Waiting for the year I finally turn eighteen and finally getting the chance to do anything of my will such as; having sex and breezing in and out of a bar as much as I wanted. It was indeed a long torture of wait.
I had plans with Elijah. Sexual plans. I wanted to try the sexual things my peers discussed amongst themselves. There were so many of them. Blowjobs, fingering, tongue-fucking, and all of that. And only with Elijah and Elijah alone. However, Ace had snatched all of that reality out of my firm grip. I had lost it, the possibility of it ever happening drifting away. I couldn't believe that just a day in my life could change my fate so drastically like that and rid me of my long-life dreams. Life is so funny. Once we crossed the border of Brookline, I let yet another tear slip down my face, followed immediately by others. Ace, stationed next to the wheels and driving along Brookline highway, passed a handkerchief to me. I now sat in the passenger’s seat of Ace’s Rolls-Royce, the sweet fragrance of his cologne clouding my senses and his presence almost driving me to the edge. I felt obligated to glue myself to the leather seat of the Rolls-Royce, fearing he might turn to twist my neck if I dared shift a bone. I still hadn't forgotten the revolver perched by his waist, my eyes darting towards it every second, in dread that he might stick it out and pull a trigger to me like he had done to Luke earlier, without hesitation. But, a part of me doubted he would do that. After all, he confessed to wanting me. I still had questions I needed him to answer. Questions on how he came to want me. Does that mean he is in love with me? How did that even happen? But, I knew better than to clasp my lips shut, letting him drive us to my cage. My prison disguised as a new life. The Rolls-Royce crawled to a stop before a Vertical Pivot Gate that overlooked a massive mansion. A man from the security minded house, beside the Gate, scurried out and examined the driver’s seat as he did. “Open the fucking gate.” Ace barked and the man scurried back inside, hurriedly jabbing on a red button. The gate jerked open, giving the Rolls-Royce access to head inside. It was indeed a massive mansion. Grand. Elegant. Heavenly. What word was there again? The Rolls-Royce rounded a waterfall, stopping at the other end of the mansion and the engine roared to a stop. This is it. My breath caught in my throat as I watched Ace get out of the driver’s seat, round the car, and open the door for me. I hesitated as he extended his hand to me. I gazed at the palm. It was like an invitation to hell. An invitation to a long life of misery with this ruthless man. But, I took it anyway, I was without a choice, father, mother, and Ace had made sure of that. Ace led us into his massive mansion and as if the exterior decorations of the mansion weren't a striking beauty enough, the interior was much better and elegant. There was even a jacuzzi in the living, perched behind the flight of stairs snaked to the second floor. Ace took me through those flights of stairs, taking my hand in a tight grip as if I was going to evaporate the moment he let go of it. Then, he led us into a massive master bedroom. My heart didn't fail to skip. Just twenty-four hours ago, expectations as my first time with sex was still with Elijah. Every one of my sexual first times was all Elijah. Now, the role was switching. I shuddered as I watched Ace slowly rid himself of his shirt. Tattoos I hadn't noticed since seeing him came into view. It was everywhere on his skin, the suit did well in covering it. A dragon was running down his shoulder blade to his torso at his back. Both hands inked with tattoos I didn't quite catch. However, the one that caught my eye was a Bible quote running from his earlobe to the nape of his neck. “I can do all things to Christ who strengthens me.” the quote read. I didn't picture Ace to be a religious person or maybe it was just a daily quote. A mantra or something. Ace stripped down to his briefs while I remained in my after-wedding party revealing gown. I felt vulnerable and naked even without being naked. I was with a man I loathed and feared. A man who somehow mysteriously desired me. And, we were both half naked. I caught a glimpse of his hood peeking through his briefs and swallowed hard. Will that enter me? Oh God. Ace walked up to me, his gaze dark and expressionless. “Why did you do it?” I managed to ask, pushing back the tears that threatened to slip out. I'm about to let a brutal man, who had so much blood on his hand, take my virginity. “Do what?” His cold tone asked. Somehow, it was still hard for me to believe he wanted me as he had confessed earlier. His gaze holding mine was nothing like the gaze of someone staring at his lover. It was rather cold and hard to read. “Why did you take her? You could have just walked up to me and asked me directly.” Then, I would reject you right away and run away from you, as far as I can. “I told you, that was the only way I could get to you.” “I don't believe you.” I spat. There should be something more to this. Something was definitely lurking around the dark which this man was hiding from me. “Then, you would believe this.” Ace took out his phone from his pocket, shuffled around the screen, and finally came to a halt, playing a record and holding it to my ear. I frowned, wondering what he was on about. However, the minute I heard that weak gasp come from the recording, my brows shot up. I couldn't mistake that voice for anyone. Isobel. “Why are you doing this to me?” Isobel spoke through the phone, whimpering. What had this monster done to her? Oh my God. “Because I want to use you to get something I want.” Ace responded through the phone in his usual cold tone. “What's that?” My sister inquired weakly. “Brielle. I want your sister and you are my only shot at getting her.” I shivered. This man was serious. “I can help you. Not in this way. I could set a date for both of you, you don't have to do this.” Isobel was close to tears in the recording and it made my heart sink. She went through this because of me and I wasn't even there to help her. I was probably with Valerie and Elijah, having a movie night. “I don't need a date. I want to marry her and you'd be helping me with that.” Ace barked. It looked like he was already fuming from the sound of his voice. “Why would you marry her? She doesn't even know you.” “Well, I do and I intend to make her mine. And, whatever Ace Reynolds wants, he gets.” Ace shuts off the recording, tucking his phone back into his pocket. Tears welled up my eyes and I made no effort to push them back. “Convincing enough? Now, strip out your clothes.”Warmth. That’s the first sensation that filters through the haze of sleep. Not just the warmth of the sun spilling through the slightly parted curtains of our hidden coastal cottage, painting stripes of gold across the simple wooden floor. It’s the warmth radiating from the solid wall of muscle pressed against my back. The heavy, possessive weight of Ace’s arm draped over my waist, his hand splayed possessively low on my stomach, fingers twitching faintly even in sleep. His breath is a steady, warm rhythm against the nape of my neck, stirring the fine hairs there. For a long, luxurious moment, I simply exist within this cocoon. Safe. Sheltered. *His*.A slow smile spreads across my face, so wide it feels like it might crack the remnants of the girl I used to be. The girl who dreamed of hockey captains and vanilla for the first time. The girl who thought the worst thing that could happen was a bad grade or a missed party. That girl feels like a character from someone else’s story now,
The conversation deepens over a second glass. Rogue details the history of the Key – forged by a paranoid Azura Don centuries ago, the specific vault it accesses deep beneath a ruined Azura stronghold in Hokkaido, now buried and warded. He explains Elias Vance learned the destruction ritual – involving submerging the Key in a specific volcanic pool under a full moon – from Anya herself, who stole the knowledge. Silas stands stiffly, chastened, occasionally adding grim details about the dangers still lurking around the Key's legend – rogue factions, greedy collectors. The atmosphere shifts from confrontation to wary collaboration. Ace remains guarded but engaged, the revelation about his mother a seismic shift in his understanding of his own past.The details Rogue laid out were intricate, laced with history and danger, but they held the ring of truth. The volcanic pool, the ritual under the moon, the specific location – it wasn't just plausible; it felt like the kind of arcane safegua
He took another sip of scotch, his gaze distant, lost in memory. "She lived under our protection for years. Raised her son. Kept her head down. We became her family, of a sort. Elias… he grew fond of her. Protective. Like a daughter." Rogue’s eyes snapped back to me, sharp and clear. "He *was* fond of her. When she… when she was taken from us, by that brute you called father…" A flicker of genuine, cold anger passed over Rogue’s scarred face. "Elias wanted vengeance. Wanted to burn your father’s world down. But Anya… before she died, she made him promise. Promise to leave you out of it. To let you live, if you could. She believed the cycle had to end."The pieces were crashing together with brutal, heartbreaking clarity. My mother’s fear, her isolation, her whispered warnings about men who owned shadows. Her desperate attempts to shield me. Her death… not just at my father’s hands, but under the shadow of a past she’d tried so desperately to escape. And this man, Elias Vance, the Thir
A ghost of a smile touched Rogue’s lips, not reaching his eyes. "Point taken. The audience is dismissed." He didn’t raise his voice, but the effect was immediate. Silas hesitated, looking like he wanted to protest, but one icy glance from Rogue silenced him. He jerked his head, and the men around the perimeter melted back into the deeper shadows near the walls, disappearing like wraiths. Only Silas remained, hovering awkwardly a few feet behind Rogue, radiating resentment."Better?" Rogue asked, turning his attention back to me. He gestured towards the far end of the warehouse, where a small, incongruous island of light and relative order existed. An old, scarred oak desk, two heavy leather armchairs, and a sideboard holding crystal decanters glinted under a single, suspended industrial lamp. "Join me. We have much to discuss. And I find difficult conversations flow easier with good scotch."Scotch. An offer of hospitality in the belly of the beast. Another move designed to unsettle.
The Capo’s venomous whisper hung in the dusty, charged air of the warehouse like poison gas. *Sundown tomorrow.* The ultimatum wasn’t just a threat; it was a timer strapped to the fragile peace Brielle and I had clawed out of the wreckage of our lives. The image of our cabin, the smell of pine and Brielle’s lavender soap, the ridiculous stack of pancakes we’d shared just this morning – all of it consumed by fire, by *them* – ignited a cold, focused fury in my core. My hand didn’t just twitch near my hip; my fingers curled, phantom sensations of the Sig Sauer’s textured grip already there. Five feet. I could close that distance before his men could fully clear leather. Tear out his throat with my bare hands. Paint the rusted metal walls with Eagle Brother grey matter.But Brielle. Brielle was out there, watching, waiting for my signal. A signal I hadn’t given. A signal I couldn’t give if I started a bloodbath right now. Her safety was the only chain holding back the rabid beast that li
He stops about fifteen feet away. The weak light from a high window catches his face. Older than I expected. Late fifties, maybe. Hair steel-grey, cropped short. A face carved from granite, weathered and hard, marked by a deep scar running from his left temple down to his jawline. Pale, icy blue eyes that hold no warmth, only a calculating intelligence. He wears a long, dark wool coat, open, over a simple black sweater. No visible weapon, but the threat emanates from him like radiation."Ace Reynolds," he says. His voice is deep, gravelly, like stones grinding together. It carries easily in the vast space. No question. A statement of fact. "Or whatever you call yourself these days."I stop, meeting his gaze squarely. "Names are fluid. Power is not. You were summoned. I came." I keep my voice flat, neutral. Giving nothing away.A flicker of something – respect? Amusement? – passes through his cold eyes. "The Crown of Azura. Bold. Reckless. Or desperate." He takes a single step closer.