Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Discomfort weighed heavy on Ace’s chest like a bullet proof vest.
With a glass of Dom Perignon in his left hand and his zippo lighter in his right, he flipped the top open, watching the flame emerge then snapped it closed to snuff it out. The satisfying clink of the metal clasp closing was muted by the thumping music around him.
He opened it again. The small flame lit up his corner of the VIP section as he stood at the balcony, surveying his surroundings.
As usual for a Saturday night, The Sapphire’s nightclub was packed.
Bodies were damn near piled on top of each other on the dance floor below him and each VIP section was filled with celebrities and neighborhood ballers.
Senior opened up The Sapphire’s club back in the early 2000s and it quickly became one of the go-to spots for young people with a little cash to blow on the weekends.
Over 20 years later, not only was it still a staple, but it had expanded. The lounge and restaurant upstairs were added a decade ago for the crowds who had aged out of the club scene or simply wanted a quieter evening but still wanted to experience the opulence of a King establishment.
Thumping music, the shrill of laughter, and clinking glasses were the soundtrack for the celebration in Ace’s honor. He didn’t fuck with clubs usually but his siblings had been excited about celebrating him and feeling obligated to oblige them, he agreed.
Now, though, he just wanted to leave.
He should’ve been more excited. Becoming the head of the Family had been his only goal since he was a child.
The only goal he was ever really allowed to have.
Now that he was finally realizing everything he’d worked for, he should be basking in the accomplishment and joining in on the festivities but he couldn’t help feeling like something was missing.
The feeling of completion he thought he’d have had yet to come.
Standing on the edge of the VIP section filled for him, he was growing more irritated by the second. The music was giving him a headache, the voices were grating on his nerves and the clinking glasses and popping bottles were causing a ringing in his ears.
Looking down at his watch, Ace saw that it was barely after midnight.
With a huff, he decided he’d give it another 30 minutes then he’d dip.
By then, they’d all be too drunk to care whether he was there or not.
Content, he turned, putting the section and his siblings at his back to survey his surroundings.
His gaze bounced around, stopping on nothing in particular, just occupying his time and attention with something other than the pang of an emotion he couldn’t name rattling around his empty chest.
“Nigga you know we out here celebrating for you right?” Jrue called from behind him, pulling Ace out of his thoughts. He turned to see his younger brother with his arms wrapped around a woman and a bottle in his hand.
“We turning up for this nigga and he looking over the balcony like he Ghost or something,” Von chimed in causing the section to erupt in laughter. He too had a woman in his lap.
Ace shook his head. “I’m chillin ‘, man.” He turned to move back to the couches, planning to get his hands on something stronger than the champagne he’d been nursing to put him at ease.
He took out his phone to open the text messages app and scrolled to the thread with the woman he kept on standby for nights like these.
When he felt lonely even in a crowd, and needed intimacy in any form he could find it.
When he needed to get lost in something warm and wet to distract him from his thoughts.
He’d have Dana waiting at his secondary penthouse once he was done there.
Before he could draft a message summoning her, he heard his name called.
Ace turned to see Isaac sidling up beside him.
“What’s up man?” Ace greeted him with a dap. He wouldn’t consider them friends but he and Isaac had grown up in the same circles with grandfathers who were best friends. They were as close as anyone outside of the Family could get.
“Wanted to talk to you about something.”
Ace waved for him to go on.
“My OG and I been wanting my family to take a more active role in the organization. I know my grandfather put us on the bench but I’m ready for us to be in the game.
I’m hoping I can get a position in your regime to make that happen.
We talked to your old man about it last year and he played me off. ”
Ace nodded, listening to Isaac’s request.
“All of my high ranking positions are already filled but let me get settled and I’ll see where I can put you,” Ace answered diplomatically.
Truthfully, of all of the Kincaid’s, he least wanted Isaac around his business.
He was impulsive and flashy — had been since they were children — and really only wanted to be connected to the business for the clout and cash.
“I was thinking maybe I could handle?—“
“Let me get settled and we’ll talk,” Ace reiterated.
Isaac’s whole face scrunched up, his entire demeanor shifting from not getting his way.
“What we need to talk about? It’s a yes or no,” Isaac said, with a bit more bite than Ace was willing to tolerate.
Ace paused and set down his drink on the banister.
He had no intention of making any hasty promises that night and he didn’t appreciate Isaac trying to corner him at his party into doing so.
“If you thought you were gonna come over here and rush me into an answer at a club you’re sadly mistaken.
Things need to be discussed and arrangements need to be made.
This is a well oiled machine and sticking you just anywhere so you can say you have a position will only fuck my shit up.
So my answer can be wait or no. Your choice. ”
Isaac chuckled. “Yo shit? You and yo daddy got that bad huh? I’m asking out of respect but I’m entitled to a spot in the organization. Maybe I should go to the Council.”
“Go ahead,” Ace shrugged. “They’ll tell you exactly what I’m about to tell you: You ain’t entitled to shit but what you have right now.
If you have a problem with that, dig up your grandpops and take it up with him.
I understand your family’s intentions may have changed but it’s not as simple as just throwing you into a position just because you asked nicely.
Now would you like to schedule a time to talk it over with the rest of the family and enjoy the rest of the party or you wanna pout and leave with exactly what you came in with? ”
Isaac’s nostrils flared but he nodded. “I’ll bring it up at the next meeting.”
“Great.” Ace’s eyes found Ray’s who was motioning for him to come to him at the entrance of the section. “Have a good rest of your night,” Ace said, walking away.
“One of my men said Perry and his second are here,” Ray said as soon as Ace reached him.
Ace rubbed the hair at his chin. “Where?”
“Said they were headed up to the restaurant.”
“Let’s go get him,” Ace said, glad to have a productive distraction.
“Where you going, Ace?” April yelled after him as he tried to slip away. He turned to face her, chuckling when he saw her standing on top of one of the couches, barefoot.
“Business,” he answered simply. He vaguely heard her smack her lips and call him a party pooper but he paid his baby sister no mind.
Senior had drilled into his head since he was a young boy that family business came first always and that wouldn’t change.
“Oh shit,” Ray muttered.
They hadn’t had to go looking for Perry long. The moment they stepped off the elevator on the lounge floor, they were greeted with two guards from Ray’s team who led them to the two bodies in the alley behind the building.
Ace looked down at the carnage with a raised brow, appreciating the work before him.
It was a little messy but he appreciated the rage and power it must have taken to inflict such damage.
It was done with the precision of a trained assassin but the brutality of someone completely unhinged and Ace couldn’t help but be impressed.
“Who did they piss off?” Ace muttered, noticing the placement of the bullet holes in Perry’s friend and Perry’s marred face.
“He looks like he got ran over,” Ray said.
Ace chuckled, looking around for any clues that could piece together what had happened. “We need to figure out who did this,” he said definitively.
Ray snorted. “Why, so you can thank him?”
Ace gave his friend a sidelong glance. “You know I don’t like unknown factors, Ray. Perry was a dead man walking but only we knew that. I need to know if there’s heat on my men or internal beef.”
Ray nodded in agreement. With the DA sniffing around, all loose ends needed to be clipped and burned and they had no room for mystery beef or vigilantes.
“The lock was picked,” Ray called from the propped open back door.
Ace turned to him. “How can you tell?”
“Scratches on the lock,” Ray answered. He kicked the rock they’d held the door open with out of the way and let it close then pulled on the handle. “And the lock isn’t engaging,” he added once it flew open.
“If the lock is picked, the guy might still be inside. Have your men keep an eye out for anyone suspicious and check the cameras.”
Ray agreed.
He and Ray went separate ways. Ray headed to their security room to review the camera footage and Ace reluctantly trudged back down to the club.
“I need a drink,” Ace mumbled to himself.
He thought taking care of Perry would soothe some of the restlessness but, since he’d been robbed of it, he would need to find other methods.