Page 48 of The Fire We Make

“You’re right,” he said simply, then snapped his binder shut and turned to the rest of the room. “I want briefs on my desk by end of day. You’re dismissed.”

Everyone quickly gathered up their belongings and headed for the door. Joy stood, moving to follow before Ace’s deep timbre cut through the bustle.

“Except you, Thibodeaux.”

Joy stopped in her tracks but didn’t move closer and neither did Ace. Instead, she stood at one end of the conference table and he sat at the other, engaging in a silent stare-off as the room emptied.

Once they were alone, he stood, walking towards her. Joy took a few steps back, but he matched them until she was nearly backed into the frosted glass wall of the conference room.

“You know your way around criminal law, huh? The people around here can’t stop singing your praises,” he said.

Joy looked up at him, pasting nonchalance on her expression. “I interned at the DA’s office in law school,” she explained. That fact was true, but he didn’t need to know that the particular strategies he’d witnessed had been learned when listening in on her Cartel’s attorneys putting together their strategies to defend her men.

“And now you’ve come to the dark side,” Ace smirked.

“Something like that,” she grinned, then attempted to brush past him but he placed his hand on the wall beside her, his arm out blocking her way.

Joy was acutely aware of the fact that anyone who walked by or lingered would have a full view of them together like this.

“This is gonna be a tough case,” he said.

“Yeah, good luck,” she said, then tried to move around him again but he didn’t budge.

“And I need an associate,” he continued unbothered.

“Okay?” Joy raised a brow.

“I want you.”

Joy heard the words that came out of his mouth but the smoldering look in his eyes made her feel like he wasn’t just talking about her legal expertise.

“I’m on a lot of other cases right now,” Joy said, trying and failing not to get lost in his eyes.

“What that gotta do with me?” he asked with a crooked grin. His eyes flicked to the vinyl placard boasting his last name on the frosted glass above her head. Joy followed the direction of his gaze.

She scoffed, rolling her eyes.

“You don’t wanna work with me, Rose?” Ace asked, taking yet another step towards her.

“No, not particularly,” Joy answered.

Amusement crossed over his face but he didn’t look deferred. “Why is that?”

Because you make my blood hot and stare at me like you see something you shouldn’t.

“Because we… have history and it wouldn’t be appropriate.”

“I’ll keep it professional. Scouts honor.”

“You weren’t no damn boy scout.”

“No, I wasn’t,” he grinned.

“This is gonna be a big case, they’ve been trying to catch one of the major players in this organization for years and if your assessment is right about this being a trap, they’ll throw everything they’ve got at this. It’ll probably make regional headlines. There’ll be lots of eyes on this. Don’t you want your name on that?”

He spoke directly to her ambition like she was transparent.

Joy shook her head, fighting a grin of her own. Telling him ‘no’ was on the tip of her tongue until Byron’s voice filled her head.