Falling For Ace

Forty-nine

I V Y

"Hey," I heard a familiar voice asked as I slowly fluttered my eyes open and glanced up at him with a smile tugging at my lips. He was rubbing his thumb in soothing circles on my bare waist as I snuggled closer to him.

"Hi." I mumbled, placing a small kiss on his neck which made him pull me closer than I already was.

"Slept well?" He questioned, placing a lingering kiss on the top of my head. I hummed in response before asking, "What time is it?"

"Five," he responded with a chuckle, "you've been sleeping for over an hour now."

"Don't you have mafia stuffs to do now that you're the boss?" I inquired and heard him click his tongue. "Not really, no."

"I forgot to ask-" I rested on my elbows and I looked at him. He was running his fingers up and down on my bare back while furrowing his brows, waiting for me to speak patiently, "-how's your mother doing?"

"Doctors said she'll live," He assured, "but they do not know when she'll wake up yet." His eyes suddenly became distant and he clenched his jaw, looking anywhere but me. I frowned at that.

"What happened?"

"Nothing." He muttered, throwing his head on the headrest, staring at the ceiling.

"Ace."

"Hmm?"

"What's wrong?" He let out a loud sigh at my question. "No-"

I cut him off, knitting my brows. "-don't you dare say 'nothing'. Clearly something's bothering you. What is it?"

He stopped the movements his fingers were doing on my back and brought his hand to his head before running it through his hair. "It's just that I feel like I'm letting everyone down lately. You know, my parents, you and even Mason."

"What? Hey," I brought a hand to his face and placed it on his left cheek to make him look at me. "You haven't let anybody down. You're always there for everyone. You-your parents are proud of you. Vincenzo would always tell me how much he loves that you turned out how you did. He loved you a lot. He would literally brag on how great and awesome you are to my dad, you know? He even dared to tell my dad that Mason wasn't as good as you are." I chuckled at that and saw Ace bite his lip as he smiled.

"And your mom? Everytime I'd see her, she'd tell me how you always manage to brighten up her day simply by being there." I continued, "She said she was the world's luckiest mother for having you as her son." He smiled again, but this time a full bright one and I mimicked his action. "You have no idea how much everyone loves you."

"Thank you," He looked down at me with a certain emotion in his eyes. It was intense but hard to make out. He pulled me close to him before lowering his head and placed a soft lingering kiss on my forehead. "You know, I'll never let anything happen to you, right? I'll get rid of Mateo then you can continue with your normal life. You just have to stay in that place for a few days while I handle the situation. You trust me, don't you?"

"I trust you," I smiled softly at the guy I've grown to like-scratch that. What I felt for Ace wasn't 'like'. It was much more than that. I never felt that way for anyone before, not even that asshole, Mateo.

"I'm going to leave in ten minutes." He said, running his hand through my hair. He twirled my brown locks in his fingers as he continued to speak, "I want you to pack your bags, grab every necessary stuffs, like, clothes and all that. Oh and bring swimsuits, sunscreen as well." I only nodded in response, not bothering to question even though I probably had a slight idea on where he was going to be taking me.

"I'll pick you up at seven." He added, "Is that okay?"

"Yeah," I nodded, "that's fine. What do I tell my parents?"

"That you're moving in with me for a few days." He replied, "If they have a problem, tell them to come and talk to me. I'll deal with it."

"Alright."