Page 10 of Ace

It was, and I did, but that didn’t mean I was willing to admit it.“Are you always this chipper in the morning?”

“Only when I’ve been up half the night rescuing a damsel in distress.How’s the side this morning?”

I made a face.“Should be better as soon as the pills I took kick in.”

“Hopefully that will be soon.We need to head over to the clubhouse.”

I cocked my head as a thought occurred to me.“I thought bikers all lived together, at a clubhouse.Yet you have your own house.”

He shrugged.“We all have rooms at the clubhouse for when we party too hard and don’t want to drive home, but some of us like to have our own places outside of the club property.I’m not exactly a social animal, and I like my privacy.”

“So, this is your house?Like you bought it just for you?”

He inclined his head.“Yeah.I like to putter and fix things.As soon as I saw this place, I knew it needed me.That, and I got it for a good price because of the shape it was in.”

I hadn’t really taken in much the night before, but as I looked around now I could see all the personal touches.The moldings on the ceiling, the fancy frames around the windows and doors with stained glass inlays.He’d done an amazing job on it.“It’s beautiful.”

“Thanks.”His phone chirped and he checked the screen.“Gotta take this.”Putting the phone to his ear, he turned and headed into the other room.

I took the hint and sat myself down to finish the cappuccino.Out the window, I could see people bustling up and down the sidewalk on their way to work.Cars sped past, and it looked like any other day.

Except it wasn’t.The man who’d been murdered in the park last night wasn’t going to get up today, or any other day.I wondered who the dead guy was.Did he have a family?Children that would grow up without a father?

“Look at me.”Ace was back in the room, standing right in front of me.I hadn’t even heard him return.I lifted my chin to look up at him.

“It’s over.Don’t go back there.There was nothing you could do that would have changed the outcome.”

How did he know what I was thinking?“I know.It’s just…” My voice trailed off.

Ace shook his head.“Just nothing.Life sucks sometimes.You just shake it off and get on with it.For all you know that guy was a drug dealer, or a human trafficker.Maybe he deserved what he got.It doesn’t matter.You’re here and you’re alive.That’s what’s important.”

I took a deep breath.He was right.“So, what now?”

“Now we get you to the clubhouse where I know you’ll be safe while we sort this out.”

“Okay.”I slid off the barstool, careful not to move my side too much.“But I’m scheduled to work tonight.”

“There’s no way you’re slinging drinks until your side heals up some.That’s on top of the fact that the murderer can probably find you there.”

“How long?”Murderers aside, I needed a job to pay my rent, and get my damn car fixed.

Ace shrugged.“We can ask Joker when we get to the clubhouse, but I’m guessing a few weeks at least.Bullet wounds are messy.No neat lines to stitch together.As for the murderer, hard to say.Depends on how much of a danger he considers you.”

“I can’t take two weeks off work, let alone an indefinite amount of time!I need to pay my rent, buy books, fix my car.”

“You’ve got an open wound on your side.If you don’t give it time to heal it could become infected, which is going to keep you down a lot longer than two weeks.Plus, I’m guessing the bar isn’t going to be thrilled to have their employee dripping blood on the customers.Or getting killed herself while on the job.”

“Maybe they’ll forget about me.And I can bandage it better.It’s not bleeding now.”

“We’ll ask Joker.And you do what he says.”

I muttered a curse under my breath.“I have to at least phone in and tell my boss I won’t be there.”

Ace held out his phone to me.“And while you’re at it, you need to cancel your phone.I’ll have one of the prospects pick you up a new one today, along with a clean SIM card.Android or iPhone?”

“Android.And I’ll pay you back.”

His eyes twinkled with sudden mirth as he swept me with a lustful glance.“Yes, you will.”

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