Chapter 183: The Void.

Ace – Point of View

Spades and I retired for a couple of hours. We locked ourselves in the bedroom and slept. I was glad he was fine. He was a big boy. He could take a hit. The point was to make sure he never took any more hits. I was tired of how chaotic our lives were. We had to take a proper vacation when this was over.

“So, you want us to go back to the Amalfi Coast?” He asked, eating slowly. Mom had been nursing him back to recovery slowly. I loved that she showered him with attention and love. There was no stopping her. She made Shchi, which was a cultural cabbage soup. She always made it whenever I fell sick as a boy. Dad always helped.

“Hm.” I nodded as I tried to push away the knot in my throat. I wondered when this would start to feel less heavy.

“Ace.” Spades said softly, and I looked at him, my eyes stinging at the corners. He didn’t say anything; he just looked at me with his soft eyes.

The sun was setting. Fading stream in through the windows. He looked beautiful in that light, his heterochromia looking mystical. I inhaled deeply and shrugged, “I just – I miss my Dad, Spades.”

“I know. I miss your Dad too.” He nodded, his voice filled with grief.

I stood up, shaking my head, pushing away the feelings. I could not come undone right now, not here, not now. I needed to do this. I needed to kill them all. Only then will I allow myself to break down. I just have to hold on, just a little longer. If only it were that easy. My knees were weak. My temples throbbed. My hands trembled. My lungs constricted. My chest felt weighed down by my heavy heart. I fucking hate everything.

“Let’s take a walk.” Spades decided, slipping his hands into mine, and I blinked in shock, because I hadn’t heard him when he stood up.

“No, let’s not. You got shot, Spades. Let’s stay in bed.” I frowned at him, vaguely aware of how light my chest was becoming. His touch spread warmth under my skin. I clung to him for dear life.

He ignored my words and pulled me towards the door, “I need fresh air, and so do you.”

I could never deny him, so we made our way out of the room, then stepped out of our cottage. It was cute and intimate. We made our way to the main house, but I stopped when I heard a groan.

“Did you hear that?” Spades asked me, looking around. I nodded, and held on to him tighter. I had my gun with me, but I doubt we would need it, because I had an idea what the sound was.

“Come on.” I urged. We turned around and found our way underground. I wasn’t surprised when I saw Cateleya torturing Ashley, who was chained to the ground.

“Damn,” Spades whispered, and I nodded, because it was such a sight.

The scent of blood was thick in the air. Ashley had a tank top and shorts on, which had been stained by her blood. She was bleeding, but it was hard to tell from where because there was blood everywhere. Her face was bruised. She had cuts everywhere. Cateleya seemed to have had her fun, but it didn’t look like she was stopping any time soon. Levi, Caine, and Armani were watching. They knew there was no stopping Cateleya.

“FUCK YOU!” Ashley roared, and her shoulders shook as she cried. In this light, it looked like she was crying blood. Strangely enough, I felt no satisfaction from her torment, just a void, an emptiness that was spreading through me.

“You are going to tell me everything, Ashley. You have no choice. Look around, do you know where you are? You are in my home. I own this city. I own everything. You know who I am. You know why I am doing this. You know why I won’t stop until you are nothing but dust.” Cateleya said passionately, waving her hands in the air dramatically. She was holding a bloody knife.

“I didn’t do anything! Why are you punishing me and not them? They are running away, and you are killing me? What the fuck?” Ashley screamed, her face flushed, angry tears falling from her eyes. She jerked, thrashing, but her chains were strong.

“Do you expect me to feel pity for you? Woman to woman?” Cateleya laughed, thoroughly amused. There was no humour in me, just rage.

“You killed his Dad. You took his Dad from him. Do you know how fucked up that is? Where was your dignity and your humanity? I know what it is like to lose a father in this world. Ace is so fucking annoying, but he doesn’t deserve that, because at the core, he is good, he has hope, he has life, he has love, and you fucking took it from him!” She raged, bending so she could look in Ashley’s eyes as she spoke.

I inhaled sharply at her words.

“You made pawns of us. You killed people to get what you want. You dined with the devil, and you are surprised he followed you home? You are surprised the men you work with think of you as nothing more than a Bimbo? To them, you are just meat, and if we hadn’t found you, Lee’s goons would have, and they would have made you beg for death and not in the way I am. They would have defiled you alive and dead.” She seethed, and the air drained out of my lungs.

“This is mercy, Ashley. I am going to keep you alive to use you. You will give me everything I want. You will confess. You took a good man from this world. You’ve created a void in Ace that will never be filled. You’ve –”

I gasped, pain shooting through my soul. Blood rushed to my head. There was no air. I ran for the exit before falling to my knees.