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Chapter 21
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2024-10-29 19:42:56MIRANDA
He wasn't home.
I arrived after talking to Persephone only to find the house stark empty — not even a cook or helper in sight. I searched for Ace in the common areas like the living room and gardens and then went to his room but he wasn't there. The other half of the house was a half Ace never ventured into. Gunnar's room and home office were there.
I paced the foyer, glaring at my phone's screen. Ace hadn't answered my calls or my texts and I didn't know what else to do. I would have been fine if this house didn't feel so haunted. In the darkness and quiet, a chill raced down my spine and had goosebumps littering my flesh. I wasn't worried about him. He could take care of himself and I knew this house was safe but...
I sighed, taking a seat on the steps. The agent had indeed messaged me. He had even called multiple times. Since Ace wasn't at home, I called him back and he su
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ACEShe didn't move.Even after I'd practically begged her to leave because I couldn't stand the sight of her in front of me, she didn't move. Each time my gaze fell on her all I thought about was what she had said to Daniel. Where did her touch her — if he did touch her. The mere thought of his hands on her skin had me turning near feral. I wanted to cut them off and maybe force feed them to him.And yet, the memory of what happened today still had me shuddering. Not even drowning myself in alcohol could erase the fear I saw in that vile man's eyes. The promises he made and I knew he damn well could never keep kept ringing in my ears. I remembered the feel of Gabby's skin against my palm when I had to clamp my hand over her mouth to muffle her scream when I had to push that piece of shit husband of hers off the stool he stood on because he refused to jump off. The sound of the wood creaking against
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ACEI stared out into the night feeling a phantom chill race down my spine. My leather-clad hands were stuffed in the pockets of the black trench coat I wore. The sky was dark — not a cloud or star in sight but what else could I expect when I was standing in a city like this? The moon shone its silver rays upon us but even that was murky, the light being drowned out by the city lights that would have held a certain type of magic to it if it weren't something I saw every bitter day of my life.What the fuck was I even doing here?Apparently, I couldn't stay away. I woke up that morning after Miranda had decided to tell me the truth to find her gone. And I was genuinely okay with that. I went about my day trying to get at least a sliver of information about the people following me. However, I didn't want to involve either of my brothers which made things difficult. I didn't want to drag the cub into th
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ACEI stuffed my clenched fists into the pockets of the black jeans I wore and rose my chin in natural defiance. This was a bad idea. Matter of fact, this was probably the worst idea that had ever wormed its way into my fucking head and yet, I didn't or couldn't find one good reason to stop myself from doing this. To just turn back and maybe take the Harper's advice.Squaring my shoulders and loosening a breath, I prepared myself for what lay ahead. A cocky smirk tugged at my lips. One that was practiced. One that I used to scare the people I did business with. The elevator doors parted and I looked straight ahead as I stepped out. Silence - pin drop silence - descended upon the room but I didn't care to even glance at the morons gawking at me as if I had fallen from fucking heaven.I snorted at the thought. It made more sense if I crawled out the depths of Hell. No part of me was made for Heaven and I lik
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ACE Fuck! My imagination nor memory did not do the woman standing in front of me justice. I thought one year of not seeing her face or hearing her voice would be enough to end my infatuation with the little thing but I was mistaken. So fucking mistaken. Those big, round eyes of hers traveled down my frame. They were the kind of blue that made me believe God had carved out a piece of the sky just to bless her face with those perfect colored eyes. She had grown out her lush mane of chestnut waves, leaving it to brush those sharp shoulders. My gaze traced the line of her high cheekbones, down her straight nose, and lingered on her pink-stained cupid bow lips that were set in a pout. I wanted to see her smile, or at least bare those blinding white teeth at me. She had a long knitted sweater on that hung from one of her shoulders, the rust color brought out her tanned skin and black tights that clung to her
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Ace Epilogue
ACE "Hey," I caught Miranda by her wrists, the pads of my thumbs tracing over her thrumming pulse points, "you need to breathe, baby. Take in a deep breath for me." Her sky blue eyes held my hazel ones as she inhaled deeply through her nose, chest inflating with air and round tits pressing against the bodice of her dress. My gaze flickered down before I could stop myself but I instantly regretted it. I locked my jaw and forced myself to plant my feet in place so I wouldn't attack her with my insatiable need for her, "Now," my voice sounded strained to my ears but I continued through clenched teeth, "release that breath for me, baby." She exhaled sharply through her mouth, sweet-scented breath flooding my senses, "I'm fine." "You're running around like a fucking headless chicken.
Ace Chapter 42
MIRANDA"Would you stop moving," I chastised but the words came out muffled since I had a pin pressed between my lips, "if I poke you it will be entirely your fault, don't even think of blaming me."Ace scowled down at me, jutting out his lower lip and batting his stupidly long eyelashes, "You've already poked me more times than I can count on one hand.""And I'll poke you some more if you keep looking at me like that," I grumbled, continuing my work of sewing the button of his black button-down while the shirt was still tightly stretched over his body."Is this totally necessary?" He asked, catching my wrists in his large hands and yanking me close until the tip of his nose was to mine. I was certain my brain forgot how to perform all bodily functions suddenly I was rendered mute while my lungs refused to inflate with air. My mind became dizzy as I drowned in those rich
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MIRANDA I groaned. My head felt heavy on my shoulders with a pounding headache that rivaled every single hangover I ever had in my life. My thoughts were scrambled but I forced myself to stitched them back together because there was a nagging feeling at the back of my mind telling me life depended on it. I remembered Ace dropping me off at my apartment this morning before heading to see his brother. Then, I got showered, dressed, and made my way down to the basement parking with my sister so I could attend classes today. From there onwards, everything was a blur coming back to me in flashy fragments. I remembered the cold chill that ran down my spine and then the even colder chill of the barrel of a gun pressed to the back of my head. There was a phone call but I couldn't remember the details of it and then I was driving to God only knew where because I couldn't remember. But
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ACE"I'm going to kill him," I seethed, pacing the length of Gunnar's office at Astor Architecture. After I had driven Miranda home to get ready for her day, I came here. I should have stayed with her. If I had stayed with her this wouldn't have happened, "no, I'm not going to kill him," I stopped pacing and glared out the floor to ceiling window that overlooked the city in all its beauty, "I'm going to cut his dick off, blend it and then make him drink it before slowly peeling his skin from his body.""Let's find them first before you decide on what you're going to do with him," Gunnar, as calm as fucking ever, said from his seat behind his desk, "Odette has Quinn, and Jericho is tracking her car through any and every camera he can hack into. I'm going to the warehouse to fetch Goldilocks and you find them when Jericho gives you a location. I'll have a team at your disposal if you need it.""If he doesn't
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MIRANDA"So, a psychopath is officially going to be my brother-in-law unless you find a way to royally fuck it up again," my sister mused while jabbing the button on the elevator like a possessed freak while baring her teeth."Hey," I glowered at her words, circling my fingers around her wrist and yanking her hand away from the poor button—it wasn't as if her fighting with it lessened our wait time, "what makes you think I'll find a way to fuck this up? He's just as capable of doing that.""Sure he is," my sister's black-stained lips pulled into a grin but it held no warmth. When she dressed as if a black hole had chewed her and then spat her out then warmth was the last thing I expected to grace her face right now, "but you're you and he's, quite frankly, made you his obsession from the moment he set eyes on you. The last thing he's going to do is something that will fuck up what he's finally got his hands on after you held out on him for so long.""You haven't even had a proper conve
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MIRANDA "Are you going to at least tell me how you know her?" Quinn prodded, fluttering her strawberry blonde eyelashes at Jericho. We were at the Astor home—Gunnar in his home office and Ace in the gym. That was when Quinn decided to pounce on Jericho. We still hadn't spoken. She was making it a point of ignoring me and I couldn't blame her. However, I needed to make it up to her. She was my best friend and I couldn't stand her being mad at me even if I did deserve to be shunned. Jericho leaned back in his chair and crossed his muscle-corded arms over his broad chest as he stared us down, "If I won't tell my brothers, what makes you think I'd tell you?" I snorted at his question, tucking my feet under my butt on his bed so I could settle in, "She can be persuasive." Quinn whipped her head to me—she was seated beside me but left enough room between us for a wall of tension to build itself, "At least I'm not a cunning bitch." "Okay, I think I'm going to leave," Jericho made to mov
Ace Chapter 35
ACE"WHAT DID YOU DO?" I yelled into my phone.We had turned the tables. Instead of those fuckers following us, we were following them. It might have given the game away that we were onto them but it gave them a taste of their own God damned medicine. Though, we had to be careful—or, at least, Gunnar had to be careful. Even with him being well ahead of the gun trade compared to his competitors, he was still losing business because of this inconvenience. And, knowing my brother, it wasn't sitting well with him. So, what he had done shouldn't have surprised me, and yet, it did.It did because my brother was the cold, calculated one between us two even if his temper went off like a grenade, destroying everything in its wake."It was one of those times where he was doing the following," Gunnar grunted and I fisted the steering wheel, feeling Miranda's curious gaze burning every inch of f
