Page 10 of Wonderland

When I do get myself to come, it only pisses me off to watch it wash down the drain in the shower. A fucking waste. It should be deep inside her. An image of her round with my child comes to mind.

Noah might be right. I’m losing it. Not that it's going to stop me. Ace isn’t just under my skin. She dug herself deep inside of me without ever trying. I’m here for every bit of it.

Her smart mouth with a sweet, naïve shyness will be my undoing. I don’t care. I’m not stopping. Not until I get what I want. That’s Ace in my bed and at my side. For the first time in longer than I can remember, I feel alive. The thrill of everything else died long ago. All of it gets old, real quick.

I get dressed feeling restless about what I should do next. When I make it to my desk, I find a folder Noah left me on where Ace got her fake ID. I flip through a couple of pages and then the photos. It’s not a name I’m unfamiliar with. Still, it pisses me off. Why is Ace so close to this crowd? Why would she even be running in the same circles as them? Something is off.

It only solidifies in my mind that she needs me. I’ll be the devil she knows instead of the one she doesn’t. I have to protect her before she gets hooked up with the wrong people and acquires debts she’ll never be able to pay back. She is likely on a few other people's radars already. Like me, they’re probably allowing her to steal from their casinos so they can get their hooks into her. I won’t let that shit happen. Over my dead body.

“Come in,” I call when a knock sounds on my office door. Noah walks in. “I want to figure out who is on to Ace and pay whatever debts she’s racked up without even knowing it yet.”

“I’m already on that, sir.” I nod, not surprised. His mind had been in the same place when he made this file for me after he collected the information. “There is a call I think you might want to take.” I already know by the tone of his voice that there’s an issue.

“Is it about Ace?”

“I’m not sure why Easton Ledger is calling, but he’s persistent.”

“I’ll take it.” I grab the phone off my desk, setting my cell down. “Ledger,” I say, answering it. I’m curious myself why he’d be calling. I wonder if a few of the whispered rumors I heard might be true. We don’t run in the same circles, but lines do cross when it comes to money, which is something we both have an abundance of. The Ledger name is clean. Well, the past few generations, at least. Generational wealth always has blood in its past.

“We need to speak about your Ace.”

“Careful,” I warn. “This isn’t something you want to cross me on, Ledger. Don’t tell me the rumors are true.”

“Rumors?”

“You had a man killed in prison.” The line goes quiet.

I hadn’t paid much attention to the rumor when I got word of it. I must admit that it had piqued my interest why Easton Ledger would do such a thing. The man that mysteriously died in prison had been a part of a Ponzi investment scheme that stole millions. Whatever they might have gotten from the Ledger family wasn’t enough to kill over. Not to them at least. I always knew there had to be another reason.

“Wouldn’t you know if it was a rumor or not?”

“If I cared to.” There is no reason to have your finger on the pulse of everything. It’s often better to leave well enough alone. Besides, white collar crimes always bore me to death.

“I have a feeling you’re going to start caring.”

“Her past,” I say without hesitation, recalling the details. All of it is too perfectly crafted. A text lights up my phone that’s lying on my desk. The number is unknown, but I have no doubt it’s Vane Bartow. There is only one word.

WITSEC

Vane always does have a funny way with timing. The creepy bastard. I don’t bother pushing for more. I know he won’t give it. That’s all I’m getting.

“I was going to leave Elsa alone for now, but it seems she’s been getting herself into trouble.”

“For now.” I stand up and roll my shoulders. The tension inside me is growing. “I promise you, Ledger. You may have friends in high places, but I’ve got them in the darkest.” I try to keep my hands clean these days, but let me be perfectly clear that there is nothing I won’t do to keep my Ace safe.

“And that is my problem. Elsa has caught the attention of more than just you in Vegas.”

“I’m already on that.”

“I had a feeling.”

“I’m not playing these games with you.”

“If not for you, I would have simply had one of my men grab her, but I don’t need you showing up at my doorstep.”

“You think I’d knock on your door?”

“No, but Elsa means something to someone that means everything to me.” I search my mind, knowing he can only mean two other people. Her father or sister. It all clicks into place.

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