A Touch of Grace✔️ (Wattpad version)

New Year's Eve Surprises

With the craziness of Christmas behind us, it was now New Year's Eve. My parents were gearing up for a party with family and friends. While they were busy making party preparations, the rest of us were active shopping.

"What's on the list?" Zack asked, looking over the paper I had in my hands.

"Let's see, decorations, food, beverages, the usual," I said.

"How about we get the decorations, and you guys get the food?" Lucas said.

"Okay, make sure you get the party favors," I said.

"Will do," Lucas said as he, Tony, and Sean grabbed a cart and went to the decorations. Zack and I grabbed a cart and went to the food section.

Zack grabbed bags of chips and set them in the cart. "Zack, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah," Zack said, tossing another bag into the cart.

"When do you think we will go further?" I asked casually.

Zack stopped from grabbing some dip and looked at me, "Further? As in further, further?"

"Yeah," I said with hesitation.

"Are you even ready for that?" Zack asked me.

"Well, yeah," I said casually to Zack.

"Gracie, you know when it happens, there's no turning back," Zack told me.

I walked over and wrapped my arms around Zack's neck, "I'm ready, and I want it to be with you."

"As long as you're sure," Zack reasoned.

"Very," I said.

"Okay, but it can't happen at your house. Your dad will kill me if he catches us," Zack said, and I giggled.

"Come on. We better finish before Mom panics," I said, and with that, we finished shopping.

After we arrived back, we helped set up for the party. As much as we wanted to sneak off away from people, we kept our hormones in check. Zack was right. If my parents even remotely got suspicious, it would do us. Plus, Zack wanted to wait until it was the right time.

The party was in full swing, and everyone was having a great time until some girl put the moves on Zack. What is with these girls?

Zack pushed the girl away, but she was a persistent little bugger. I walked over to her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me, but remove your hands from my boyfriend."

"Who are you?" The girl asked, her tone dripping with venom.

"I'm Zack's girlfriend and future wife, that's who I am," I shot back.

"Yeah, well, I don't see a ring," the girl shot back.

I lifted my hand to show the promise ring Zack gave me, and the girl added fuel to the fire, "Oh, that Cracker Jack ring. Big deal." The girl turned back to Zack, "Now, where were we?"

"We weren't anywhere," Zack said as the girl placed her arms around his neck, and he kept removing her arms. Okay, I had enough of this chick. I tapped the girl on the shoulder once more.

The girl turned and yelled, "What?"

I cocked my arm back and let it rip, connecting my fist with the girl's nose. She grabbed her nose as blood started pouring from it, "You broke my nose, you bitch!"

"Yeah, I'm about to break more things if you don't get out of here! See, this guy here is mine! Not yours, mine," I screamed at the girl, causing the music to stop and people to look at us.

The girl stood up and ran into me, knocking me down. A fight ensued after that as we went at it. A man dragged the girl off Zack, and Zack grabbed me, separating us. The guy looked at the girl, then at me, "You broke my daughter's nose!"

"Yeah, well, I should have broken her jaw!" I yelled.

"You'll hear from my lawyer, you crazy bitch!" The dad yelled.

That's all it took for Dad to get royally pissed. He walked over and looked at the guy. "What did you say to my daughter?"

"She's a crazy bitch. Look at what she did to my daughter!" The guy yelled.

"Maybe your daughter should learn not to take things that don't belong to her," Dad said in a low husky voice.

"Fuck you, Ace!" The guy shouted.

Yep, those were the wrong words to tell Dad in our house. Dad grabbed the guy and dragged him out of the house. We watched as Dad beat the hell out the man while the girl screamed, "Daddy!"

Once Dad stopped, he stood up and looked at the man while the man's daughter was checking on him, "Stay away from my family, or it will be worse for both of you!"

The girl stood up. "You're nothing but a thug."

Dad walked over and grabbed the girl's hair. "Listen here, you a piece of shit, little whore. I'm tired of people like you running your damn mouths. If I was you, you better close it. Now!" Dad barked.

"You wouldn't hit a girl," the girl spat back.

"There's always the exception to the rule," Dad said and then smacked the girl, tossing her to the ground. He looked at Chase and Brax. "Get rid of them now!"

They nodded and took care of the man and girl while Charlie walked up. "What about the witnesses?"

"You know the drill, Charlie. They saw and heard nothing," Dad said, making Charlie nod.

Charlie went back to the party and announced, "This never happened. You saw nothing; you heard nothing. Understand?"

Everyone nodded in agreement as the police pulled up and got out of their car. "Ace?"

"Officer Brady?" Dad greeted the cops.

"We received a call about a disturbance," the officer said.

"Sorry, there's some drunk guy at the party who got out of hand," Dad said to the cop.

The officer looked at the other officer as Dad walked with them towards the cop car. As they talked, what nobody saw but what the few of us knew was dad slipped them both five hundred dollars to forget the whole thing.

That was a thing about the family business. When you become a boss, you can buy anyone, even the cops and judges. People knew my dad well, but mostly he kept the company separate from home life. Charlie was his lawyer and advisor. Chase and Brax kept the balance while they groomed the guys to enter the business with them.

I prefer to stay out of it like Mom. I hated knowing about it, but it didn't matter because I didn't see Dad as a heartless killer; I saw him as my dad.

We all went back to the party when the clock struck midnight. I kissed my guy even though; I looked like a freaking mess. It was so worth it, though.