Sorry for the delay, I didn't want to come back. Bora Bora is like heaven on earth. 🥺
I wanted tonight to go perfectly because it was my first real date with Ella.
I had planned everything but what my plan didn't include was Damon's best friend murdering another kid from school.
"He didn't do it, Ace!" Damon yelled out as I held him closer to me. "They're lying, they all are!"
I rubbed his back up and down in an attempt to calm him down. "Easy, buddy, I'll care of it"
I watched as they put handcuffs on a fifteen-year-old boy and dragged him to a police car.
The murder scene was fucking brutal, I tried my hardest to keep Damon away from the dead body. A few black cars came racing towards the scene and parked at the side.
Mom and Dad stepped out of the first car and Damon pulled himself away from me, running to him.
"Dad, he didn't do it, he's lying. I don't know why he is doing that, dad, please, help him. You have to do something!"
Dad cupped his face, "Damon, my love, relax. If he is innocent, I'll never let him go to jail"
"But he is innocent, dad" he cried some more.
Mom covered her mouth as her eyes went to the body lying on the floor. She tugged Damon closer to herself, hugging him while he just cried hysterically.
"Ace, come with me," dad said as we walked toward the police officers.
The body of Bryce Carson was lying on the concrete floor. He was just fifteen, Damon's classmate. He was the son of Benjamin Carson, who was standing on the other corner of the crime scene, spewing out threats of ruining the person who murdered his son. The police were holding him back.
My eyes went back to Bryce, his right arm was
extended, and I could see an open wound just above his right wrist exposing broken bones. There
was a large open wound on the left side of his torso. The blood was spattered over his face. The coroners surrounded the area as they put his body in a dark-colored body bag.
The whole area was secured with yellow crime scene tape. Dad and I walked to Deputy Sheriff Graham Peters.
He nodded. "Mr, Harding"
Dad nodded back. "Graham..."
"Mr. Harding, I think it will be better for you and your family to stay away from this case. You're running for the presidency and being involved in this case can hurt that."
"Aaron Knight is my son's best friend. I know the kid, Graham. He isn't a cold-blooded murderer."
"He admitted it. He said that he murdered him"
"He is just a kid, maybe, someone pressured him—"
"The only witness is his own sister, who corroborated his story, Mr. Harding."
I frowned. "His sister? Isn't Aaron an orphan?"
"He is, and so is his sister"
"She's lying!" Damon's voice resounded from behind us.
I grabbed Damon by his arm. "Damon, stay out of it"
Damon was so enraged that veins were popping out of his forehead. "But she's lying, Ace. Aaron didn't do this!"
I grabbed him by his shoulders. "Damon, calm down!"
"Where is the sister?" Dad asked
Graham pointed back over his shoulder. "Inside being questioned by the police"
"Without a lawyer?" I asked.
"For fuck sake, Graham," Dad said incredulously. "At least let these kids know their rights"
"Benjamin Carson is a powerful man, Mr. Harding—"
Dad gave him a tight-lipped smile, his jaw clenched. "He may be powerful but not more than me"
The rest of the evening was quite eventful as Dad hired a lawyer for Damon's friend Aaron and his sister, Tessa Knight. I did everything I could to keep Damon out of it.
Aaron stuck to his story like a robot repeating the same words over and over again. He admitted doing it, he admitted why he did it, he handed police the murder weapon with his fingerprints on it and he also told the whole story about how he murdered him and how many times he hit him until Bryce finally died.
His sister said the same thing even with their lawyers present. Their stories matched, the fingerprints on the murder weapon matched, the details matched. Aaron Knight was fucked for life even if he didn't do it.
I had no idea how Damon will get over this.
Aaron asked to talk to dad and me alone for a few minutes before they can take him away, since he is still a minor the police allowed it for five minutes.
"Mr. Harding, Ace" he nodded at us, his eyes swollen and red-rimmed.
"Aaron, son, if someone is threatening you or is setting you up you can tell me, I can take care of it"
"I did it, Mr. Harding, I killed him. No one is threatening me or setting me up. I did it"
I frowned. "Why? Why would you do that, Aaron?"
"Because I was jealous of him."
"That's not a reason to kill someone"
"It is because Bryce was an asshole. He got what he deserved" he spat out venomously but then he looked down and sighed. "If I ask you for something, will you help me?"
"Of course, son, anything. I will try to fight this till the very end because I don't think you did it, Aaron—"
"Please, take care of my sister. She has no one, she just had me. Can you please take care of Tessa? Please, sir?"
"Of course, I can and I promise you that I will take care of her and you, Aaron."
He smiled, after everything this little boy has been through today, he still smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Harding, thank you, Ace"
"You don't have to thank us, we did nothing"
He smiled, shaking his head. "Tessa will be fine and it's everything to me"
The door opened and a police officer entered, "Your five minutes are over"
"We can fight this..." dad whispered to him but he shook his head.
"I don't want you to, Mr. Harding..."
That's the last thing he said before Aaron was escorted out of the room in handcuffs.
┈┈┈┈․° ☣︎ °․┈┈┈┈
She bit on her lower lip, a little frown between her brows. It was distracting, fuck, everything about her is distracting. "That's horrible... How's Damon?"
I leaned back. "Depressed, acting up, raising hell on mom and dad and basically everyone in that household"
She finally showed up for our date after making my driver wait for half an hour. I thought that she'd stand me up but she didn't, instead, she came to our date all dolled up in a short pastel pink dress. The fact that she was all dressed up to go out with me made my fucking chest swell with happiness. She put an effort"
I had reserved a table for us at the best French restaurant in Richmonte, Là-Haut au Château and the second she got here all she talked about was Damon, Aaron, and their classmate, Bryce who got murdered. I don't blame her, that's all everyone has been talking about since the morning.
"So, you believe that Damon's friend is innocent"
I nodded. "Yes, because why would a child accept it so bravely and bluntly, it's like he is hiding something or someone"
"I feel so bad for Damon and his friends"
I sighed, this was not what I wanted to talk to Ella about on our date. The date had taken a grim path, it was like she couldn't even swallow the appetizer because of the murder of a fifteen-year-old boy by a fifteen-year-old boy.
"So... we never got a chance to catch up. How's everything in LA?" I asked, trying to change the topic.
She looked up at me, looking beautiful as she always does. She licked her lips and shook her head. "Nothing much, work and just..."
I raised an eyebrow. "Just what?"
She glanced at me and then around the restaurant. "You know this is the fanciest place you have ever taken me to. Before, it was always the woods or behind closed doors or some shitty place where no one would see us. Are you trying to get laid?"
I frowned, I know she had every right to think about me like that but for one night can we just talk and not think about if I had any underlying agenda—which I don't.
I gave her a hard look, "Do you think that every time I talk to you it's because I want to sleep with you? I know I'm in no place to call you out on that but can't we just enjoy our dinner and not think about getting laid because lately all of our conversations had been about whether or not I want to have sex with you."
Her eyes widened, and her cheeks heated up, turning red. She averted her eyes. "Of course, we can, I was just making a stupid joke—oh, hey guys!"
"Ella, I didn't expect to see you here!"
She stood up and did la bise with Zoe and behind Zoe was Christian. I gritted my teeth and shot him a glare—what the fuck was he doing here? He gave me a frowned look, and then his gaze switched between Ella and me before a stupid smirk formed on his face.
"Do you mind if we join you? I really don't want to be alone with him..." Zoe whispered the last part to Ella.
I gestured for Christian to get the fuck out of here but he just shrugged.
This asshole!
I'm gonna fucking kill him!
This date sucks satan's balls.
Zoe pulled a chair from another table and settled beside Ella, grinning at her and Christian did the same. Zoe gestured between the both of us. "What's going on here?"
Ella smiled and gave me a look I couldn't understand. "Nothing, just a work date."
Work date?
She didn't want to tell them about this.
"Oh, right—"
The rest of the conversation was a blur as I forced the food down my throat. Christian kept using his cellphone not interested in his date at all while his date had hijacked my date.
We had dessert, and Ella and Zoe shared their desserts with one another. Why the fuck do I feel like a fucking third wheel?
I punched Christian's side under the table and like a fucking child he was, he returned the favor not understanding what I wanted.
The horrendous date in the history of horrendous dates finally ended when Zoe said it was getting late and she should go home. We came out of the restaurant and watched as Ella said goodbye to Zoe and completely ignored Christian, serves him right.
She checked her cell phone and then faced me. "My uber will be here in a few minutes—'
"Woah, Woah," I grabbed her elbow and pulled her closer to me. "That wasn't a date at all!"
Her eyes dropped my grip on her elbow and then snapped to my face. "True, it was the crappiest date I have ever been on"
I sighed. "This is not how I wanted this to go... I need a do-over"
She gave me a cheeky smile. "Wait for your turn then"
I pulled her closer, breathing in her psychedelic perfume. "My turn isn't over yet"
I let go of her elbow and extended my hand to her but instead of taking it, she pulled out her cell phone and used it before locking it and putting it back into her handbag.
She took my hand. "I just canceled my uber, don't make me regret it"
"Walk with me, it's just a short distance away"
"You want to walk?"
I tugged her along. "Yes..."
I'd do anything to prolong this night.
I took her to a local pub, none of my friends knows about it. I come here whenever I want to be alone. Probably, every single time I thought about her or missed her.
We entered the spacious pub and she gave me a frowned look, completely opposite to where we came from I know but I just wanted to take her there.
I winked at the bartender who knows me quite well. "Two beers for me and my wife, we are here to celebrate our second anniversary"
"Congratulations! Two beers coming right up!"
Ella's mouth hung open and she pinched my side. "You did not just do that!"
"Oh, I did" I grinned at her and the way she glared into my eyes sent a shot of electricity to every nerve of my body.
"There you go, two beers for the lovely couple! Drinks on the house for the night!"
I grabbed the mugs and handed Ella a mug, lifting a shoulder. "I did it for the free drinks"
She rolled her eyes. "Like you can't afford cheap beer" she took a sip and made a face. "By the way, we're getting a divorce"
"What? Why?" my voice came out as high-pitched.
"Because you're annoying and today, I learned that you're cheap as well" she moved to a corner and raised an eyebrow, she gestured towards the darts. "Ready to lose?"
I let out a laugh. "You wish!"
One by one, she threw all of her darts; not hitting the bullseye once. She made an annoyed face and glared at me like she was challenging me that if I won she'll kill me.
I grabbed the darts and focused on the board. I threw the first one and it hit right outside the bullseye.
Ella snickered, "Oh, bummer, you missed"
I smirked as I threw the next dart and it landed right in the middle.
She rolled her eyes. "Lucky shot, a fluke"
I threw all of my darts and they landed either on the bullseye or close to it. "And this is how you do it" I whispered in her ear, making her push me back annoyedly.
She took a big sip of her beer. "Whatever, I don't even like darts anyway"
"Then what do you like?" I ask, following her.
"Not you,"
"Ouch!"
"Now this is what I am talking about," she said, looking over at the pool table. She grabbed a cue and smirked. "Now, ready to actually lose?"
I shrugged but she made good on her promise. She actually beat me on the 9-ball pool, fair and square. She squealed like a little girl, jumping up and down in her heels, a lot of men cheered for her and that boosted her confidence.
She was laughing too much, if I knew beating me would make her this much happy, I would have purposely lost when we played darts.
I glanced at my watch and noticed that it was almost midnight. We had been playing around and drinking in this pub for the last three hours and for me it still didn't feel like enough.
I glanced at her and saw a man get too cozy with my fake wife. I lost it when he grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on it.
"Honey, let's go home, I'm tired" I clutched her arm and pulled her out from between those men.
She laughed at me. "Jealous, husband?"
"Yes, I am"
She laughed some more as we stepped out of the pub, breathing in the fresh air. A little unsteady on her feet, she started walking down the road with a smile on her face and I followed, I gently pushed her to the other side and walked on the street side of the sidewalk.
She glanced up at me with a smile. "If only you were like this in high school"
I cringed. "Please, do not remind me of that guy,"
She giggled. "Why not?"
I gave her an incredulous look. "Why would you? I was a dick. I want to beat the shit out of that guy. Trust me, if I could beat him; I'd fucking ruin his face"
"Yeah, sometimes..." she looked down at the ground, kicking a rock out of her way.
"What?"
"Sometimes, I really wanted to punch you in the face."
My heart drowned in my chest, the way she said it, her voice sounded so little, so vulnerable. She acts as if the past doesn't matter to her anymore and tries to poke fun at it, but right now I could hear how hurt she still was.
"Do it then"
She laughed. "What?"
"Punch me"
She shook her head. "I'm not going to do that"
I stepped in front of her. "Do it, I want you to"
"No!"
"It's not like I don't deserve it, punch me"
Her jaw slacked. "Do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound right now"
"Nope, punch me"
"No!"
"Come on, it'll be fun"
"Stop it, Ace!"
"Ella, do it! Maybe, it'll make me feel better"
"Make you feel better? What are you even—?"
I took a step closer to her. "Do it"
"No..."
"DO IT, EL!"
And she did, she swung up her left fist and slammed it into my jaw.
"Oh my god! I can't believe I did that! I'm so sorry, Ace, you were crowding me—"
"Shh, it's okay" I rubbed my jaw and laughed. "Do you feel better?"
She frowned. "No, you idiot, I feel worse!"
She grabbed my face with both of her hands and inspected my cheek. I grabbed her wrists and drew her closer to me. I don't know if it was because of the force I pulled her with or maybe it was because she was slightly drunk, her soft body pressed right into me, I immediately wrapped both of my arms around her so that she won't fall.
She gazed up at me with a stunned look in her eyes. I looked down, it was definitely the beer that gave me the confidence to do this, and I wasn't fucking complaining.
I let go of one of her hands and pushed a strand of her hair away from her face that made her shiver in my hold.
She inched up, her expression tense and I frowned. Is that what she wants or is it the beer?
She got on her tiptoes in those heels, her one arm still in my hold. I leaned closer as well, our breaths mingling. Her blue eyes gazed into mine and worked their way to my heart.
I haven't kissed anyone in so long, fuck, I haven't done anything in so long. This is dangerous, it feels wrong yet so fucking right. She is the one I want but I had no fucking idea what I was feeling right now. There was a part of me that wanted to hold back.
But it's Ella! Ella, Ella, Ella!
She is right, this is right.
But it's too soon maybe.
I felt her warm breath on my lips.
Fuck! I want this but I shouldn't.
Let it happen, Ace. Let it happen.
If she kisses you, it won't be on you.
Let her lips slightly brush against yours before you pull back.
You don't have to kiss her back, let her kiss you if that's what she wants.
"Ella?" a deep voice called out.
Our heads snapped in the direction of it.
Fuck my life.
A/N
Hello, everyone!
I really didn't want to come back but life happened. 😭😭
Sorry for the delayed update!
Also, I'm so excited about Damon's story!
Hope I can share it with you all!
I hope I can start loving Wattpad once more.
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed today's update.
Who do you think that deep voice belongs to?
Don't forget to comment and vote!
X O X O
JANE DOE!