“Fuck you, Emmy.”
She tosses words at me that cut deep. That hurt in places I spent so long trying to heal. Words that make me bleed. Words that reveal more about both of us than I want to admit.
We aren’t a family.
I fight the desire to grab Janie by the shoulders, shake her until she knocks this off. Until she realizes I am not the enemy. That I never was.
But looking at her, so small, so alone, I know I will never be anything for her. She will never let me.
“Good-bye, Janie.”
I leave the room, needing one thing. One single, solitary thing. The one thing that makes sense in all of this. Even if it shouldn’t.
I need Ace.
I need him in a way that carries me out of the hospital room, away from Janie.
I need him in a way that propels me forward.
I don’t look back.
25
ACE
I walk through the casino floor in yesterday’s clothes. The guys are with me, and Landon points to Tess and Claire, in their barely-there uniforms, standing with the requisite drink trays in hand.
“Shall we?” Landon asks.
I nod, hoping they’ve heard from Emmy. I tried to call her twice, and then McQueen told me I needed to stop acting like such a pussy.
They don’t understand that I’m in love with Emmy. That I would, and will, do anything to be with her.
“You sure, Ace?” Jack asks. “If Emmy is in with Grotto, these girls might be too.”
“Emmy isn’t with Grotto,” I say. “Besides, Tess in with him? Never.”
“Claire’s a tough one, though,” Landon says. “Who knows what she’s up to.”
“Claire may be tough, but she isn’t a fool. She’d never get wrapped up with Grotto,” I say.
“But Emmy would?” McQueen asks.
“Fuck this,” I say. “I don’t want to talk about Emmy anymore. Not until I’m looking at her face. Right now, we’re talking to her girls.”
We cut across the casino floor, toward them.
“Ace,” Claire says. “Everything okay? Heard you had a rough night.”
“Yeah?” Jack asks, stepping toward her aggressively. “What else did you hear?”
“Hey,” I tell him, pushing at his chest, needing him to back the fuck off. The last thing I need right now is a showdown in my casino. The press is probably already getting heavy-handed with me in jail last night.
“Fuck you, Jack,” Claire says. Tess’s eyes get wide. “Emmy told me Ace was in jail. And I don’t know whose fucking mess this is, but Emmy should not be the one cleaning it up.”
“Emmy’s cleaning what up?” I ask.
Tess sighs. “She’s at her sister’s apartment, trying to get some clues about Janie for Detective Clark. I told her she shouldn’t be alone, but we have our shifts and couldn’t get anyone to cover for us.”
“Why shouldn’t she be alone?” I ask.
“Because Grotto came after her.” Claire shakes her head, apparently confused as to how we don’t know this information. “Fuck, Ace, do you know anything?”
“I’ve been in a fucking jail cell for twenty-four hours,” I say, ready to punch something. Someone. Grotto. “I’ve gotta get over there.”
“We’ll come with,” Jack says.
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “Wait here with Claire and Tess. You girls go change, then stick with my boys. We’ll meet up after I get Emmy. I don’t want anyone in a position for Grotto to get close.”
“Should we get security detail?” Landon asks.
“Good call.” I nod, punching in a call to my assistant, wanting to get security to Emmy’s apartment ASAP.
“But we have our shift, Ace,” Tess says.
“I own this fucking hotel, and I own this town. Go change, and stay with my boys.”
“Got it, boss-man,” Claire says, biting back whatever fear she may have with a smile. Emmy is lucky to have friends like these girls.
“I’m out,” I say, then head to the garage for my car.
I’m driving fast.
It’s time I go get my woman.
A light is on in the apartment when I pull up to the run-down complex.
My cock’s been twitching the whole ride over, thinking about Emmy and our last few days together. All I want to do is press her against the wall and tell her everything is going to be okay. And then fuck her until she believes me.
During our phone call when I was detained, her words had been laced in fear. Laced in lies. Her sister was fucked up and feeding her bullshit, and I know the only reason Emmy believes it is because she wants so badly to have a family.
I didn’t want to be the bad guy to tell her that, so I tiptoed around the truth.