Chapter 56: A KISS TO REMEMBER

Ace woke up with a throbbing pain in his head. It was a miracle that he had gotten any sleep.

Sliding out of bed, he went straight to his bathroom to take a bath.

On his way, he caught the time on his bedside mini clock; 6am.

His alarm would usually ring by seven, but he had beaten it by an hour today.

Grudgingly, he went into the bathroom. He took a piss first, and proceeded to shower.

He stepped into it, and allowed the shower to wash all over him. As he showered, his mind skipped to the previous day. By no means had he meant to come out that strong with Fay.

An image of her scared, trembling face appeared in his head, and he sighed.

She was downright terrified of him, and who could blame her? He practically called her a gold digger because a man paid for her shopping.

In retrospect, it wasn’t something she could have possibly controlled. He hadn’t planned on bringing up the fact he knew about the shopping thing. But when he saw her standing in front of Alexander, his hands carrying an umbrella that covered her, he had felt an ache in his heart that made him snap.

He stretched out a hand and turned off the shower. Picked up his towel, and was out of the bathroom right after. He had barely made it into his room when his phone rang.

His eyes trailed to his bedside table where the device usually rested when he slept. It was vibrating.

With the throbbing pain in his head a little relaxed, thanks to the shower, he moved beside the bed, and grabbed his phone.

"Landon," he answered.

"Good morning bro. How was your night?"

He rolled his eyes, his face squeezing into a frown. His night had been mostly blurry. A couple of shots here and there in his personal bar, and by the time he found his bed, he was deep in sleep.

No wonder his head felt like a hammer was trying to split it in two.

"What’s up?" He changed the conversation, unwilling to narrate his night, and relive the events of the previous day that in hindsight, was certainly avoidable and hella cringe.

"There’s an emergency meeting today. Did you get the memo?"

Ace’s face squeezed some more, as his finger lifted to rub his nose. "A meeting? I don’t know anything about that, but I was planning on coming to the office anyway."

"Yep. I knew you weren’t aware, and called you the second I found out. She probably thought your situation would not let you show up."

"By she I’m assuming you mean, Aunt Celine?"

"Yep. She called the meeting."

"Does anyone know you know?"

"I don’t think so. Ms Lyn told me. She said Celine made it seem like it was an all inclusive meeting, but she had a sneaky suspicion you weren’t invited."

Ace made a mental note to properly thank Lynette for her thoughtfulness on some later day. "What time is the meeting?"

"8am."

That bitch! He thought. She fixed it quite early so she could get everything done on time, just in case he changed his mind and decided to come to work.

"I’ll see you there."

He ended the call, and grinded his jaw. His eyes narrowed as he thought of Celine’s audacity. She was moving rapidly. Getting things done. Manipulating the sides she couldn’t buy, while he was worrying about a girl.

Maybe he hadn’t thought things true when he decided to get married. He never believed she would be as big of a distraction as she already was.

It would take one year for him to be named the heir. One year in which things could tilt to Aunt Celine’s favor. She was definitely leaving no stone unturned in her quest for victory.

"But not for long."

With determination forming a hard-line on his forehead, he walked over to his closet, and pulled out a suit that matched the occasion.

Today was going to be a victory lap for him. It had to be. He had been a little too docile in the face of real life gameplay. No more. Not if he didn’t want to be totally buried.

His all black suit attire picked out, he began to dress like he was going for a funeral.

Twenty minutes later, he was done dressing. He picked his briefcase, grabbed his phone, and walked out of the room.

With one hand wielding his briefcase, he scrolled through his phone with the other, searching to see if an invite for the meeting had arrived.

For some reason, he was willing to give the snake a benefit of doubt. But the more he scrolled, the more it became clear this was all a game.

He was so invested in searching, he didn’t see the figure coming from the other end.

She didn’t see him either. She was tiptoeing back to her room, while turning her head around in hopes that no one would see her, and questioning why she wasn’t in bed.

They crashed into each other, and his phone slipped out of his hands. Fay gasped when she heard it shatter on the ground.

Her head was stuck on his chest. She didn’t need anyone to tell her who it was. But still, she prayed it wasn’t him. She prayed that by some stroke of luck, she would open her eyes, and he would be long gone.

Neither of these things happened. Her head remained on his chest, too afraid to move and find the harshness of his face.

However, she felt a pull. Slowly, she was pulled away from his body by his strong hands. She had no other choice than to raise her head.

He was staring at her, but there was no anger from the previous day. Something else filled his eyes. An expression she couldn’t read.

But before the glimmer of curiosity could fully form in her eyes, he dropped his briefcase, his head shot down, a hand reached for her waist and pulled her closer. Her breath caught against her chest, as he kissed her.

The first touch of his lips on hers sent a jolt of electricity all-over her body. It was unexpected, yet so warm, and enlightening.

His hold around her waist tightened as he kissed her. He didn’t know what he was doing anymore. All he knew was that as soon as he perceived her scent, he knew he needed to taste her.

He was quickly learning that Fay’s lips weren’t the type to be kissed quickly. It had to be savored. It was soft, and filled with flavors.

As it opened up for him, he found her tongue, and drew it in his. Gently, he sucked on it.

A sound formed at the back of her throat, as she surrendered to him. Her legs buckled, and she felt like it could no longer carry the weight of her floating body.

Ace was content with just standing in that spot, and kissing her all day. Until his phone hanging on the ground rang, and he remembered where he was, who he was with, and where he was headed.

With a start, he brought the kiss to an abrupt halt.

As he pulled away, he didn’t say a word to her, neither did he answer her questioning stare. Instead, he picked up his briefcase, and the phone that would either need a screen change, or be totally changed, and walked away.

Fay just stood there, confused about what had just happened. Her fingers went to her lip, and she shuddered. Oh it had been real, alright. Ace had kissed her again, and made her forget all of their problems.

****

Cam was out the second he saw his boss.

"Good morning boss," he greeted, already opening the doors of a car. He had prepared the car last night, just in case the boss wanted to go out. He was glad his thoughtfulness paid off.

"To the office Cam."

He checked his wristwatch, and it was a little over 7am.

"And I need you to go at full speed," he said, slipping into the car.

He tried to answer his call, but his fingers kept slipping through the cracks. With a sigh of resignation, he tossed the phone on the seat, and threw his head back.

"Everything okay, boss?" Cam asked, starting the car.

"My phone’s fucked," he replied.

"The screen?"

"Yes Cam, the screen," he responded more testily than he planned.

Cam took no offense. He knew he was under a lot of pressure.

"Should I change the screen when we arrive at the office, or just get you a new one?"

"Do both."

His phone beeped. He turned his head, and saw a pop up message from Landon.

"Hey, Cam. Lan said not to pass the highway. Apparently there’s traffic."

"Okay Sir."

He shut his eyes, a little upset. Not at Celine and her neverending plots, schemes, and shenanigans. But at the fact that he was on his way to war, yet, the only thing on his mind was cherry blossom lips, and his overwhelming need to kiss them again.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read