Chapter 42
Chapter Forty-Two
The door to Ace’s office flew open, slamming against the adjacent wall from the force.
His cup of coffee paused halfway to his mouth, preparing for whatever bullshit had come to interrupt his morning when Joy stalked in. He could practically see the steam coming out of her ears with each heavy, purposeful step she took towards his desk.
“Where were you?” she barked in greeting.
Ace set his cup down on his desk. “Good morning to you too.”
“Good morning my ass,” Joy scowled. “You abandoned me last night without a word or fuck you. You didn’t ride home with me yesterday, and when I woke up, you were gone.”
Ace’s dick instantly turned to steel as she stood before him, hand on her hips, venom flying from her lips and fire in her eyes.
“I didn’t abandon you,” he chuckled. “I had some stuff to take care of.”
“And you couldn’t have sent me a text letting me know? An email? Letter? Smoke signal? Something! You just vanished and left me here alone.”
Ace’s brow rose as understanding sunk in.
“Come here, Rose,” he said, his voice soft.
“No.” She folded her arms over her chest in defiance, trying to keep up the facade of anger that Ace saw through.
“Come here, baby,” he requested again, rolling his chair back and holding a beckoning hand out to her.
Reluctantly, she stomped over, then lowered into his lap.
Ace kissed her cheek tenderly, watching as the action made her melt into him. When she was soft and pliable, he kissed her lips.
“I missed you too,” he whispered against the shell of her ear.
Joy smacked her lips. “No one said that.”
Ace chuckled. “Mean ass,” he mumbled against her cheek. “You don’t have to. I know you. I’m sorry for not communicating. I didn’t leave or abandon you. I’m right here.”
“What did have to handle that didn’t include me?” Joy asked, side-stepping the emotional onslaught of his reassurance.
“I had to talk to Pops.”
“About…” Joy trailed off and Ace nodded, not needing to elaborate.
Joy had been ready to put Isaac down the moment they received confirmation that he was behind the sabotage. But, Ace had informed her of the approval needed to take out another Council member—starting with his grandfather, then the vote of the Council.
“Oh. Well that’s good.” She looked away staring out at the morning sun reflecting off of the skyline. “You’d tell me, right? If you changed your mind and didn’t want to deal with me and all my shit? You’d tell me?”
Joy looked up at him, bracing for his answer.
Ace’s chest constricted. The woman on his lap, mean and fierce as she was, was still just a sad girl who was afraid of being alone again.
Part of Ace wanted to gas the jet and pay her father a visit just for the role he played in it.
Ace took her neck in a soft grip. “I’ll never change my mind, Rose. Have I not shown you well enough how much I want you? Hm? Do you need me to remind you what you mean to me?”
Joy’s lips pulled up in a smirk. “Yes. Remind me.”
Ace needed no further instruction. He wasn't a man of many words so instead, he pulled her face down to his and planted a kiss on her that he hoped conveyed the weight of his affection for her.
He tightened his grip on her throat, a physical representation of how he planned to hold onto her. Tight and without remorse.
A knock at the door startled them and reluctantly, they pulled away. Joy tried to raise out of Ace’s lap, but his arm around her waist kept her planted there.
“Adonis,” she hissed.
“Shh,” he hushed her with a quick peck on her lips.
“Come in!” he called.
Jess entered a moment later and if she was shocked to see Joy sitting on her boss’ lap, her expression didn’t show it.
“Mr. King, your 9:30 is in the conference room,” Jessica popped her head in to announce.
“Thanks. We’ll be down in a moment,” Ace acknowledged her with a nod.
Jessica excused herself and Joy hopped up. “Okay I’ll let you get back to work,” she announced.
“You’re coming with me.”
“Me?”
“Yes ma’am. It’s a new client consultation. They heard about your phenomenal work and requested you personally.” Ace said, his tone and smile dripping with pride.
Joy’s own grin couldn’t be contained.
“Okay let me grab my things from my office and I’ll meet you in the conference room.”
Joy wiped the remnants of her lipstick from his mouth, then with a smile that Ace would fight a million wars for, turned and strutted out of his office.
With a shake of his head, Ace gathered his belongings and made his way to the conference room.
Waiting for him were two men in expensive suits, one older Black man and another who appeared around his age.
“Good morning. I’m Adonis King the Second, Junior Partner,” Ace introduced himself as he entered.
Both men rose, the younger of the two extending his hand. “Jermaine Chapman. Thank you for meeting with us.”
“My pleasure,” Ace replied. The older man extended his hand silently and Ace shook it, eyeing him closely. Something about him was familiar but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
“Good to meet you,” Ace said. “My associate should be joining us shortly.”
As if he spoke her up, Joy walked through the doors of the conference room causing both men to turn in her direction. She froze, eyes bouncing from the older gentleman to Ace.
“What the fuck is this?” she asked through gritted teeth.
“Good to see you, my love,” Jermaine said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, walking closer.
“You come any closer and I’ll?—”
“What? Stab me again?” he asked mockingly. “Did she tell you she stabbed me with a fucking shoe that my parents paid for? Better watch this one, she has a temper.”
“Shut up Jermaine,” Joy hissed, charging towards him.
“Joy. Enough,” the other man spoke for the first time. The older man stood, buttoning his suit jacket. “I came here under the assumption that you’ve changed. Don't prove me wrong.”
Joy’s movements halted like a toy soldier who needed to be wound up again, but the fury and confusion never left her expression. “Daddy, what are you doing here?”
Ace blinked as things started clicking.
“I needed to talk to you,” Byron replied, moving around Jermaine to stand in front of Joy.
“You look well,” he said once he’d completed his assessment of her.
“I am well,” Joy replied. “Why are you here?”
“We need your help with something Princess.”
Joy snorted. Oh now she was his princess again? A month ago, she’d have given anything to hear the term of endearment from her father’s lips again but now that she had, it felt hollow.
“I assumed when you threw me out you wouldn’t be wanting my help anymore.”
Jermaine and Byron shared a look.
“Well we were thinking that if you helped us with this, we could talk about you returning home.”
Byron’s declaration was met with silence from Joy and a clenched jaw from Jermaine.
“We?” Joy asked, with a raised brow, her eyes moving between the two men before her.
“Is there somewhere we can speak privately?” Byron asked.
Joy sighed, but nodded. She ignored Ace’s piercing gaze with silent questions as she led her father out of the conference room and around the corner to a secluded hallway.
“How did you even find me?” Joy asked once they were alone.
Byron looked down at her. The face they shared, the same face that used to bring her comfort, now looked foreign.
“Saw you on the news with that boy. Looks like you’ve made quite a name for yourself up here.”
“I’ve tried,” Joy replied, crossing her arms over her chest.
Byron nodded and after a moment of silence, spoke again. “Cleve is dead.”
“Okay.” Joy’s voice was flat and uninterested, despite the giggle that wanted to bubble out of her at the memories.
Byron’s brow rose as he eyed her carefully. “Is that all you have to say?”
“Am I supposed to shed a tear for that nigga?”
“Glad to see you’re still cold-blooded,” he chuckled.
“I don’t know how to be anything else,”Joy shrugged. “I have you to thank for that.”
Seeing that Joy wasn’t softening, Byron kept speaking.
“Before he died, Cleve got a little… ambitious and got caught up. Our Dallas warehouse was raided and he and a few of our men were picked up. He’s dead now and our attorney was able to get our men out on bail but some of our higher ups are looking at 10 years and they’ve halted all of our permits. ”
Joy couldn’t help it, she laughed. A full, belly laugh that made Byron look around to ensure no one came by to see what the commotion was.
“Let me get this straight,” she said once she’d calmed.
“Do you remember that day in your office, I offered to put my degrees to use and prove to you that I can be an asset. And you damn near spit in my face. Now, you track me down and come up here to ask me to do the same thing. Ain’t that some shit? ”
“You want a victory lap or something?” Byron huffed. “We need you for our organization to function properly. Is that what you want to hear?”
“No! I don't want to hear shit from you now. I wanted to hear that one mistake didn’t justify throwing me away like a broken toy!”
Byron rolled his eyes. “Don’t get emotional,” he chastised. Joy hardened her expression immediately and sucked back the tears that threatened to fall.
“I don’t care what you feel. The moment you get emotional is the moment people stop listening and you lose respect.”
“I’ve built a new life here. You can’t just come up here asking me to throw it all away because you’re done putting me in time out.”
Byron took a step closer, his height and bulk dwarfing Joy. “Your life is at home. You can be upset, and you can have your little feelings hurt but don’t forget who you are and where your responsibilities lie.”
“I’ll think about it,” Joy answered noncommittally.
Byron reared back. “You’ll think about it?”
The longer he looked at her the more his scowl of confusion soften into an amused smirk that made Joy’s skin crawl. “You’re in love with him huh?”
Joy looked away but her silence was answer enough.
Byron released a humorless chuckle. “Never thought I’d see the day. I told you, you’re meant for more than that.”
Joy rolled her eyes.
“You’re meant to be a queen. A motherfuckin’ boss. You think that nigga will still want you once he realizes you aren’t one of the soft ass debutantes he’s probably used to?”
“Yes,” Joy answered defiantly, her voice strong with conviction. Flickers from the night of the night she killed Cleve — the night he professed his love for her — played through her mind like movie clips.
Her conviction wavered slightly at the amused grin on her father’s face.
"That's what you hope," Byron said. "But the first time you become more trouble than you're worth, he'll leave...or he'll spend every day trying to make you into someone easier to live with."
“Like Jermaine tried to do?” she asked, with a tilt of her head. “Like you did?”
“Motherfucka, I built you,” he hissed, stepping in her face like the general he was. “I made you strong. I made you a soldier. I made you a queen.” He beat on his chest with every word, his eyes cold on her.
“Now are you gonna come home and save the kingdom we built or are you gonna stay up here playing housewife and lawyer Barbie, pouting like a little ass girl?”
Joy’s jaw clenched and suddenly, she was a 13 year old girl again, being reprimanded for showing weakness and praised for being ruthless.
“I’ll call you,” Joy mumbled. It wasn’t a yes or no but unfortunately, they both knew what her answer would be. Byron was dangling what she’d wanted for the past year and a half right in her face.
Her home.
Her power.
Her family.
Joy watched her father turn his back on her with one final hard look before heading back to the conference room.
She saw her father out with another promise to call him and a scathing glare at Jermaine.
She and Ace went about the rest of their day as usual, ending it with dinner at the Sapphire Lounge.
Their evening was spent mostly in silence with Joy’s mind occupied by thoughts of her father and Ace no doubt picking up on it.
Thankfully, he didn't pry. He simply let Joy process the visit on her own, waiting until she was ready to speak about it. Joy was a mess of indecision. On one hand, the thing that she'd been wishing and waiting for was being offered up to her.
The Joy of six months ago would have jumped at the opportunity with no questions asked. Now though, she wasn't so sure.
She liked New York. She liked being near Melody, and most of all she loved Ace. Returning to Houston would mean giving up all of that —giving him up, and Joy wasn't sure if she wanted to do that.