Chapter 15
A knock on the door woke Christie out of her thoughts. She had been home, lost in her work, pouring over her notes spread out across the kitchen table, trying to figure out what it all meant and what she needed to focus on. She was close to determining the location- she could feel it. She knew in her gut that she wasn’t far at all, and all of the signs were pointing in one direction.
She had narrowed the area down to a couple of places downtown that could house a fighting ring and seat a few hundred high-paying fans.
Christie began to feel worried. The fights had sounded brutal when the man had described them, although he seemed to enjoy the thought, instead of finding them dreadful like Christie did. And then she thought of Ace. She knew that there were many parts of him that she didn’t understand, but she also saw kindness in him, and couldn’t believe that he would want to fight that badly.
On occasion, it crossed Christie's mind that Ace had been staying away for another reason. Christie sighed and tried to push thoughts of Ace out of her heart and her head. He was through with her. He had made that very clear and Christie knew better than to keep pressing the matter.
The knock on the door surprised Christie. She was startled because she wasn’t expecting company. She headed over, and after peering through the window, she opened the door, and looked out curiously.
Ace looked tired, and the clothes that he wore were workout clothes, rather than the polished shirts she usually saw him in. He looked at her for a long moment, “Can I come in?”
“No.” The answer was immediate and short. Christie could already feel anger burning through her at the fact that he was showing up there, at her doorstep, asking to come in as if nothing had happened. No apology, no nothing.
Her heart ached for him, but something in his eyes, in his posture and his stance, gave her the impression that he came to talk about something serious. He wasn’t here about romance. Christie glanced back at her table full of notes. He was probably there about work.
She tensed and wondered if she should call the police. Was he here to hurt her? He had never shown any signs of it before, but what if something had changed? After all, he showed a lot of loyalty to his job, and Christie would not be surprised if he turned on her.
Instead of getting angry, Ace just frowned, an urgency in his eyes, “Christie, I know you’re mad at me, but this isn’t about us.”
“Then you can leave.” She said and she was surprised at cold she was to him. She wanted nothing more than to be in his arms, but there was something holding her back.
“Christie, I don’t want to fight with you. I just need to warn you.”
Christie walked directly to the door to close it but he grabbed it immediately, “Christie, you have to listen to me!”
“Why should I!?” Christie didn’t mean to yell, but it came out loud anyway, loud and angry and hurt.
“Because if you keep digging in the club’s affairs, you’re going to get yourself hurt!”
“Why do you care, Ace?” Her voice was soft now.
“I care because I ... I don’t want you hurt.” He seemed angry, frustrated, but Christie found it difficult to care.
“I don’t want you hurt. That’s all.” He sighed and frowned, looking wound up, “My boss is beyond pissed that you’re snooping, but he doesn’t know who you are yet. He has people looking out for you with instructions to rough you up if you don’t stop what you’re doing.”
Christie stepped back, fear flicking in her eyes. She felt a knot in her stomach. If that happened, the baby could be put at risk. She swallowed and shifted her weight. What if they are really after me, she wondered.
She swallowed her fear and narrowed her eyes, “Ace, I don’t have a choice.”
“Yes, you do! Look, I’ve already said I’d help you with the money.” Pain flickered in Ace’s eyes, “I don’t want you to have to struggle, Christie. I don’t want you to have to put yourself in danger.”
Christie felt anger burn inside of her, “I can make it without you. If you don’t want to be part of this baby’s life, then I don’t want your money.”
“I can’t be a part of the baby’s life!” He looked angry now.
“Then just go!” Tears welled up in Christie’s eyes and she buried her face in her hands.
“Christie…” His voice softened, something hurt and broken at the corners, but Christie couldn’t lift her head. She was finished with all this fighting. She wanted Ace, but she didn’t want all this pain.
“Christie, I’m sorry.” He sounded sincere and his voice caught, “I want to be a part, I want to be…here. I just…” Ace took a deep breath, “Until I’m out of this club, I’ll only be putting you and the baby in danger.”
Christie slowly lifted her head, understanding finally dawning. Ace looked upset, his eyes serious and pained, “Leaving the club is dangerous. There’s no exit date in the contract, you know? You leave and you know trade secrets, so they like to make sure you know not to cross them.”
He looked at her quietly, “If they knew I was with you, or a child, well…”
“Ace…” Christie’s voice had softened now, and something was breaking through the wall of pain that had been surrounding her heart for so long.
He didn’t hate her. He didn’t hate the baby. Things were just complicated, complicated and painful and dangerous. She had gotten herself involved with a very dangerous guy.
She began wiping the tears away.
“I’m sorry.” Ace’s voice was soft. She wasn’t sure what this meant for them. She wasn’t sure if this was just an excuse, or if he really meant what he was saying, but it was hope, at the very least.
“It’s okay.” She whispered. She ran her hands through her hair and let out a deep, heavy breath. The pain that had settled on her heart was still there, but she felt lighter. The burden no longer seemed so heavy. There was light at the end of the tunnel, there was a hope that maybe, just maybe, he would come back to her.
“I just don’t want you getting hurt”, he said.
Christie nodded at his words, which finally felt like more than empty reassurances and excuses. She took a breath and tried not to get her hopes up too high. After all, he hadn’t promised anything at all, so it would be foolish to take things too far.
“I have to go to work tomorrow.” Christie whispered. She longed to have him take her into his arms right there and then and she knew if she crossed the line, she could have him again, in her bed, in her arms, at least for the night. But she also knew it was a bad idea and the aftermath would be too much for her to bear. If he wanted her, he needed to commit to her. She wasn’t asking for marriage, but she needed to know that he wouldn’t be gone in the morning.
“I understand.” Ace sounded defeated, almost sad, but he stepped back, “Thank you for listening to me.”
Christie nodded, feeling conflicting emotions as she made to close the door. On a whim, she turned, “Ace?”
“Yeah?” He looked at her with those eyes that seemed to stare into her very soul and she bit her lip.
“Stay safe.”
“I will.” And then she shut the door, hearing his footsteps echo across the pavement as he walked away, disappearing into the night and leaving Christie alone with nothing but the confusing mess of her thoughts to keep her company.
She sat down in the dark in her living room and tried to calm her racing heart. Ace had said that he wanted to keep her safe from the club and the dangers that it brought. She thought back to when things had started to go wrong. It was when she had brought up the club, wasn’t it? It was when she had started probing and asking questions about things that she should have been leaving alone. It was when she had brought up his work that he had become closed off and distant.
Christie sad back and processed Ace’s warning. The people who were running the club were not impressed that Christie had been searching for answers. She wasn’t sure how they knew, but she supposed that everything got back to them eventually. She leaned back into the sofa and rested her hand across her midriff. She looked a little bloated, but other than that, there was no way to tell that she was pregnant.
That was good. With the work deadline coming up for her contract renewal, she needed to make sure that she looked as employable as possible. It angered her that pregnant woman were not given the same opportunities, and in another life she would have been protesting it emphatically, but right now…she didn’t see many other options.
As Christie crawled into bed, beneath the softness of her covers, she could not stop the way her mind seemed to stray towards Ace. She thought about the way he looked, standing outside of her apartment, eyes full of sincerity. She thought about the way he had looked that first night at the bar. She thought about the way his words made her heart flutter and how good it felt when he was running his hands over her skin.
She thought about it all and shivered at the memories. She tried not to think about him pushing her away, and telling her that he could not have a child in his life. She had a lot to think about tomorrow, and she needed to be as fresh and as ready as she possibly could.
When Christie fell asleep, she dreamt of fights and newspaper reports, but most of all, she dreamt of Ace.