Ace Killian

chapter 22: The offer

Kanes P.O.V

The file was thin, but it told me everything I needed.

Jonathan Harries. Twenty-four. Son of Charles Harries. The heir who was never really an heir.

Ace had stolen his crown without ever asking for it. The boy who was groomed, protected, sharpened by Harries himself, while Jonathan watched from the shadows, smiling through his teeth.

I closed the folder and leaned back in my chair. This one would be easy. A resentment like his—long simmering, bone-deep—was a wound begging to be pressed.

When Jonathan walked into my office, he looked every bit the polished son of money. Suit crisp, cufflinks gleaming, jaw clenched just tight enough to betray the storm inside.

"Mr. Kane," he said, offering a hand.

I didn't take it.

Let him sweat.

"You know why you're here?" I asked.

He swallowed, trying to hide the uncertainty.

"Well, you didn't give me much of a choice." He said looking at the men by his side.

"Because... I think you hate him as much as i do."

"Take a seat." I jester.

I poured myself a drink, not offering him one.

"I've seen the way you look at Ace. Like every second he breathes is a second stolen from you."

His jaw ticked, just slightly.

A tell.

"Your father gave him everything you wanted, didn't he?"

"His name."

"His trust."

"His time."

I swirled the glass in my hand, studying him. "But never you. Never Jonathan. You were always second best."

The mask slipped then—just for a heartbeat. His eyes went sharp, bitter.

"You think you know me?"

"I don't have to," I said smoothly. "Your father wrote your story the moment he chose Ace over you. I'm just giving you the pen back."

He said nothing, but his silence was an answer.

"Help me bring Ace down," I said, leaning forward.

"Take from him what he took from you. Power. Respect. Loyalty. Even—" I let the pause hang, watching the flicker in his eyes "—the girl."

It was a mere guess but that got him. His composure cracked, only slightly, but enough.

"You think Naomi would ever look twice at me?" he asked, the bitterness raw in his tone.

I smiled, slow and deliberate. Naomi was mine but she'd be a great pawn to move Jonathan.

"With the right push? People's loyalties shift. Especially when they realize they've been lied to."

Jonathan's eyes darkened. The seed had been planted.

He leaned back in his chair, that polished smirk returning to his lips—but this time, I saw the hunger behind it.

"I'm listening."

____

Jonathan's P.O.V

The city lights blurred through the windshield as I drove, the echo of Kane's voice still crawling under my skin.

The girl.

The glory.

The revenge.

He made it sound easy. Like all I had to do was choose vengeance and everything else would fall into place.

But nothing about Ace ever came easy.

I parked by the river, engine running, watching the reflection of the skyline ripple across the water. That used to be my view. My father's office had the same angle — the same stretch of city that once felt like mine by inheritance. Until Ace came along.

Ace, the helpless orphan my father decided to save.

Ace, the prodigy he called son.

Ace, the one who inherited everything that was supposed to be mine.

Even now, I could still hear my father's voice:

"Learn from him, Jonathan. He's got fire. You've got potential, but no fight."

No fight.

He said that like I hadn't spent my entire life fighting for a sliver of his attention.

Kane was right about one thing — I did hate Ace. But hate wasn't the full picture. It was envy. Admiration twisted into something sour.

And Naomi...

God, Naomi was just salt in the wound.

The first time I saw her, she wasn't like the women that floated around Ace — fake smiles, expensive perfume, empty eyes. She had this quiet storm about her. Something real. Something that made Ace look almost... human.

And that's what ruined her for me.

Because everything Ace touched, I wanted to take away — not to have it, but to prove I could.

I ran a hand through my hair, exhaling hard.

Kane wanted to use me to get to Ace.

And part of me wanted to say no — to walk away, prove I was better than this.

But the other part, the darker part, whispered:

"This is your chance. Make him bleed the way he made you invisible."

So, when I turned off the ignition and looked back toward the city, I knew what I had to do.

I'd let Kane think he was pulling the strings.

I'd let him believe I was his pawn.

But I wasn't just helping Kane.

I was going to take back everything Ace stole — my father's respect, my power, my inheritance .

And maybe, if I played this right...

Naomi would see what she should've seen all along.

Me.