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“Hey.” She offered me a shy smile.
“Hey.” I stood motionless, uncertain what I was even doing. By all rights, I had no business talking to her anymore. In just a short period, she’d gone from my puppy dog tagalong to my gatekeeper. But looking at her now, it was obvious she wasn’t enjoying this situation any more than I was.
“You want to sit down?” She gestured to the sofa beside her. “There’s not much on TV. Never is this time of night. Ace only has the basic package even though the dude’s loaded as hell.”
She was making small talk, and I was still radio silent. But somehow, I found my feet moving in the direction of the sofa before I sat down and stared at the screen like a zombie. I wondered if it was obvious how horrible I felt, but Trouble didn’t leave me to wonder for long.
“I can’t imagine this is easy for you,” she said.
“When has life ever been easy?” I deflected.
An infomercial came on, and the presenter spoke boisterously about a new mop that would perform miracles in your house. Trouble and I both watched with glazed expressions before she opted to try again.
“I just want you to know that I really am sorry for the way things went down between us.” Her voice was sincere, and when I glanced over at her, the innocence in her expression made it hard for me to keep hating her. The thought of her alone in this world without anyone to help or guide her was what drew me to her in the first place.
“As it turned out, I think you were the better con,” I noted, somewhat sourly.
“Well, despite what I may have led you to believe, I had a good teacher,” she answered. “My dad was a con. Once he figured out he could leverage me in his games, everything became fair play.”
There was a bitter note to her tone that implied the situation wasn’t ideal, and against my better judgment, I felt sympathetic for her.
“You played on my emotions,” I told her. “How did you know what would appeal to me? How did you know I would want to help you?”
“I didn’t.” She chewed on her thumbnail, a nervous habit I’d never been able to get her to break. “Ace did.”
I leaned back against the sofa, blowing out a breath. “He knows everything about my life. I don’t understand why. Why does that information matter to him?”
Trouble lowered the volume on the TV and turned to me, her eyes conflicted. “I don’t know why. I’ll admit that it was an unusual thing for him to ask of me. He doesn’t usually get so wrapped up in people. It was like an addiction for him. Every time we talked, he wanted more and more details. And then I eventually realized I wasn’t the only one keeping an eye on you. He was too. I’ve never seen him so strung out on someone before.”
I wanted that to mean something, but it didn’t. Ace had proven that tonight with his actions. And now, more than anything, I wanted to know his secrets too, so we could be even.
“I know it’s not my place to say,” Trouble went on, “but I think you should be careful, Birdie. Ace has your best interests in mind, but he isn’t necessarily great at the execution. He’s emotionally stunted. I don’t know a lot about his past, but I’ve seen the way he is with women. He can’t give you anything more than a safe home. That’s the extent of his capabilities, and if you expect more, you will find yourself sorely disappointed.”
In my heart, I already knew what she told me was true, but it didn’t make it any easier to accept.
“You mean like it was with Kylie,” I stated.
“Yes,” she answered. “I think Kylie believed she could fix him somehow if she just waited long enough, and I could see how it’s an easy trap to fall into. Ace is a lovable guy, but he never had a real relationship with her. They didn’t kiss, or sleep in the same bed, or go on dates together. She’d never even been to his house.”
I tried to process what she was telling me, but my brain felt like it was going to implode from all the new questions that popped up. Her confirmation should have given me peace, but instead, it only created more torment.
“He never kissed her?” Somehow, I’d voiced that question out loud without really meaning to.
Trouble arched a brow and shook her head. “Never. It’s one of his rules.”
“How could you know that?” My tone was accusatory, doubtful, but she didn’t seem to care.
“Kylie and I sort of became friends. I’d see her in the clubhouse every weekend, and when Ace wasn’t around, she’d just sit there, trying to occupy herself until he returned. I guess I felt a little sorry for her. Anyway, we started talking, and everything just kinda came up. She thought I might have some insight into the inner workings of his mind, but I didn’t.”
