An Ace Of Hearts (Book #1) (Completed)

Chapter 22: An Ugly Truth

JACE HYDE

I sat in my office, going over the website one last time before turning it in to Warren. It had taken me more time than I had anticipated, partly because my best friends were divas and were extremely picky and particular when it came to the business. But I wasn't complaining.

Since Ren had refused to get Ahvi involved, I had hired a freelancer for the graphics.Together, we had come up with a design which all the guys had approved of. I was just going through last minute touch ups now and checking if there were any bugs. Soft music played from my phone, filling my office and I was in my zone.

Work brought me a different kind of peace these days. When I was at work, I wasn't trying to escape from my personal life. It just didn't exist and I didn't have to feel guilty or pathetic about shunning it out. I could just forget about it altogether.

My relationship with Kiara had been going on quite smoothly and tonight I was going to break the news to the guys and Ahvi. I didn't want to think much about what their reactions would be but I hoped that they would take it well. After that moment on the roof with Ahvi three days ago, I felt the need to put my relationship out there. I couldn't keep having these stupid moments with her when I had a girlfriend but I couldn't seem to stop myself.

If she knew about my relationship, she would keep her distance from me and save me from a battle I had been fighting with myself every day since I got back together with my ex-girlfriend. My phone rang, pulling me out of my thoughts. I pushed away from my laptop, sighing. I didn't want to talk to Kiara at the moment and she was the only one who called me when I was at work.

I glanced at the screen to find my cousin, Kyle's name flashing across the screen. The discomfort disappeared and a grin made its way on my face as I answered the call. This was an unexpected surprise.

"Hello! So you do remember you have a little cousin, huh?" I said into the speaker, my voice cheerful. I hadn't heard from Kyle in a long time, not in a couple of years at least. But we never used to talk too much before I moved to London except for the bike lessons so I wasn't too surprised to hear from him after such a long time.

"Hey, J. How could I forget my favorite cousin?" He answered, making me chuckle. "I have been meaning to call you but you know, life happened and you made it big so I was hesitant, wondering if you would want to talk to your lowly cousin now." He added.

"Shut up." I rolled my eyes at his words. I would never forget family, the few people I could call that, even if I had all the riches in the world. I would never choose money and fame over my loved ones. "I'm mad at you for not reaching out sooner."

"I know but like I said, life happened. After the funeral, everything at the family business was spiralling. I got caught up in the whirlwind. I should have checked up on you, kiddo." A tinge of regret entered his voice and I felt bad for being the reason for it.

"It's fine. I'm sure the guys would have informed you if something happened to me." I joked, trying to get rid of the sour taste in my mouth at the mention of the funeral. The last time I had met Kyle was at my mother's funeral. She was the owner of the family business that my grandfather had left to her when he died and after her death, every cousin and sibling of hers jumped to get the owner's chair.

"That's true." Kyle hummed. For a moment, silence hung between us which neither of us felt the need to fill. My cousin was the only one in my family after my mother whom I truly loved, whom I could proudly say I shared blood with. The others were just there. They never made an impact. I was somewhat glad of the insignificance they held in my life.

"Why'd you call all of a sudden? I doubt you just thought to check up on me out of the blue," I said after a beat, wanting to get back to work now. I would have liked to talk to Kyle longer but if I didn't email Warren an update within the next hour, he was sure to lecture me and I wasn't in the mood for one.