Chapter 17 #3
The ache sneaks up on me out of nowhere.
God, I miss her.
And with Ace back, it’s somehow worse. It’s as though her absence has grown louder, the space she used to fill more glaring now that there’s someone here who knew her the way I did. Who bickered with her, laughed with her.
I blink hard, focusing on Ace as he gives me an encouraging smile. For a moment, it’s enough to quiet the hollow place in my chest.
“You’re doing fine.” His tone is patient but amused as I almost lose my balance again. “Relax your knees a little. If you’re stiff, it’s harder to stay steady.”
“Easy for you to say,” I mutter, trying to loosen up. “I’m one wrong move away from becoming a skid mark on this driveway.”
Ace chuckles, steadying me with a gentle grip on my elbow. “You’ll get better. We’re going to practice every day until the show. Not only the skating but also getting me outside with you. It’ll be good for both of us.”
I glance at him, his confidence calming my nerves a little. “We can’t hand them out by foot, I guess?”
“Nope,” he says, popping the P. “Not fast enough.”
I nod, biting my lip as I try to focus on keeping my balance. “Okay, but you’re going to have to break this plan down for me because I still have no idea what the hell we’re all doing.”
Ace pulls me along gently as we circle the driveway, and it’s already so much easier.
“At first, Levi and Koen will kick things off with some magic tricks in honor of Oscar. Something big, flashy. Exactly what he would’ve wanted.
After their opening act, we’re going to trick Veronica into joining them onstage for some… interactive magic.”
“That sounds ominous,” I mutter, wobbling again, but Ace steadies me without missing a beat.
He grins. “After that, Levi has a trick planned that involves the audience. That’s where we come in, handing out decks of cards to everyone.”
“Okay, so far, so good,” I say, nodding. “Then what?”
“Once that’s done, Koen will get Belmont, Foster, and Blackwood to the front for a little hypnotism. While that’s happening, the evidence we’ve gathered will be plastered on the screens of the Lane Building.”
“The evidence on the screen outside will look impressive.”
Those things are massive and on all sides of the building.
Ace nods. “Yeah. I’ve got to admit Levi’s idea was a good one. I’d love to have the evidence plastered all around them, though. Make it inescapable.”
“What about the Heights? They don’t have screens, but Sylus said something about projectors. We could try to project it on the front of the building?”
He shakes his head. “I like the idea, but the Heights always has lights pointed at the facade in the dark. It won’t work.”
“Then we’ll put those lights out,” I say, shrugging.
Ace raises a brow. “And how do you plan to do that if Sylus wasn’t able to get access to the Heights?”
“I swiped a key card from an employee when I went in for Levi. Don’t know if it’ll get us everywhere, but we could scope it out. See how far it gets us and if we could make it to a control room. The guy I lifted it from said something about it working in the back.”
He stares at me, a mix of exasperation and admiration on his face. “That’s risky. But fuck, it would be epic.”
I smile. “Then let’s at least take a look.”
He sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Even if it’s a good idea, it won’t work. My job is to be on the rooftop at that time, breaking into the glass container and the Lambo, getting everything ready for Koen so he can jump in and drive off.”
“I could do that.”
His gaze sharpens. “No.”
“Why not? Breaking into a glass container and a car? That’s child’s play. You know I can handle it.”
“There’s more to it than that.”
“Fine, then I’ll be the one who puts the lights out in the Heights.”
“Fuck no.” He frowns at me. “I’d rather have you up with the Lambo than in the Heights when shit goes down.”
“Then let me do the Lambo.”
“I have to think it through.” He sighs. “Ugh, another thing to think about.”
“What else?” I ask, skating closer to him. “Maybe I can help.”
He hesitates before answering. “I’m struggling with how to get Belmont, Foster, and Blackwood to show up. Best option would be to send a text from Veronica’s number, but I can’t ask Nicholas to swipe her phone and do it. He’s not a pickpocket, and the stakes are too high.”
I tilt my head. “Should I?”
“No,” Ace says firmly. “Sylus mentioned another way. He could send a text and make it look like it’s from Veronica, but he’d need access to their phones first.”
“That’s way easier,” I say, shrugging.
“You’d think that.” Ace nods reluctantly. “But we’d have to swipe the phone, get it to Sy, distract the mark, and plant the phone back where it was in a couple of minutes. To pull it off, we’d need a fucking mob. A stick, a shade, a mechanic, and a duke.”
I laugh, thinking about building a pickpocket team with all of my guys, Levi, and Erza.
My guys. Fuck.
“So?” I ask. “We’re seven people.”
“Three of them are too recognizable in this city, and one’s a cop.”
“Shit.”
“Yep.”
I pause, thinking. “How about Annabelle?”
“Who?”
“My best friend,” I explain. “She could be the stick.”
Ace hesitates, biting his lip. “I don’t like involving people I don’t know.”
“Then get to know her,” I demand softly. “I want you to meet her anyway. She’s been… all I’ve had for the last six years.”
Something in his expression softens. “I’d love to meet her. Maybe she’d want to go out for coffee with us tomorrow?”
“We’re going for coffee?” I ask, smiling.
He’s leaving the mansion?
He’s not only touching me, not only talking to me about things he’s buried for years. He’s planning to leave the house, to step into the world he’s avoided for so long. And he’s doing it for me—for us.
I try to keep my expression from showing my awe for him as he continues, “Sylus and I want to scope out the rooftop bar at the Plaza again,” he shares as if it’s no big deal.
“Make sure everything is the same as it was three months ago. She could come. We could talk. And you could see what it looks like up there.”
“Okay.” Pride swells in me when I think of everything he’s already done—getting a therapist, leaving the safety of his routines, sitting out here with me, talking to me like this, touching me.
Every step he’s taken feels monumental, and it makes my heart ache with how strong he is, even when he doesn’t see it.
“Good.” He squeezes my hand. “Now let’s get you skating steady so you don’t faceplant during the show.”
I laugh, the sound spilling out easily, the pride I feel for him making everything feel lighter. “Challenge accepted.”