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I push the door closed, pretending his words don’t cut me. I lean against it, not wanting to be too close to him. He’s mad and his words are brutal. I fold my arms over my chest, feeling the need to have a barrier between us.
“Ace, I’m really sorry we went out tonight,” I begin, and he leans back in his oversized chair. It gives him a cocky feel and it pisses me off. “But I’m a grown adult. I can leave this clubhouse anytime I want.” Ace raises his eyebrow in surprise, almost like he’s daring me to continue. “And I can make my own decisions. You aren’t my keeper.”
Ace suddenly stands, placing his hands on his desk, and leans forwards. His face is red, and I think I’ve made him angrier. “You’re right, Mae, you are an adult. You’re free to come and go, and if that’s what you want to do, you can leave and make your own decisions. So, pack your shit and get the fuck out of my club.” My mouth falls open. His tone is so venomous that it takes me by surprise.
“You want me to leave?”
“If you can’t follow my rules, rules that I put in place to keep you safe, to keep us all safe, then it’s for the best.”
“But I don’t want to leave. This is my home.”
“Clearly, you felt like a prisoner tonight. I don’t want you to feel that way, Mae. I want you to feel safe. Everything I do is for the good of this club. If I put us on lockdown, it’s for a reason. Tonight, you acted selfishly, immaturely, and like a jealous wife. This behaviour,” he snaps, “is the reason I don’t have relationships. I like real women and I hate playing games. It proves what I always thought.”
“And what’s that?” I ask, biting down on my inner cheek to stop myself from crying in front of him.
“That I’m too old for you. I don’t know what I was thinking to even go there. Sleep on what I’ve said. If you want to leave this club, I won’t be stopping you.” Ace sits back down and opens his laptop. “You can go now.”
I feel around behind me until I find the door handle. Pulling it open, I stumble back out of the office, my heart and dignity in tatters. Before I leave, I take a deep breath and turn to face him. “I’m glad I saw you for what you really are. I don’t deserve to be spoken to like that, and from now on, I’ll keep well out of your way. But there is no way I’ll ever leave my mum, or this club, because it’s my home. I won’t go just to make your life easier, so unless you pack my shit up and drag me out of here, I’m staying.”
I turn on my heel and leave, slamming his office door hard as I go. I don’t bother to find Piper. Instead, I run up to my room, fall onto my bed, and cry into my pillow. Tomorrow, I’ll be stronger and I’ll treat him like someone I once knew. But for tonight only, I’ll allow my heart to hurt.
Chapter Eleven
ACE
I pace the room. I called church and invited Anton and Tag so we could get an update on Tag’s father. I still have a club on lockdown, and people are restless.
“There’s nothing. No sign, no whispers. He has to be up to something big,” says Tag. Anton doesn’t seem to agree. Instead, he shakes his head and sighs heavily. He’s just as annoyed about this whole thing as me. None of us want to risk our families.
“Maybe he saw what he was up against and scuttled back off to the dark hole he came from?” suggests Scar.
“He won’t give up. He wants something, maybe his status back or notoriety for killing the head of the Corallo family,” explains Anton. “He won’t just disappear. While he’s quiet, he’s plotting. I just don’t know if he’s the key behind all this or if it’s something bigger, something way bigger than him.”
“Well, I can’t keep this club on lockdown for much longer. What’s the threat level?”
“Take the club off lockdown but keep a high alert. Have men posted on the gates at all times and keep a close eye on the women who are most important,” says Anton. I want to tell him that I know how to run my club and that I don’t need the Mafia giving me instructions. Instead, I nod and bang the gavel on the table to end the meeting. Anton is not someone I want to make an enemy of, not when he’s useful to my club.
Keeping important women safe would be easy if the one I want to protect more than anything was actually talking to me. It’s been a week since I pulled Mae into my office and told her to leave. When those words left my mouth, I could have slit my own throat. I was calling her bluff, I guess, but the thought of her calling mine and leaving this club almost killed me. Luckily for me, she hasn’t gone anywhere, but she’s completely blanking me. If we’re in the same room, she avoids any conversation and often turns her back whenever I pass. It’s for the best, I know it is, and it makes things easier on me. But the guilt I feel is weighing me down, and if I’m totally honest with myself, I miss her. Because before anything else, we were friends.
I go in search of Dodge. I missed his walk first thing, and he was grumpy with me. That dog is more hormonal than any woman I ever knew. I whistle as I walk through the clubhouse, and I spot him when his head shoots up. He’s curled up next to Mae on one of the couches. She’s asleep, looking peaceful and beautiful. Dodge jumps down and rushes over to me, which wakes Mae up. She stretches out, and her eyes land on me. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. I was gonna walk him.”
“I already did it,” she says on a yawn. Of course, she did. Dodge is a traitor and a sucker for Mae and her long walks.
“I hope someone went with you,” I say firmly.
“Of course, Scar came.”
Scar. Since he learned I stepped away, he always seems to be around her. “You and Scar a thing these days?” I ask, trying to sound casual, but Mae doesn’t answer. Instead, she stands and heads for the stairs. I don’t think about it, but I snatch her wrist up in my hand, shocking us both. I instantly release her, both of us staring at her arm. “Well, are you?”
“Why do you care?”
“Cos I wanna know if you’re fucking your way around this club?” I snap. I know she isn’t, and I don’t know why I can’t just be nice to her. It’s like I miss her, pine for her, and the second I see her, I turn into this shithead who insults and upsets her.
“When you start announcing who you’re fucking, I’ll start telling you who I’m fucking.”
“Okay, I’m fucking Angel. Now, your turn,” I growl.
“Dickhead,” she mumbles and rushes off towards the stairs.
