The Trap Of Ace By Eva Zahan
Chapter 66

He let out a sigh. "Two."

It wasn't much, but it still managed to sting. Biting my lip, I nodded and looked away.

This was ridiculous! It was in his past! Then why did I want to m****r those girls who got to have him?

Pressing his forehead against mine, he held my gaze. "It was when you left for NY. Even for just some time, I- I thought to let you go. I wanted to forget you so that you can live your life happily. So, for that I thought other girls could help me. Even if deep down I knew I couldn't last for longer until I finally lost it and ran back to see you." He placed a kiss in between my brows. "And it happened. I could stretch it only for one month until I lost it. I knew no one could take the place of my Rosebud. Nor could I live without loving her, without seeing her."

A tear slipped down my cheek. "Those years were h**I for me as well. At least you could come and see me from afar. B-but, I had to fight with me constantly to forget you. The fight I knew I never would win. Everyone thought it was just a crush of a teenage girl." I shook my head with my vision blurred with tears. "But it was much much more than just a crush. I had lost my heart to a boy I never thought would love me back."

"But he did. More than anything, more than himself, with every fiber in his body," he whispered, brushing his lips against mine. The crack in his voice told me his pain. I could express my agony with my tears, but he couldn't. "I'm so sorry, baby. I'm so sorry, because of my one decision you had to suffer that much. But trust me, I did it only for you. Even if it k****d me."

I grazed his rough stubble against my palm. "I know."

He pulled me into his chest, wrapping his arms around me tightly. "I love you, my rose. I love you so f*****g much."

I smiled. "I love you too."

We went silent for a moment until I spoke again.

"Ace?"

"Hmm?" "You said you were waiting for me to complete my studies. What would you do if I really had managed to move on from you and fell in love with someone else?"

His grip tightened on me. Greek accent was deep as he replied, "Then I'd k**l that b*****d and make you fall in love with me again."

I giggled, shaking my head. "What if I truly loved that man and hated you for doing that? What'd you do then?"

"Rosebud," he warned.

Pulling away, I looked at him. "Tell me. What'd you do?"

He pulled me back into him. "I'd kidnap you, tie you to my bed and seduce you until you forgot him and start loving me again."

My eyes widened. This caveman!

"What if even then I kept hating you and wouldn't love you back as you wanted? What would you do then? What would you do if I never loved you again?"

His shoulders tensed. Jaw clenched and unclenched. His fingers tightened on my hips as he stared at me with hard yet unreadable eyes.

Then I saw the vulnerability. The uncertainty. The fear.

"I'd d*e," he said, letting out a shaky breath. His thumbs gently brushed over my cheeks. "I'd d*e if I had lost you completely. You don't know what you mean to me. This man standing before you, only breaths for his Rosebud. Without her, he is nothing. Without you in my arms," he leaned in, pressing his forehead against mine again, "I'd be lost. You're my light, baby. I can't think of my life without you even in my wildest dreams. I can't live without you."

My heart broke in my chest with every tremble in his voice. With a tear slipping my eye, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed his lips softly. "Good. Because I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me for the rest of your life. I won't leave you even if you want me to. Because this Rosebud of yours also can't live without her Ace."

Cupping my cheeks, he captured my lips into a deep hungry kiss. With one hand around my waist, he pulled me up, making me wrap my legs around his hips.

Sucking on my lower lip, he growled against my mouth. "Promise me."

I knew what promise he wanted from me. The same one he asked me to do when we arrived here. He was asking it again. A promise of never leaving him, a promise of not to give up on him ever. A promise to love him for the rest of our lives. Pulling him closer, I pressed my lips against him again while moving my hips against him, trying to show him my every emotion through my actions.

"I promise."

And this was the last straw for him. Keeping me still in my place in his arms, he got us out of the pool and took me directly to our bedroom. To show me his love, his passion, his wildness, his tenderness and his promises.

***

Opening my eyes slowly, I squinted into the dark room. My hand reached for him beside me on the bed, but his warmth was missing. There lied only coldness. Where was he?

The bathroom's light was off. And the balcony's door was closed.

"Ace?" I called out. But I didn't get any reply from the silent dark room.

Getting up, I grabbed the shirt he had left at the end of the bed earlier before going for the pool and put it on. Running my fingers through my semi damp hair, I padded out of the door.

He didn't give us a chance to dry ourselves off before...and I didn't complain. Why would I when I was getting what I wanted?

A blush rose up my cheeks remembering the way we were relentless. And he was insatiable, as always. He didn't stop until I couldn't take it anymore. I was glad that we were alone in this whole house. Otherwise my screams and loud moans would send us to j**l for sure.

And after tiring me out, he took care of me. He cleaned me up and towel dried my hair well so that I wouldn't fall sick. After he was assured that I was well taken care of, only then he returned back to me under the blanket and pulled me into his chest.

Only for me waking up to a cold bed in the middle of the night.

Where is he?

After checking the whole second floor, I climbed down the stairs and padded into the hall. And there he was.

Before the fireplace, he was seated onto the single couch. With his elbows resting on his knees, his grey eyes were lost deep into the fire crackling around the burning timbers. The hot amber glow descended on his beautiful hard features. But the tightness of his jaw, icy gaze and clenched fists weren't appealing to me at that moment.

The sudden feel of the tense air around me made me cautious.

"Ace?" My voice came out as a whisper. As if afraid to break the silence.

He didn't respond, not even moved a muscle of his body. The only answer I got was eerie silence, except the crackling of the fire.

And when I almost thought he didn't hear me, his deep voice echoed around the hall. Low yet powerful.

"I had always looked up at him as my role model. I always wanted to be like him. Powerful, successful and dedicated to his work. A nice and humble person," he said, pausing for a second. "Until I saw him raising his hand on my mother." A gasp slipped through my lips.

He used to beat Ophelia? I never thought he'd stoop so low. But if he could cheat on his wife, then hurting his wife physically wasn't impossible for him.

But I didn't speak my thoughts out loud. Not wanting him to stop.

"I always ignored their conflicts and arguments thinking that it wasn't my business to interfere. I thought every couple had their disagreements sometimes. I didn't even give any ears to Mom's suspicion on him. Until I caught him with his secretary in his office."

A muscle of his jaw ticked while I listened to him silently. Nor did he turn to look at me yet.

"My whole opinion about him changed right at that moment. Instead of respect, I only felt disgust about that man. And my disgust turned into hatred when he found me standing there at the door but still kept his secretary on his lap. As if his own seventeen years old son didn't just catch him cheating on his wife."

My heart tugged for him. I couldn't even imagine how broken and shocked he was when he found out his father's real face. And I felt bad for Ophelia. Though I didn't get to spend much time with her, she was a great woman. She didn't deserve it.

"Did you tell her about it?" I asked, not moving from my place.

He shook his head, eyes hard as stone. "I didn't have the courage to. Even though she had her own doubts, she never was sure about it. He never let himself get caught. She was already drowning herself into alcohol, I couldn't give her any more reason to add up her miseries."

"If she wasn't happy with him, if he was treating her that way, then why didn't she just leave him?" I queried, curious to know more. "Even after the doubts, why did she stick around?"

"Because of love." Those dark stormy grey orbs met mine. "She loved him, Emerald. Even after he all of a sudden threw her out of the board members when she had equally worked hard with him to raise the company to success, even after he started manhandling her, even after he disrespected her every day, she didn't want to leave. She wanted to stay with the man she once fell in love hoping that he'd magically become the same charming man she once knew. She didn't want her family to get shattered. So she stayed back. Tolerating everything."

I gulped down the tears that threatened to spill from my eyes. She loved that man so much, but the only thing she got in return was hurt. "And she found solace in alcohol to forget her pain?"

He nodded, staring hard at the fire that flickered so high as if it just needed a bit more air to spread its destructive wings into a raging lava.

And the rage in his eyes matched the zing of the flames into the fireplace.

"Even though most of the time she used to be lost into alcohol, she sometimes used to come into my room at midnight just to kiss my forehead and whisper goodnight," he whispered, his voice cracked at the end.

Not being able to stand there anymore, I walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. But he didn't look up at me. Maybe because he didn't want me to see the moisture in his eyes.

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A tear slipped down my cheek. His pain was slicing through my heart. I wanted to hold him to my chest and tell him that everything would be alright, that I was here with him. But the stiffness of his shoulders and rigid posture stopped me from doing so.

"She tolerated everything even after she was d***g inside. She kept smiling at the fancy parties he took her with him for the world, so that no one could raise a finger at our family. She took his insults every f*****g day without relent. But everything had a breaking point. Everything had a line." His lips curled into a sneer, his nostrils flared in rage. "And the line broke that night."

I straightened up. My heart pounded. I knew my answers were just a few moments away. I knew it was the night that became the worst night in his life. The night that still haunted him.

"After a long time I and Caleb decided to have a family dinner outside with her. That...that was the night of Thanksgiving. So we thought we could at least make her mood brighten a little. Even Tobias and Tess joined us. We were supposed to leave for your home after that to spend the rest of the night with your family." Looking up at me, he held my gaze. "I was eagerly waiting to meet you and give you the gift I bought for you. But...Mom couldn't control her urge and got drunk. So we had to cancel the plan and return home."

His voice turned deeper and rougher as he continued. His jaw clenched and unclenched. I squeezed his shoulder to provide him some comfort.

"The moment we reached home, we...heard them. Him and one of his women." Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. "I still remember the way she stood frozen before her bedroom door, I still remember the tears that formed into her eyes. She...found him with a woman on the very bed they shared. With her very best friend."

Another gasp left me as I stood there shocked at the new revelation.

"And that night her patience broke. I never saw that side of my mother. She was shaking with anger and hatred. Tears were rolling down her eyes from the betrayal she got from the two people she loved a lot. That night, she lost it." The way the anger in his eyes slowly turned into fear, it unnerved me.

"Tess and Tobias left immediately. Caleb stood at the door frozen. And that man didn't have a bit of shame to even show a bit of remorse. Instead, he was mad that she entered the room with the children. He was accusing her that she wanted to demean him before us." He paused, gulping. "I stood there hearing them screaming at each other, their curses and shoves. I didn't know what to do. Nor did Caleb. I wanted to console my mother, punish my father for his deeds. But all I could do was stand there at a corner. For a seventeen years old, the situation was very confusing and traumatic."

All of a sudden he stood up, away from my touch, closer to the fire. His shoulders raised up and down with every heavy breath he took. His curled fists shook at his sides.

"I- I didn't know what to do until, until Mom got out a gun from her closet. The same gun he bought for his protection," he said while I stood there frozen in my place. I didn't expect everything to turn out like this. "She was so drunk and hurt that she didn't know what she was doing. She went to shoot her b***h friend, screaming at her for betraying her in that way. And he loved his mistress enough to snatch the gun from her and raise it to his wife."

My heart pounded down my chest as I waited for his next words to come. My hands and feet turned cold out of anxiety and nervousness. An ominous feeling rose up my chest.

"He was mad. I still remember how red his eyes were. I still remember how much hatred he held in his eyes as he watched Mom. But even if he held the gun at her, she didn't stop screaming at them, shoving him and grabbing that b***h! And then he lost it," he murmured. "I saw him curling his finger around the trigger. His words still echoes in my ears when he spit them out staring right into my Mom's eyes. 'I have had enough of you. You're becoming a nuisance for my professional and personal life now. I wanted to remove you from the company first, but now seems like I've to remove you from my life. So that I can live in peace. And this is the perfect time to do that."

I let out a shaky breath. Not even a word left my mouth.

"He was about to pull the trigger. And that's when I jumped in between him and Mom. I requested him to put the gun down. But he didn't seem to care that his son was standing before the deadly nozzle. He just pushed me aside and went for Mom in rage. But I couldn't let that happen. I had to do something, Emerald. And I did. I...stopped him."

He slowly turned to me. Dark eyes held mine, not even a trace of emotions were on his face.

Something churned into my stomach.

"You were right. I didn't tell you everything. I hid two things from you. One, that he didn't commit s*****e, he was m******d. And two," Greek voice dense as he stared deep into my eyes, "he was m******d by his own son. I k****d him."