Page 99 of Mace

As angry as I am, I’m also hurt. She knows how bad things have been for me, knows how much I struggle, and I would have expected her to understand this job is the only way I can stay afloat. She was also talking about leaving, so what does she care if I take this position over her?

When the club empties out and the cleaning duties have been done, I hang around long enough to make sure the bar is closed up and everybody has left. Mace waits with me, quiet as usual but a calming presence at my side before he drives us home.

I’m so tired, so mentally drained, I cannot wait to fall into bed.

Mace doesn’t ask me anything during the drive home, but I can tell he wants to.

When we get back to the flat, Riot is sprawled on the couch, one leg on the cushions, the other planted on the floor, and his gaze is locked on the TV. The flat isn’t destroyed, and the silence suggests both my siblings are in bed.

He glances up as we enter before reaching for the remote to turn it off.

“Was everything okay?” I ask.

“Your sister got pretty sick.”

“Is she alright?”

“Don’t worry, I held her hair while she barfed. She went to bed early, and I left her with some water. Toby played games with me for a bit, and the little extortionist got at least twenty quid out of me before he went to bed.”

“I’m not even going to ask how that came about,” I say. Sometimes, it’s better to just not know things. “Did you eat the cakes I left for you?”

He grins. “Of course, I ate them. Your cakes are amazing, Maylie. You take requests?”

I shake my head, laughing under my breath.

“She ain’t a fucking bakery, Nate,” Mace growls at him.

Riot holds up his hands defensively, pushing up from the sofa and grabbing his leather vest off the back of it.

“You can stay on the sofa. You don’t have to leave. It’s late.”

“He does have to leave,” Mace says.

“Sweetheart, my night is still young. There are plenty of things to be done before the sun rises and plenty of women willing to do it, but I appreciate you looking out for me.” He pats his brother’s shoulder as he passes him and leaves.

Mace wraps his arms around me the moment he’s gone, and I lean my head against his chest, soaking in his strength and his warmth. “You gonna tell me what the issue is between you and Bella?”

“I know your instinct is to try and fix everything, but I don’t need you to fix this. I can handle it.”

He lifts my chin off his chest so he can look into my eyes. “I know you can, but?—”

“No buts, Mace. Bella’s not an issue.”

It hurts to say that, but she chose her path.

He tugs the tie out of my hair, letting it fall loose around my shoulders, and his fingers thread through my strands. Every touch of his sends waves of need through me.

As always, the world narrows to just him and me, everything else fading into nothingness as we claim each other completely.

I don’t know what I did to deserve someone like him, but there is no way I would give it up now. Everything Mace has brought into my life has made it better, fuller, richer.

I want to give him everything, every part of me, even the parts I’m scared to expose. I want him to be mine completely, and I want to be his.

“I want you to… to fuck me,” I say to him.

He pulls back so he can study me, and I wish I could read what he’s thinking. “You don’t have to rush into anything.”

“I’m not. I want this. I want you.”

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