Page 20 of Pride: Kneel Before None

Initial thoughts of how beautiful and welcoming this room made me feel were too good to last. I approached the walk-in closet and opened the door. The space was filled with women’s clothes, shoes, and accessories for every possible occasion. My fingertips brushed along the rows of hangers, pushing a few to the side to catch a glimpse of the tags. Each article of clothing was exactly my size.

Turning to leave the closet, I noticed a small note on the floor. Bending down, I picked it up and read the words scribbled on it.

Things to add to my Little Spade’s room: flowers, books, bath oils, lingerie.

I shouldn’t have been surprised by the way he had been fawning all over me. Though the last item on the list had me rolling my eyes. In his goddamn dreams.

I wondered how long this had all been in the works. Not wanting to examine that train of thought any further, I dropped the note back to the floor and high-tailed it out of there. I didn’t have time to play house with this man, no matter how much he had me melting at my core. Normally, flattery got someone everywhere with me.

Ace was the exception. His particular brand of attention was unpredictable, and that made him dangerous.

He was so incredibly dangerous that thinking about the way his hands had drifted over my body earlier sent a shiver through me—and not one of the bad kinds, just one of the threatening kinds that carried consequences.

Ace wasn’t just a walking red flag, he was the emergency siren and public broadcast announcement. Not being able to draw glimpses of the near future with him made me even more wary. I didn’t like making bets without knowing the outcomes, and this man was my biggest damn blind spot in the riskiest game I’d ever played.

There had to be a way out of here without that stupid playing card he took with him. Collecting my shoes, I slipped my feet into them. Then, determined, I yanked on the handle of the front door to test how secure it was. Well, I nearly fell backward on my ass when there was absolutely no resistance, and it swung right open. It almost clocked me in the face in the process.

Didn’t he say that I wasn’t getting out of here without that ace card?

Fuck it. His mistake was my opportunity to seize. Dumb bastard was probably too busy thinking about his dick to actually seal the door properly.

The first step out of the penthouse was tentative, I looked both ways down the short hallway wondering if lightning was going to strike me down.

Empty.

When nothing nefarious transpired and no henchmen popped out of the shadows, I confidently strode towards the elevators. Ace could find someone else to be his Little fucking Spade.

Within moments, I was back down on the casino floor, convinced that I could leave this joint in my proverbial rear view mirror. Nobody dared to stop me; no one even had the thought as I walked by. When I stepped out through the main entrance, I knew I was home free.

The night air wrapped itself around me like a familiar glove of desert air and smoked jasmine. My victorious grin spread from ear to ear as I strutted down the sidewalk.

It was nice knowing you, Ace Reynard.

My brother Tighe and I had shared an apartment before he had been unfairly tossed into Blackscale. Now, I had the place all to myself until I could bail him out. Truly, the classification of our shared living space as an apartment was a disservice. It had more square footage than some houses around here. Located on the outskirts of Superbia, it was a bit of a hike from Sevenfold. It would take an hour tops if I walked, even less if I called a cab.

Shit.

I patted down the sides of my dress and its lack of pockets.

Double shit.

When I had gotten my princess treatment from Iggy, he held onto the clothes I had arrived in for me to pick up after the tournament. Inside my jeans? All my personal belongings. Phone, wallet, and most importantly, all the chips I had won today. Everything that mattered was still inside the very building I was attempting to distance myself from.

The journey down the sidewalk gave me space and time to get stuck in my thoughts. Could I afford to abandon everything and start from scratch? How would I make up the remainder of the funds I needed to bust my brother out of prison? Would Ace rat me out to other casinos? How long would it take him to notice I left?

I could have turned around and marched right back into Sevenfold to retrieve my things, but pride held me back. There would be no giving Ace the chance or satisfaction of seeing me willingly step back into that place.

As for all the other questions swimming around my head? They were too far into the future to find answers via my mind’s eye. I would just have to come up with another plan to get my shit back.

Rounding a corner, I collided with a hulking chest of solid muscle with a thick layer of fat packed over it. The contact presented a flash of violence that shot across my precognition. Images of grimy hands painfully grabbing me, snarls in my ear, and foul breath in my face were among the nicer parts of the snippet of the vision.

Blinking back into the present, I tilted my head back to stare up at the face of the behemoth I had walked straight into.

Triple shit.

This day just went from unfortunate to downright craptastic. It was none other than Rip Markov, and on either side of him were his goons, Jasper and Jinx. We weren’t just talking run-of-the-mill demons here; we were talking darker underworld scum. The type that started wars just to feed off the chaos.

There may not have been a lot of morality in Superbia, but there was some level of adherence to an unspoken code to ensure the whole fucking city didn’t just set itself on fire.