Taste of Sin

14| Business

Chapter 14: Business (Ace's POV)

After walking around my room and taking everything in, she sat beside me at the foot of the bed. "I like your room," she smiled. "What's your favorite color?" she asked, smirking. "It must be black," she laughed, gesturing to the room where the majority of things were black, including the wallpaper which was black with gold accents. 

I nodded. "What about yours?" 

"Red," she answered. "Do you know what black symbolizes?" 

"Why don't you tell me?" 

"Mystery, power, elegance, sadness, wrath, and loneliness. Do you relate to that?" 

"Do I? What do you think?" 

"I think you do," she nodded. 

"And what does red symbolize?" 

"Power, danger, wrath, passion, love, and longing. Sometimes lust." 

"Do you relate to that?" I questioned. 

"Do I?" she chuckled.

I nodded. "I think you do." 

"Which one?" 

"Passion." It describes her best. "You're passionate about everything you do. At least that's how it seems. And mine is?" 

"Power," she answered. "You radiate a lot of it. You dominate a room without even trying." 

"Yet I can't seem to dominate you, can I?" 

She laughed. "Power clashes with power. Why should I give in?" She lay back, resting her hands on her stomach. 

"Can't power go hand-in-hand with power?" I watched her. 

"Only if there's an alliance." 

I lay down beside her, both of us facing each other. "Isn't a marriage alliance enough?" 

"Maybe." 

"Then why don't we make an alliance?" 

"Once you make an alliance, you can't go back on it. It'll be considered betrayal. And that's why I can't make an alliance with you." 

"Because you think I'll betray you or you'll betray me?" 

"Both." After a minute of silence, she asked, "Allister?" 

"Hmm?" 

"I have a fitting for my wedding dress tomorrow. Three o'clock. Would you like to come with me? If you're not busy." 

"I'm not busy." 

"Is that a yes?" 

I nodded. "It is." 

She smiled and then turned to stare at the ceiling. 

"I thought you'd wear your own dress, not another designer's," I said. 

"I would wear my own dress but apparently it would be considered narcissistic. So I can't do that." 

"You're very business-oriented, aren't you?" 

"Mm-hmm," she nodded. "I think it's because my business is the only steady and constant thing in my life. It's always there. And I think the only reason I was able to move on from Chase was because I had my business to focus on." 

"You had a lot of eyes on you." I even remember reading a few articles in magazines about her joining the business. 

"Yeah, I did. I had to prove myself to the public and the only way I could do that was by improving the business. So I did. And now it's mine."