Page 59 of Ace of Spades

“That’s not running it by me, that’s telling me.”

Josie silently goes back to coloring on her makeshift desk, like there’s not World War III currently about to erupt at the doorway of my office.

“Do you want to get things done or not Levi? Because, if you ask me, holding onto control just for the sake of it isn’t helping anyone. Especially not you.”

“What are you even talking about?”

“I’m talking about how you feel the need to keep the world on a tight leash because if you let go you think you’ll lose it. But you’re doing the opposite. You micromanaging and not letting everyone run in their lanes is costing you, and it’s costing them.”

How is she psychoanalyzing me like this?

How does a young girl with hardly any life experience know precisely how to read me like a book when she barely even knows me?

“I micromanage because that’s the only way I can make sure things get taken care of.”

“No, you just don’t know how to let go, Levi.”

“God.Youare just as hard-headed as Brody!” I say, pointing at her.

“Huh, well, go figure,” she says. “Guess it runs in the fucking family.”

She huffs out of frustration and brushes past me to walk out of the office.

“Where are you going?” I call out to her.

“To get some air, that office is feeling stuffy,” she says over her shoulder, pushing the door to the outside and drowning the space in temporary sunlight just before it seals shut behind her.

I turn around to see the crew staring at me.

“I’m not paying you overtime to make eyes at me,” I say.

Instantly, they all get to work, without another word.

It’s not that she’s wrong.

I know I have control issues. But what else am I supposed to do?

I know what it’s like to take your finger off the pulse. To be so distracted that you lose what matters most.

I keep things on a tight leash, because I fucking care.

At least… that’s what I tell myself.

Chapter15

Sienna

Ikick some loose gravel around the back of the shop, and it clinks against random pieces of metal tossed about.

Breaker’s Isle might be surrounded by water, but this place? This place is surrounded by pure chaos.

“Freakin’ Levi with his freakin’ control issues,” I mutter. “It’s no wonder his crew quit on him before. The man isimpossible.”

A rusted bike's old frame leans against a crooked stack of pallets.

This place has seen better days. And that’s what drove me to want to help.

I know how to run a shop. I’ve done it for the last three years. But right now, I don’t know if this is worth it. If I’m fighting with Levi at every turn, how am I going to make a dent?

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