Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Ace burst through the door, stepping out onto the roof. The wind and sounds of the street slapped him as soon as he stepped foot onto the concrete.
Now alone, his mind became clearer and he felt like he could breathe.
As he stepped deeper onto the roof and his eyes adjusted, he made out a curvy figure sitting on the ledge.
He walked closer, letting the slamming of the door and clicking of his shoes announced his presence before he reached her.
She didn’t turn towards the noise.
She was still. So still.
If not for the tight coils blowing in the wind and her arm periodically raising a bottle of something brown to her lips, she could’ve passed for a statue.
Ace leaned against the ledge, a few feet away from her but still, she didn’t acknowledge him. She just continued sipping while staring out at the skyline.
Though she made him uneasy with the way her legs dangled over the side of the building, Ace understood the appeal. The air was crisper up there. Calmer. Peaceful.
The ache he’d been nursing for hours — hell, years — didn’t feel so heavy up there.
Though the voices, cars, and other street noises from the city below him created a chorus of chaos, he found himself more at peace.
Ace glanced her way once more before he finally spoke. “You should get down from there,” he said.
“You should stop talking to me,” she snapped in response, still not bothering to face him. “I’m not gonna jump.”
Ace was slightly taken aback by her tone. He wracked his brain for the last time someone had the balls to disrespect him but came up short. Her attitude didn’t anger him though, it made him take a step closer to get a better look.
He was afforded a full view of her illuminated by the moon and city lights. His eyes raked over her. A cloud of tight coils fell to the middle of her back, her skin a smooth dark brown with an ass that spread across the expanse of the concrete she sat on.
“Didn’t say you were. You should come down anyway though.”
She passed him a brief sidelong glance before huffing a sigh of acquiescence. Ace held out his hand to offer assistance but it remained empty as she swiftly turned and hopped down with the grace of a puma.
She bucked her eyes at him. “Happy?” she asked.
Their gazes collided and held for a moment. Her eyes, so dark and cloudy, met his stare without faulting. She didn’t shy away from Ace’s intense eye contact, making him tamp down a smile.
Many men couldn’t bring themselves to look into Ace’s eyes for long, let alone women.
Though his clothes and persona were clean cut and refined, his eyes told the true story. His stature and reputation already made people cower in his presence but it was what people saw in his hazel irises that made them wary of staying in his presence for too long.
Danger and fire that ignited a very fucking short fuse.
This woman didn’t shy away though. She held his gaze unwaveringly with a fire of her own and a depth that made her look just as dangerous. Her dark brown orbs held a cocktail of sorrow and rage that took his breath away.
Ace grinned. “Happy,” he confirmed.
She rolled her eyes then turned away from him again, snatching up the bottle to take another swig.
They stood in silence for a few moments but Ace had more to say. He had questions. Starting with what kind of life the woman had lived that put that look in her eyes.
“What’s got you hiding out on a rooftop at midnight?” he asked.
She sighed, like he was bothering her before she answered. “Oh just getting some fresh air,” she answered, sarcasm dripping from her tone.
Ace grinned in return. He liked her voice. It was country but smoothed out on the edges like she’d tried to sound more like what people considered sophisticated but her mouth wouldn’t quite cooperate.
The slight twang in her tone let him know she wasn’t native to New York, but he liked the way words sounded coming from her lips. Smooth, with a rasp that made every syllable from her mouth ooze with seduction that Ace was sure wasn’t intentional, but worked on him all the same.
“I’m having a hard time believing that.”
“I’m having a hard time giving a fuck.”
Ace’s lip quirked again. He was sure she wasn’t trying to be funny but he found her insolence amusing.
“Are you always this pleasant?” he asked, matching her sarcasm.
“Only with niggas that interrupt my solitude. You always this nosey?”
Ace shrugged. “Afraid it comes with the job.”
“What’s your job?”
“Tonight? Suicide watch.”
“I wasn’t gonna jump!” she exclaimed.
Ace grinned, pleased with having gotten a rise out of her and her eyes back on him.
At the sight of his grin, one began blooming on her red painted lips, though she tried to stop it. Ace’s chest bloomed with pride at having gotten even the smallest smile out of her.
He’d take it.
“You’re going to hell,” she said. “Suicide is serious, you shouldn’t make light of it.”
Ace chuckled under his breath. He was surely going to hell for so many reasons, this offense however, was probably too low on his rap sheet to even be considered.
“You’re right about that but, I wasn’t joking.”
She gave him a curious look, but didn’t ask him to elaborate.
She fished through her small purse and produced a rolled blunt. “Do you have a light?” she asked. Ace took it as the truce she wouldn’t voice but meant it to be.
Wordlessly Ace pulled his zippo out of his pocket and took a few steps towards her. As soon as he entered her space, he was hit with her fragrance. The sweet and tart scent of cherries and vanilla filled his nose and was so intoxicating he almost swayed on his feet.
He waited a moment for the flinch. The hesitance. The shrinking away that usually came when he got too close to people. The deep seated animal, instincts that made people instinctively cower from him.
It never came though. She stood firm, unbothered, as he approached.
Can you not spot a predator? He wondered. Or are you one yourself?
He flipped the top of the lighter open to reveal the flame then brought it closer to her.
With the blunt between her plump lips, she leaned forward. Ace shielded the flame from the wind and she held his eyes as he ignited the tip of it for her, then pulled back once it was lit.
She closed her eyes and took a long pull then exhaled, her eyes still closed.
Ace took that moment to study her. She was even more beautiful up close. Even under insufficient lighting, her skin glowed under the moon.
Once he’d looked his fill, he opened his mouth to speak again, wanting her attention back on him, but she beat him to the punch.
“Sorry,” she mumbled.
Ace’s brow rose but he didn’t speak.
“I…I had a bad night and I took it out on you. I shouldn’t have done that.” She offered a smile, one that barely reached her shadowed eyes, then turned away. Ace couldn’t move or look away.
Ace could see clearly, this wasn’t an apology, it was damage control. It was her fixing the narrative after deviating from the script.
Her entire aura shifted, constricting into something small and rigid. The sight and feel of it put a sour taste in Ace’s mouth.
“You don’t have to put on a show for me,” Ace said.
The woman tilted her head to the right slightly. “What makes you think that’s what I’m doing?” she asked.
“That fake ass smile for one.”
The way her eyes flicked away from him then returned let him know he was right. Her smile was soft and pleasant but her eyes didn’t get the memo. It might work on others but Ace could tell it was phony as fuck.
“You can drop it, love. I don’t need it.”
She hesitated a moment but eventually let her face relax, her whole body sagging in relief as she let the facade drop. The pain, attitude, and beautiful anger seeped back in, and maybe it made Ace fucked up but he preferred her that way. He preferred the real.
“Much better,” he smiled. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Which one, Sherlock Holmes?”
Ace chuckled. “What brought you up here?”
She looked down and Ace watched her drag her red nail up and down the bottle. “I’m supposed to be celebrating,” she said with a somber smile that didn’t even lift her cheeks let alone reach her eyes.
Ace lifted a brow. “And you chose to do it alone?”
Her eyes flashed with sadness and pain. “No. I came with someone but… I needed to be alone for a while. It’s better that way.” The last sentence was said on a resigned exhale, whatever had made her seek out solitude still weighing on her.
Ace knew that feeling all too well. He learned long ago that it’s lonely at the top and the hollowness in his chest was the sacrifice he made for his duty. For power.
Most days, he didn’t mind it. In fact, he preferred it. Other days, like today, the desire for something more became to loud to ignore.
He slid an inch closer, their elbows touching on the concrete.
He looked over at her again out of the corner of his eye, unable to look away despite how hard he tried.
Something about this woman felt… familiar.
He’d come up there seeking solitude as well and had instead found something he couldn’t name but wanted more of.
He wanted to say something but his whole body felt arrested. Something foreign coiled low in his gut and his chest tightened but he welcomed the ache.
“What about you?” she asked, turning her eyes back on him.
He simply shrugged. “I’m celebrating too.”
She snorted. “The celebrations usually happen inside.”
“Yeah but I’m having more fun up here.”
That was the truth. He’d been more stimulated, more engaged in the five minutes he’d spent with this mean ass woman than he had in years.
For the first time since Ace approached her, she turned to him fully. “What are you celebrating?”
“Promotion,” he answered.
She narrowed those eyes on him. “You don’t seem too excited about it.”
Ace shrugged in response, picking up the bottle and wrapping his lips around the opening hers had been on a few moments ago, taking a swig.
“Mo money, mo problems?”
He chuckled and began flipping his lighter open and closed. “Something like that,” he mumbled.
She didn’t say anything else and they let the moment stretch on for a moment.
“So is this what you do when you’re having problems? Bother random women?”
He grinned. “Only the ones dangling off of ledges.”
She rolled her eyes with an exasperated huff. “I wasn’t dangling, I was sitting and I said I wasn’t gonna jump.”
“Mhm, whatever you say. Don’t act like you’re not enjoying my company. Plus, how would you have lit this—” he snatched the blunt out of her hand “—without me.” He brought it to his lips with a grin.
He took a slow pull, the ember flaring bright in the dark.
“Thank you,” she spoke softly, scooting closer to him.
Ace glanced at her, surprised by the sudden shift in her tone and desire to be closer to him. “For what?”
She raised her shoulders then dropped them, “For not letting me spend tonight alone.”
Something about the quiet honesty in her voice pulled him closer before he even realized he was moving. Ace stepped into her space until the backs of her thighs touched the concrete ledge behind her. He planted one hand beside her hip, caging her in without quite touching her.
Ace couldn’t help himself. He brought his hand out and caressed her cheek then traced the outline of her lips with his thumb. “You spend a lot of time alone?” he asked.
She nodded, leaning into his touch. Ace was sure she didn’t realize what she was doing but he did. He savored it. Delight and a hunger for more springing up inside him.
Ace sighed. “Me too… And I’m not gon’ lie, I’m not ready to go back to that just yet.”
“Me either,” she whispered, her lips almost grazing his. It wasn’t until then did Ace realize how close their faces had gotten.
Ace’s gaze flicked to her full, red mouth. The desire to taste it, to taste her, took hold of him.
Instead of succumbing to it right away, he lifted the blunt to his lips and took another drag, holding the smoke in his lungs as he leaned forward.
His hand slid to the back of her neck.
When he exhaled, he blew the smoke slowly into her waiting mouth.
Ace grinned when she inhaled the smoke instinctively, her eyes fluttering closed as Ace closed the space between them.
He descended his mouth to meet hers. She reciprocated immediately, her hands gripping the front of his shirt as their mouths married and their tongues tangled. Ace pressed closer, his body crowding hers against the ledge until she was wedged between the cool concrete and the heat of him.
His hands moved from her waist to her wide hips and slid down her thighs but snagged on something hard.
Ace stilled and glanced down to see that her dress had ridden up, exposing her thick, toned thigh. The glint of metal reflecting the rooftop light caught his eye and it didn’t take him long to realize he was looking at the barrel of a small gold pistol peeking out from under her dress.
Ace felt his body respond in arousal to the sight.
“That’s a nice piece,” he said, his finger lightly tracing a path from her knee to the firearm in question. Even with her stockings serving as a barrier between their skin, Ace felt shockwaves course through his body at the contact. He felt her shiver under his touch.
“Whatchu doing with that?” he asked, his brow quirked.
“It’s pretty,” she answered breathlessly. “And New York is a dangerous city.”
Ace smirked at the irony of her being worried about safety while pressed against one of the most dangerous men on the east coast. The sight of the gold metal against her brown skin made him harder and the thought of her being armed only made him want her more.
He took her lips in another kiss before he pulled back just far enough to speak.
“Come home with me.”
Ace’s heart skipped a beat when she nodded.
He opened his mouth to speak again but was interrupted by the door to the roof opening followed by Ray’s voice.
“Sir. We have a problem,” Ray started but paused when he saw the woman in Ace’s arms.
Ace looked up, his irritation rising as he felt the woman slide out of his grip.
“What’s wrong?” Ace asked.
Ray’s gaze flicked to the woman then leaned in close to Ace. “The cops are here. Someone called about bodies outside before our cleanup could get there. We should go.”
Ace nodded. He wasn’t responsible for those bodies but his knuckles were slightly bruised from his altercation with Tyrell the day before and he didn’t want to be anywhere near when the cops made their rounds.
Detective Harris and the NYPD were always looking for a reason to take a King down and he didn’t plan on giving them one tonight.
He went to tell the woman it was time to go but when he turned, he saw her curls slipping through the door.
“Wait—” he started but was cut off by the slamming of the door behind her.