Ace

Beneath

"Hey Sof , it's Raul".

I hadn't heard his voice in so long . It seemed like years since I last spoke to him . "Hey Raul" I muttered quietly . I don't know how I feel about him calling me , wait.......how did he get my number. Fuck it we're in the Mafia , anything is possible . "How are you?" His voice sounded strong and confident. I had completely forgotten about him taking over my fathers Mafia .

"Good" my voice croaked . I was on the verge of tears , ready to cry until Ace came in and forgave me . "I'm calling to invite you and Ace for dinner tomorrow night" Raul sounded like he was busy and not paying much attention to the conversation. "Um ...... I'm not sure if Ace will be able to make it" I tried so hard to not let my voice crack . "My main concern is you , will you come home Sofia ?" He offered adding a certain softness to the way he spoke. "Tomorrow um yeah sure" I agreed .

"No I mean , until you find someone you really love , you don't have to be with Ace anymore , our father is dead and no one is forcing you to be with him anymore" Raul rambled on while my eyes widened .

I never thought I'd be this conflicted about going home . But I'm not sure where home is anymore . I'm not sure if that place was ever my home and if it is , it's full of pain , only pain . But on the other hand my father isn't alive to make it miserable anymore plus I feel like Ace is getting tired of me being around him . Maybe it would be good for us if I moved back home . But what if we never got to see eachother because we'd both so busy with things .

"Um- hey Sofia I have to go , think about what I said okay!" Raul quickly hung up . Oh fuck . How do I tell Ace that I could possibly be moving back home .

I climbed into bed and tried to fall asleep but kept overthinking everything . If only my brain could relax for a few minutes .

A few hours had passed of me , continuously scrolling through my phone . I sat on my bed , leaning against the head board , I glanced at the time. 3am . I think Ace would still be awake. I wandered out of my room and stood outside his bedroom door , is he still mad ?.

I knocked on his door but got no reply. He's probably still angry , I should leave him alone . But I couldn't help knock just one more time . No reply again. The least he could do is give me some sort of grunt to let me know that he's alive . Fuck it I'm just going to walk in .

I opened the door to see a pitch black , empty room. I stared at the bed confused at why he wasn't there . I checked his office after but he wasn't there either . No one was here except for his guards . He must be really angry if he left me alone in his house , surrounded by a bunch of men who are over 6ft and weigh a lot .

I returned to my bedroom and watched YouTube for awhile . I was about to fall asleep when I heard the front door open. I waited a few minutes before checking it out

I strutted downstairs and into the living room . Ice was sitting on the couch with a black eye and a few cuts & bruises all over his body . My jaw dropped at the sight of him . "I'm fine" he waved me away . I grabbed his head and examined the bruising . "I think you'll be okay , Ace did this didn't he" I asked , ready to be disappointed. "No" Ice shot me a worried glance .

"He didn't tell you..." he stared confusingly at the ground , not making eye contact. "We went on our most dangerous mission so far" Ice shook his head , taking the frozen pea's that were laying on the coffee table , pressing them to his eye ; he let a hiss escape his lips .

I felt a gaping hole in my chest . "What do you mean , where is he?" I questioned Ice worriedly . "We attacked the Ravens for two of their members trying to kill Ace awhile ago and he's probably in the kitchen".

"The Ravens as in the fourth biggest Mafia in the world!" My eyes widened at Ice who was nursing his wounds . "Yes" he grumbled . I'm going to kill him . "He's in bad shape even if he doesn't show it, I'm telling you this because I know you care about him; he does stupid things when he gets hurt , and it's not very often that he gets hurt since he doesn't let anyone in, so I'm saying that you should go in there and be his girlfriend, not his mom" Ice mumbled .

I think that's the best advice he's ever given me .

I approached the kitchen , my footsteps making no sound beneath me . I stood at the door watching Ace who had ice cubes in a bag pressed against his bare chest , blink slowly while his chest raised and fell with every breath that he took. His shirt was on the floor and he had a cut on his upper lip next to the bruise on his cheekbone . He had bruises all over his body , he just looked exhausted . I noticed a big one on his collar bone .

I was scared looking at him so beaten up , I had never seen him look so hurt before.

I walked in and stood in front of him with my arms folded . He just looked at me before turning his attention back to the floor . "Come on" I uttered with a soft tone , grabbing his hand while dragging him into the bathroom . He sat on the toilet with the toilet lid down so that he didn't fall through .

"What hurts the most ?" I asked him quietly . He pointed to his collar bone with his eyes shut . I took a cloth and soaked it in warm water , I grabbed his cheek gently , forcing him to look up at me . I dabbed his bloody lip with the white the cloth , his blood soaking into it . He gazed at me while I dabbed his cheek bone . "How did you get this one" I asked pointing at the bruise on his collar bone .