“Fuck you. My men weren’t weak. They were men ten times better than any of yours ever could be.”
“You say that and yet, my men are still alive.”
I grimace in his direction.
He huffs, laughing as he takes a step aside for me to see him. “And Miss Stella Baker. Man, could she ride a dick. I assume you’ve taken care of her for me, though.”
My eyes thin. “So that was your plan? Once you got what you wanted from me you were just going to kill everyone that helped you in the process?”
“Of course! No loose ends! You know that rule. Ol’ Bruce taught us that one. Your father always had the best advice. Too bad he never followed through with his own.”
My fists clench. Maurice keeps the gun pointed at me, grabbing a sheet of paper and a pen off the counter. “How could you do this to Bianca? She trusted you the most. She loved you.”
He smirks at me. “That was the plan, Ace. Get her to fall for me. Get her to trust me. I even had someone tempt her into doing heroine again. Remembered you told me she was on it once… told me it was a weakness of hers. She went to a club, someone brought her to VIP, and they offered it. Just like that. I had to make her weaker for me. I had to be the one to come running when she needed a helping hand. Trust, Ace. I needed her to trust me.”
I bare my teeth, watching him intently as he sneers.
“Of course, at first I thought she had a clue about the codes, but it turns out she wanted nothing to do with Crow’s bad side so she didn’t know jack shit. Only reason I kept her around was because she told me so much about you—things I never knew. It was a good thing you made her more upset than you ever did happy. Whenever she was pissed, she couldn’t wait to drop the weight on me. I didn’t mind carrying it. It allowed me to learn who you really were.”
“Yeah? And who am I?”
He waves his gun. “Write.” I pick up the pen, my eyes darting over to the balcony door. I see Aden playing out back by the pool with his toy cars, a pair of headphones on. Safe. Good. I start to write, and Maurice continues. “You are a coward, Ace. The only thing you care about is yourself. You don’t give a fuck about the people that love and care for you. You’re bitter. Miserable. A fucking joke. You didn’t deserve Crow. You weren’t ready for it. It should’ve been handed to me. Bruce trusted me more than he did you. He knew you would try and change his foundation, and when I found out you did, I couldn’t believe it. So fucking stupid to let his men go and change everything. Bruce had it all, and you fucked it up.”
“As long as I was getting paid, I didn’t give a fuck,” I mutter. “And I was a killer, yes, but the people that got killed deserved it.” I drop the pen. “I’m not Bruce. I want to be nothing like him. A shitty father. A worthless, careless piece of shit like you.” I look at Aden again. “That won’t be me. I’m not giving up, and you aren’t getting my codes. Don’t you think the codes have changed, anyway? It’s been three years, Maurice. Shit changes in the drug and gun business.”
“Yeah, but not the people you worked with. The Russians. The French… Nah.” He shakes his head. “They don’t change theirs. There are numbers and other codes to get to the core one. I need all of them. I need their business. Once I have theirs, I’ll be set. Un-fucking-stoppable. The king of the cartel world.”
My eyes dart up to his, a small smile on my lips. “You think so?”
He presses the barrel of the gun to my head. “I know so.”
I laugh. “You really think I’m gonna hand it over just like that? So easily?”
He scowls.
“It’s you and me, Maurice. Nobody else is around. You want what I worked for so badly?” I say, pushing out of the chair. “Then come fight for it.”
“Sit down, Ace.” He stiffens his arm, gun pointed right at my face.
“Or what, you’ll kill me?”
He presses the metal to my head, nostrils flaring. “You know I will. Don’t fucking play with me.”
“Go ahead. But you won’t get those codes. You wanna know why you never found them? Because,” I rasp, pressing two fingers to my temple, “they’re in here. In my fucking head. You will never get them, whether I’m dead or alive. So, no. You won’t be king of cartel. You will be Maurice, a liar, backstabber, and a dealer with no fucking respect.”
Maurice’s whole demeanor changes in an instant. Fastening his jaw, eyes wide and filled with rage, he wraps his finger around the trigger, his body vibrating. I remain calm.
“With or without my gun, Maurice, I will kill you. Even with that gun pointed right at me, I will kill you, and I don’t care if I die during the process.” His eyes expand, his finger pulls on the trigger, but I duck and tackle him to the ground. His gun goes off as I land on top of him. Snatching the gun away from him, I shove it across the room and then go for the other on his waist, sliding it across the floor as well.
“I won’t make this shit easy,” I growl, gripping him by the throat and yanking his body up. I slam him against the wall, coming face to face with him. “You betrayed me. You lied to me! You hurt my family, threatened to kill them and me, and think I’m just going to let you get away with it?” His large body flies towards the table. He flops on the dense wood, and it shatters to the floor, splinters flying, his body crumpling with it.
“Fuck you, Ace,” he spits, blood spilling out the corner of his mouth.
I step on his chest. “How long?” I ask, grimacing.
“How long what?!” he barks.
“How long were you planning to take me and Crow out?”
His eyes bore into mine, wide and unafraid. “Ever since Bruce handed you the keys to Crow Towers. That should’ve been me! He made me promises, and he didn’t keep them. You think the business he ran is what killed him? No,” he cackles as I press my foot down harder on his chest. “No, Ace. I’m what killed Bruce. I set him up, just like I set you up in that alley. You’re both fools. You fell for everything. You gave Krane a second chance which was pretty fucking stupid of you, and London… well, she just made it simpler for me to get to you. She opened you up, made you so much easier to read. Softer. Weak!” His head shakes back and forth, eyes bulging out of the sockets. “You were an open fucking book. Should’ve stuck to your roots. Maybe your men would still be alive. Maybe Crow would still be alive!”
My panting ceases, lips pinched tight. What the fuck? All this time I thought my father died during a trade when really it was Maurice. He’s the reason I could never forgive my father. I never had the chance because he took that away from me. If it weren’t for him, my father would probably still be alive. I’m not sure if we’d be on good terms, but he’d be alive. As much as I hated him, I still wanted him to become a better man. Realize the good he had in life.
My eyes burn from tears begging to be shed. I’m hot all over. I feel like I’m on fire and won’t be put out until Maurice is gone. I thought he was my friend. I helped him get his business going, and this is how he betrays me? If he killed my father, a man he looked up to for guidance, I’m sure he would’ve killed London, Bianca, and Aden without any hesitation or remorse once I was gone. And that’s what hurts the most.
The thought that I almost lost them to this son of a bitch.
A growl comes from below, my ankle is twisted, and before I know it, I’m on my back, all the wind blowing out of me. Maurice is on his feet, looming above me. He goes for the gun in the corner as I groan, recollecting needed oxygen.
I let my guard down for less than five seconds, and just like that, he’s on top. Fuck! I hate that he learned the ropes the same way as I did! Any moment of weakness during a bad situation should be taken. No matter how it may end. Fucking Bruce.
Stepping towards me, he angles the gun at my head.
“Goodbye, Crow.” His finger touches the trigger, and this time, I’m sure I’m going to die. I’ve let them down.
My loved ones.
My son.
My family.
My head falls to the side, and I spo
t Aden standing by the pool, watching the beach. He has no clue what’s going on, and I’m glad. He doesn’t need to be a witness. He’s priceless in this moment. The beach wind blowing in his dark, curly hair, the way he plays with his cars, floating them in the air and surely making car noises. His headphones on, drowning out every terrible sound.
Several seconds pass, but out of nowhere, Aden’s body is snatched up by a petite frame, long brown hair flowing in the wind, and they run away, out of sight. London?
Something bangs against the wall from a distance, Maurice grunts, and he’s no longer above me, but on the ground. I bring myself back to the present, springing up and spotting Trent who has his foot pressed down on Maurice’s throat.
“Ace!” Bianca calls, bending at my side. She helps me to a stand. I wince as I add weight to my ankle. She looks down. “What the fuck happened? Are you okay?”
“Fine.” I brush myself off, leaning to the other side.
Sprained ankle. Fucking great.
She snatches her focus away from me and looks forward, eyes glistening as she watches Maurice struggle for breath. “Trent,” she calls, stepping ahead. Her voice is thick.
I stop her, grabbing her by the shoulder. “Bianca, don’t fall for his shit. He doesn’t love you. He used you.”
She blinks at me but doesn’t say a word.
“I’m going to kill him,” I tell her. “Regardless.”
A single tear skids down her cheek. Bending down, she picks up Maurice’s pistol and slowly walks toward him. Trent steps back and comes to a stance at my side, both of us watching with caution.
“Bianca,” Maurice croaks. He smiles at her. She doesn’t return it.
“Remember that saying I was telling you about before… about Ace and all the girls?” she questions
He nods, laughing dryly. “Oh yeah. Something like ‘beware of Ace Crow’… and some other shit with pussy.” He laughs again. “Crazy if you ask me.”
She points the gun at him, arms locked. “That’s not the only reason people are afraid of him.”
“Wait wait wait, Bianca! You know I was never going to hurt you. We were going to live good together once this was all over. I love you. I would never hurt you.”
“Just like you loved Baker?” Her voice is thick with tears.
“That was just business, babe.”
“You said you were done with the business—that you were leaving it behind.” She sniffles. He pushes up on his elbows, holds onto her leg, and begins to say something else to most likely defend his honor, but in the same moment, she pulls the trigger. A bullet pierces his skull, and he crumples.
Lifeless.
Blood is spattered all over the floor and base of the wall.
A masterpiece of Bianca Crow. In this moment, I realize she’s no longer Bianca Love. What she did here… that was her Crow blood finally breaking through and taking action.
The kitchen goes still as blood puddles around her lost love. Bianca is frozen, hair mangled and wild, dried blood on her elbows and hands from being locked up and beaten.
“Bianca?” I call in a whisper, stepping forward.
She turns around, looks me in the eyes, and then it happens. Exactly what I was expecting. She breaks down, falling to her knees, sobbing harder than I’ve ever heard before. Bianca has never killed anyone, but with Maurice, that was something she had to do. She fell for him. He lied to her, hurt her, and put us all in danger.
“Ace… I swear—,” Her voice cracks as I bend down with her and pull her face to my chest. “I’m so sorry. I swear I didn’t know! I thought—”
“Shh, Bianca. It’s fine. It’s done.” I rub her back. She sinks into my chest, heaving. She’s hurt, even more damaged than she once was.
Is this because of me? I could blame myself, but I had no idea Maurice wanted to see me dead ever since I took over Crow. I thought he was a good man, someone I could trust—that we all could trust.
I thought wrong.
“London’s out front with Aden,” Trent announces before turning for the patio door and drawing a cigarette. “I’ll clean, make sure no trace of you is left behind.”
“Come on.” I lift Bianca, wrapping her arm around me. We head towards the front door, me limping, and when I pull it open, I see London standing in front of Trent’s car with Aden gripped tight in her arms. Her face is blissful as she showers him with kisses. She’s at peace now that he’s safe. When she sees me, her hazel eyes spark, and my heart thumps in my chest like never before.
We’re all safe.
All together.
One big family.
London opens the back door for me, and I help Bianca inside. She straps Aden in and then shuts the door. Once it’s closed, she throws her arms around my neck, her hold constricting. I hold onto her, relieved and so fucking thankful.
“I was coming in right when Trent and Bianca pulled up,” she breathes.
“I’m glad you didn’t come alone.”
She pulls away, tears built up at the rims of her eyes. Her hands wrap around mine, and she lowers her head.
“What?” I ask.
“I’m just… glad you’re okay. When you went in there, I thought you would be gone again… I don’t know.” She struggles with a smile. I understand. This is a bittersweet moment. But I’m here… I’m here.
“What is going on here?” A neighbor paces towards us, his eyes unbelievably wide, and his salt and pepper hair disheveled. He takes note of the dead bodies, the blood and guns everywhere. “London!” he rushes up to her, looking her over. “Are you alright?!”
She nods, placing her hands on his shoulders. “I’m fine, Mr. Norris.”
“Everything doesn’t look fine.” His eyes fill with horror. “I’ve already called the police. Did someone attack you?” His eyes immediately land on me.
I frown.
“No, he’s with me. He came to help. He saved me.”
The man narrows his eyes at me, studying me. “A-are you…?” He gasps, whirling around. “Aden? Where is your boy?” he questions London.
“In the car. He’s a little tired.”
“You’re his real father,” the man breathes.
I nod, lips sealed.
London’s face is uncomfortable. She grabs the elderly Mr. Norris by the shoulders and leads him to the sidewalk. After speaking with him for a few minutes, Mr. Norris walks away but not without giving me one final stare-down. When he’s at his house, London rushes my way, grabbing my hands. “I told him to tell the police that someone tried to break in and that all the extra bodies were people that worked for him.”
“They’ll think drugs were involved. They’ll know.”
“Who cares?” She shrugs. “They’ll assume it was Greg they were after. We’re getting the hell out of here.”
“Gathered your guns and wiped the kitchen down,” Trent calls.
“Check those bushes!” I point towards the rose bush in front of the house. He goes for it, pulling out my two handguns.
“Both houses should be clear of fingerprints,” he goes on. “Cops won’t find anything but Maurice and his men here. No trace of you.”
I nod at him, and he walks toward the car, sparking another cigarette. Lowering my gaze to London, a smile scratches at the surface of my lips, and my eyes soften. “Come here.”
She grins as I start to pull her in for a hug, but a gun goes off, and she buckles. She clings to me, my eyes expand, and Trent runs around the car with stitched brows, looking up at the balcony. I look with him, spotting one of the men I shot from the window. He’s wounded, but not dead. I missed.
I fucking missed.
I put my focus on London, and slowly, her body descends. When I realize what’s happening, I clutch her in my arms.
Another gunshot goes off.
I don’t look. I can’t because I see blood below me.
And it’s not coming from my body.
It’s coming from her. I place her on the ground, seeing the bloodst
ain near her stomach.
Blood.
So much blood.
Her head lolls, her eyes shut, but the back door swings open, and Bianca demands that I get her inside and hurry the fuck up to the hospital before the cops arrive.
I’m in action. I can see that, but everything has faded to black and white. I’m in the driver’s seat. Trent hops in the passenger seat, helping Bianca apply pressure to London’s wound. I pull off.
They’re panicking.
Aden’s crying, wailing over his unconscious mother.
I’m… cold.
Empty.
My emotions have been switched off.
I can’t feel anything right now. Am I even thinking?
Bianca screams, “Ace, she’s not going to make it!” And then, it finally hits me—like a baseball bat to the gut.
My Red, the love of my fucking life, might die.
And if she does, it will be my fault.
Everything is always my fault.
This life… the shit I go through, it will never fucking end.
I Know You Care – Ellie Goulding
It’s all supposed to be over. Right?
Wrong.
A gun goes off. There’s blood. So much blood. Everywhere. Who’s is it?
I cling to him, eyes wide. In shock. Another gunshot rings in my ears. I don’t look. I can’t because I’m falling… descending. My head falls on its own. I struggle for breath. Ouch. I feel pain. Lots of pain.
Ace is above me, eyes wide and panicked, and moments later, I’m on the ground, unable to do anything.
Everyone is screaming. I’m in a trance, a lost state of mind, but soon, everything fades and turns grey.
Beware 2: The Comeback Page 22