The Bodyguard

33. (m)

Whether that be by having someone hurt him, or sending him away like she'd done before with rehab.

But there was something brewing inside Jasper and he didn't know how long he could keep it controlled. The rage he felt for his mother for what she did to Ace — it was almost debilitating.

"Hey," Ace could see his mind was wandering. Jasper looked at him and immediately felt comfort. "I know you want to get back at her. We just can't right now. We need to lay low."

"The money."

"What?"

"The money she paid you," Jasper clarified. "We could use it to pay someone off. Maybe they'd help us. She's had to have done this before and most people would talk for the right amount and those people from Boston. I'm sure they—"

"You're not listening to me," Ace said, frustrated. "Jasper, we can't touch that money. That will only give her more leverage over me. It'll look like I willingly agreed to it."

"Forget it," Jasper switched gears. "I have a trust. We can use that. I don't care about the money in there, especially not if it's from her. There's at least 500 grand in it. I can't access it without her permission, but if we can blackmail her with something then she'll have to let me—"

"Stop it," Ace cut him off, his voice dropped down to a low whisper.

"Do you even hear yourself right now? I'm the one who aided in a murder. Not you. If something goes awry, I'm going to be the one who takes the blame."

"I'd never let that happen," Jasper exasperated. "You won't get caught. I'll protect you. You know that."

Ace sighed, he looked around at the bar and saw no one was close enough to overhear them. He took Jasper's hand in his and their eyes met once more. Jasper's passion was understandable but it wasn't feasible.

Not against Karla.

"Can you listen to me? I mean actually listen?"

Jasper's shoulders dropped slightly.

"I'm sorry."

"I need you to let this go," Ace explained. "Now isn't the time for one of your diabolical plans. The only thing I care about is keeping you safe. That's all I ever cared about."

Jasper looked down at Ace, considered him for a moment. He hated that the guard was right, once again.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay," He nodded. "I'll stop. I won't do anything drastic."

"Promise me."

Jasper hesitated for a moment, then ultimately gave in. Ace squeezed his waist.

"I promise."

Ace gave him a comforting smile, to which Jasper returned even though it went against everything in him.

"You know I'm supposed to give a speech tomorrow?" Jasper scoffed, incredulous just thinking about it.

"About her and the campaign? It's a fucking joke. I have to get up and talk about how great she is — how fit she is for New York — knowing what she did to you."

"You'll figure something out," Ace promised. "You always do."

"You're going to be there, right?"

He asked, hopeful. The prospect of Ace not being in his presence, his line of sight all the time made Jasper sick.

"Where else would I be?"

"I don't know. Anywhere else," he shrugged. "Maybe you realized that this job isn't worth everything this family has put you through. Myself included."