Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
Joy awoke the next morning in bed alone. Her heart raced, panic rising at the thought that the night before had been a dream or a figment of her imagination.
Her fears were assuaged when she caught a whiff of Ace’s enticing scent wrapping around her in the oversized t-shirt she wore.
She threw the covers back and went downstairs in search of Ace.
When she got to the base of the stairs, she found him in the living room, but he wasn’t alone.
His siblings were all there, scattered around the space. Their energy was heavy and guarded and Joy knew what they’d come for.
“Good morning,” Joy spoke from where she stood.
Ace turned at the sound of her voice, his gaze immediately heating at the sight of her—smooth, bare legs beneath his undershirt that hung off of her frame.
“Good morning,” he said, holding his hand out for her.
She went to him without hesitation, walking into his arms. She melted into him, grounding herself in the warmth of his body. His presence was reassurance that last night had been real.
“How are you feeling?” he asked low enough for just her to hear. His gaze snagged on the bruise from Julius slowly blooming on her cheek.
Joy smiled softly. “I’m good.”
Ace dropped a kiss on her lips and they lingered there, long enough to forget they weren’t alone until Von cleared his throat.
They both pulled away glaring in his direction.
“What’s going on?” Joy asked.
“Have a seat,” Ace said. “Breakfast is almost ready.”
Joy did as she was told but kept her eyes on the Kings scattered around her kitchen and living room with tight faces and wary expressions.
“I think it’s about time we talk. Put everything on the table. Don’t you?” Ace asked.
Joy folded her arms over her chest. “I’m not sure what there is to talk about.”
“You know why the fuck we here G.I. Jane. Now stop playing before I lose my damn patience,” Von said, stalking over to Joy, scowling down at her.
“Go sit down,” Ace ordered through gritted teeth.
He turned back to Joy. “Work with me, Rose,” he pleaded against her lips.
“You don’t need to be defensive, Joy, we just wanna talk,” April said, standing up from where she’d been sitting on Joy’s couch. “We appreciate you for having our back but we need some… clarity,” she tried to reason.
Joy looked around at the group for a moment. Her hesitance was apparent and Ace could practically see the wheels turning in her head, calculating her odds against all five of them.
“It looks like we all learned some new things about each other yesterday. Y’all gon’ about your business and forget what you saw, and I’ll do the same,” she said, folding her arms over her chest.
All of the Kings expressed their displeasure with her unwillingness to cooperate.
Jrue groaned.
August huffed.
April rolled her eyes.
Von chuckled.
And Ace shook his head, disappointed but not surprised that she’d make this difficult.
Von scoffed. “No deal,” he said dryly
Jrue pushed off the wall he’d been leaning on, scratching his beard. “You know Ms. Thibodeaux, you seem very combative for a woman who was involved in a shootout less than 24 hours ago,” he said.
Joy met his eyes with a blank gaze. “Is there a question in there?” she asked with a monotone.
The room stilled and everyone grew quiet as they let Jrue take over.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“I don't think I understand the question,” she said. Her face was void of all emotion.
Five pairs of hard eyes, varying in shades of hazel, pinned her but she didn’t fold. She didn’t wither. She met each pair with defiance and indifference.
Ace was eyeing Joy warily. Her voice and face were devoid of emotion or life. Her tone was monotonous, sounding almost robotic. Her expression was tense and blank, like she was only halfway present.
The woman before them all wasn’t his Rose. This was the version of herself she erected for protection.
“I got ways of making niggas understand,” Jovon proclaimed. Ace eyed him, urging him to stand down.
Joy smirked. "Is that right?”
“It’s a motherfuckin’ fact.”
She turned her head to look up at Ace. “Out of respect for you and April, I’m gonna need you to keep your brother out my face before he gets hurt.”
“Is that a threat?” Von spat.
Without looking away from Ace, Joy answered, “It’s a warning. We can talk, but if he triggers me, I can’t guarantee I won’t kill him and even though he keeps coming at me sideways, I really don’t want to.”
The silence was so thick, you could hear a pin drop in the room. No one knew how to take her bold declaration. Narrowing his eyes, Ace could see the sincerity in her. She was fully capable of killing Von and genuinely didn’t want to.
“You know what we’re asking Rose,” Ace said quietly. “I know enough to put two and two together but we need you to say it. Who are you?”
They’d only scratched the surface of who and what she was the night before. She’d painted the picture and Ace used his context clues but what he needed now was the details of who exactly he’d let in their midst, their business, and under his skin.
“The fuck?” Von exclaimed. “So nobody else heard this bitch say she’d kill me? Why is she even still breathing? Ace, you've smoked a nigga for much less.”
No one spoke or made eye contact at that. Everyone knew it was the truth and it became abundantly clear, if it wasn’t already, that Ace’s affection for Joy had made him lenient.
Ace ignored his brother’s protests.
“My name really is Joy Thibodeaux,” Joy said. “My dad is the head of the Thibodeaux Cartel in Texas.”
Von released a chuckle. “I fucking knew it. Your pops sent you here?”
Joy shook her head. “No. They don’t know where I am. At least I don't think so. I came here on my own.”
“Why?” Jrue asked.
Joy sighed. “I got kicked out and didn't have anywhere else to go. My dad said go far away and I figured it wasn't much further than New York.”
“Kicked out of your house or kicked out of the Cartel?” Jrue asked.
“Both.”
“Why?”
Joy chuckled humorlessly. “That’s a complicated question.”
“Uncomplicate it for me,” he demanded.
Joy eyed him. This was the most words she’d ever heard from Jrue and if she were anyone else, his quiet intensity, much like Ace’s, would have intimidated her.
“In short, because I got into some trouble and they saw me as a liability and voted me out of the Cartel. I may have gotten a bit upset about it and did some shit and that’s how I got kicked out of the house too.”
“What kinda shit?” August asked.
“I cut off the hand of my dad’s right hand.”
Everyone but Ace all stared, waiting for a smile, a chuckle, a wink, anything to let them know that she was kidding or exaggerating but the woman before him remained stoic.
“Deadass?” he asked.
Joy nodded. “He’d been gunning for my position for a long time and was all too happy to initiate the vote to have me relieved of my duties. When my dad defended him instead of me, I snapped.”
“That’s why y’all like each other so much, y’all are both fucking crazy,” Aug mumbled.
“So you don’t have anything to do with the shit that’s been happening here?” Jrue asked, getting the conversation back on track.
“No. I’ve just been trying to keep a low profile. Prove that I’m back to normal so I can go back home.”
The room was silent as everyone soaked in the new knowledge. Ace searched his siblings' eyes and they each met his gaze with a nod – though Von’s was more reluctant than the others.
“You have any questions about us?” Ace asked.
Joy shook her head. “I know about you.”
Ace smirked, licking his lips. “Oh yeah? What you know?”
“I know you’re in the Mafia.”
Low chuckles rippled through the room. “Nah baby, I’m not in the mafia… I am the mafia.”
Why did that make my coochie jump? Joy thought.
“So you’re the Boss?”
Ace nodded. “I am.”
Joy chuckled. “I don’t know how I missed the signs. Y’all hide in plain sight.”
Ace shrugged. “If you know, you know.”
Before he could dismiss them, the back door opened.
“Joy what the hell happened to our back doo–” she started but came to an abrupt stop in the doorway at the sight before her.
“The Kings are in our apartment,” Mel said, her eyes wide as she stood at the door.
“I know, girl,” Joy said, shooting her an apologetic glance.
“What did you do?” Mel asked, her expression sharpening just a little.
“Nothing,” Joy smiled sweetly. “We’re good. Right?”
She turned to the Kings. They all nodded their agreement.
“Yeah,” Ace said. “We’re good.”
Mel was unconvinced but she nodded anyway. “Okay… Well I’m going to my room,” she said, backing towards the stairs slowly.
“Okay,” Joy said. “We’ll talk later.”
“You damn right we will,” Mel called from the top of the stairs. No one spoke until they heard her bedroom door shut.
“Is that all?” Joy asked.
Ace glanced back at his siblings. There were more questions and more discussions to be had but those would be between him and Joy. Clearly, she had no intentions of harming them or their organization and that's all they needed to know.
“That’s all. Y'all can go,” Ace said to his siblings.
They all began walking towards the door. August gave Joy a nod on his way out that she returned.
April pulled Joy into a hug. “I knew I liked you,” she spoke into Joy’s ear.
Von scowled but didn’t say anything as he passed.
Jrue only spared Joy a moment’s glance before he turned to Ace. “Family dinner tonight,” he issued the reminder.
“We’ll be there,” Ace said.
Joy squeezed Ace’s hand as she trailed him into the large estate.
She hadn’t been able to pick her jaw up since they pulled up to the metal gates and guard house.
Joy had been around wealth her whole life but what the Kings had was beyond anything she’d ever seen or imagined. Seeing this, and now knowing what she did about Ace and his family, she couldn’t help the nerves that came over her.
Feeling her tensions and sensing her discomfort, Ace pulled her close, wrapping an arm around her.
“Relax baby. Nobody gon’ hurt you around here,” Ace whispered into her hair.