An Ace Of Hearts (Book #1) (Completed)

Chapter 54: A Fire

JACE HYDE

"How's your vacation?" Ren asked, his face filling the screen of my phone. A smile rested on his lips and he looked well. I mustered a smile of my own as I nodded.

"It's fun. I feel much better." I lied. I had never been more stressed in my life. But Ren didn't need to know that. He thought I was happy in Miami, in a resort, enjoying myself and I was envious of him. I wished I was as relieved and happy as he assumed I was.

"I'm glad. After Kiara's death, we were all worried about you." Ren said, walking toward the fridge. It was crazy how well I knew the layout to his house. I could tell where he was going just by his background.

"I didn't know how to process the fact that she took her own life," I replied and it was true. I still couldn't come to terms with the fact that she had killed herself. For what? I still didn't know. The suicide note the cops had found didn't say much about the reason.

"The reporters are still bonkers about her death though. They have swarmed the me and the guys more than once now that they can't get their hands on you. Have you ran into crazy reporters in Miami?" He asked.

I swallowed. I didn't know what to say. I was not in Miami. I was sure I would have been recognized if I had actually gone there. But in New Mulliton, people didn't care. Most of them knew me and the others, I had not given a chance to be around me for long enough.

"Yeah, but you know I have learned how to deal with them." I pointed out, the lie slipping past my lips easily. I was still in the hotel room, my back against the bed so Ren couldn't see the rest of the room. It was small and dingy unlike a room at a resort in Miami. And his sister's clothes were strewn around the room.

"That is true." He hummed under his breath. "So, what are you planning on doing today?" He raised his eyebrows with mischief as he sat down on his pristine, white couch. I smiled at the sight of it, the inside jokes related to the couch making me feel somewhat at ease. The sight of familiar things helped me get my head off the unknown.

"Maybe go to the pool, meet new women, take some to my room..." I trailed off suggestively, even though I didn't feel excitement at the thought of doing any of those things. Once upon a time, the thought of other women, multiple women, in my bed would have gotten me excited, ready for the day. But it didn't work now.

I wanted only one woman and right now, she was in a house a few miles away doing a stakeout. I pushed the images out of my head so I didn't give myself away to my best friend.

"Tell me everything later." Ren winked. I chuckled and promised him that I would.

"How are the other guys? I talked to Tariq the day before yesterday. Haven't had the time to call them since." I changed the subject because it was getting harder and harder to not grimace while talking about sleeping around. Who would have thought?

"They are doing good." Ren responded. "Also, is it just me or is Faled weird about Eman?" He added. I perked up at that. So, I wasn't the only one who had noticed.

"Right?" I asked as I straightened, crossing my legs. "I thought I was the only one who thought so."

"No, he gets mighty weird when Eman comes up in a conversation. And did you notice how he backs her up every time? Even in front of Warren." His eyes widened as he said it. We all knew it was impossible to get Warren to do anything he didn't want to. We didn't bother with him at this point because he was grumpy and stubborn.

Eman was the only one who had the balls to stand up to the grump and although Tariq was as fed up of Warren's tactics as we were, he backed her up every single time.