Page 74 of Until Ace

Anger.

Good. She stopped on anger.

At least that makes it a fair fight—not that she really has a leg to stand on in this situation.

There’s no way I’m letting her off with bullshit explanations this time. She has gone too far.

She went in search of the most dangerous fucker around here, to what? Ask him nicely to leave her alone?

Goddammit!

The thought sets my teeth on edge.

“Babe. What. The. Fuck?” I seethe, incapable of controlling myself enough to speak normally to her.

Her eyes dart around but then land back on me. The green gleams, and she nods. “Ace.”

Like she hasn’t lied to me.

This woman.

God, this woman.

For the last month, pieces have started to fall into place.

When she finally told me what was troubling her and who was behind those texts and calls, I started digging.

The fucked up part of it was, while I knew Gorskiy was after her and why, I still hadn’t locked down on who her brother was in all of that. And why he would offer up his own sister to the Russian.

That story about a gambling debt didn’t add up.

Then there was my failed operation, the case against Gorskiy falling apart because of one mistake, setting a fire burning in my gut.

It’s no coincidence it all went down like this.

Yet something still doesn’t add up, but now is not the time to try to figure it out.

No, now is the time to get my woman inside the house, get the truth out of her, and to make her see reason. Otherwise, if she still insists on going at this alone, not having enough faith in me to handle it, I’ll tie her to my fucking bed.

“Mandy,” I say when her eyes drift from mine, calling her attention back to me.

She is standing in front of Cobi, her back straight and chin held high.

She stopped shaking and is now clearly feeling more confident.

“Mandy,” I call out again.

“What?” she snaps, her worried eyes finding mine.

Ah, I guess there’s still some distress left.

“Don’t worry, baby. You have nothing to fear from me. I would never hurt you. Spank your ass? Sure. But I’ll never hurt you,” I say in a monotone voice and get another flash of green.

Good.

“I would never let you do that,” she counters, but her voice wavers.

Yes, you would, I think to myself, but I don’t say it. Now is not the time to goad her into losing herself. No, it’s the time to get her ass inside to safety. And then break her walls down by any means necessary.