by Frankie Love
You’d think I’d be stressed out, with Grotto and jail and all that shit—but I’m not. Because I’m holding Emmy in my arms. Holding her so fucking tight. I swear to God I’ll never let her go.
“Baby, that was so good,” I whisper in her ear as she’s pressed tight against my chest.
“It was.” Emmy looks up at me, smiling, so blissed out that it’s as if the last two days never happened. It’s like we are back in my penthouse, eating peanut butter sandwiches. It doesn’t matter where we are—when we’re together it’s like we are home.
I’m becoming a fucking pussy, but I don’t care. Any man would, if they had a woman like Emmy.
“So we should go to the police station now, right?” Emmy says.
“Yeah, this shit is nuts. I mean, Grotto’s willing to risk everything for a fucking piece of property,” I say.
But so was I.
I wanted that building without any purpose, without any reason. Just for the power.
Fuck that shit. I don’t need a fucking building to make me a man.
I need Emmy, and I have her.
“My phone is blowing up,” I say, grabbing it. “Landon probably thinks I died.”
“It’s okay, just call him and tell him we are alive.”
He picks up right away. “Fuck, Ace, where are you?”
“Leaving the property now. Just got Emmy.”
“Oh, shit—good. We’re all freaking out here at Spades. You were supposed to call, asshole.”
“Grotto’s men had taken her, tied her up in the building. We’ve got to get to the police station and let them know.”
“Fuck. Okay, we’ll meet you there.”
I hang up; Emmy is strumming my chest with her hands, still completely undressed, straddling me. I’ve died and gone to heaven.
“Everything okay, Boss-man?” She cocks her head to the side, smiling.
“I don’t know. This is all fucking nuts.”
“What do you think my sister was doing with Grotto?”
“I don’t know, baby,” I tell her. “But we’ll find out.”
“First, can we do it one more time?” she asks. “I’m still so fucking hot for you.”
“Emmy, you literally never have to ask.”
I smack her ass, and she starts rubbing my cock up and down, getting me hard so fast. Her tits are bouncing in my face and I grab them with my hands, massaging her perfect globes, until her nipples are hard and round. She leans over me and I lick her tits as she grinds against me. Her pussy is wet again, so nice and wet that my cock seems to grow each time she swivels her hips.
She arches up, and presses herself over my massive cock.
“You feel so good inside me,” she says, moaning in pleasure. “You’re in so deep, Ace, so deep and good. You fill me up so nice.”
Emmy’s eyes drip with desire, and I press my hand to her opening, wanting to rub at the top of her pussy as she rides me. Her clit grinds against my hand as she fucks me.
She likes my finger there, and my other hand grazes her ass, causing her to moan louder.
“Oh, fuck, Ace, it feels so good,” she moans, her tits in my face, just making my cock go fucking crazy. She swivels faster, and I know she’s near her breaking point, as she pants in ecstasy.
“This is so good.” Emmy slows, and I thrust deep inside her once more as she throws back her head and screams. “Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck, YES.”
Emmy’s eyes close as the wave of the orgasm spreads through her, and I keep pounding my cock into her pussy as I come, nice and hard.
“Oh, fuck me, Emmy.” I close my eyes too, catching my goddamn breath.
“Always, Ace. Always.”
It’s after midnight when we pull up at the police station, and Emmy and I are both surprised to see Detective Clark is already here.
He shakes his head after we tell him what’s happened.
“You haven’t heard?” he asks.
“What?” Emmy asks. Our crew is here, too. Claire and Tess; Landon, Jack and McQueen. It’s been a long fucking night and we’re ready for some answers.
“There was a fire. At the property. Whole thing is up in flames.”
Clark points to the television airing the late-night news. They’re showing a fire lighting up the sky.
“Motherfucker,” Jack says, as we watch the news anchor describe the scene.
“A late-night fire has investigators scouring the premises for a lead. The cause of the fire is believed to be arson, though police officers haven’t released a formal statement. This building was a high-profile property for sale in Las Vegas, and high-rise owner Frank Grotto and Las Vegas’s most eligible bachelor, Ace Royalle, owner of Spades Royalle casino, are rumored to be in a dispute over the sale.
“Local footage shows Ace and an unidentified woman fleeing the scene of the crime one hour before the fire started. However, an unmarked van was also seen on sight. Police have found the driver, and we will update with more details as we learn them.”
“Where is he?” I ask, pounding my fist into Clark’s desk. “Where’s the driver, because I’m gonna fucking kill that man.”
“Dude, it’s okay,” McQueen says, trying to calm me down.
“No, it’s not okay,” I yell. “That man kidnapped Emmy, and I want to know why. What was he planning on doing with her?”
“Burn the building, with her in it,” Clark says diplomatically, hands folded. “That’s my guess.”
“But why?” Emmy asks. “What did I do?”
“You’re with me. Easiest way for Grotto to get me to back down is to come after my woman.”
“But why would he want the fingers pointed at himself?” McQueen asks. “Starting this fire puts a target on his back.”
“Maybe he’s trying to cover up something bigger,” Claire says, and I think to myself that Emmy’s got smart friends. “Something worse, and this fire would take the heat off that.”
“Shit,” Jack says. “Any idea what Grotto might be doing that’s worse than arson?”
Remembering Janie’s heroin kit hidden in her bedroom, the fact that she is working with Grotto to frame me, I have a fucking clue.
“You said the Police Department has been trying to get Grotto behind bars for years, right?” I ask Clark.
“Sure have. But man, that man is clean as a whistle until now ... and he still isn’t liable for this. We have no proof he had anything to do with this fire, boys. If we did, it would be nice and easy. But nothing is that easy when it comes to criminals.”
Fuck me, don’t I know it. My whole childhood was spent with criminals. I grew up with dirty hands, dirty money. I know how twisted people can become when they are living in a goddamned cycle of greed. Grotto is trying to cover up something bigger. Set me up, then set the fire.
But I’m not the one going up in motherfucking flames.
EMMY
When Ace takes my hand and leads me out of Clark’s office, for a moment I think he wants to take me in the bathroom and fuck me again. But then I see the terror in his face, the anger in his eyes.
“We need to talk to your sister. We need to get her to confess to her part in this,” he says.
“Shouldn’t that be Clark and his men? Ace, I’ve tried with her. It’s a brick wall. She and I are through.”
“Fuck that, Emmy; you can’t quit now. Do you understand what Grotto is trying to do to me?”
“I get it. I just don’t know what I can do.” I toss my head back, rub my temples. I am beyond exhausted. “I need to sleep, Ace. I’m so tired ... so done with today.”
“We should all rest,” Ace says, cupping my cheek in his hand. “It’s late, you need your beauty sleep.”
I swat his hand away, a small smile on my tired face. “You saying I need sleep to be beautiful?”
“You know me, baby.”
“I do, Ace. I do.” And I press my mouth on his lips, holding his strong, stubbled jaw in my hand. Kiss him tight. “I’m bringing my girls home with me so I w
on’t be alone, but I need to sleep in my own bed tonight, get my own clothes tomorrow. Regroup.”
“Your clothes are still packed in suitcases,” Ace says. “I was at your apartment looking for you ... before I found you tied up. Emmy, you can’t keep living out of bags.”
“And where should I live, Ace?” I shake my head, not ready to think about Janie leaving the hospital and me needing to make choices about my next steps. Do I reapply for graduate school, move back to Washington? I can’t imagine leaving Ace, but ... he and I have made no promises.
“Live with me,” Ace says simply, taking my hands in his. “Move into my penthouse.”
“You can count the number of days we’ve known one another on two hands.”
“So? Two hands are good,” Ace says, shrugging. “They’re what I’m using to hold you right now.”
“Where the hell did you come from, Ace?” I ask, blown away by this man. His words, his commitment, to me.
“I came from a no-good place. But look where I’ve ended up.”
“Where?” I ask, looking around the dingy police station, all bad lighting and laminate floor. “Where have you ended up?”
“With you. I’ve ended up with you.”
My breath catches on our intimate voices, the way his thumb circles my palm. The way his love has wrapped around my heart. “I’m a person, not a place, Ace,” I tell him.
“Oh, baby, you’re wrong. You are home.”
Ace doesn’t want me to leave his side, but I need to go back to Janie’s apartment. I need to sleep in her bed, say good-bye to a story that is no longer mine to write. Her life and my life are no longer entwined. She told me to go, and so I will.
Still, he sends a security detail to scout out the place all night and, while his safety measures seem indulgent, he reminds me I was kidnapped tonight. So I stop fussing and thank him.
Claire and Tess come with me, and when I flip on the lights in the apartment I can’t help but admit that this place is kind of crappy compared to Ace’s place.
“So he really asked you to move in with him?” Tess asks, as she slips off her shoes and throws her purse on the floor.
“Yeah ... and I’m going to. I mean, I told him I love him.”
“Fuck, you guys got real, real fast,” Claire says, grabbing a blanket from the couch, wrapping it around her as she tries to suppress a yawn. “I’m so tired.”
“Thanks for staying with me tonight,” I tell them as we walk to Janie’s bedroom and I flip on the lights. We’re going to spoon the shit out of one another in her queen-sized bed, but I need that from my girls right now.
“Fuck, what is that?” Claire asks, pointing to a pile of crap on the bed.
“That’s heroin,” Tess says, looking at me nervously. “Emmy?”
“That’s not my stuff,” I say, looking at Janie’s stash. “Ace was here before ... looking for clues about Janie. I saw that pipe in her underwear drawer, but people use pipes for pot, right? I don’t know, I just assumed it wasn’t serious.”
“Well, no doubt, your sister was using,” Tess says, picking up the balloon and untying it with her fingers, then using her mouth to loosen it more. Looking inside, she says, “You never wondered what was in this balloon?”
“I didn’t.” Sitting on my bed, I take the glass pipe in my hand. “I’m surprised the doctors didn’t know.”
“Well, she was there because of a coma,” Claire says, shrugging, wrapping her blanket around me. “They wouldn’t have run drug tests on her.”
“Yeah, and if she smoked and didn’t shoot up, then there wouldn’t be track marks on her either,” Tess says.
“You seem to know a lot about heroin,” Claire says softly.
“We all have a story,” Tess says sadly. “Sorry, Emmy. But maybe it helps you understand Janie a little bit?”
I nod my head and move the items in my hand back to the dresser. “Life is so hard,” I say, getting into the middle of the bed, pulling the duvet over myself. Claire switches off the lights, and she and Tess slip in the bed with me.
“It’s hard,” Claire says, “but it’s also really beautiful. In the midst of this mess, you found Ace. You found love.”
“And you found us. We’re your friends, and we aren’t going anywhere,” Tess says.
Tears fall down my cheeks as I squeeze my eyes shut tight. I squeeze the hands of my friends—the people who, in the end, are more of a family than I ever found through bloodlines and matching last names. In this heartbreak, I won’t forget the people I have with me now, the people who chose to stay.
27
ACE
The vibrating phone wakes me. I slept for shit anyways; all I wanted was Emmy’s arms around me, pulling me deeper into her. Soon enough I’ll have that every night of my life.
It’s Mark calling, so I answer. “Hello?”
“Ace, man, big morning over here. You see the news?”
“No.” I get out of bed and reach for a remote. Switching on the flat screen, I change from ESPN to a local channel. “What’s going on?”
A handcuffed Grotto is on the television, a streaming banner with updates below him. A reporter’s voice-over fills me in: “Local high-rise developer arrested early this morning, when evidence of his leading a local drug ring were brought to light. The testimony of Las Vegas resident Janice Hopper, a woman who recently woke from a coma in which Frank Grotto fled the scene of the crime, gave the local police the tip-off they needed to charge him.”
“Holy fuck,” I say into the phone. “Who got her to talk?”
“She called 9-1-1 late last night after everyone left the station. Apparently she and Grotto have been talking since she woke. The nurses have since reported that she was extremely anxious after her phone calls, but I guess the fact that Grotto kidnapped Emmy was the last straw.”
“So she admitted the truth because she wanted to fix things with Emmy?” I ask. Relief fills my chest—not just because my name is clear, but also because Emmy might be able to fix things with her sister after all.
“She was working with Grotto to frame you to clear her drug debts, but then I guess when she found out about the kidnapping she had a last-minute change of heart. He wanted to screwed you out of the property deal, and she wanted to pay off what she owed. He set up the car crash, but never expected Janie to go into a coma. When she did, I guess things got out of control. He skipped town for a few weeks, but when he came back things were still heated on his side. He was waiting for the moment when the girl woke, not knowing whose side she’d take.”
“Well, what matters is, in the end, she took Emmy’s,” I tell him.
“Yeah, thank God you and Emmy got together,” Mark says. “If you hadn’t, who knows if Janie would have felt loyal to the truth. I’m guessing the answer there is no.”
“Thanks for calling, man,” I tell him. “And keep me posted about your wife’s health.”
“You’re a good guy, Ace,” Mark says, then hangs up.
I sit down on my bed, let out a deep breath, ready for things go back to normal. This has been one fucking ride.
When I get to Emmy’s a few hours later, Claire and Tess are sitting with her on the couch. I talked to her this morning, filling her in on everything with Janie, and she said they’d been online all morning reading updates on Grotto’s arrest and watching coverage.
“You holding up okay, baby?” I ask Emmy, pulling her into a hug, wrapping my arms around her tight.
“She’s a wreck, and just wants things fixed with Janie,” Claire says. “You gonna help her with that?”
“I’ll help however I can.”
“Good,” Claire says, getting up from the couch and pulling on her shoes. “Because this girl needs a fucking break. I told you that last week when you called me. I still mean it. She deserves the world.”
“You called Claire?” Emmy asks, looking up at me in our embrace.
“Fuck, yeah, I did,” I tell her. “I needed to know what I should do to help
you relax.”
“And that’s when you decided we should stay at your place for three days?”
“Yeah.” I smirk. “What, you’d prefer me taking you away to the Bahamas?”
“Hardly,” she says. “I’m not that girl.”
“Well,” Tess adds. “Maybe you’ll be that sort of girl after you two get married. I mean, a Bahamas honeymoon sounds pretty good to me.”
Emmy’s eyes get wide, and her cheeks blush. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my baby embarrassed before. My cock twitches in excitement. I want her to like the idea of her and me, forever, and that hint of pink on her face tells me she does.
“On that note,” Emmy says, flustered. “We should head to the hospital. I need to thank Janie for coming clean before it was too late.”
“Shouldn’t we get your luggage first?” I ask.
“You were serious about us moving in together?” Emmy asks.
Claire and Tess eye one another, grinning. “Um, we’re gonna head out, okay Emmy?” Tess says.
“Yeah, call us later,” Claire says, laughing. “With, like, your new home addresses.”
“Ha-ha,” Emmy says, shaking her head at her friends as they leave.
Once the door is closed, I turn back to Emmy. “I was dead serious about you moving in.”
“Good,” she says, grinning. “Because I already packed.”
EMMY
Ace pulls me into a kiss, and once again I am just so fucking ready to be taken by him. Our mouths crash together, and finally the stress of the last two months is gone. Sure, there will be a lot of healing that Janie and I need to go through ... which still shocks me. I mean, I left her hospital room with her yelling at me to fuck off, to leave.
But maybe everyone can have a change of heart if they’re given enough time.
I don’t need to think about Janie and me though. Right now I only want to think about Ace and me. About the way his teeth pull on my lips, the way his growing cock feels pressed against my thigh.
“Oh, Ace,” I breath into him. “I’m so wet for you.” I take his hand and press it down the front of my jeans. “You feel that, how wet my pussy is for you?”