Page 11 of Coming Up Aces

Rayna propped her elbow on the doorframe. “Goddess, I hate this.”

“Maybe I’m wrong, and he’s one of the good guys.”

“Maybe,” she mumbled.

Ace called Bishop and explained what he needed. Afterward, he and Rayna made small talk. The getting-to-know-you kind. Ace was amazed when Rayna said she only knew of three King Cheetahs – her, her mother, and grandmother. Others of their kind had either died off or traveled abroad. Her grandfather had been a standard cheetah shifter. “When I said my species is rare, I wasn’t joking. I was raised by my grandmother since my mother wanted to focus on her career.” It turned out that her mother, Colette, was known to the world as Francesca Ormond, a famous Hollywood actress. Rayna had only seen the female a handful of times since being left with her grandmother, Fern. “I have no idea who my father is. All my mother would say is he was a human she had a fling with while filming in Italy.”

“And your grandmother doesn’t know his identity?”

“Nope. Colette Bellamy is the most stubborn creature I’ve ever met. Every time she bothered to visit, I would ask. She said it didn’t matter. That as a human, he couldn’t be part of my life. I think it’s one reason she stopped coming around.”

“Well, that’s bullshit. Most of the Hounds’ mates are human.”

“Do you have a mate?” The question was innocent, but Ace felt it to his soul.

“No. I keep hoping I’ll find someone who’s patient enough to deal with my issues.” Did he trust the female with his secret? Not that she’d given any indication she found him attractive or felt a spark. Fuck it. “I’m demisexual. I’ve been in relationships in the past where I thought the person could be my mate, but bythe time I got around to romantic feelings, they had grown tired of waiting.”

“Oh, Asher. That’s…” Rayna turned toward him, as much as her seatbelt would allow. “Then they weren’t the right one for you. I have no doubt you’ll find your perfect someone.”

Wanting to get the focus off him, he asked, “Where’s your grandfather? I hope that’s not a sensitive topic.”

“It’s not. He passed when my mother was young, so I never knew him. Gran keeps him alive with stories and photos, but it’s hard to miss someone you never met.”

“Both my parents are gone and have been for a while, and I never knew my grandparents.”

Rayna squeezed his arm. “I’m sorry about your parents.”

“Thank you. I miss them, but Ripley’s parents sort of adopted me.”

Rayna sighed, and Ace glanced over at her. “You should have seen the look on Glory’s mother’s face when Conrad said he was Glory’s father-in-law, then pointed at Ripley, saying he was Glory’s husband. Did they really get married?”

“No. Not yet anyway. But it’s easier to say they’re married than mated.”

“Oh, that makes sense. I really like Glory, and I’m happy her life turned around. Her father is a piece of shit.”

“Was. He’s no longer of this earth.” When Asher realized what he said, he whispered, “Fuck.”

“Hey, right now, I am Rayna Bellamy, civilian. Anything you tell me stays between us.”

“Why is that? You took some type of oath, didn’t you?”

“We promise to uphold the Constitution.” Rayna reached over and squeezed Ace’s arm. “I promise you can trust me, Asher.”

You can.

Ace trusted his Gryphon, so he told her, “Amos Yearwood and William, the male Glory had been promised to, burned down Ripley’s house trying to flush Glory out, not knowing if they were inside. Thank Zeus they weren’t. The Hounds captured both men, and let’s just say Ripley’s mom was not happy with Amos for how he treated Glory. She was one angry momma Lion.”

“Then he got what he deserved. Like I said, a piece of shit. There are more men at Haven that probably deserve the same fate. How exactly did Glory get away from the market?”

Ace chuckled, then told Rayna about Ripley’s antics while Natalia snuck Glory out of the restroom. He then told her how Rhiannon escaped.

“Spencer gave my boss a ton of information on your MC. None of it’s good.”

“And I have no doubt it was all fabricated. After Ryker rescued Rhi from the dumpster, we found out a young man named Elijah was being held in solitary. He’d been at Sanctuary, Gideon Talbert’s compound, along with Ryker’s daughter, McKenzie. That’s another convoluted mess in itself, but long story short, Elijah and Mac fell in love, but Mac had been promised to one of Gideon’s guards. The guard raped Mac, and when Elijah caused a scene, he was sent to Haven. During the time we were hiding Rhi, Josiah sent some of his men to look for her. Since Haven was heavily guarded, we couldn’t chance storming the compound to find Elijah, so we convinced those men to bring not only Elijah but also a case of weapons and ammo. Ryker videotaped the men’s ‘confession’ and sent it to the FBI along with where to find them. Spencer somehow recorded the Hounds walking into the warehouse. He also intercepted the video of the confession, so when your fellow agents arrived and found the Haven men dead, Spencer made it appear as though Hounds had killed them. Luckily, we have someone good withcomputers, and he was able to provide the original video and show the one Spencer handed over had been manipulated. The man can’t be trusted.”

“Goddess, that’s awful. No wonder the Hounds want to take down The Ministry.” Rayna took a deep breath. When she blew it out, she said, “Asher, Spencer claims the Hounds are mercenaries.”

Ace flipped on the blinker to take the exit to New Troy. As he merged right, he contemplated trusting Rayna with the truth. While he did, she shocked him. “If you are… If you can look me in the eye and promise you only take out those who are evil, I’ll drop the subject.”

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