, a threat to keep quiet in front of these people. So we pretend to be one of them until I’m standing in a room locked with him. My breath catches on as he strides toward me with a purpose. Knowing him, it’s a deadly one.
When he’s close enough, I dare myself to match his stare. He doesn’t even think twice before throwing his burning question at me. “Why were you there?”
I can lie. Make something up but I don’t why I end up telling him the truth. Something that’s very rare coming from my lips nowadays. “I have information enough to destroy Papa, Nick, and everything they want to achieve. I can bring them down if I play my roles right.”
Isn’t that what I’m always best at? Playing roles of a dangerous man’s Queen and Princess of a Kingdom I never wanted?
Apparently, he doesn’t think so.
“But you-” He stops to take a deep breath, his body tensing in a way I've never seen before. “It’s not your war, Barbie. And like hell, if I would let you risk your life like that.”
“I was fine.” For the most part anyway. I focus on his eyes, those shimmering dark ones looking more alive than ever. “I got the cartel to help us, didn’t I?”
Besides, he has no right to worry about me, not when he was busy most of his time playing me like a fool. What to say even now...
His stare is blank, completely void of any emotion. But I can feel his heat even from here. “You got the cartel-Have you any fucking idea what Elijah would do if he knew who you really are? He’d kill you just because you have Bratva blood in you.”
“And you? What would you do?”
If I have Bratva blood in me then he has La Eme in his. And in his world nothing matters than his blood, his legacy, and his Kingdom. Not even me.
“What would I do?” His lips form a dangerous snarl. Wrong question, Raine! My mind screams but I’ve already taken a step toward him. As if he’s waiting for me to come closer, he grabs my chin, forcing me to release a sharp breath. “I would drain every blood that belongs to those bastards, every breath you have taken for them, every time you’ve asked for their help and replace them with myself. You’ll take my blood, my name, and my side, Mi Regina.”
Fighting back the urge to shake my head, I can’t help but whisper. “And trust? What about that? I don’t trust you, Ace. How do I know that everything you do isn’t a game? Just another way for you to use me as a pawn? To get everything back?”
He doesn’t disagree. Another reason for me to stay away from him. But he doesn’t let me drown in grief either.
“You can accept my help without trusting me, Barbie.”
I can't. But it’s easier to believe him when he looks at me like this. Like he knows how to drive away every bit of pain, every torture from my soul. “I will end this war for once and all. All I ask from you is to stay with me. Can you do that?"
Can I?
My answer comes in the form of clashing teeth and tasting hell in his tongue. And just like that, everything is forgotten.
Just.
Like.
That.
CHAPTER 11
ACE
I FUCKING TRIED.
I tell myself over and over again.
I tried to forget her, make her just a snippet of a memory I didn’t need. Like a thorned flower, she was the forgotten one in the mayhem of a beautiful garden. She’d still be there between others but not important enough to remember. For five straight years, I pretended not to remember the flare in her eyes or the very few times I saw her longing to win against me.
But I failed. I am...
Too goddamn late.
“Do you understand the depth of what’s happening?” I ask her just to see her reaction. I find her breathless, devoid of any argument. “Do you?”
She nods, whispering. “Yes. No, wait!”
“What?” I’m being harsh. She already agreed to come with me, and that should have been enough. But with her, I’m more than greedy.
“I-I want to know everything-” She trails off, eyes wide with anticipation. “Will you tell me? What did they do to you in prison? I heard things.”
“Raine...” Words stuck in my throat. Fuck, I can’t. Those are the memories I can never share with anyone. Not even with my brothers let alone her.
“No!” She snatches my arm with a frown. “I heard things, not good ones. I want to know, please.”
Fuck it.
Grabbing her closer, I nod. It’s not a yes but I’ll give her some fragments of truth. The ones she can stomach without bolting. When she starts to frown again, I have no choice but to reach for her mouth.
Mierda, how have I stayed so long without touching her?
I can never erase her touch. Can’t forget her whimper. Can never let her go. It isn’t just possible anymore. Not when she was the one who pushed me to come back. The reason I’m scrubbing off everything that can make her leave me. I had plans for her since I was taken and now there’s nothing she can do to escape them, I won’t let her. Trust me or not, my touch is the only one she will ever know.
“Wait-” A whimper leaves her mouth as I trail my lips down her throat. I can feel her pulse under my fingers, so damn fast. Like any time it wants to escape her. Taking the soft skin, I make another mark.