Page 21 of The Fire We Make

“Where you going, Ace?” April yelled after him as he tried to slip away. He turned to face her, chuckling when he saw her standing on top of one of the couches, barefoot.

“Business,” he answered simply. He vaguely heard her smack her lips and call him a party pooper but he paid his baby sister no mind.

Senior had drilled into his head since he was a young boy that family business came first always and that wouldn’t change.

“Oh shit,” Ray muttered.

They hadn’t had to go looking for Perry long. The moment they stepped off the elevator on the lounge floor, they were greeted with two guards from Ray’s team who led them to the two bodies in the alley behind the building.

Ace looked down at the carnage with a raised brow, appreciating the work before him. It was a little messy but he appreciated the rage and power it must have taken to inflict such damage. It was done with the precision of a trained assassin but the brutality of someone completely unhinged and Ace couldn’t help but be impressed.

“Who did they piss off?” Ace muttered, noticing the placement of the bullet holes in Perry’s friend and Perry’s marred face.

“He looks like he got ran over,” Ray said.

Ace chuckled, looking around for any clues that could piece together what had happened. “We need to figure out who did this,” he said definitively.

Ray snorted. “Why, so you can thank him?”

Ace gave his friend a sidelong glance. “You know I don’t like unknown factors, Ray. Perry was a dead man walking but only we knew that. I need to know if there’s heat on my men or internal beef.”

Ray nodded in agreement. With the DA sniffing around, all loose ends needed to be clipped and burned and they had no room for mystery beef or vigilantes.

“The lock was picked,” Ray called from the propped open back door.

Ace turned to him. “How can you tell?”

“Scratches on the lock,” Ray answered. He kicked the rock they’d held the door open with out of the way and let it close then pulled on the handle. “And the lock isn’t engaging,” he added once it flew open.

“If the lock is picked, the guy might still be inside. Have your men keep an eye out for anyone suspicious and check the cameras.”

Ray agreed.

He and Ray went separate ways. Ray headed to their security room to review the camera footage and Ace reluctantly trudged back down to the club.

“I need a drink,” Ace mumbled to himself.

He thought taking care of Perry would soothe some of the restlessness but, since he’d been robbed of it, he would need to find other methods.

Chapter Six

Ace burst through the door, stepping out onto the roof. The wind and sounds of the street slapped him as soon as he stepped foot onto the concrete.

Now alone, his mind became clearer and he felt like he could breathe.

As he stepped deeper onto the roof and his eyes adjusted, he made out a curvy figure sitting on the ledge.

He walked closer, letting the slamming of the door and clicking of his shoes announced his presence before he reached her.

She didn’t turn towards the noise.

She was still. So still.

If not for the tight coils blowing in the wind and her arm periodically raising a bottle of something brown to her lips, she could’ve passed for a statue.

Ace leaned against the ledge, a few feet away from her but still, she didn’t acknowledge him. She just continued sipping while staring out at the skyline.

Though she made him uneasy with the way her legs dangled over the side of the building, Ace understood the appeal. The air was crisper up there. Calmer. Peaceful.