Page 52 of The Fire We Make

He liked that shit. He liked her.

Unfortunately for her, she’d captured his attention and he wasn’t letting up until he had answers to his questions.

Something was off with her. If her empty file wasn’t enough to go on, the way she went about practicing the law was enough to raise his suspicion.

She was too good for a first year associate and knew too much about how the streets worked. She was sharp and cutthroat and now he knew why the senior associates praised and deferred to her the way they did.

Ace was equal parts aroused by and suspicious of Joy Thibodeaux and he planned to get to the bottom of what laid behind the mask he’d begun to peel back at the edges.

She was hiding something. Or running from something.

Ace sensed that she possessed power she didn’t even know she had.

Or maybe she did, and was afraid to use it. Afraid of the type of damage she could do if provoked. Ace made it his mission to provoke her. To keep fanning the flames she was trying to extinguish so he could see how beautifully she burned.

Chapter Fourteen

Being interested in things was never good for a man like Ace. Interest quickly turned to obsession if he didn’t take control of it fast enough.

Having an obsessive personality was helpful professionally. His ability to hyper focus had helped him reach personal achievements that otherwise wouldn’t have been obtained had he relied on motivation and discipline alone. That obsessive personality however, was not helpful when trying to keep his mind and interest off of a certain brown skin associate toting a fat ass and a pistol.

For the third time that day, Ace pulled up the camera in Joy’s small office a floor below him. Her curly hair had been slicked back into a bun at the nape of her neck with a few strands sticking out of the bun and framing her face. The blue light blocking glasses slid to the tip of her nose as she read whatever she had pulled up on her screen.

He watched her chew on the tip of her pen in concentration as she read before her manicured fingers began flying across her keyboard. Ace got lost watching her work.

He leaned back in his seat watching Joy in her zone and thoroughly enjoying the show before his entertainment was interrupted by Jrue and Von strolling into his office without knocking. Swiftly, he closed the security camera window and turned his attention to the unwanted intrusion.

Ace watched with an irritated scowl as his brothers made themselves comfortable in his space — uninvited. Jrue walked over to the bar cart by the window and began pouring two glasses of the scotch that took residence there. He opted for whiskey.

He passed both brothers their glass before stretching across the couch by the window and sipping his own. Von took his glass and plopped down into one of the chairs across from Ace’s desk. He kicked his feet on top of it, earning another scowl from Ace.

“If you wanna keep that funky ass foot you better get it the fuck off my desk,” he warned through gritted teeth.

The oldest and youngest Kings locked eyes in challenge for a moment before Von conceded, sliding his foot off the desk. But not before making sure the cup of pens and plastic plants came with him, making them clatter to the floor.

“Aw shit,” Jrue mumbled into his glass.

Jovon erupted in laughter but it got lodged in his throat when Ace hopped over the desk and wrapped his hands around his throat. Hardly able to stand with laughter, Jrue peeled himself from the couch he was draped on to break up the conflict between his brothers.

“Aye man, let him live,” Jrue urged between cackles simultaneously trying to peel Ace’s hands from Von’s throat and steady Von’s hands from throwing anymore punches or reaching for his knife.

After a few more moments, realizing the two were beyond words, Jrue landed a solid punch to Ace’s temple and another one to Von’s chest making them both halt their assault on each other and turn their angry glares on him.

Jrue picked his glass back up and reclaimed his spot on the couch taking a sip. “Y’all niggas be cool. Too damn old for that shit, " he chastised.

Even at their grown ages, no one was able to get under Ace’s skin the way Von did and he enjoyed doing so.

“The fuck y’all doing in here anyway?” Ace asked, straightening the sleeves of his suit jacket as he sank back into his chair. His hand was itching to navigate back to the security feed and see what Joy was up to.

Before they could answer, a series of soft knocks sounded at the door. After Ace instructed whoever it was to enter, as if he’d thought her up, Joy glided in.

She wore a long black body hugging skirt with a long sleeved black satin blouse tucked in showing off every fucking curve even though she was nearly completely covered.

She halted at the door once she noticed the other two King brothers’ presences. “My apologies Mr. King, I didn’t realize you had guests. I can come back if now isn’t a good time,” she said. Her alert eyes bounced around the room assessing the three of them.

“You’re fine,” Ace waved her off. “You haven’t met yet, but these are my brothers, Jrue and Jovon.”

Jrue and Jovon stood, extending their hands for Joy to shake. She stepped further into the room, taking their outstretched hands and giving Ace a full view of her body. While they made introductions, he took a moment to slowly rake his gaze over her. He did his best not to focus too long on the swell of her hips and the sweet scent that assaulted his nose every time she was near.