Chapter 24: Taunt Her: Chapter 24

I can’t breathe.

The entire restaurant is watching us, a mix of disgust, curiosity, and surprise swirling in their eyes.

Ace is looming over me, anger rolling off him so dark it’s palpable. I reach out for him, staring into his eyes and willing him to calm down. “Sit down, Ace, we can talk about it.”

There’s no way I’m accepting a car and the check off James. It doesn’t feel right, none of it does, and my heart sinks for the three boys around the table who look gutted.

“Ace, I suggest you sit down, son. You’re ruining Remi’s birthday meal.”

I shoot James a pleading glance. He’s making it worse. I know he probably didn’t mean to rub his wealth in his nephews’ faces, but that’s exactly what he’s done, and now he’s driving a wedge between me and Ace so deep I feel like I might fall in and never find my way out.

“Ace, please…” I say, tugging his hand. But his eyes are fixed on James, burning with so much contempt, I feel a tingle of fear. I know Ace hates his uncle. I know there’s more going on here than I understand, but I barely recognize the guy standing beside me right now.

“Ace, look at me.” I stand up, facing him. His chest is heaving and his eyes are so dark and empty. A violent shiver runs through me.

“Come on, let’s eat and try to make the most of it. Please.”

“This was a mistake,” he grits out. “I should never have come.”

Hurt swells inside me. “Hey, look at me.” I touch my palm to his face. He’s staring right past me. “Ace, please,” I beg.

“Excuse me,” the manager appears, “is there a problem?”

“Yeah, there is,” Ace’s tone is ice cold, “but don’t worry, the trash will see itself out.” He rips his hand away from mine and stalks toward the entrance. I’m about to take off after him, but James leaps from his seat.

“Stay,” he says, rubbing his jaw. “I’ll go and speak to him. I perhaps didn’t handle that very well.”

Tears prick the corners of my eyes as I nod. To my surprise, Conner and Cole don’t go after their brother. Mom is whispering something to Cole, and Conner is shaking his head as if he can’t quite believe what just happened.

“He got you a fucking car,” he sneers.

“I didn’t ask for it,” I choke out, rubbing my throat. My eyes flick to the door Ace just stalked out of. People are no longer staring, instead casting furtive glances at our table while they chat and eat their meals. “I told you this was a bad idea.”

Mom’s face pales. “I didn’t know he was going to give you the check, not here. I swear.”

So why did he do it?

It makes no sense.

James isn’t malicious. Sure, he might get it wrong sometimes, especially where Ace and his brothers are concerned. But he cares. If he didn’t, he would never have taken them in.

I glance to Conner, ready to ask him if he thinks I should go check on his uncle and Ace, but he beats me to it.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“You saw what happened just now.” He lowers his voice. “That’s the Ace we know. The guy with the short fuse and quick temper. I love my brother more than anything, but he’s messed up, Remi. More than you’ll ever know.”

“I’m going to check on—“ I’m halfway out of my seat when James returns.

“Ace won’t be coming back.”

“What did he say?” I swallow the pain burning my throat. “Maybe I should go after him?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, he needs some space to cool off.”

I look at Conner and Cole, hoping they’ll back me up. Cole’s eyes are narrowed, and I know he isn’t happy with what went down, but indecision flickers in his gaze. Conner looks resigned. His brows are drawn tight, and his eyes hold a sadness that squeezes my heart.

“He’s his own worst enemy, Remi,” he says. “All he had to do was play nice.”

I’m out of my seat before I can stop myself. “I’m going to see if I can talk to him.” Without looking back, I hurry out of the restaurant.

But when I get outside, there’s no sign of Ace.

I dig my cell phone out of my purse and call him. It rings out, so I text instead.

I stand there, waiting for his reply. Desperate for a sign he’s okay. He’d been so angry when the check slid out of my birthday card. Betrayal. Resentment. Hatred. It all swirled in his eyes, radiated from him, but I saw through it. I saw the young boy trying to be a man in a world that only ever taught him disappointment.

A world that had repeatedly told him he wasn’t good enough.

I hit send and inhale a deep breath. Hopefully, Ace will realize that it’s not our differences that define us but how we feel and love and live.

Ace says he doesn’t care about anything, but I know he does.

He cares too much.

Ace didn’t come back. He didn’t call. He didn’t text. It’s like he’s disappeared off the face of the Earth. But Conner didn’t need to tell me where his brother had gone off too. I knew there was only one place Ace would escape to when things got too hard.

The Heights.

Part of me wants to go after him, to borrow Mom’s car and go down there and demand he talk to me, but I don’t. Because I realized something else after the shitshow that was my birthday dinner last night.

I can’t be the only one fighting for us.

“Hey, almost birthday girl.” Hadley sits down and nudges my shoulder. “Why the frown?”

“Don’t ask.”

“Wouldn’t happen to do with a certain brooding bad boy causing a scene at The Blue Bay last night, would it?”

“News sure travels fast.”

“I heard Mr Triskin telling Mrs Gomez.”

“Triskin was there? Great, that’s just—“

“Relax.” She chuckles. “Who gives a shit what Triskin or anyone else thinks? I’m more worried if you’re okay.”

“He’s gone, Hads.” Sadness coils around my heart.

“What do you mean, ?”

“He didn’t return to his uncle’s. He isn’t in school today. He won’t answer my calls or reply to my messages.”

“That’s rough.”

I nod around a weak smile. “Some birthday, huh?”

“He’ll come back. I saw the two of you in the hall the other day. He’s just as smitten as you.”

“And if he doesn’t?” I want to believe Ace will be back once he’s cooled off, but part of me worries things will be different now.

“You should have seen him, Hads. He was so angry. I could kill James for doing that.”

“What did he do?”

“He bought me a car. A freakin’ car. And then as if that wasn’t enough, he gave me a check for college.”

“Wow, okay, that’s huge.”

“I know. And to make matters worse, I had no idea. It isn’t any wonder Ace hates me. He and his brothers grew up in the Heights with nothing, and then James goes and gifts me a car and a check for college like it’s a store card for the Gap. What the hell was he thinking?”

“He probably thinking. That man is completely smitten with your mom, and he adores you. It’s just money, and everyone knows James Jagger has plenty of that lying around.”

“Which is why none of it makes any sense,” I say, something about the whole thing bugging me. “James has all this money, the house, endless resources… and yet, he left his sister-in-law to fend for herself and raise three kids after her husband died? Why didn’t he help them?”

“I thought your mom told you he did try?”

“Yeah, but why didn’t he intervene?”

“Families are strange things, girl. I know that better than anyone. Perhaps he did try, and in the end he had no choice but to walk away?”

“Yeah, maybe.” But I still didn’t buy it. There was a piece of the puzzle still missing.

“Your boy will come around, and when he does, you can have crazy wild make up sex.”

“Hads!” Warmth spreads through me.

“Tell me you don’t want to?”

I press my lips together, fighting a smile. I do want that. Damn, I want it so much.

But first, Ace needs to come to his senses.

“Anything?” I ask, hopeful as I slide into Conner and Cole’s car.

Conner grimaces, and I have my answer.

“Well, has he said anything?”

“Just that he needs time.”

“Time, right,” I grumble.

“Listen, Remi, maybe it’s just time you accept that you and Ace are—“

“Con,” Cole warns.

“What, man? I don’t like seeing her waiting around for him like this. She deserves better.”

I flinch. I know he means it as a compliment, but I only hear another strike against his brother.

“You told him I didn’t accept the check, right?” I’d wanted to refuse the car too, but Mom begged me to see sense. It was just a car. I could get a part-time job to pay for the gas and insurance, and finally having my own set of wheels would be kind of cool.

In the end, we’d compromised. At the weekend, James is taking me to exchange the brand new Audi for something less flashy and more economical.

“See, bro, I told you.” Conner and Cole are having their own conversation.

“You told him what?”

Conner meets my confused stare in the rear-view mirror. “You’re in too deep with Ace.”

“I am not—“

“Listen to yourself.” He lets out a heavy sigh. “You turned down a check for college, Remi. That’s some messed-up shit.”

“It isn’t… I wasn’t expecting that from James. If I wanted someone to pay my way, I’d take my dad’s money.”

“But that’s just it.” He slams his hand against the steering wheel, startling me. “You’ve got options. You have a line of people trying to help you. And you’re throwing it all away and for what, a future with my brother? I hate to break it to you, but you’re kidding yourself. Girls like you don’t end up with guys like us.”

“Conner, that’s not—“

“Just hear me out. It’s cute that you try to shed your rich girl skin, commendable even. But when people see you and my brother together, that’s they see. The rich girl slumming it with a guy from the wrong side of the tracks. He’s never going to get past that, and one day, you’ll end up hating him for it.”

I sink back against the warm leather. Is Conner right? Am I just a permanent reminder to Ace of everything they’ve never had?

Have I been fooling myself this entire time?

“What my dick of a brother is trying to say—” Cole starts, but I cut him dead.

“I get it, thanks.” The words get stuck over the lump in my throat.

Needing a distraction from the tension in the car, I dig out my cell phone and check for messages.

But there’s nothing.

Deciding to try one last time, I text Ace.

I hit send and close my eyes. I don’t expect my cell to ping with a reply. And I definitely don’t expect his name to flash across my screen.

A flicker of hope grows inside me.

His tone isn’t exactly filling me with happiness, but I’ll take whatever I can get right now. Because I know that if we sit down and talk, we can figure everything out.

Together.

I’m about to text another reply when my cell pings again.

A bolt of desire pulses through me, and I can barely contain my smile. We’re going to be okay.

I just know we are.