Chapter 36: Chapter 36

Chapter 36 Protect

stretch and yawn as bed time nears. Ace has not yet come home as he's out discussing "gang talk" with some of his men. So, I'm alone in my room.

I decide to change into some of my pajamas and get comfy on my bed.

Snuggling up into my covers, I turn on my phone to read a Wattpad story called What Lurks in His Eyes. It's a book about werewolves and how two individuals fight for their lives and for each other. It's a great book that really tugs at my heart and captures emotions, and I think the author is amazing.

"Damn it Duma! That's MY shoe, not yours!" Ace exclaims as he bursts through my door with a slobbery shoe in his hand.

I laugh at Ace's flustered face, and when he spots me lying on the bed, he gets this menacing grin.

He approaches me slowly.

"Ace what are you doing--WAIT" But I don't even have a chance to protest when he suddenly starts to tickle me. His fingers make their home in my armpits and I squeal like a pig with laughter.

"Ace, s-stop!" I scream while I wriggle uncomfortably from under him. "T-that tickles, ah!"

Ace just grins. "That was my good shoe, too! Your dog did this to my shoe so I'm punishing you for it."

"O-okay! I get it!"

Once Ace stops tickling me, I lay there on the bed catching my breath. I sit up, staring him right into the eyes as things fall silent between us.

And then he kisses me. We seem to become one when we kiss, and each time is no different than the last. It's full of passion and love for one another.

"Dinner is serv-" Katelin says but doesn't finish her sentence when her eyes land on us.

I pull away from Ace and he groans in protest. "We've got a bystander." I say, and point to Katelin.

Katelin stands there awkwardly as we stare her down. She rubs her arms uncomfortable and coughs a few times. "I'll just....uh, go now." She says before zipping out of the room like lightening.

We smile at each other before leaving the room to go get our dinner.

* * *

Ace's POV:

The next night comes quicker than I would have liked it to. Missions like these are always long, dangerous, and stressful. Cherry my seductress has arrived in my office, along with Jordan and Drew.

I hand Cherry a little bug so we can listen in on their conversations and monitor how the progress is going.

"Alright, here is the run through for tonight. Cherry, you will go to Lar's VIP club, and when you find him, you are to seduce him. When he takes you to his mansion, you are to kill him whenever the time is right."

"Of course, anything for you, Sugar." She replies, seductively winking at me.

So, Cherry makes her way to the club. We can hear the loud music blasting through the little speaker we had given her. "Target spotted, Boss." She says.

Good.

"Well hello there pretty lady." Lars says.

And so everything goes as plan. Cherry dances with Lars and teases him. They drink together, but Cherry is smart enough not to drink too much. Being drunk on a mission like this could cost us.

"Dad, I'm just going to leave now. It's sickening to watch you all....like this." We hear Luuk grumble through the speaker.

"Whatever, Luuk. Now, where were we, my dear?" Lars says.

"Oh, I believe you were just about to invite me over to your bedroom." Cherry giggles.

"Oh, I was, wasn't I?"

"Yes you were. Now, what are you waiting for big boy?" Cherry says, her voice seductive.

And so they set off into a vehicle, where they travel through the city and to Lar's mansion. Cherry is so close now to successfully completing the mission, and my palms are sweaty and my heart beats with nervousness.

Things start to get frisky between the two. I sigh and cover my hand over the microphone so we don't have to hear their....noises.

Come on Cherry. Hurry up and kill him.

I check in on them, and listen for a few more minutes until Cherry screams.

No!

"Cherry? Cherry can you hear me?" I ask frantically.

But it's not Cherry's voice who answers me.

It's Lar's voice.

"She can't hear you, but I sure can." He says, chuckling.

Shit.

"That was a good move, you know. She almost had me, I've got to admit. That little speaker of yours fell out of her clothes when she was undressing, by the way. You might want to improve on your technology, Ace. I'm disappointed." He says in his thick Dutch accent.

I scoff at his pitiful insults.

"You can never outsmart me. And...when can I have my son's fiance back? Are you done playing with her? Because my son can't wait to fu-"

"Shut the fuck up! You will never get her back." I growl angrily.

"Oh, we shall see about that, won't we?"

"You mess with her, you mess with me." I seethe. My fists clench at my sides and my eyebrows are scrunched in anger.

"How cute. Lonely Ace has finally found a lover," Lars mocks, "I'm done wasting my time on you. I've got a girl to find." He then smashes the speaker beneath his foot.

Mission failed.

"Jordan, Drew, double the security and guards." I say, my voice about to break from my anger.

They quickly leave the room. They are wise, they don't want to provoke me in any way right now.

I will fight. I will fight for Dakota. I would pay my life for hers if I had to. I've never felt this sort of protective feeling over a girl I like in a romantic way. This feeling is different for me and yet, I like it. It reminds me that I have someone to cherish and live for.

Running my hand through my hair, I take a deep breath. It is late now, and it is time to rest for the night.

I find Dakota, tucked up in her bed wearing her favorite pajamas with cupcakes on them. Her head is lolled to the side and drool runs down the corner of her mouth. But perhaps the funniest sight is the little teddy bear tucked under her arm. It is squished against her body looking rather ridiculous.

I immediately pull out my phone and take a picture. I make sure to set it as my phone's wallpaper and smile. She's going to kill me.

I head to my dresser and quietly pull out a pair of pajama bottoms, in which I change into. Once I pull my shirt off, I quietly creep into the bed.

Or, at least I meant to be quiet.

Because as luck would have it, my feet gets tangled around one of Dakota's blue bras on the floor, and I fall.

I fall on my face in all my glory.

I kiss my ego goodbye and get right back up, hoping that I somehow didn't awake Dakota.

And to my surprise, I didn't. She is still tucked in and fast asleep. With a smirk, I finally get back into bed next to her, making sure to not make a single sound.

Once I'm settled in, I turn to go flick off the lamp, only to hear a Dakota snickering. "Have a nice trip. See you next fall."

Ah, shit. She did see that. "Oh, ha ha, I tripped on one of your bras. " I say, my voice sounding bored.

Dakota laughs harder. "That's even funnier." She says.

I roll my eyes, flicking out the lamp. "Goodnight, Dakota." I say as I hunker down into bed.

"Nah uh uh," She tsks, turning the light back on, "You can't go to bed yet until you tell me how the mission went."

I sigh, pulling the covers over my head. "It failed." My voice is muffled.

"It what?"

"It failed, Dakota. It couldn't have gone any worse." I mutter.

"Oh..."

I pull the pillow beneath my head and close my eyes.

"But what about-"

I cut her off when I let out a loud, fake snore.

"Ace, I know you're not already asleep yet." Dakota whines, and soon flicks the lamp back on.

"Yes I am."

"No you're not, you just answered me."

"I sleep talk." I reply.

"Ace!" She scolds.

"Dakota."

"Ace."

"Dakotuuhhh...." I groan.

"I can tell you're upset about it. You should talk about it and not go to bed upset. I mean, for me....talking helps me. It's like a weight being lifted off my chest." She explains.

I throw the covers off of me and sit up while glaring at her. "Fine. I will tell you, alright? But this isn't pretty. Cherry, the seductress, got killed because Lars found the bug in her clothes. He made some....threats I'm trying to work out."

"Threats? What kind of threats?" Dakota asks. I don't want to answer that question. I don't want to worry her.

"Mmm....pass." I reply.

"Ace, you can't simply pass that question."

"Fine. He made threats about the, uh.....gang."

"You know, for a criminal you sure suck at lying," She points out, "I want the truth."

With a loud sigh, I speak. "Fine, he made threats about you, okay? I don't know what to do....I doubled the security and guards but I just didn't want to worry you and-"

Dakota silences me with a sweet kiss on the cheek. "Ace, you're a powerful gang leader, and I assume you have some alliances with other gangs, correct?"

"Yeah?"

"Alright, well, why don't you join together and take down Lars. Lars is the Mafia, I think, no offense, that you're going to need more than one gang to take him down. Do you and your alliances have a common enemy, which is Lars?"

"Yes....Lars has been stealing from my alliances too." I reply.

"Okay, then I say that you and your alliances join, and take down Lars together."

I nod my head in understanding. "I like your idea....I will give them a call tomorrow." I reply. I like having Dakota around. She helps me to think differently and gives me advice when I need it. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

* * *

The night for me was long. I tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep because of the stress gnawing at my mind. Dakota, however, slept well. Several times she would roll on top of me, where she would drool on my chest.

And then she proceeded to knee me in the groin.

I groaned in pain, and rolled her off of me to assess the damage. Luckily, everything was still intact, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

My kids wouldn't come from a sperm donor.

Then, Dakota snuggled up to my side, and buried her face in my neck, where she slept peacefully for the rest of the night. Her small arms draped across my chest and her body occasionally twitching from, I'm assuming, the dreams she's having.

Apart from the occasional murmurs, Dakota slept silently.

When the sun started to peek through the horizon, I got up. It was only five in the morning, but this issue needs to be taken care of as quickly as possible. I need to make a phone call to The Golden Daggers in hopes that they will agree to work with me here.

After getting dressed, I walk to my office to call Daxton, the leader of The Golden Daggers Gang.

"Hello, I would like to speak to Daxton." I say when I hear a voice pick up the phone.

"This is he."

So, we discuss various issues both our gangs have been having, until I finally break the news. "So, seeing Lars has been troubling the both of us lately, how would you like to take him down once and for all?"

"I'm listening." Daxton replies.

"Alright, so here's the plan...."

And so, plans are born as Daxton and I speak.

* * *

I gathered all my best assassins, seductresses, snipers, and fighters together. Only the best should fight. I don't want to risk unnecessary lives for a mission this major.

"I have called you here because we are going to fight Lars, the Dutch mafia leader. This mission is very important. He needs to die, and you all that have been chosen are going to be a part of this life changing event. Life changing because it could either go the wrong way or right way. One outcome holds victory, the other one holds the unknown." I say.

"He is a big Mafia leader? How will this work?" Someone pipes up from the back.

"I have contacted The Golden Daggers Gang, and they will be assisting us in our quest for victory."

"When do we plan to attack? I've got this great new dagger collection I'd love to try out." Krazy says, his eyes glinting with excitement.

Krazy is in a relationship.

Quite a spectacular relationship, actually.

But this isn't just any relationship, because it's a relationship with his knives.

"Soon, Krazy, soon." I reply, rolling my eyes.

With a single command, my gang members go scrambling to their training areas. People spar, others lift weights. Some practice with guns and knives, others kick-box. Everyone's body needs to be in the best of shape for every mission.

Because not only do we prey on others, but we are also prey ourselves. Meaning, sometimes we are the attackers while other times, when necessary, we are the runners; we are the ones fleeing for our lives.

And as I stand out on my back porch that overlooks my property, the warm city wind blows through my hair. My anxious eyes scan each member, observing their strengths and their weaknesses.

My heart pounds with anxiety, and I breathe in the tainted city air.

I will protect.

I will protect my family, my gang members, and Dakota.

Bullets will rain down on those I care about. But I will be the shield that blocks the blows shot by the enemy if I have to.

I am willing.