Page 27 of Ace's Ascension

MOM: Your family needs you here, Elizabeth. Memaw would be so disappointed if she knew you threw us away.

ME: I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.

I shove my phone back in my pocket and wipe away angry tears. I’m not the one who pushed them away. They pushed me away and called me a liar and a slut. Saying I was the one to instigate what happened to me.

I didn’t ask for any of this. I didn’t ask for Memaw to die. I didn’t ask to have my wrist sliced open. I didn’t ask for the betrayal of the one man I thought I could trust.

The only good thing to come out of the whole fucked up situation is Ace and this Club. I hope he can handle the craziness of a Voodoo family.

Chapter Fifteen

Ace

Detective Kendrick is standing at the end of the table with her arms crossed over her chest and a pissed-off look on her face, aimed at Butch, who’s sitting in his seat. If she could spit fire, I’m sure it would be directed at Butch. Butch is glaring back at the detective with the same mirth, not giving her an inch of space. The tension in the room is at an all-time high and if someone farts wrong, Church will detonate in seconds. Huh, maybe Liz is right and these two have something going on neither will admit. This should be interesting.

Kayne slams his gavel onto the table, causing Butch to turn away from Kendrick and toward him. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on between the two of you,” Kayne pauses, pointing his gavel between the two hot-blooded people glaring daggers at each other, “but it needs to stop. Butch, I need you to have a clear head when it comes to Detective Kendrick since the two of you are going to be working together.”

“What?!?” Both of them snap at Kayne.

Kayne leans back in his chair with a smirk on his face. “The FBI is breathing down our necks right now after Senator Kingston disappeared. They’re looking hard at Holly since she is the only kin around the area and I need you, my SGT at Arms to handle the situation with Detective Kendrick. She is the only one in MPPD that I trust. When she saved our asses after the warehouse fire, she proved her loyalty to the club.”

Butch wants to argue, but he wisely keeps his mouth shut. “Aye, Prez.”

Kayne looks up to Detective Kendrick, his cold blue eyes leaving no room for argument. “I expect you to treat my brother with the same respect you have me. If not, Detective, I won’t hesitate to make you. Do you have anything you want to add?”

Detective Kendrick shakes her hair. “No, Kayne. I won’t let you down.”

“Good, I didn’t think you would. Now that you know you’ll be working with Butch, the two of you can get started. Butch, make sure you can answer your phone in case we need your assistance on anything until this is cleared up.” Kayne slams his gavel, dismissing Butch and the detective. Butch rises from his seat, not happy at all and follows Detective Kendrick out of the Chapel.

The tension lifts, but only slightly. Kayne’s gaze lands on me next. “What’s going on with Liz?” I stare at Kayne, wondering how in the hell he knows something is going on when I just found out myself. I blink several times before Kayne takes mercy on me. “Rooster has cameras set up all over the Clubhouse, Ace. Except in Church, the bathrooms and bedrooms.”

“Liz needs to head back to Louisiana in two weeks and I’m going with her. After what she told me, I’m not letting her out of my sight.”

“And what about the other problem?” He asks raising a blonde eyebrow. When I don’t answer, Kayne steeples his fingersin front of his face, resting his elbows on the table. “Look, I get you are secretive about your past, but understand this, Ace, nothing good ever comes from keeping these things from your brothers. Ask Blayze, Rooster and Stryker, they can verify how much easier it was to confess their secrets. You don’t have to tell us everything, but we need to know how to help you when you spiral.”

Fuck.

I scrub my hands down my face and bang them on the table. I’m at a crossroads and if I go one way, I lose all respect and trust from the Club. If I go the other way, they’ll all know how much of a pussy I was as a teenager. But, if I don’t tell them, they’ll never understand why I do what I do and why I need to do it. Why I crave vengeance with every pound of my fist.

“Can I have a few days, Prez?” I need to think this over before I open my mouth and spew all of my hatred about the teenagers who did what they did to me.

“You have one day, Ace. In the meantime, you are not to step foot in any ring. Not until you are ready to tell us why.” Kayne demands. “We have pick-ups today at the bar and dance studio.”

I zone out when Kayne hands out orders of who is going where and doing what. He doesn’t give me any jobs right now which I’m grateful for. My head wouldn’t be in the game one hundred percent. Not when I have a huge decision coming up in twenty-four hours.

Kayne dismisses us with a slam of his gavel on the table. I stand and make my way out the door when Rooster approaches me. We’ve been closer than brothers since we both patched in and I know no matter what I decide, Rooster will have my back.

“Drink?” He asks with a raised brow.

I nod my head, “Drink and make it a strong one.”

We walk together to the bar and Knuckles slides two shots of Tequila our way. I down mine with no chaser, letting the liquorburn my throat. I look around for Liz but she is nowhere in sight. She’s probably up in our room sleeping since neither one of us had any since sometime yesterday and she has to work again tonight. The thought of her in her tight booty shorts and top makes me instantly hard.

Knuckles slides another shot my way and I slam that one back. “Fuck.” I growl.

“What are you going to do?” Rooster asks, sitting down next to me. I look around for Rooster’s Ol’ Lady Alyssa but don’t see her anywhere. Usually wherever Rooster is, so is Alyssa. “She’s not here. Poison and Siren took her baby shopping. We have eight weeks until our little Rooster comes.”

“That means there are no Ol’ Ladies here. Why aren’t the Club Bunnies all over everyone, trying to ride their dicks?” I ask amused.

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