CHAPTER SIXTEEN: consequences be damned.

HOPE

I should’ve been furious. Embarrassed. Terrified even.

Instead, all I could feel was a wicked thrill humming through me.

Ace had punched a mafia heir in the middle of a gala—because of me. Not business. Not strategy. Me.

It wasn’t smart. It wasn’t safe. But God, it made something dangerous in me flutter.

He was possessive.

And I liked it.

Even now, in the quiet of his suite, as the door clicked shut behind us, I could still feel the raw edge of his temper vibrating through the air. He hadn’t said a word since we left the gala, but his jaw was clenched, and his eyes burned like fire.

I should’ve been thinking about the Bureau. About Evans. About the intel I’d just gathered from the women lounging around in designer gowns and bloodstained secrets. I’d worked quickly, slipping into conversations like a ghost, planting harmless questions here and there—gathering just enough to put names to whispers.

But then Salvatore had shown up.

And all I remembered was the stench of his cologne, the sly smile, the lean-in—

Until Ace's fist landed like thunder.

Back in his suite, he poured me a glass of water, jaw still tight.

I took it with a thank you that didn’t quite make it out of my throat.

He stood by the window now, shirt unbuttoned at the top, eyes still locked on the dark skyline as if the night might offer him a reason not to explode again.

I watched him in silence, every nerve in my body alive.

He was holding back. And that restraint, that tension, made me snap.

I moved before I could talk myself out of it.

One step. Then another.

He turned just as I reached him. Our eyes locked—and for the first time, I didn’t hesitate.

I kissed him.

Softly. Boldly.

I half expected him to freeze, to push me away, to say something cold and calculated.

But instead, his hand curled around my waist with a low, guttural sound—and he pulled me in like he’d been holding his breath this whole time.

My heart pounded as he deepened the kiss, no longer gentle, no longer unsure. It wasn’t just desire in his kiss—it was frustration, hunger, the pull of something we’d both tried to deny for far too long.

I knew I was walking a dangerous line.

But in that moment, with Ace’s hands gripping my hips and his lips claiming mine like I belonged to him, I didn’t care.

I wanted him.

Consequences be damned.

ACE

Her mouth tasted like a dare I couldn’t turn down.

Every kiss, every breath she stole from me only pulled me deeper into her storm—and I wasn’t the type to beg the sea for mercy. I wanted to drown in her.

I had tried to hold back. Hell, I’d been doing it from the day I laid eyes on her. Telling myself she was a liability. A distraction. A dangerous temptation I couldn’t afford.

But now… now she was in my arms, kissing me like I was the answer to a question she hadn’t dared ask aloud. I backed her against the wall, one arm braced beside her head, the other dragging her hips flush against mine. Her breath hitched, and mine wasn’t any better.

"Hope," I growled, pressing my forehead to hers. "Do you even know what you’re playing with?"

Her eyes were glazed, pupils blown wide with desire, lips swollen from our kiss. “Yes,” she whispered.

"Do you?" I asked again, slower this time, brushing my lips along her jaw, down to her neck. "Because I’m holding myself back right now. Barely. One more second of this and I won’t stop. I won’t be gentle. I’ll ruin you, Hope."

"Then ruin me," she breathed, grabbing the collar of my shirt and tugging me closer. “I want all of you. No holding back. Consequences be damned.”

That was it.

The last tether snapped.

I crushed my mouth back onto hers, not bothering with restraint anymore. My hand slid up the side of her thigh, fingers tracing the bare skin under her dress. Her gasp turned into a moan as I lifted her effortlessly, her legs wrapping around me.

I carried her across the room, not breaking the kiss, until I laid her down on the king-sized bed. Her fingers worked at my buttons like she’d been dying to do it since the moment she saw me tonight.

Maybe I had, too.

Her dress pooled at her waist as I pulled it down, revealing inch after inch of golden skin. My mouth followed the path, mapping her like territory I planned to conquer.

“You’re so damn beautiful,” I murmured against her stomach, and I felt her shiver.

“I’ve wanted this,” she confessed, threading her fingers into my hair. “I wanted you.”

She had no idea what she was unleashing.

But I was going to show her.

No more games. No more distance. Just raw need.

Us.

Tonight, she wasn’t just mine. She was marked.