Falling For Ace

Forty-seven

I V Y

I was in the kitchen, sitting on the counter and chatting with Diana, my therapist. She was asking about my health and all that, so I assured her that I was fine. She said that she was glad and she was hoping to meet me soon.

Just then, the front door was pushed open, revealing Ace who wasn't looking his-best. He marched up towards me and grabbed my arm which was very rude and so not Ace.

"What are you doi-" I protested but he cut me off, "shut up and come with me."

"Rude, much?" I raised my brows at him as he dragged me to my room.

"What's up with you?" I asked as he let go of my arm and closed the door to my room. He turned to look at me, his hands digging into something in his pocket. He then removed a piece of folded paper and unfolded it before handing it to me, "can you explain this?"

I looked down at the picture, confused. However, my confusion was turned into horror when I saw what was on it.

A picture of me and Mateo, my ex, smiling. This was taken two years ago, on our first date. Fucking hell-

"Do you know who this guy is?" Ace's Voice brought me back from my thoughts. I glanced at him before nodding slowly. He let out a sigh, "that's how you knew about the mafia, no?"

I nodded again.

"Do you know that he sent people after you a few minutes ago?" He asked making my eyes widen, "what?"

"Yeah. He placed a fucking bounty on you." He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, "people are looking for you. Once they catch you, they'll take you to him."

I bit my lip nervously and stared down at the floor. Ace placed his hand under my chin and raised my head to make me look at him, "I won't let him get to you but you have to tell me what happened-" he paused, "-between you two in the past. How do you know him? Is that why you were gone for two years or what?"

I sighed, walking towards my bed before sitting on it. I rested my elbows on my thighs and interlocked my fingers together, taking a deep breath to calm my nerves.

Ace stayed quiet. He didn't say a word as he waited for me to speak. I glanced up at him and saw him leaning against the door with his hands in his jacket, his burning gaze on me.

"Two years ago, before I left, I wasn't in the best condition." I licked my now dry lips before resuming, "I was doing drugs and it got me bad. I became an addict, you know? My parents didn't know. I was friends with a friend who got me in that. When mom and dad found out, they helped me get off it. Then they sent me to another country where I began a new life. I studied, work hard and all that-then I met Mateo. We started dating and on the second month of us being a couple, dude started becoming rude towards me."

I glanced at him to see his expression but he was showing none. He had a neutral face on as he waited patiently for me to continue and so I did. "He started to treat me as if I was his puppet, he made me do things that I didn't like. At first, I didn't oblige but then he-" I cut myself off, taking a deep breath as the memories came flashing in front of my eyes.

"You don't have to tell if you aren't ready," Ace was kneeling in front of me as he took my hands in his, warming them up, "It's fine, really. I just wanted to know how you knew him. That's it. He was your ex, I get it."

"It's okay, I want to tell you." I reassured, "you need to know why Mateo wants me."

"You do-" He started to speak but I cut him off by shaking my head, "He started abusing me. At first, it was only slaps then it became punches, kicks and all that." Ace's grip tightened on my hand but stayed silent. "I tried to break up with him but-he wouldn't let me. He threatened me, saying that, if I leave him, he'll send people to kill my parents. Then, he told me who he was, the Spanish Mafia leader. He introduced me to his world. He made me do things I wouldn't like. If I refused, there were consequences."

"What kind of consequences?"

"Sometimes it was just beatings but there were times when he'd," I paused, "he'd fo-"

"You don't have to continue. I get it," Ace cut me off, standing up. I stared at him in confusion, contemplating his next move. He had his jaw locked and his eyes held somehow I've never seen before. Fury.

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A/N : I apologise for late update. I'll try to update as much as I can from now on. And thank you for your constant support! We've reached 20K reads <3