Page 160 of The Fire We Make

Mel was unconvinced but she nodded anyway. “Okay… Well I’m going to my room,” she said, backing towards the stairs slowly.

“Okay,” Joy said. “We’ll talk later.”

“You damn right we will,” Mel called from the top of the stairs. No one spoke until they heard her bedroom door shut.

“Is that all?” Joy asked.

Ace glanced back at his siblings. There were more questions and more discussions to be had but those would be between him and Joy. Clearly, she had no intentions of harming them or their organization and that's all they needed to know.

“That’s all. Y'all can go,” Ace said to his siblings.

They all began walking towards the door. August gave Joy a nod on his way out that she returned.

April pulled Joy into a hug. “I knew I liked you,” she spoke into Joy’s ear.

Von scowled but didn’t say anything as he passed.

Jrue only spared Joy a moment’s glance before he turned to Ace. “Family dinner tonight,” he issued the reminder.

“We’ll be there,” Ace said.

Joy squeezed Ace’s hand as she trailed him into the large estate.

She hadn’t been able to pick her jaw up since they pulled up to the metal gates and guard house.

Joy had been around wealth her whole life but what the Kings had was beyond anything she’d ever seen or imagined. Seeing this, and now knowing what she did about Ace and his family, she couldn’t help the nerves that came over her.

Feeling her tensions and sensing her discomfort, Ace pulled her close, wrapping an arm around her.

“Relax baby. Nobody gon’ hurt you around here,” Ace whispered into her hair.

Joy couldn’t help but snort. “I’m not afraid of being hurt. What if they don't like me?” She whispered her question, ashamed of even being concerned with something as trivial as being liked.

Joy had never done the ‘meet the parents’ thing and didn’t know what the protocol was if his family decided they didn’t like her.

Would Ace leave her?

Ace looked down at her with tender eyes and smiled. “They’ll love you.”

Joy didn’t have a chance to respond before they reached the door. Before they could even knock, the large oak door swung open, revealing an older woman with the same deep skin and hazel eyes as Ace.

“Dang mama, we were coming,” Ace laughed, as they cleared the last of the steps.

June King was regal with her long salt and pepper hair, glowing skin, and fabulous boho style dress that hugged her fit figure and flared at the sleeves. She was draped in diamonds and gold jewelry with beaded crystals sprinkled throughout her extravagant stacks.

“I know, but you were taking too long and I couldn’t wait,” June said, waving her oldest son off. She turned to Joy, peering at her with the same eyes that she’d passed to her children. “Hi honey, I’m June. It’s so good to meet you.”

“You too,” Joy said, putting on her best smile. She extended a hand to shake but was instead pulled into a warm hug that she couldn’t help but sink into. Joy wasn’t sure what she was expecting Ace’s mother to be like, but it wasn't the warm radiance of June King.

June ushered them inside and through a grand foyer until they reached the dining room. Around the table were the rest of the King siblings, Senior, Zachariah and Ella.

“Finally. My stomach was touching my back,” Von grumbled in greeting seeing the two enter the room.

Ace smacked Von upside the back of his head as they passed, leading Joy to her reserved seat beside his usual spot.

“Everybody, Joy. Joy, everybody,” Ace introduced, pulling Joy’s chair back from the table for her to sit.

Joy chuckled. “Hello, everybody.”