Page 22 of Ace of Spades

I won't tell him that.

"And why not?" he presses, annoyed by my restraint, as always.

"All I say is the wordwomanand you automatically assume I want to sleep with her. We're talking about me here, not you."

"First off, ouch. I'm not like that. I am a gentleman," he says with a hand on his heart.

"Mmhmm," I say as a response, watching as Maggie shakes her head at his remark.

She'd know better than anyone that's not true considering she's the one who has to clean up his messes.

"Second of all, whywouldn'tI automatically assume you'd want to sleep with a woman? It's been long enough."

I give him a look.

"What? What's it been? Like five years since Evie left?"

"Six," I say.

"Exactly! Long enough. Not that Evie seems to remember," he mumbles before finally takes a sip of his coffee and coughs as he tries to swallow it down. "Yeah, that's shit."

If anybody knows me and the whirlwind that is my life, it’s Brody King.

Serving together since we were both around Theo's age will do that. We've formed a tie that goes beyond blood, it's a bond that's forged in war. The kind of bond that's not easily severed. And considering, my own brother annoys the ever living shit out of me… Brody's the only one who truly gets me.

"Alright, so this woman…" he attempts to continue.

I motion over to Maggie who has her back to us as she continues to dust off the same cabinet she's been working on for the last five minutes.

Breaker's Isle is a coastal island town. I wouldn't call it a small town, per se. But does everybody know everybody's business? Yes. Somehow word always manages to get around.

Brody looks over at his maid and then back at me before giving me a nod.

"Hey, Mags. You mind grabbing something for me?"

She turns to look at him. "Sure, Mr. King."

"In my closet upstairs, like deep in there, probably on the top shelf so you'll need that step ladder that's in the laundry. There's a little black notebook labeled NO in all caps.

"No?" She repeats.

"Correct. Can you bring that down for me? Pretty please, Mags."

She gives me a questioning look and I just shrug, grabbing my coffee and taking a sip, forgetting I hate it.

"Sure, Mr. King. I'll be right back."

She drops her feather duster on a table at the bottom of the winding staircase and once she disappears upstairs Brody turns his attention back to me.

"That'll keep her busy a while," he says, a sly grin plastered on his face.

"Yeah, she's onto you. You're not slick. What's that notebook have in it anyway?"

"Itwouldhave the names of the women I've had the displeasure of meeting over the years and would never want to run into ever again. But I don't have a notebook labeled NO. That shit is all in here."

He taps the side of his head. "Now, this woman..."

"She's new in town. A friend of a friend of Theo’s. Someone he started hanging out with when he took that Art class at the college a few months ago."

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