Page 88 of Wild Ace

“Don’t speak to me like that,” she says fiercely.

“In this instance, I will. Do you even know who runs those games? Do you know how lucky you are to have walked out of there? That I showed up when I did? Why were you even there?”

“How did you find me?” she asks instead of answering any of my questions.

“There’s no hiding in my world. If I want to find you, I can, and I will. I knew you were lying about what you were doing tonight, and when you didn’t answer any of my calls or texts, I called Cassie and she confirmed you two weren’t together. And as I said, my cousin can hack anything. Stefano located your car, and when he said it was around the corner from that restaurant, I swear I almost had a fucking heart attack. Why did you lie to me? Why were you there?”

“I needed money.”

“Why?”

“For the deli.”

“You had money for the deli. You fixed it.”

“A pipe burst overnight and the whole place flooded. Now all the pipes in the entire building need to be replaced, we need to redo all the updates we just did, and I need to replace the savings lost in the robbery.”

“You couldn’t find the time to mention it today? We talked. We texted. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because it’s my responsibility. I can take care of it myself.”

“And you didn’t want my help.” It’s not a question. It’s a statement. She’s so damn stubborn that she chose to put herself in danger in order to avoid asking me for help.

“No, I didn’t want your money. There’s a difference.”

“So, you decided it was better to go into a Bratva run gambling den? Do you understand how dangerous that was? They had signal jammers so I couldn’t call or text you and you couldn’t call for help if you needed it. How did you even know about it?”

“My mom’s husband.”

“He has connections to the Russians?”

“What? No, he’s a wealthy businessman who used to gamble a lot. Why are you so mad?”

“Because anything could have happened to you!” I shout, tightening my grip on the wheel again, my knuckles turning white. “Starting with that fucker who was about to rob you, and ending with every imaginable scenario those fucking men in there could think of doing with you and to you. Do you understand that? Do you get that if I didn’t show up…” I grind my teeth.

“I would’ve been fine,” she says confidently, really believing that.

“You think so?” I scoff.

“You doubt me. I’m not a helpless little girl who needs the big bad mafia man to swoop in and save her at every turn. I’ve taken care of myself just fine for most of my life.”

“You don’t need anyone, is that it? You want to do everything yourself? You want to spend the rest of your life never letting anyone in? What the fuck are we even doing, Lexi?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean what I said. What are we doing? You clearly think you don’t need me, or anyone, for anything.”

“Because I don’t want money from you, that means I don’t want or need you?”

“Fucking Christ, it’s not about money, Lexi.”

I feel her eyes on me, studying me, and when we reach a red light, her soft voice rings out, “I need you.”

I look at her, her face lit by the glow of the city lights coming through my heavily tinted windows.

Those three words.

Those three damn words are powerful coming from her.

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