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I nearly choked on my own spit. “He what?”
Ace grinned at my reaction. “Don’t worry, Doe. My cousin is more than capable of handling himself. My father didn’t touch him.”
My jaw was nearly on the floor. His nonchalant attitude made it difficult to tell if he was serious or not.
“How can you be so casual right now? You just told me your father went to freaking Croatia to try to murder your cousin!”
He shrugged. “This isn’t necessarily surprising behavior from my father. The bastard’s been making some pretty bad decisions recently.”
“Like trying to murder someone? Why would he even do that?”
“For power mostly. It’s hard to explain.”
Of course it was hard to explain. When it came to Ace, everything was hard to explain.
“So that’s why you have to go to Croatia?”
Ace nodded, still petting my neck with careful fingers. He seemed more concerned with the goosebumps he was causing to rise on my skin than the shocking information he was relaying.
I could barely wrap my head around what was going on. Or how he could be easygoing about it all. His father tried to murder someone.
“So, what are you going to do?” I asked. “Are you going to go get your father?”
Ace thought about it for a few seconds. His lips slowly turned up in a wicked smirk.
“I’m going to take care of him.”
I don’t like the sound of that. ?I narrowed my eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answers to, Doe.”
He grabbed my hand and brought it up to his lips so he could press a firm kiss into my palm. “As soon as you leave with Madoc, I’ll be getting on the first plane out of here.”
“You have to go now? You can’t wait until morning? I…kind of wanted to wake up next to you.”
I also wanted to get back to the conversation we were having before he ran off to go talk to his cousin, but I was a little afraid to bring that up again when he was in such a touchy mood.
I hadn’t forgotten, though. I’d meant what I said about finding answers myself if Ace refused to explain things to me tonight. And it looked like things were heading in that direction.
Ace’s hard eyes melted a bit. “Come here, sweet girl. Let me kiss you.” He drew me up until I was standing in front of him and then kissed me in a way that made all my worries dissipate.
We were both breathing heavily when he pulled away several moments later. He brushed my hair out of my face. “The sooner my father is taken care of, the better things will be—for everyone.”
Despite his threatening words, the air filled with sexual tension as he trailed his nose up and down mine. “My cousin has enough on his plate. He shouldn’t have to worry about my father as well.”
My hands had somehow made their way into his hair, and I twirled the strands around my fingers. “He’s not in jail? Didn’t they call the police?”
Ace chuckled. “No, Grayson left him with some of his dignity intact. He’s just keeping him detained at his home for now.”
He pulled his head back. “Madoc is waiting.” He looked back down at me, frowning slightly. “I didn’t forget, Doe. I promised you I would explain everything to you. I still plan on doing that.”
I was a little surprised he brought the topic up again. I had provided him with an out and was already scheming up ways to find out any information without his help.
“Oh, yeah?” I challenged. “Why do I find that hard to believe?”
Ace narrowed his eyes. “I know that look, Doe.”
I tilted my head, attempting to look innocent. “What look?”
“Doe,” he said, his tone warning me, “I need you to wait until I get back. No investigating. You have to promise me.”
I pulled his hair a little, hoping to distract him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Without warning, Ace grabbed my chin and turned my head back to him, squeezing me extra hard. It didn’t hurt but it did make my breath stall in my throat.
“No, Doe,” he said through his teeth. “You will not go looking for answers on your own.”
I scoffed despite my heart hammering behind my rib cage. “And why not? You’re obviously incapable of explaining things to me.”
Ace snarled and squeezed me harder. “I’m not fucking kidding. I know you want answers but I’ll be damned if you put yourself in danger because you can’t wait for me to come back and tell you myself.”
“Danger?” I let out a humorless laugh. “You’re so ridiculous. The only danger I’m in is from you and your insane mood swings.”
His eyes spit fire but I didn’t back down.
“I’m done waiting for you, Ace. Done. ”
I tried to pull away from him but he snarled and tugged me back so our faces were inches away from each other. He was still holding my jaw.
Looking into his eyes, I noticed a sinister hue to his blue eyes. Dread churned in my stomach. There was something evil swirling behind his pupils. And it was staring straight at me.
I gasped, struggling against him. “Will you please let me go? Y-you’re scaring me.”
Ace immediately loosened his hold and took a small step back. He caressed the heated skin his fingers had just been digging into. His gaze softened as well, making me feel like I could breathe again.
“Please, baby. Please.”
It surprised me to hear him beg.
“I want to be the one to tell you. Just give me a few days. Let me figure things out with my father and make a plan. The moment I get back, I’ll tell you everything.
You have my word.”
I didn’t respond. The fact that he needed a plan before telling me what was going on in his life just made me all the more curious and impatient to know. Whatever it was, it was serious. And big.
“Don’t you want to hear it from me?” Ace continued. “Don’t you want me to be there to answer your questions?”
Tears of frustration threatened to pool in my eyes but I pushed them down. “I’m so sick of waiting.”
He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my head. “I know you are. Not much longer though.”
School without Ace meant Madoc followed me around like a shadow all day. I hated it.
I tried to tell him that I didn’t need a babysitter, but he ignored me and followed just a few steps behind me everywhere I went, like the good little Ace-worshipper he was.
When I walked into the cafeteria for lunch, the first thing I did was attempt to flee from my overbearing bodyguard.
“Bye, Madoc!” I called over my shoulder. “No need to babysit me during lunch! Too many witnesses around for anyone to murder me!”
Madoc rolled his eyes while he watched me scurry away. “You and I both know lunch is no different from class!” he yelled after me. “You can be murdered at any time!”
Thankfully, he allowed me to find a table in the corner by myself.
Normally, I wouldn’t have minded sitting with Madoc—Ace and I usually sat with him and their friends, plus Marta—but I didn’t want to be near him after overhearing his conversation with Ace.
He knew things about me, intimate things, that even I didn’t understand, and he was keeping them from me. And Ace wanted me to hang around him all day? Yeah, no thanks.
I watched Madoc sit at our usual table across the room. He made sure that I was still in his line of sight so he could keep an eye on me. I nearly rolled my eyes. It was all so exhausting.