Chapter 12
Spade Maverick
I was sitting at my table, drinking coffee as the elevator opened, Ace standing there in the thinnest night gown imaginable.
"Can I come in?" She asked.
I nodded, watching as she walked over here and sat across from me.
"Are you alright?" I looked at her, her eyes glued to my chest, when I realized I wasn't wearing a shirt.
"Uhm, yeah, I was wondering if they were in jail?" She blinked firmly, looking at me.
"Holding. They won't have a date for sentencing for about 2 months and if course it goes against their amendments if they stated otherwise but they're idiots." I drank my coffee.
She nodded.
"That was small talk, what do you actually want to ask me, Ace?" I asked.
"I wanna go shopping." She replied, adjusting the falling strap of the silk gown.
I let myself stare, admiring the small details on her. Her skin tan, I'm assuming she's half white from her mother, half middle eastern from her father.
Freckles, all along her arms, shoulders, sprinkled across her chest.
The intense little dips above her collar bones with how she sat hunched forwards like she was slightly cold.
"Okay?" I nodded.
"I have the money obviously, but I don't wanna go alone-"
"So you're asking me to go with you." I shrugged.
"Yeah." I nodded.
"Seriously? That easy?" Her eyes were excited.
I sat back, looking at her as she stood, clapping her hands together.
She walked to me, wrapping her arms around my neck.
"Don't dress like a rich man. Blend. Well, try to." She laughed, letting me go and going to leave.
"When do you want to go?" I asked.
"Uhm... you busy anytime today?"
"Nope."
"Alright, then how's an hour?" She pressed the button.
"See you then."
I grabbed my phone, calling Donny, the manager.
"Hey boss."
"Hey Don, cancel my personal meetings, reschedule them to whenever and write them down, use the slides I'm about to send you for the catering crew though. I'll be busy today." I put the phone on speaker as I began sending him the documents.
"Yes sir, are you available phone wise?" He asked.
"Try hard to not make it ring all day but if i'm really needed, three calls. If I don't answer I'll call back." I sent them and stood, going to get ready.
"Alright, have a good day." He hung up.
♠️♥️♣️♦️
I didn't have "normal" clothes. I worked in a casino for fucks sake.
Black pants, black long sleeve. Not exactly... formal.
Not the hat lmao
I pulled on black shoes, brushing my teeth, washing my face, deodorant, all that so I could have time to fix my hair.
I slept on the side so much I had my curls smushed upward.
I heard the elevator ding as it opened.
"Where are you!" She yelled.
"My bathroom." I said and she came.
"I'm dressed." I said when I heard her hesitation about opening my door.
She opened it and came in completely.
"This is all I had that looked... not extra." I looked down at myself.
"Your arms look huge." She touched my bicep and I laughed.
She looked cute.
Her black hair was in a messy bun atop her head, the baby hairs down and curled, framing her face.
"Does this retail therapy work?" I asked.
"Absolutely."
"What are you looking for?" I fixed my bed head so I looked fine.
"Great question."
"No idea?"
"Nope."
"Alright, you ready?" I looked at her.
She reached up, smoothing something on my head.
I looked in the mirror, she was fixing a curl that wasn't curling.
"Yup." She turned and began walking out of the bathroom.
I followed her into the elevator.
It was silent as we went down, not awkward for me but probably for her.
I caught her staring so I looked over and she just smiled.
"Thank you. You sure you wanna commit to this?" She asked.
I shrugged.
"I have nothing else to do." I answered.
"Alrighty then." She walked out and I followed quickly behind her.
The guards watched the people around her.
Even though I could protect her myself, I was taught anything can happen, and it's not always a solo fight. The more willing to protect her, the safer she'll be.
And I never had to lecture them on her safety, it was mechanical and instinctual since we didn't have too many women working here.
For a reason.
"Slow down." I told her and she shortened her steps, no longer running a marathon to keep up.
I grabbed the belt loop on the back of her pants.
"Slow." I said.
"Sorry, excited. And please don't flat tire me." She looked back and smiled.
"I won't." I walked in sync with her steps to ensure I didn't, I had a grip on her if she did trip.
I opened the passenger door of my car, the driver getting out and handing me my keys.
"Thank you." I shut the door when she got in.
I went to my side, getting in, restarting the car.
I didn't trust leaving the keys in the ignition for a second without anyone in the drivers side.
"What? He can drive?" She gasped and I rolled my eyes.
"Do you need help? Maybe an instructor?" She joked.
"You're irritating."
"I know." She sighed contently.
I began the way to the indoor mall.
"Casual or nice?" I asked.
"Nice."
I nodded.
"Shit. We have to go back." She panicked.
"Why?" I looked at her.
"The money-"
"Oh, don't scare me." I grumbled, sitting back more in the seat.
"No, I have to grab it. Turn the car around." She merely ordered.
I laughed.
"No."
"No? Stop paying for everything damnit." She glared at me.
"Those stacks did come from me. So what's the difference?" I asked.
"That I had done stuff for that, don't you have a daily spending limit?" She looked at me, trying to convince me she was right and we needed to turn around.
"$10,000." I told her.
"Ten? What? Anyways who knows how much I'll buy! Maybe I'll pass it up. Those stacks-"
"The stacks are only $2,000."
"Only? Rich people." She grumbled, crossing her arms and huffing.
"Stop the attitude before I pull over and bend you over my knee." I told her.
She stared at me.
"I'm not a child."
"You're acting like one. It's not a big deal, Vanessa." I said.
"It is to me! It's a lot of money. I don't need you to spend anything on me." And in this very moment I knew she was going to do window shopping.
Saying she didn't want anything all day so I wouldn't buy her something.
"Need and want are different, darling. I have money. I have everything I want."
Except for one thing.
"I don't need anything more. I don't want anything more. I'm satisfied. You want things, let me get them for you." I merely pleaded.
"Spade, I'm not a charity case-"
"God damnit Vanessa, I fucking know that! I want to, I want to see you happy, I want you to show me the clothes you like, I want to be the only person you show things to when you try them on for the first time whether you like them or not. Me. If I thought you were a charity case I would've killed your parents instead of doing what you asked me to. I wouldn't have brought all your books here and bought $1000 worth more! I'm sorry but I'm not turning my fucking car around because you chose to make assumptions about yourself you know aren't true." I gritted my jaw, my body heated as I turned up the air conditioning, rolling my windows down.
I took a deep breathe if the colder air, speeding along the highway, going to the exit i'd been waiting for.
She was staring at me, her eyes burning into the side of my face.
"Panda Express or Einstein Bros?" I asked.
"Einstein." She mumbled.
I pulled through the drive through.
"What do you want?" I asked, looking at her so she knew I wasn't fucking playing.
"Can I-"
"Don't ask."
"I-I want two bagels, both plain, lightly toasted and both with extra of plain cream cheese." She barely said, her voice not at all confident.
I ran my hand over my hair as I ordered for her.
"Pineapple mango smoothie as well, large." I said and he told me the total.
"You're not eating?" She asked.
"I ate this morning."
"That was a while ago." She whispered.
I paid, handing her the bag, setting the smoothie in the cup holder, the straw beside it.
I pulled forward and parked in the lot.
She opened the first one, handing me a half.
She looked at me almost pleading so I took it and she smiled softly, eating the other half.
I ate the half she wanted me to, I waited to drive till she was done with the other bagel.
"Thank you." She wiped her mouth of the cream cheese with a napkin.
"Of course." I reversed when she grabbed her smoothie.