Filed To Story: Kidnapped by My Mate Novel (Belle & Grayson)
Given Joe’s history with Mr. Stoll and my, well, special relationship with Ace, Joe was the natural choice to become a second father figure for Ace after his mom died.
Since Mr. Stoll was obviously incapable of taking care of his son, Ace stayed with us for about a year from the ages of nine until ten.
Joe helped Ace get his anger under control by providing him with coping mechanisms and helped him process his mother’s death in a way that I—the fellow nine-year-old—could not.
I’m not sure what would have happened to Ace if Joe hadn’t been there to support him. Nothing good.
Even after Ace moved back in with Mr. Stoll, their relationship was never the same.
The two of them hated each other.
Mr. Stoll remained distant, picking fights with Ace whenever they were around each other. And Ace avoided his father at all costs, never inviting me to his place when he knew Mr. Stoll was home.
I appreciated it. Ace’s father also made me feel extremely uneasy. There was something off about him. Unhinged. Any time I was near him, I caught him leering at me from a distance or glaring at Ace.
Plus, I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen him sober. I could only imagine how much a man his size had to drink in order to maintain a constant state of inebriation.
Thank goodness the Stolls came from money, or Ace would have been out on his butt. Mr. Stoll had been too drunk to do anything of use for nearly a decade now, leaving the community duties to Joe.
Ace had told me countless times how grateful he was to have me and my younger brothers in his life, how grateful he was to my mom and dad for taking him in when he needed it.
But as with most father-son-like relationships, where there was love, there was also tension. Ace didn’t like being told what to do. Especially when it came to me.
That posed a problem for my dad. Both men were just so protective of me, both assuming they knew what was best for me. It caused them to butt heads sometimes.
But no matter what happened between them, I knew they would still care about each other at the end of the day.
Nonetheless, it bothered me that Ace called my dad when he couldn’t get a hold of me. He was taking things a step too far.
The mattress dipped as my dad sat down on the bed next to me. I dragged my hands down my face. He held up his phone for me to look at, showing me that Ace was calling him at that very second.
“I haven’t responded to him in case you were wondering,” my dad said, clearly trying to console me.
Well, that was good, at least. If my dad had told Ace I was upstairs alone instead of watching a movie with my family, Ace would have been even more furious than he already was.
“Thank you,” I replied meekly. “I’m sorry he’s blowing up your phone. I don’t know what his problem is.”
My dad nodded softly. “I think I might have an idea.” He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. “Is there a reason you’re not responding to him?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. Just don’t feel like talking to him right now, I guess.”
“That’s okay. You’ve spent every hour of every day together since you were little.
That can be a lot on a person. It’s okay if you need a break from him.”
The idea of getting space from Ace made my body tense up. I never wanted space from him. That was the whole problem. I didn’t function without him.
I chewed my lip. “It’s not that I need a break from him. I just…”
“It’s not that you want a break from him but you’re ~getting~ one anyway, maybe?”
my dad provided.
I shrugged again.
He patted my leg gently over the blanket. “Want and need are two very different things. I never want to be away from your mother but I think she might go a little crazy if I was always by her side.”
“Still, you shouldn’t depend on another person that much.” He paused, shifting with uneasiness. “Did something happen between you two?”
I let out a breathy laugh. “As if mom didn’t already tell you everything.”
There wasn’t a single thing I said to my mom that I wasn’t sure would get back to my dad. They had no secrets.
“Actually, she didn’t. And I didn’t ask. It’s really none of my business. I just want to make sure you’re okay.” He hesitated. “I know Ace can be…difficult sometimes.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “That’s putting it mildly.”
“You wanna tell me about it? I know I’m just some lame dude your mom married but I might be able to help. Offer another perspective.”
“You’re more than just some lame dude,” I responded. I hated that he downgraded his role in my life so casually. “You’re my dad. You know that.”
His lips turned up in a smile that warmed my heart.
“Well, that’s good to hear.” He grabbed my hand and squeezed it gently. “Then, as your dad, I think it’s my duty to make sure there’s not some stupid boy ruining my daughter’s life for no good reason.
“I don’t want to push you to talk about it if you don’t want to, but I think I might have an understanding of what’s going on. Believe it or not, I was very similar to Ace when I was his age.”
I laughed. “What, you were a controlling asshole?”
I instantly regretted my choice of words. My dad didn’t like it when his kids cursed.
“I mean… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
Thankfully, he just offered me a sympathetic smile. “It’s okay, I get it. You’re going through some shit.”
I grinned. I had never heard him swear before.
“Look, I know that if I’d met your mother when I was as young as you and Ace were when you met, that might’ve caused some issues.”
I frowned. It felt like he was talking in some kind of code. But that’s how I felt whenever I spoke to anybody anymore; like I was only understanding half of what they were really saying.
“Ace and I aren’t like you and mom. We aren’t in a relationship,” I said.
“Still. You’re very close to him. You said he’s been controlling, and I’m not surprised to hear that.
“Ace and I had a similar upbringing, like most people in this town. The men around here can get, well, I’m not sure how to explain it. But I have noticed he’s been a little overbearing toward you.”
“You have?” I whispered. It felt good to hear that someone else could see it—that I wasn’t just making it all up.
“Yes. Folks from Embermoon might not react to Ace’s behavior because it’s seen as normal. It’s our own strange little culture. But you’re not from around here, so it must be confusing. Am I right?”
I nodded slowly. I was confused a lot. And what made it worse was that it felt like I was the only one. “Yeah, I guess.”
“Look, Ace cares about you very much. If you tell him he’s being too harsh with you and that he’s confusing you, he will listen. I promise you, he will try to do better.
“That boy would do anything to make you happy. He doesn’t mean to make you feel like this.”
“So that just excuses his behavior?” I demanded. “He gets to tell me what to do all the time just because he was just brought up that way? Because he’s a man?
“I gotta tell you, I don’t think these are the sort of equal rights that women have been fighting for for the last hundred years.”
My dad smiled again. “No, of course not. And if it were anybody else treating you this way, I would tell you to kick them to the curb and never look back.
“But this is Ace we’re talking about. You’ve known each other forever, and he’s going to be a part of your life no matter what. He’s practically a part of our family.
“And as wonderful as it is to have someone like that by your side, it also means you need to work through these problems rather than ignore them. They’re not going to go away, and neither is he.
“So, he needs to know he’s doing something wrong.