She crosses her arms over her chest and leans against the counter as I continue to clean. “Are you just going to pretend that the scariest Locke didn’t show up at the bar last night and break a guy’s face over you?”
I swallow and look up to see her studying me. “Ace is overprotective and that guy wouldn’t stop pushing me to accept a drink from him. He wanted to get me drunk, Gia. I’m not sure I feel sorry for him.”
Her face softens. “I’m sorry. I had no idea he was pushing you. I was too wrapped up in Rye. I should’ve been paying more attention instead of putting you in an uncomfortable situation.”
I shrug and toss the towel into the sink. “It’s fine. I’m actually pretty happy that Ace showed up when he did. He’s not as bad as you think… None of them are, Gia. They’re just…”
“Misunderstood,” she says with a small smile. “I guess I can see that. Plus, they’re completely gorgeous. All three of them. Maybe I should’ve landed myself a Locke.”
We both laugh, but stop and look over when the bell on the door chimes.
The moment my gaze sets on Ace, who steps inside dressed in a white Henley, dark jeans and a pair of black motorcycle boots, I almost forget how to breathe.
I don’t think I’ll ever get used to how beautifully dangerous this man looks.
He stops and his gaze locks with mine as the door closes behind him.
The intense look in his eyes is almost as if he’s close to losing his shit on someone and is fighting with everything in him to keep his cool.
“Is everything okay?” I ask, my gaze slowly trailing down to see his knuckles freshly busted open. “Ace…”
My words trail off as he comes at me, grips the back of my head and lowers his mouth to mine.
He kisses me hard and deep, his tongue slipping between my lips with an urgency that makes my heart beat fast against my ribcage. It’s almost as if he needs me in this moment and the idea of that has my walls crumbling even more.
“Are you off work yet?” he asks the moment our lips part.
I shake my head. “Almost. I have another twenty–”
“She’s off,” Gia interrupts. “Melissa can leave now if she wants.”
Ace nods to Gia as he releases my head and backs away. “I’ll wait outside for you.”
I don’t even get a chance to respond before Ace is out the door, hopping into his truck.
“Whoa,” Gia whispers. “That kiss was pretty damn intense.”
“Yeah.” I nod and clock out, unsure of how to feel at the moment. This kiss felt different. So much more intense than the other ones and I know it’s because my feelings for him have changed. “Thanks for letting me leave early.”
“No worries. Kadence will be here soon.” Her attention goes toward the window. “Enjoy your time off. I know I would if I got to stare at him from the passenger side of his truck.” She shakes her head. “I promise I’m not thinking dirty things about your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my–”
“I’m pretty sure he is, Melissa. Just stay safe.”
Butterflies flutter around inside my belly at the idea of Ace being my boyfriend. I like the sound of that a lot more than I ever thought I would’ve.
“Yeah,” I whisper. “I’ll see you later.”
I grab my purse and head outside to Ace’s truck. Just like always, he leans over and opens the door before grabbing my hand to help me up.
“Where do you want to go?” he questions, placing my hand on his firm thigh.
“I don’t know.” I can’t think straight right now because all I can think about is why his knuckles have busted back open. “What happened to your hands?”
“Troy.” He keeps his eyes on the road as he drives, his jaw steeling at the mention of this Troy guy.
“Who’s Troy?”
“The fucker tied up in my garage who thought he could hurt my family. I’ll let him go in a few days, but not until he’s learned his lesson.” He glances over at me and, instead of being afraid like I would’ve just weeks ago, I feel the urge to climb into his lap and kiss him hard on the lips.
Without giving it a second thought, I unbuckle my seatbelt and crawl into his lap, straddling him.
A deep growl comes from his throat as I kiss him hard on the lips, needing to feel his mouth on me. Needing to taste him.
I love the protective side of Ace.
“Fuck, Melissa.” One of his hands moves up to wrap into the back of my hair and I feel him grow hard between my legs. “Where do you want to go? I’ll take you anywhere just as long as I get to be with you.”
I look up at him as he focuses on the road, his hips slightly thrusting into me as if he wants to fuck me right here in traffic. My entire body heats up at the thought.
“Take me to the garage. I want to talk and watch you work, Ace. I want to spend time with you.”
He pulls up at a stoplight and moves his hands to grip my waist. “Just talking tonight,” he groans. “I have somewhere I want to take you tomorrow. I need to because I can’t control myself with you any longer.” We are both breathing hard, heavy. “I want you to really see what you’re getting into.”
I don’t know what he’s talking about, but I trust him. “Okay,” I whisper into his neck. “I’ll go anywhere with you, Ace. But for tonight I want to just be with you. I missed you.”
The moment the words I missed you leaves my lips, a small breath of relief leaves Ace’s as if that’s the confirmation he needed to know that I’m falling hard for him.
And I am.
I know without him saying it back that he’s missed me too.
I’m not sure where he wants to take me tomorrow, but I need tonight with him. I need to get to know him before he takes me somewhere that can change everything.
I’m not ready to for my walls to come back up. I’m ready to fall for him completely.
15
Ace
Not killing the fucker in my garage has been proving to be harder than I expected. Every time I look at the son of a bitch’s face, I’m reminded of the fact that he had the power to hurt my family. That all it would’ve taken was one squeeze of the trigger for him to end my life or one of theirs.
I spent the last hour torturing him, reminding him of what will happen if he ever steps foot on our property again. The need to see Melissa in order to catch my breath and think straight was too overpowering for me not to show up at her work unexpected.
The moment my lips touched hers and her taste covered my mouth, I felt as if I could fucking breathe again.
I need her, and the more time we spend together, the more I know that I can’t live without her. I don’t want to.
We pull up at the garage and as usual, it’s empty. Gage never stays past five because he knows I like my alone time here. My time to work and think.
Melissa is still in my lap, straddling me when I put the truck into park and it’s taking every last fucking bit of my strength not to fuck her right here, right now and show her just how mine she truly is.
“Fuck, baby.” I brush her hair back and move my lips across her ear. “I missed you, too.”
My confession has her wrapping her arms around my neck and moving to place her forehead against mine. “Tell me what happened, Ace. I want to know about the asshole who got caught trying to break in. Did he hurt you?”
I shake my head and steel my jaw. “No. He almost did.” I pause and run my thumb over her cheek. “If it weren’t for King, though, I’d most likely be dead. He was two seconds away from pulling the trigger.”
Her heart pounds angrily against my chest as her grip on me tightens. “Is there a target here?”
A small smirk crosses my face as I lift her up and out of my lap. The idea that Melissa wants to let some anger out in the same way that I’ve been doing for as long as I can remember somehow makes me feel even closer to her. “No, but there can be.”
I watch as she jumps out of the truck and slams the door behind her. Once I make it o
ut of the truck and over to her side, she’s pacing nervously. “You could be dead right now, Ace.”
She looks up, her angry gaze landing on mine as I bow my head to look down at her. “Not just me,” I say on a growl. “Aston and Kadence too. Who knows what that asshole was capable of. Still is once I free him.”
She swallows hard before pulling her hair back into a ponytail. “I hate the idea of that with every fucking part of me. I want to kill that piece of shit myself.”
I bring my hands up to cup her face, wanting to reassure her that he’s no longer a threat. “He won’t be hurting anyone after I’m through with him, Melissa. I won’t fucking let him. I’d die before I let him get to you or my family. That’s a promise.”
Keeping her gaze on me, she nods, before reaching out to grab my hand to look at my knuckles. “I believe you, Ace.”
Once we get inside, I flip on a few lights and guide Melissa into the back room that never gets used. Gabe may get upset about us leaving holes in the wall, but I’ll rebuild the whole fucking wall if I have to.
I grab out my knife and hand it to Melissa before stepping back and crossing my arms. “Let it out, Angel.”
She gives me a confused look. “What? Right here. Won’t you get fired or–”
“I’ll handle Gage,” I say, cutting her off. I don’t want her to think about any of that. “Don’t worry about me getting into trouble.”
I push away from the wall and step in close behind her, turning her to face the wall. “Pretend that piece of shit is the wall. Don’t hold back.” I can’t lie and say I don’t find pleasure in the fact she is looking out for me, that she cares enough to worry about me. Hell, it makes me really fucking happy, if I’m being honest.
She leans her head back and lets out a tiny moan when I kiss her neck. “Okay,” she whispers. “I can do that.”
“Good.” I back away and pull the joint from my pocket as I watch her growl out and throw the knife at the wall.
A half hour goes by, and she’s still not ready to give the knife back and all I can do is sit back and watch my beautiful, twisted angel with a smirk.
Fuck, how she was meant for me.
“Feel better?” I push away from the wall and walk over to the wall that has the knife stuck in it.
She nods, watching me as I pull the knife from the wall and slip it back into my boot. “I feel much better, actually.”
I barely get a chance to stand back up, before her arms are wrapped around my neck and she’s pulling me in for a kiss.
Fuck, how I love that she’s starting to kiss me and touch me on her own. It says that we’ve come a long way since she first came into my life because of Aston and Kadence.
“Can I sit and watch you work now?” she questions against my lips. “It brings me peace and comfort and I need that right now.”
“Yes,” is all I say before guiding her back into the garage where my bike is.
I dropped it back off last night because there’s still more work to get done on her.
She watches me in silence for a bit before speaking. “Were your parents ever good to you guys?” There’s genuine curiosity and worry in her voice. It warms a part of my cold fucking heart.
“No,” I say honestly. “Not that I can remember. I think I came out of the womb fearing them. They should’ve never been allowed to have kids.” I look up from my bike to see her mouth curve down into a frown. “What about your parents? Are they around?”
She nods. “Yeah, they live about twenty minutes away. I see them when I can, but they both work a lot of long, crazy hours, so family time is usually few and far between.” She shrugs. “We’re also not real close, but we don’t have any issues either. It’s just sort of whatever. We make time when we can.”
“They treat you well?”
“Yeah. I don’t remember a time where they ever even spanked me. I guess I should be more grateful than I have been.” She looks sad as her eyes move up to meet mine. “I never realized that I had it good growing up compared to some kids. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” I say stiffly. I hate thinking about my parents. “They made us who we are and I don’t regret that. It also helped us get close to our uncle Killian. He’s taught us a lot about life.”
“I like your uncle. I can tell how much he loves you guys.”
“Yeah.” A grateful smile forms on my lips. “He loves us something fierce and trust me… Killian is the last Locke you want to cross. You think I’m twisted. Killian is brutal.”
She lets out a small laugh. “I’ll be sure not to get on his bad side then.”
“Good. Because if you did… then I’d have to be on his bad side too.”
She’s silent as she watches me, almost as if she’s unsure of what to say. I love my uncle to death, but I’d do anything for Melissa. I’m right there with her, no matter where that is.
We spend the next two hours talking, laughing and playing around and it feels incredible to be doing this with her.
I’ve never seen her so relaxed with me and it scares the shit out of me that after what I have to show her tomorrow, that this night, and everything that we’ve shared and learned about each other, might not be enough to make her want to stay.
After tomorrow, I may lose Melissa forever and, to be honest, I’ve never been so terrified of anything in my entire life.
That’s exactly why I need to take every moment that I can get with her tonight and savor it.
After I clean off my hands, I guide Melissa out to the back of my truck and pull her into my lap, holding her as we both stare up at the night sky.
Here with her, I feel the happiest I’ve ever been. But for her to truly be happy with me, she needs to accept me for who I am.
Tomorrow, she’ll get to see that with her own two eyes.
16
Melissa
To say I am curious about where Ace is taking me is an understatement. I glance over at him, the road we are on is rocky, as if it is foretelling me that what is about to happen, that what I am about to see would be just as uneven.
But I think this is what I need to know, whether or not falling for him completely is something I can handle.
I need to know where to go from here. Especially after the time we spent together last night. Being with him, him talking and holding me, felt so damn good to ignore.
“You don’t want to tell me where we’re going?” I see him smirk, but it is more of a sinister one than anything else.
Goosebumps pop out along my skin, and I know that what I am about to witness will probably shape how I feel for Ace more than anything else that has happened since meeting him. But then again, I have a feeling that that is the reason he is taking me with him. I know that he wants me to see this other side of him, to know truly who he is before things get even more intense between us.
But I know about him, about his brothers and after getting to know him the way I have over the last week, I’m hoping that nothing that he can show me or tell me tonight will change how I feel for him.
Truth is, I’m already in too deep with it comes to Ace but am too afraid to actually say those words out loud. Hell, I think I’m even too afraid to admit it to myself the majority of the time.
About ten minutes later we come to a stop. There are a few houses around, all of them looking pretty rundown and deserted. Only one of them has lights coming from the inside. I glance over at Ace and see him clenching the steering wheel so tightly the leather creeks under his hold.
I want to say something, anything, but I know he’s not in the mindset for anything aside from what he’s about to do. And I know that’s going to include violence.
He’s out of the truck and reaching for his hammer before I can even comprehend it, and although I think he might say to stay in the vehicle, he walks around and opens the passenger side door.
My stomach drops, my nerves taking over.
For a second, I just sit there and stare at him, seeing the way the muscle under his j
aw ticks, how he’s holding the edge of the car door so tightly his knuckles are white. I can see the pulse beneath his ear beating rapidly.
He’s pumped up for whatever he’s about to do, or maybe he’s afraid of showing me the real him. I may know what he and his brothers do, somewhat accept it now even, but witnessing it firsthand is something totally different.
I know this and it’s clear he does, as well.
He helps me out of the vehicle and I stand there for a moment just staring at the house. Part of the front window is patched up with plywood, as if the owner of the house figured this was a good enough fix. The light coming from the window is dim, almost lifeless. I look over at Ace and see him watching me.
“Are you ready to see who I really am, Angel?” I open my mouth but no words come out. I want to tell him that I know who he is, but I have a feeling I really don’t know who Ace Locke truly is.
“I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.” The words fall out of my mouth, even though I’m far from ready. I spent a long time fearing the Locke brothers, not knowing who they really were, what they really stood for. I thought they were careless and dangerous. I never in my wildest dreams would’ve imagined I’d be where I am at this very moment.
He grins but it doesn’t reach his eyes; he looks less than happy. And then together we walk up to the house. My heart is thundering and fear waves war in me. Although I know Ace would never let anything or anyone harm me, knowing I am about to see the violence that he dishes out has me on edge.
We stop right before we reach the uneven, partially broken porch steps. Headlights illuminate the house for a second, and the sound of tires on gravel ring through the air. I turn and see a dark SUV come to a stop beside Ace’s vehicle. More Lockes have clearly shown up for this, and that worries me even more.
Sterling is the only one to get out, but he looks less than thrilled to see me standing there.
“What the fuck, man?” he says to Ace, but his focus is on me. “You brought your woman here? You fucking mad?”
Locke Brothers Series Page 25