Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Joy was working in Ace’s office when the door opened.
She looked up, expecting to see him but faced a Chanel two piece skirt set and bombshell curls instead.
“Hey Joy,” April beamed when she saw her.
“Hey April, how are you?” Joy returned with a smile. She and April had become friendly over the past few months, but aside from that night at Amethyst a week ago, their relationship had yet to venture beyond quick hellos in the hall and shared lunches in the office.
“Ace ran down to the paralegal floor if you’re looking for him,” Joy informed her.
“Actually, I was looking for you,” April said.
Joy’s fingers froze over the keyboard. “Me?”
April nodded. “Yeah, I wanted to see if you wanted to go out for lunch.”
Joy stared blankly at April, her brain short circuiting trying to figure out April’s motive.
“Why?” she finally asked, her gaze searching.
April giggled. “I had some free time and wanted to hang out. My brother’s treat,” she sang in an attempt to entice.
Joy laughed. “Okay sure. I just need to send this email real fast.”
“Take your time.” April plopped down into Ace‘s chair and kicked her stilettos onto the desk. “Do you like working with my brother?” she asked.
Joy’s fingers tapped the wrong keys on the keyboard and her heart stuttered in her chest at just the thought of him. Enjoy was an understatement. She relished in being at his side, hearing his praises as they bounced ideas off of each other. She craved their nights alone in his office.
“Yeah I do,” she answered simply.
April hummed in acknowledgment. “Yeah my brother likes working with you too.”
Joy didn’t lift her eyes from her screen. “Oh yeah, he told you that?”
“He didn’t have to. He sings your praises every chance he gets and it’s very clear he likes spending time with you outside of work too.”
Joy looked up, suddenly understanding what was going on here.
She looked up, sliding her laptop away. “Is there something you really want to ask me?” she asked, her arms folding as her defenses rose.
“No but there’s something I want to tell you.” April swung her legs down from the desk, staring squarely at Joy with cold eyes that betrayed her warm nature.
Joy raised her brow, barely able to conceal the amusement on her face. “The floor is yours.”
“Don’t hurt my brother. He’s let you in, in a way that he hasn’t let anyone else…not even us,” she said, the last part coming out on a whisper. “He doesn’t trust easily so if you break his trust and hurt him, you won’t like the outcome.”
The corner of Joy’s mouth rose. “Is that a threat?” It now made two King siblings who’d threatened her behind Ace, and she couldn’t help but find it endearing.
April shrugged. “It’s simply a warning.”
“An unnecessary one. I have no intentions of hurting Ace. I… I care about him.” Joy’s eyes diverted to the surface of the desk, anxiety coursing through her at how true the words were.
April’s eyes softened. “Yeah, he cares about you,” she nodded, warming up again. Joy smiled at that, her heart fluttering. “And if he likes you then I love you.”
Joy laughed and closed her laptop before sliding it into her bag. She shook off the emotions that arose and gave April a smile. “Good talk. Let’s go.”
Ace had always been a control freak. A meticulous planner with a tight reign on everything around him.
Control, Ace learned at a young age, was the thing that would ensure the success and survival of his family.
Control the narrative.
Control his team.
Control his emotions.
Zachariah had instilled the value of preparation and planning to maintain control, and Ace had applied that to every part of his life.
The past few months of unforeseen deviations caused Ace stress and an antsiness that he needed somewhere to place.
The issues plaguing his organization and Joy — the all-consuming feelings he’d developed for her and the secrets she harbored — had taken up all of Ace’s time and attention. Both made him feel like his control was slipping and with it, his sanity.
Sex or violence were his outlets of choice. Unfortunately for him, he hadn’t had a desire for his usual roster since meeting Joy and since becoming the head of the family, the opportunities for the latter had been slim.
Ace returned to his office expecting to find Joy where he’d left her but instead, found his brothers spread out around the room.
Von was sitting on the couch going in on a bag of chips, August sat in the corner, looking out the window, and Jrue had helped himself to Ace’s mini bar.
“The fuck y’all niggas doing in my office?” Ace asked by way of greeting as he walked deeper into the office.
Von looked up from his phone with a smile.
“Don’t look so happy to see us, big brother,” he replied. “Expecting someone else?”
He punctuated his taunt by licking the Hot Cheeto dust from his fingers with a smirk.
Ace’s nostrils flared as he watched his little brother in disgust. It was bad enough to put that poison in his body but to lick his fingers had Ace’s blood boiling.
Von burst out laughing. “Man, look at you! You ready to crash out ‘bout me licking my fingers. Crazy ass.”
“Told you,” Jrue chimed in, ice rattling in his glass with each step he took towards them. “Nigga on edge like a motherfucka.”
Ace smacked his lips but didn’t argue. They were right, he was on edge and every day that Harris spent above ground, and Joy made his chest feel funny, he grew more and more tense.
He put his keys and coffee cup down, settling behind his desk with a deep sigh. He looked around the room at his brothers.
Jrue and August wore European suits similar to the one Ace had on, blending in seamlessly to the firm.
Von on the other hand, couldn’t blend in if he tried.
Regardless of the street wear he wore, the tattoos covering almost every piece of skin visible below his chin made him stick out like a sore thumb.
August sat in the corner, glasses pushed up on his nose with one hand scrolling his laptop and the other tapping out a pattern only he knew the significance of.
All the King siblings were tough and ruthless to some degree.
It was the way they’d been raised. August, however, liked his violence with a side of petty and vindictive.
He would beat a nigga to within an inch of his life then put his bifocals back on and clear out his enemy’s 401K, drain his entire life savings, increase his baby mama’s child support payments, then set him up for embezzlement.
Money made this world go round, and August King was the last motherfucker you wanted playing with yours.
“What’s going on?” Ace asked.
“It seems your G.I. Jane was right,” Von said. “I had Sasha keep an eye on Curtis and it turns out, he’s been selling information.”
Ace sat up, turning to face his brother fully. “To who?”
“That’s what we don’t know,” Von shrugged. “Aug found some payments but they’re all from an offshore account.”
“The fuck!” Ace exclaimed, his fist pounding on the desk. “So he played in our face?”
Von nodded. “Looks that way. He started deleting security footage, access logs, and time stamps around the time the shipment went missing.”
Ace nodded, his nostrils flaring as he fought to remain calm.
“I’ll see if Remy can recover what he deleted,” he muttered, already lifting his phone to send his friend a text.
“We need to figure out who Curtis was working with and what they want,” he continued once his text was delivered.
“On it,” Von agreed.
“What did you do with Curtis?”
“I let Sasha play,” he smiled with a malicious gleam in his eye that Ace recognized all too well. “Figured she could teach a lesson about what happens when you think you can get some shit by on us.”
“I don’t know why niggas always trying to run game like we some fucking dickheads,” August said shaking his head.
“Shit, they see the silver spoons and think we won’t slit they motherfuckin’ throats with ‘em,” Ace answered.
They all howled with laughter.
As the third generation of Kings running their syndicate, Ace and his siblings grew up wealthy. Due to the incognito nature of their illegal dealings, a lot of their organization’s success depended on portraying to the public to be an affluent Black family and they moved through the world as such.
Private schools. Master’s and law degrees. Country clubs and all that shit. But Senior and Zachariah especially made sure they understood that regardless of the luxuries they had and the image they presented, they were still expected to grind and earn their respect.
Everyone knew the Kings could hold their own and had seen it in action on many occasions.
There were the few times that someone tried to test the siblings because they thought the degrees and fraternity letters meant shit was sweet but quickly learned their lesson and served as an example for others.
“In other news,” Jrue started, setting his empty glass down with a clink. “My contact at internal affairs came through. Harris got called into a meeting this morning. If he wants to keep his badge and ‘lil checks, he’ll drop this shit.”
Ace nodded, relishing in the good news. “Good shit. Keep an eye on that for me.”
“Will do,” Jrue nodded.
The sound of feminine cackles and clacking heels halted all talk before the door swung open.
April and Joy pushed through together with all smiles, holding onto each other as they teetered on their heels with laughter.
“Where y’all been?” Ace asked, his heart jumping in his chest at the sight of Joy’s beautifully rare smile.
His question was just met with more laughter from April and bashful shake of Joy’s head.
“I told you,” April sang. She disconnected her arm from where it was looped with Joy’s and plopped on the couch beside Von.
“I took Joy to lunch,” she answered Ace finally.
“I would ask if you enjoyed yourselves, but it appears so,” Ace said, his gaze swinging from April to a still grinning Joy who lowered into the seat opposite him.
“Don’t hate,” Joy smirked, leaning forward. “Maybe if you’re nice, we’ll invite you next time.”