Page 148 of The Fire We Make

Von waved them off and continued digging into the plate that seemed to have appeared out of thin air.

Ace didn’t smile.

“I can stay objective,” he said firmly. “Especially when it comes to this family.”

“Mm,” Pops hummed. “What you think?” he asked Jrue.

Jrue shrugged. “Only met her twice. But… he pulled a switchblade out her bra the first time and the second, Ace sliced up Isaac’s face in front of her and she didn’t flinch.”

Ace didn’t miss the way his grandfather’s gaze sharpened.

“We’ll come back to what you did to Isaac,” he promised. “That girl is more than she appears to be.”

“Yes, she is,” Ace agreed.

“But you don’t want to know the truth.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. Borderline an indictment.

Ace didn’t answer. He didn’t know. He had seen signs and had suspicions but he hadn’t confirmed out of fear of losing what they had.

“Figure it out,” Pops said, voice low. “And make sure she ain’t a threat to what I built. If she’s not… bring her to dinner. I’d like to meet her.”

He speared Ace with eyes that reminded him of the old Zachariah King, not the loving grandfather but the legend and nightmare.

“And if she is…” Heavy silence stretched between them. “You know what you need to do.”

Ace swallowed around the thickness in his throat and nodded.

He cleaned up in the bathroom then bypassed his family, his sights set on talking to Joy.

His mind wasn’t on Marco.

Or the traitors.

Or even the mafia.

It was on her.

The way she didn’t flinch.

The way she shot back like she’d been trained.

The way she disappeared before anyone could question her.

His mind was on the way he found her before the shooting started. The crazed look in her eyes and brutal way she beat the lifeless man beneath her.

He wondered if he hadn’t imagined it all those times she looked at him like she knew exactly who and what he was.

Ace slid into his car, jaw tight.

He’d tip-toed around this conversation for long enough. They’d toyed with each other, trying to see who would be the first to break and spill all of their secrets.

Ace had enjoyed the game but now he needed answers.

Two truths sat heavy in his chest:

Someone in his house was trying to take him down.

And the woman he couldn’t stay away from — the woman he’d come to need like he’d never needed anyone else — might not be innocent.