Filed To Story: The Trap Of Ace Book PDF Free
“It’s not possible for me to forget even a single thing about you, even if I want to.”
The look in his orbs was so intense it left me breathless.
I had to avert my gaze.
I couldn’t let him see the moisture the old memories fetched in my eyes.
Picking up a prawn covered in the sauce, I put it into my mouth.
Exceptional!
Just as I remembered.
The sweet and savory taste blasted on my tongue.
A moan left my mouth.
“It’s so good!”
I’ve missed it so much.
In those years, in the process of avoiding him, I avoided everything related to him as much as possible.
Even this sweet and sour heaven.
It awakened too many memories.
A smile danced across his lips as he watched me, still not touching the food.
“You’re not eating it with your hand anymore.”
Embarrassment rose from my neck to my ear.
I used to hate using forks to eat them.
Using my fingers, it was easy to lick the cheese and sauce.
I’d do the same right now, but self-consciousness held me back.
“You don’t need to be embarrassed, Rosebud.
It’s just me.
I want you to be yourself when you’re around me,” he said, taking my fork from my hand.
When I didn’t proceed, still hesitating, he also put his fork aside and picked a prawn using his fingers.
I watched him with surprise.
He never used to use his hand while eating.
He thought it was gross.
But now…
“What?
You want me to finish them all alone?”
he asked when I stared at him.
Shaking my head, I happily dug in, using my fingers.
Now it tasted even better.
“Since when did you start eating with your hands?”
Taking a piece of pepperoni pizza, I took a bite.
Glancing up, he watched me with a strange emotion while sucking the sauce off his thumb.
My eyes fell on his wicked mouth before I shifted my attention to food again.
“Since it started to help me keep my sanity.”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing.
Why don’t you taste the baklava?
My chef is from Turkey, so it’s an authentic recipe.
Here, take some.
You’ll love it.”
He put some of the dessert on my plate, clearly changing the topic.
I had so many questions preserved for him, and here he wasn’t even answering the simple ones.
“No, thanks.”
I snapped, my temper suddenly flaring.
I pushed the plate away.
“I’m full.”
His brows furrowed.
“What happened to you all of a sudden?”
“Nothing.
Why don’t you eat the baklava?
I’m sure you’ll love it,” I phrased his line.
He pressed his lips together.
“I don’t need to eat it to know if I’ll love it.
I do love it.
Now, will you tell me what’s wrong?”
I wanted to ask the questions I asked Tess, but I didn’t know how to approach him with them.
Looking away, I replied, “Nothing is wrong.
I’m done, so I gotta go.”
“You won’t leave without having dessert with me and answering my question.”
“Excuse me?
And who are you to order me?”
He titled his head.
“Your boss.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Oh yeah!
I forgot.
No one can deny the king here.”
“No one, except my queen.”
My gaze snapped up to him.
His stare was intense.
Pushing the dishes away, he tugged me onto his lap, emanating a gasp out of me.
“And as you’re my queen, you have every right to order and deny me around, my Rosebud.”
My breath hitched in my throat and heart pounded down my chest as I stared at him.
Cupping my face, he said, “I’m sorry if anything I said displeased you.
I didn’t mean it.
I’d never do anything intentionally to hurt you.”
“I-I’m not your queen,” I mumbled, not knowing what to say.
Placing a kiss on my forehead, he peered into my soul.
“You are.
You can deny anything you want, you have the right to do it.
But you don’t have the right to deny this one thing.
So, get that into your beautiful head.
You are my queen.
My every fucking thing.
My world.”
I let out a shaky breath as a fierce emotion slammed into my heart, making me breathless.
His every word was like an arrow to my heart, breaking the bricks one by one of the walls I made around my heart all these years.
I wanted to ask why.
But I feared I wouldn’t be able to handle his answer.
“I-I want to ask something,” I said.
Kissing my eyelids, he nodded.
“How did you know Liza was the one who put the drugs into Caleb’s car?”
“Like you suggested at that board meeting.
I had people look into the recent activities of the staff having a direct connection to the projects.
And I just got the reports after we returned from the police station.”
His features tightened.
“Liza’s phone records raised suspicion.
She was also one of those people who went to Caleb’s house this morning.
So, it was pretty clear it was her.
That plastic packet just confirmed it.”
Nodding, I took in the information.
“Are—are you okay?”
I bit my lip.
A crease set between his brows.
“Why do you ask that?”
Clearing my throat, I said, “You were disturbed regarding something since we left the police station.
I can tell it’s not just Caleb, it’s something else.
What is it?”
Silence.
“Your reaction was strange when I told you there were drugs in that packet.”
I still remember how he flinched away from the packet.
His jaw clenched as his grip tightened on me.
“It’s a very vile thing, Emerald.
People should stay away from it as much as possible,” he replied.
Tone hard.
What are you hiding from me?
“Any other questions you have for me?”
he asked, brushing his fingers against my cheek.
My heart skipped.
This is the chance, Em.
Say it.
Ask him.
“Will you tell me the truth if I ask?”
He watched me for a moment, then gave a slow nod.
“I-I want to know everything, Ace.
Everything that I should know.
Everything that’s been hidden from me,” I whispered.
“I-I want to know what happened that night, seven years ago.”
TWENTY-SIX: NOT HIS WOMAN
H e knew what I was asking.
He knew very well what I wanted to know.
His feelings just didn’t grow within these last few days.
It had to be from our past.
And if he felt something for me, why did he do that?
Why did he push me away like that?
“I want to know, Ace.
Will you tell me?”
Not only about the night years ago did I want to know about.
What happened to his mom and his hatred for his old house also nagged at the back of my mind.
I didn’t forget the venom and pain reflecting in his eyes when he stared at the doors of his mom’s former room at Tess’s engagement party.
There were so many things I had questions about.
But the answers weren’t anywhere in sight.
Taking a deep breath, he took my hands and brushed his lips against my knuckles.
“I will.
I will tell you everything you want to know.
You have every right to.
But not now.
At least not today.”
A heaviness lifted off my chest.
I felt relieved.