Page 173 of The Fire We Make

Ace’s eyes flicked to them. “Did some damage?”

She nodded. “And did. Your bill is gonna be longer than a CVS receipt,” she replied with a grin.

Ace chuckled, unbothered. “I look forward to it.

Joy stepped closer until she stood right in front of the desk. She peered at the upside down documents and photos until she pieced together what she was looking at. Photos of Isaac and Marco, and documents with dollar signs made her turn her head, realizing that she wasn’t looking at firm business but family business.

“Sorry,” she muttered, realizing she’d intruded on a space that didn’t include her.

Ace silently rotated a few documents to face her fully, his eyes and actions conveying his trust and invitation.

No secrets.

Joy smiled, then looked down at the papers before her.

Security footage.

Bank transfers.

Text messages.

Access logs.

Each one told the story of months of betrayal and an attempt on the lives of the family she’d come to love.

Without thought, Joy snatched a pen from the holder on Ace’s desk and began circling and underlining things, making notes in the margins like she did when building a case.

They worked in a steady silence, no different from how they did at the office.

Joy slid a page back over to Ace, the red nail of her pointer finger tapping on a timestamp.

Ace nodded with a grunt, tabbing it and setting it in the ‘evidence’ pile.

Ace pored over a still from a security footage and huffed. He slid the page over to Joy and within seconds, she’d clocked the same thing he did. He nodded and placed the photo in the pile.

Before long, Joy had slipped out of her shoes and Ace had abandoned his desk chair. They sat on the couch by the window with Joy curled into his side and her feet kicked up. They worked in a silent efficient ease that they found easily at the office, and it seemed to translate in other matters too.

Ace slapped the pages of text messages down on the side table to his right and sighed.

Joy did the same, reaching over to deposit her own stack before snuggling deeper into him.

“This is…. Undeniable” Joy said.

Ace nodded his agreement. The digging they’d done had unearthed Isaac’s plot that went far deeper than Ace had imagined.

The fact that all of this had slipped by him was a hit to his pride but he hadn’t given Isaac as much credit as he should have. He’d broken one of Pops’ golden rules and that was a mistake he wouldn’t make again.

“It is. This is everything we need to bury him,” Ace replied. He wrapped his arms tighter around Joy, closing his eyes as he breathed in her hair products.

“Thank you for helping me with this. This would’ve taken all night if I’d done it alone,” ace mumbled into her curls.

“No problem,” Joy said. She lifted her head and Ace used that opportunity to take her lips in a kiss.

“We make a good team,” he muttered against her lips. It seemed like he’d echoed that sentiment a hundred times already, but it still amazed him every time to realize he’d found his equal in Joy in every way.

Ace reveled in how well they fit together. How seamlessly she fit into both of his worlds.

Ace felt comfortable having Joy in his space and in his world and each day he saw her becoming more comfortable too.