Epilogue
The sun had yet to come up, casting Ace and Joy’s home in a pale blue glow as Joy tipped through it. She snuck out from April’s watchful eye not long after their festivities the night before, leaving her hostess and Mel asleep.
She stopped in the doorway of the bedroom she and Ace shared, watching his broad chest rise and fall softly with each breath he took. She noticed immediately the moment he woke and felt her presence. It was only a second, but his steady breaths paused before resuming.
Joy grinned and stepped forward on the balls of her toes then climbed the bed until she straddled his waist and his already semi-hard dick.
Joy grinned.
He hadn’t even opened his eyes yet and her presence alone already had him aroused.
She leaned down and placed a kiss to his tattooed chest.
“Get up,” she demanded in a whisper.
One eye popped open to greet her then the other. His hands rose to her hips and his smile graced her eyes.
“You know it’s bad luck for us to see each other before the wedding,” he said with a teasing grin.
Joy rolled her eyes. “I don’t believe in that shit and neither do you.”
“Nah but April will get us both if she finds out you snuck your way into bed with me.”
Joy rolled her eyes playfully. “She’ll be okay.” April had caught her trying to sneak out, but she was undeterred.
Isaac had evaded them for months, slipping out of town and becoming untraceable, even to Remy.
Ace had briefly entertained letting it go. Perhaps someone else had already gotten to him. Isaac had so many enemies and without the King-Kincaid protection, there was no telling who or what had caught up to him.
That’s why when Joy had gotten a call from one of her allies in Vegas telling her that the man she’d put the word out for was kicked out of his casino, Joy couldn’t wait a minute longer to give Ace the peace she knew he craved.
Ace chuckled. “What can I do for you, Rose? Need something to tide you over until our wedding night?”
He punctuated his offer by gripping her hips tighter and dragging her across his length, which had grown from semi-hard to steel.
Joy groaned, seriously considering it but the clock on her side of the bed reminded her that she was short on time.
“No,” she giggled, ignoring the way the friction made her core pulse with need. “I need you to get up. I have a wedding gift for you,” she purred with a kiss to his jaw.
Ace released a deep hum in the back of his throat as she swirled her tongue over the small round scar she’d left on his neck.
“Does my gift happen to be under this?” he asked, his hand slipping beneath the black satin slip dress she’d worn to sleep.
She hadn’t bothered to change on her ride over.
She and Ace would need to suit up for what she had planned anyway.
“No, better.”
Ace snorted. “Unless you found a way to clone yourself, I doubt it.”
Joy threw her head back with a laugh. “Do you really think the world could handle two me’s? Do you think you could handle two me’s?”
Ace grinned. “The world may implode with two Joy’s but I’d put both of y’all through the motherfuckin’ mattress.”
Joy rolled her eyes, climbing off of him. “Get up and get dressed. I’ll explain everything on the jet.”
Ace’s brow cocked. “Jet?”
Ace had to admit, Isaac had picked the perfect hiding spot.
The desert sun rose over the modest home that was unremarkable enough to remain unnoticed, but nice enough to maintain a semblance of the comfortable lifestyle he’d been used to. Nothing about it looked like the life of someone on the run.
Ace and Joy knew better though.
They entered the quiet house and easily navigated their way through, thanks to the floor plan they’d studied on the plane ride over.
They moved with synchronicity that seemed to spill into every facet of their lives together, swinging around to check corners, covering each other's backs and keeping aim in the event someone emerged from the shadows.
They found the master bedroom in the back of the house, the door ajar slightly and a trail of clothes leading them straight to the man of the hour and his unlucky companion.
Joy went to the woman’s side of the bed where she was wrapped in Isaac’s embrace and the Walmart sheets. She nudged the woman with the barrel of the gun until her eyes opened then bugged at the sight.
Her shriek startled Isaac awake, making him jump up. He reached for the gun under his pillow but found the space cold and empty.
Ace cleared his throat, making Isaac’s attention swing to him. He froze seeing Ace’s face and his piece dangling from Ace’s forefinger by the trigger.
Joy turned her attention back to the woman.
Woman was a stretch. She appeared no older than 19 at best, barely legal if that, but still had no business in the bed of a 32 year old man.
Joy shook her head in disgust.
“What’s going on?” The girl asked, tears streaming down her baby face.
“What’s going on is, you’re going to put your clothes on and you’re gonna leave and no matter what you see or hear, you’re never going to tell anyone what you saw. Is that clear?” Joy asked.
The girl nodded vigorously.
“Good,” Joy smiled. She handed over the pile of clothes she’d collected from the floor and nudged her head towards the door. “Go.”
The girl hopped from bed without a second look back at Isaac who rested lazily against the headboard, and ran out. When the door slammed downstairs, Joy turned her attention back to Ace and Isaac.
She was backup this time, only there to assist as Ace took what belonged to him but had evaded him for months.
Isaac looked backed and forth between them and moved to stand but Ace’s cocking gun stopped him cold.
Isaac’s hands flew up. “I’m just trying to put some pants on, man. You gon’ kill me with my dick out?” he asked, looking down to where his naked body was covered only by the sheet at his waist.
Joy picked up his pants from the floor and threw them at him, hitting him square in the face.
“Thanks,” he mumbled, sliding the pants on below the sheet.
Once he was finished, Ace gripped him by the arm and dragged him out of the bed. None of them spoke until they made it to the living room, throwing Isaac down on the couch.
Isaac chuckled as he fell down with a plop. “Guess it was only a matter of time,” he mumbled.
There was no fear, no begging. Just the arrogance of a man who hadn’t yet grasped his predicament.
Ace’s brow cocked. “You don’t seem too concerned.”
Isaac smirked. “For what? I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Ace’s brow rose. “Oh you don’t think so?”
Isaac just raised a defiant eyebrow, crossing his arms over his bare chest. The posture and tone of a man who still thought he was right. Ace watched him in disbelief.
“You really thought you could take over?” Ace asked.
Isaac shrugged.
“Y’all had everything locked down. Didn’t wanna make room for anybody else. You thought this was your shit when both of our names are on the door,” Isaac seethed.
A beat of silence stretched. “So I made space.”
“By betraying us and putting the organization at risk?” Ace asked through gritted teeth.
Isaac shrugged. “You call it betrayal, I call it opportunity.”
Ace couldn’t help but laugh. “You risked everything for a position you couldn’t hold with a catcher's mitt,” he said, his voice even despite the anger simmering.
Isaac leaned forward slightly, his mask slipping for the first time. “You don’t know that.”
“I do know. Because you’re a fucking idiot,” Ace seethed. “You thought you were gonna tear me down and our whole network in the process and then what? That would make you the ruler of nothing.”
Isaac shrugged. “I would’ve figured it out. This fucking idiot outsmarted all of you for months.”
Ace chuckled.
He clapped his hands together, the sound akin to a gunshot. He continued clapping, each one increasing in force, taking a step forward until he was directly in Isaac’s face.
“There’s your applause,” he said once he was finished. “Is that what you wanted? Now look where you ended up anyway.”
Ace leaned forward until their faces were inches apart. “You know your grandfather understood something about power and this life that hasn’t seemed to get through your thick ass skull.” He jabbed his pointer finger into Isaac’s temple repeatedly.
“This life takes more than it gives. That’s why he tried to keep your family out of it. You saw the money. The name. The power. But you don’t see the sacrifices and responsibilities it takes. The consequences of every action and decision.
“You thought power was taking whatever the fuck you wanted and making everybody else deal with the fallout. That ain’t power. That’s a spoiled nigga throwing a tantrum.”
Isaac’s nostrils flared. “Get the fuck out my face,” he seethed. “You and I both know you can’t kill me so what the fuck are you doing here?” he asked, his gaze sliding to Joy then back.
Ah, Ace thought. There lied the root of his demeanor.
“That is where you’re wrong,” Ace said, removing his glock from his pants.
Isaac visibly paled. “You pull that trigger and whatever’s left between our families is over. You'll start a war.”
“You started a war the moment you betrayed us. I’m just finishing it.”
“The Council won’t see it that way.”
Ace’s mouth curved slightly. “The Council already did.”
Isaac’s gaze sharpened. “What do you think my father will do when he finds out what happened to me?”
“Your father knows we’re here,” Joy said.
Isaac’s face went slack and for the first time since they walked into the house, Isaac’s inevitable fate became clear to him.
Isaac’s hand slid slowly from his lap to the space between the cushions. Joy tracked the movement.
She crossed the distance before his fingers could disappear, driving the heel of her boot into his mouth. His head snapped backward as his teeth clacked, blood spraying onto his chest.
“Don’t even fucking try it,” she warned.
Ace dug into the cushion and pulled out the hidden gun, tossing it aside.
Isaac pressed one hand to his bleeding mouth, the arrogance from before completely taken over now by panic.
“Ace, listen,” he panted.