Ace leaned back in the wooden chair and rested his cold beer on his thigh. The Crabtree was packed tonight, and the room seemed to practically vibrate with energy. The number of gangs in the area, and the number of members themselves, had dropped considerably since the Russians had come to town, but you wouldn’t know it looking at the place right now. The music thudded in his ears as he watched The Hell Brothers enjoy themselves.

 

“Look at Smalls,” Katie said next to him, nodding towards a large man with a long blond-gray ponytail.

 

Smalls’ cheeks were ruddy; he was in a drinking race, his massive paw gripping the base of a pitcher of beer as he gulped down its contents, tiny rivulets running down his long, greying beard. He took his last swallow and won, laughing as he held the glass pitcher aloft. Smalls slammed the glass down on the table in victory, sending cracks all through the pitcher’s base.

 

Smalls looked at the broken glass guiltily. Shoving himself away from the table, he picked his way through the crowd with his head hung low. He called over Blake, the bar’s owner, and rather abashedly handed over the pitcher, along with a twenty-dollar bill.

 

Ace smiled a small smile to himself. Smalls was the biggest man in The Hell Brothers, at a couple inches over six feet tall, and almost five feet around, yet he was one of the gentlest men he knew. Smalls had joined the gang to follow in his older brother’s—and idol’s—footsteps, and remained after his brother died in a tragic motorcycle accident to honor his memory. Though Smalls was only in his forties, the members of The Hell Brothers liked to joke that he was a dinosaur leftover from the heydays of biker gangs.

 

“He’s having a good time,” Ace said, taking a pull from his beer. The dim light shone on his hand; his knuckles were tattooed, spelling out, Never 4give.

 

Katie snorted softly, shaking her head. Her long, black, wavy hair had thick blonde streaks in it and hung past her shoulders. She flicked it back, annoyed. “We should be planning right now, not playing silly drinking games.”

 

Ace looked at her out of the corner of his eye. The first thing anyone would say when they saw Katie was that she was incredibly gorgeous. Part Egyptian, Katie had beautiful, regal features, with a prominent nose and golden-olive skin. Ace knew most people looking at her would notice her figure, which was soft and lean in all the right places, and fail to see her capabilities, which were many.

 

Smalls was technically Ace’s second-in-command, but it was Katie who often came up with most of the ideas that kept the gang alive. Ace would promote her, but he was fucking her, and that wouldn’t sit right with the gang. Katie understood, though. She put the gang first, which was why she continued to help, even if she couldn’t have the title she deserved. She even refused the title of his old lady, wanting to be seen as more than a back-warmer within the gang.

 

“Did you hear me?” she said, poking his side.

 

Ace sighed and sat up, scanning the bar. He saw Smalls, but if they were going to talk about the gang’s options, he needed the rest of the higher-ups as well. Spotting Riley and Diego, Ace let out a sharp whistle; they were next two in the chain of command, respectively.

 

Riley, a handsome man with skin blacker than the dead of night, immediately stood up, leaving his pool game. Stopping suddenly, he turned back and grabbed a short Hispanic man wearing a wife-beater who was hitting on Lucky, another member of The Hell Brothers, for the thousandth time. Diego had yet to have any luck with her, or any other woman, but from what Ace could tell, that didn’t seem to stop him from trying.

 

Ace shook his head. Diego was always chasing women. It was his only weakness, if you didn’t count booze, drugs, cigarettes, or thrill-seeking. “Have a seat,” he said as the two men approached, kicking out a chair. “We need to talk.”

 

Smalls lumbered over, settling into a wooden chair with a creak. “What are we talking about?” he asked, pulling out a cigarette. Diego nudged Smalls and bummed one off of him.

 

“Alexei,” Riley said in a deep voice. “Right?” he looked at Ace.

 

“We got lucky with Jackson,” Katie said, confirming Riley’s guess. “But Ace isn’t going to be able to outmaneuver Alexei like that every time. Eventually he’s going to get tired of this little back-and-forth he has going on with The Hell Brothers, and he’s going to come for us.” Her dark eyes snapped to each face at the table, commanding their attention.

 

“Katie’s right, guys,” Ace said, signaling Blake for another beer. “I figure we have about a month before Alexei decides to come at us with everything he has. Unless someone does something incredibly stupid to speed that along,” he said warningly, looking at Diego. He had a reputation for being a bit reckless.

 

“I swear,” Diego crossed his heart, “you will see nada from me.” Katie snorted disbelievingly and Diego put his hand to his heart again, this time as though wounded. “Mi amor, my love, why do you hurt me this way?”

 

“Can we focus?” Katie said, ignoring Diego. “Ace? A little help here?” She nudged their leader, who, judging by his face, had completely checked out of the conversation.

 

***

 

“This was a bad idea, Melanie,” Fiona said, panicking. “They’re going to know we’re lying!”

 

It hadn’t taken too long to find The Crabtree—they just followed the deafening sound of motorcycles. Okay, not really. They had used Google Maps, but the closer they got to the establishment, Fiona had to resist covering her ears against the noise.

 

Last night, after Melanie had come over to Fiona’s house, they had gone back to Melanie’s place, where Fiona promptly passed out for several hours. When she awoke, she worked with Melanie to come up with what Fiona was now realizing was a very, very stupid plan.

 

Niko had mentioned that The Hell Brothers weren’t the only gang having problems with Alexei. So, Melanie suggested they pretend to be members of another dwindling gang from the outskirts of Chicago. It wasn’t much, but perhaps if they could pass as fellow bikers, their plea might carry more weight.

 

Melanie pulled out every piece of leather Fiona had in her closet, which turned out to be a single pair of boots.

 

“Really?” Melanie had said to her, holding up the bright, yellow galoshes. “This is it?”

 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Fiona had replied to her sarcastically, “Had I known this was going to happen I would’ve asked Catwoman if I could borrow some of her clothes.”

 

“Wrong kind of leather,” Melanie had corrected her. “It’s okay, though. I have some stuff you can wear.”

 

Fiona had nervously tugged at the vest Melanie lent her the entire drive to the bar. Melanie was significantly smaller than Fiona, and the vest barely buttoned over her chest. At Melanie’s insistence, she left the remaining buttons on the top open, exposing her tan, toned skin.

 

Melanie had put on a pair of black shorts, thigh high leather boots, and a tight black tank top that stopped just below her navel. The idea was that hopefully if they looked the part, everyone would be too concerned about Alexei to ask too many questions.

 

They’re just bikers, Fiona had reasoned with herself. How smart can they possibly be?

 

They had decided to park the car a few blocks away as Melanie’s Prius might have blown their cover as old ladies from a motorcycle gang. Walking into the bar, Fiona had done her best to put on her game face as both her and her brother’s lives were on the line, but looking around at the kind of debauchery going on, she began to have serious doubts.

 

“They’re not going to know unless you keep standing there, staring!” Melanie hissed. “Stop looking like you’ve never seen someone do heroin before and move!” She tugged on Fiona’s elbow sharply, almost sending her to the floor.

 

Fiona tried to look as aloof as possible as the two women made their way to the bar. It was a little difficult considering she was terrified she was going to burst out of Melanie’s vest at any moment.

 

“What can I get you ladies?” the bartender asked, drying a beer mug with a stained rag.

 

Melanie glanced back at Fiona, who froze, and said nothing. “Two specials, please,” Melanie ordered.

 

Fiona took a quick look at the board hanging behind the bar. Underneath Tonight’s Special was a drink named Hawg Ear, which apparently consisted of a mixture of dark beer and rum. It was disgusting, but Fiona didn’t care. She gulped down a third of it, desperate for the false courage.

 

Melanie arched a brow, but didn’t say anything, and took a liberal swallow from her own glass. Pulling out her wallet, Melanie paid the bartender. “Could you help us with one other thing?” she asked.

 

“Depends,” the bartender replied, picking up another mug to dry.

 

“We’re looking for someone named Ace, the leader of The Hell Brothers.”

 

The woman frowned, a lock of blonde hair falling into her face. “What do you want with him?”

 

“My friend needs to talk to him,” Melanie replied evasively.

 

The blonde woman shrugged, uncaring, and nodded towards a large wooden table in the center of the room. “Shaggy brown hair, in the black t-shirt and leather vest,” she told them.

 

Fiona managed to mutter a thank you, and they stepped away from the bar to plan their approach.

 

“So, you’ll go up to him, and—”

 

“Wait,” Fiona interrupted. “Why do I have to go?” she protested.

 

“Because it’s your brother,” Melanie said, rolling her eyes. “I’ve brought you this far; you have to do the rest.”

 

Fiona sighed, defeated. She eyed the imposing man, and a chill ran down her body. His long, lean form seemed to take up far more room than was physically possibly. He was discussing something intensely with the people around him; Fiona couldn’t take her eyes off of him. Suddenly she realized Melanie had been talking to her this whole time.

 

“What?” she said.

 

Melanie stopped and stared at Fiona. “Seriously? Fiona, you have got to pull it together here! We need to figure out how you’re going to approach this guy.”

 

“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” Fiona said, still staring.

 

“What? Why not?” Melanie asked, surprised.

 

“Because he’s coming over here right now.”

 

***

 

After spending five years in prison, Ace had becoming incredibly in tune with his gut, and his gut was telling him he was being watched.

 

It had taken all of four seconds for the gang meeting to derail, when Ace felt someone staring at him. He looked up slowly, not wanting to give himself away, and immediately locked eyes with a tan, curvy woman with curly brown hair and quite possibly the thickest ass he had ever seen.

 

She watched him like one watched a shark: carefully, with a barely-controlled fear. Ace dimly heard Katie talking to him, but he didn’t care. Whoever this woman and the friend she had with her were, it was painfully obvious they didn’t belong here. Even stranger, it was clear they didn’t want to be here.

 

He stood up, the wooden legs of the chair scraping loudly against the floor.

 

“What…where are you going?” Katie asked as Ace simply got up and walked away from the meeting. “Hello?” she cried after him, but he ignored her.

 

Fiona had the strong feeling of being stalked—no, worse, of being caught. Ace’s dark green eyes pinned her to the wall like a butterfly on display. She watched, terrified, as he pushed his chair back to stand, and began to walk towards her.

 

“Oh shit,” Melanie muttered. There was still time for them to turn around and run away. She slowly reached forward to grab Fiona’s elbow and pull her back, to tell her they would find another way to help her brother, but she only touched thin air.

 

Fiona had stepped forward to meet Ace, her head held high.

 

Melanie quickly moved to stand next to her. “What are you doing?” she hissed to her friend.

 

“I have to try this! I’ll never forgive myself if I don’t,” Fiona whispered back.

 

They hastily stopped talking; Ace had come close enough to hear them, even over the din of the bar. “Ladies,” he said, approaching them. “Might I ask what you’re doing here?”

 

Fiona was five feet five, wearing four-inch heels, and yet she still barely came to his chin. “We’re with The Night Hunters from northern Chicago,” she said.

 

Melanie was surprised at how confident Fiona sounded, but she carefully kept her face blank.

 

Ace smiled patronizingly. “That’s nice, but it doesn’t explain what you’re doing here, and looking for me, no less.” He turned to nod to the blonde woman behind the bar, who had been blatantly watching their interaction.

 

Fiona looked around. She saw a lot of faces staring back at her, faces that quickly resumed drinking or talking when she looked at them. Maybe Melanie was right, she thought, panic once again rising in her chest, maybe we should bail.

 

“We need to talk to you about Alexei,” Melanie blurted out.

 

There goes that chance, Fiona sensed, judging by Ace’s face. He looked like he had just bit into a lemon. He wasn’t going to let them go anywhere anytime soon.

 

An incredibly attractive, olive-skinned woman came up to stand behind Ace. “What do they want?” she asked, nodding towards Fiona and Melanie.

 

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” he replied slowly, not taking his eyes off of Fiona.

 

Katie followed Ace’s gaze, her face hardening when she noticed where his focus was. “Bring ’em over to the table and we’ll get it out of ’em soon enough,” she said shortly, abruptly turning and striding away.

 

Ace continued to stare at Fiona, who was becoming extremely uncomfortable with each passing second. “Well,” he said after a long moment, “you heard her.” Ace stepped to the side, gesturing for the two women to follow Katie.

 

Fiona turned to Melanie and gave her a look that was unreadable to Ace—a fact that strongly piqued his interest.

 

Ace trailed behind the ladies, musing to himself. It was interesting enough that these two had come in to talk about Alexei of all things, but they had an air about them that Ace couldn’t figure out. The shorter one with the great ass, which he was able to openly appreciate as he walked behind her, looked like a biker babe, but her eyes…there was something about them he couldn’t place.

 

Ace was pulled out of his reverie as they approached the table.

 

“Who are they?” Smalls asked, his forehead wrinkled in confusion.

 

“That is an excellent question,” Ace said, sitting down and turning to look at the two strangers expectantly.

 

Fiona looked around the group and cleared her throat carefully. She had practiced what she was going to say here, repeating it to herself a hundred times over.

 

“My name is Fiona, and this is Melanie.” They had decided to go with their real names; their story was already thin enough without adding the difficulty of remembering what they were called. “We’re members of The Night Hunters from up north. Our men dropped us off here to talk to the leader of The Hell Brothers about a serious matter that affects us all.”

 

“I’m sure whatever you señoritas need help with, The Hell Brothers can handle it, no problemo,” Diego said, grinning wickedly at Melanie, who suppressed a terrified whimper.

 

“They’re here about Alexei,” Katie said loudly, staring hard at Fiona, her hazel eyes boring into Fiona’s blue ones.

 

“What do you two want to do with him?” Smalls asked the girls worriedly.

 

“They want our help getting rid of him,” Riley correctly guessed, finally speaking up. His deep voice reverberated across the table as he addressed Fiona and Melanie. “Don’t you?”

 

Fiona tore her eyes from Katie to look at the rest of the group. “Alexei has been slowly picking away at everyone’s territory. His reach is far, and strong. The Night Hunters know the only gang left strong enough to take him out is The Hell Brothers.”

 

“You’re not wrong!” Diego cried, whooping loudly.

 

“Diego,” Ace snapped, “shut up.” Diego glared at his leader, sipping his beer sullenly, but Ace ignored him. Instead, he carefully scrutinized Fiona, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Katie. “I’ve never heard of The Night Hunters before. Who did you say sent you?” he asked curiously.

 

“Stake is the highest ranking member we have left. He’s the one who brought us to come find you,” Melanie said casually, though she had rehearsed this line several times.

 

“Why didn’t Stake come in and speak to me himself?”

 

“It’s not safe for our men to hang around so close to Alexei’s territory, so Stake and another member dropped us off here,” Fiona answered.

 

“Are you his ol’ lady?” Ace asked her, surprising himself. He didn’t know why he said that. He tried to ignore the fact that his gang was watching him very acutely, especially Katie, and look as though the question was important.

 

Fiona’s heart froze mid-beat. This was off-script; she didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to wait too long to answer—that would be suspicious—so she blurted out the first thing she could think of. “Yes, I’m Stake’s old lady.”

 

Melanie shifted next to her. She thought they should be keeping things simple, not adding details. On the other hand, perhaps if Fiona pretended to be the leader’s girlfriend, it would offer them extra protection.

 

Ace couldn’t figure out why it was odd Fiona had claimed to be Stake’s property, but something about the entire situation was bugging him. He sat back in his chair, once again ignoring the rest of the gang’s stare. He was trying to focus and work whatever was bothering him to the front of his mind.

 

“Interestingly enough, we were just discussing Alexei ourselves,” Riley said, standing to offer one of the women his chair. Diego immediately jumped up to also offer his. Fiona and Melanie sat, much to Katie’s displeasure.

 

“They don’t need to know that, Riley,” Katie said, glaring at him. She looked to Ace for help and got nothing.

 

“They are right,” Riley pushed. “Alexei is a problem to us all. Weren’t you just saying that exact thing a few minutes ago, Katie?” he calmly reminded her.

 

“That doesn’t mean we start spilling our guts to strangers about The Hell Brothers’ issues! Ace!” she cried, pulling him away just as the answer was on the tip of his tongue. “Some back-up here?”

 

He bit his lip in anger—he almost had it! “Everyone knows Alexei is a problem, Katie,” he said impatiently. “It’s not a secret people are looking for a way to push him out. Even Alexei knows it.”

 

“So you have a plan?” Fiona asked, hope beginning to fill her chest. “You’re going after him? When?” she demanded.

 

Ace sighed tiredly and turned back to Fiona, and was instantly struck by her clear blue eyes. They had innocence in them—it was what he had felt earlier when he first saw her. It had been a long time since he had felt innocence, so long, in fact, he hadn’t even recognized it when it walked right in front of him with its tight leather vest that threatened to burst open any second.

 

He realized uncomfortably that he was starting to get hard. He quickly picked up his beer and took a long sip to give himself a few seconds to collect himself. As a man who had done his share of sexual activity, her innocence was arousing, but something still bothered him.

 

“We don’t, and…we’re not,” he said finally.

 

Katie’s body went rigid with anger. Ace ignored her. He knew she was furious with him for revealing more information about The Hell Brothers business, but he also knew she respected the chain of command far too much to say anything. Until later, anyway.

 

“What?” Fiona said in shock. She knew it might be difficult to convince Ace to go after Alexei in the next couple of days, but she had at least expected him to have a plan. Niko made Ace sound incredibly competent, but apparently he had overestimated him. Her shoulders drooped.

 

“I’m sorry,” Ace began. “I understand all too well the difficulties The Night Hunters are going through, but The Hell Brothers can’t get involved. We don’t have any kind of a plan, and I’m not willing to risk my neck over it,” he finished with a shrug. “You’re welcome to stay and have a drink on our tab while you wait for Stake to come get you.”

 

Fiona just wanted to leave, but Melanie quickly butted in to accept his offer, ordering another Hawg Ear. Figuring she might end up dead in a few days, Fiona ordered one, as well, slamming the remainder of the one in front of her.

 

Ace eyed her. She was obviously upset, and he genuinely felt bad. He knew what it was like to worry about your people.

 

“Maybe you should talk to Blake, the owner,” he said to her quietly, nodding towards the bar where Blake was now replacing an empty keg. “If anyone knows anything, it’s Blake.” Ace looked fondly at the frizzy, blonde-haired woman he’d come to consider a surrogate mother.

 

Fiona glanced up and took another sip of her drink. “When he comes back, I will.” She gave Ace a small smile. “Thanks.”

 

Ace tipped his glass to her and drank deep, frowning. Something was bothering him again—what was it, dammit! Wait a second…Him? Realization slammed into him like a brick, and he choked on his beer, spraying it everywhere. Everyone scooted back quickly to avoid getting misted.

 

“Jesus fucking Christ, Ace!” Katie cried out, disgusted. “Drink much?”

 

“Sorry!” he gasped. “Sorry…wrong tube.”

 

Fiona looked at Ace concernedly. “Are you okay?” she asked.

 

Ace took an enormous breath in, and let it out slowly. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks.”

 

Everyone settled back into their chairs and resumed their conversations. Fiona saw Diego was delighting Melanie with an endless stream of compliments, and Katie was arguing with Smalls over riding tactics.

 

“You know, I, uh, just remembered Blake is probably in back doing inventory,” Ace said, leaning in close to Fiona. “If you want, I can bring you back there to talk to him.”

 

“Really?” Fiona exclaimed, her eyes brightening. “That would be great! Let me just get Melanie,” she said, turning to grab her friend.

 

Ace reached out to stop her hand. “It’s a really small back office, and Blake doesn’t like lots of new people in his space. It would be better if it were just you. You are the leader’s ol’ lady…right?” he asked slyly.

 

“Right,” Fiona said confidently.

 

“Then you’ll do just fine.” Ace grinned widely at her.

 

Fiona didn’t know what to do. She felt uneasy about going anywhere without Melanie, but she had already come this far, and there was no turning back now. “Let’s go,” she said firmly, standing up and following Ace.

 

They wound through scattered pool tables towards the back of the bar where a small door stood marked Office. Ace held the door open for Fiona, and she hesitantly entered. Fiona saw several rickety shelves filled with dusty liquor bottles and a rusty desk, but no Blake.

 

She whirled around to see Ace closing the door behind him. Fiona rushed at him, hoping to catch him off balance, but he caught her easily and grabbed her arms to keep her from hitting him.

 

“What are you doing?” Fiona panicked. “I’ll scream!” she threatened.

 

Ace snorted. “Go ahead. No one is going to hear you over the noise out there,” he said, letting go of her.

 

Fiona stepped as far away as possible from him, rubbing her wrists where he’d grabbed her. She opened her mouth to scream, watching him to see if he was going to try and stop her. But Ace did nothing except sit on the desk and look at her. Fiona closed her mouth slowly, confused.

 

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he told her simply.

 

Fiona thought her wrists might beg to differ. “Then why are you keeping me in here?” she demanded to know.

 

“Why are you lying to me?” Ace countered. “I know you’re not from The Night Hunters, if there is such a gang in northern Chicago.”

 

Fiona opened her mouth heatedly, then faltered. She didn’t know what to say. She was clearly busted. “How did you know?” she blurted out.

 

“There were a lot of clues: the leader didn’t come himself and no property patches, though you claimed to be the leader’s ol’ lady. The giveaway was when you called Blake a guy, though. Blake’s a girl.” Ace laughed. “You bought your drinks from her.”

 

Fiona moaned. They had been so stupid. “Are you going to kill me?” she asked, suddenly terrified.

 

“What?” Ace said, shocked. “No! I already told you I wasn’t going to hurt you. Though it is an exceedingly bad idea to come into a biker bar and pretend to be bikers just to get your rocks off. Someone else might not be so lenient with you. Surely you girls can find safer ways to have fun.”

 

Fiona stared at him in total disbelief. “You think I did this for fun?”

 

“Well, now I don’t,” Ace muttered self-consciously. “So if not for kicks, then what?” he asked her. “Why did you come here asking about Alexei of all things?” His face hardened suddenly. “Are you with Alexei?” he asked dangerously.

 

“No!” Fiona cried. “The opposite. Melanie and I, we really did come for your help with Alexei. Well, mostly me,” she admitted. “Melanie came for moral support.”

 

Ace relaxed a little, but he was still confused. “What could a girl like you have done to cross paths with a man like Alexei? Who are you?”

 

“My name really is Fiona,” she said desperately, “Fiona Brown. And you’re right. Normally, I would never be in a situation like this. My little brother, Niko, got tangled with up with Alexei, and now that man is hunting him down as we speak. I just…” Fiona trailed off halfheartedly. “Niko said you were the only one around who would be able to give us a chance against Alexei. I know it was dangerous and stupid, but I had to try. I never would’ve been able to forgive myself if I didn’t try.”

 

She seemed to be speaking to herself more than him, Ace noticed curiously, trying to convince herself this hadn’t been a complete waste of time. He also noticed, now that they were in better light, Fiona had several cuts and bruises. Her left eye looked puffy, like she had used make-up to cover a shiner.

 

“Please,” she begged him, her blue eyes bright with tears. “Please help us. Alexei’s going to kill my brother, and he’s all I have.”

 

Ace walked over to the door and put a hand on the knob. “I’m really sorry about your brother, but there’s nothing I can do.” He opened the door and took a step out.

 

“Liar.”

 

Ace looked back to see Fiona staring at him defiantly. “Excuse me?” he said with a disbelieving chuckle.

 

“I called you a liar,” Fiona repeated challengingly.

 

“You’re the one who came into a bar pretending to be someone else!” Ace cried.

 

“You can do whatever you want,” Fiona continued, ignoring him. “You’re choosing not to help me.”

 

Ace shrugged. “You’re right. I could help you, but like I said before, it’s not worth risking my neck over.”

 

“What is, then?” Fiona said, seizing his words. “What would make it worth it? Money? How much?”

 

“Something tells me that if you had that kind of money, sweetie, Alexei wouldn’t be a problem for you,” Ace drawled.

 

Fiona looked down, avoiding his gaze. “I could get money, a lot of money. I just need a few days to get it, and, well…”

 

“Alexei’s not willing to wait,” Ace finished. “Where are you getting that kind of money that you can’t get it now?” he asked.

 

“My dad,” she said simply.

 

“Wait,” Ace said, confused again. “I thought you said your brother was all the family you had left.”

 

Fiona sighed. “It’s…complicated. We don’t talk to our dad much.”

 

Ace snorted. “If he’s still alive and willing to give you potentially thousands of dollars, how bad can he really be?”

 

Fiona sank down on a rusted, metal folding chair. “He isn’t…or, he wasn’t. Something happened after Niko was born and Dad just started to lose it.” Fiona stared ahead, looking at a memory. “So slowly we didn’t even realize what was happening until one day he was yelling at Mom and he punched a hole in the wall right next to her head. He’d yelled and punched walls before, but he’d never come that close to hitting her.” Fiona shrugged, coming back to Earth. “Mom was gone the next morning. After that, Dad didn’t yell when he was drunk anymore, but he didn’t do anything else either. I left for college as soon as I could, but I had to stay close because of Niko. I couldn’t leave him.”

 

“Sounds like you got lucky to me,” Ace said after a long moment, staring hard at the girl in front of him. “Your daddy never hit you, or worse. He still went to work, and you got to go to college.”

 

“I’m sorry my family isn’t as fucked up as yours clearly was,” Fiona fired back, standing in her anger, “but that doesn’t make me lucky. Not by a long shot. If anything, you’re in a better position than I am right now. Does that make you lucky?”

 

Ace stood up, towering over Fiona. His long, lean form cast a shadow across her, but she glared right back at him, refusing to look away. “My father didn’t punch the walls. He hit my mother and me. Sometimes so severely I couldn’t walk. Now do you feel lucky?” he asked her harshly.

 

Fiona felt a pit of guilt forming in her stomach.

 

“One day I came home from school and found that he had beaten her to death,” Ace said. “I was sixteen and there she was, lying in a pool of her own blood. I couldn’t even recognize her. But then I saw this, and I knew,” he held up a gold cross hanging from a thin matching chain necklace. Fiona tried to look anywhere but at his dark green eyes, but Ace reached out and grabbed her chin, holding her still. “Do you know what my father was doing when I found her, Fiona?” he asked. “He was watching the game on TV. So what I did was I went and got his shotgun, and I killed him right back. They gave me five years for a crime of passion, and because I was a minor. Do you feel lucky now? Because you should, Fiona. You’re very lucky,” Ace said, lowering his voice to a whisper.

 

Fiona took a step back, running into the liquor shelves behind her.

 

“You’re lucky I’m a nice guy who wouldn’t teach you and your friend a lesson for coming in here tonight.” He stepped forward to trap Fiona between the shelves and his hard stomach.

 

Fiona panicked. She planted her hands squarely on his chest and gave a hard shove with all her might. Nothing happened.

 

Ace stepped back a moment later, freeing Fiona. She eyed him suspiciously. “So?” she asked him hesitantly. “Will you loan us the money or perhaps help us with Alexei and I can pay you in a few days?”

 

Ace shook his head. “We’re not banks, and we don’t work on promise of payment. I’m sorry about you and your brother, but you just don’t have anything of value to me.” It really was a shame, he thought, glancing her over.

 

He opened the door once again; they had been in here far too long. Ace was sure to get an earful from Katie. For someone who wasn’t his old lady, she sure acted like it sometimes. “Time for you and your friend to go,” he said, glancing at the table where Melanie had several empty glasses in front of her, and was laughing uproariously at something Diego had just said.

 

Tears of frustration began to well up in Fiona’s eyes. She grabbed Ace’s hand and fell to her knees. “I will do anything for my brother. Anything you want, and I swear it’s yours.” Fiona wasn’t naïve. She knew the full implication of her words, and she didn’t care. If it would save Niko, it was worth it.

 

Ace raised an eyebrow. He looked back at the crowd of people barely forty feet away, and back down to the gorgeous Latina woman on her knees before him. “Do you know what you—” he started to ask, but she cut him off.

 

“When I said anything, I meant it,” she said quietly.

 

Ace took one last look at The Hell Brothers, drinking and laughing, and shut the door, leaving him alone in the office with Fiona.