THE BILLIONAIRE'S CRYBABY
Chapter 68: GRUMPY

Chapter 68: GRUMPY

Ace watched as the girl’s eyes darted from over the railing, to the entrance side.

He stood with his hand folded across his body, waiting patiently to see what she was going to do. Whether she would jump over the balcony, or try to run past him.

Either way, he was fine. As long as she knew she was not getting away without answering his question.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about." She relented when she saw the futility in her imagination.

"Oh, you do. You definitely do. Why did you kiss me at the bar, and then went ahead to accost me in the hallway? Not once did you ask for my consent."

"Is that what you’re mad about? Then you should have just said it. Well, I’m sorry for kissing you. It was a dare like I said. When I saw you going towards the restroom, I decided to go after you, just in case you were interested in something more than a kiss. Sue me for taking my chance."

"Oh you’re tempting me," he said, appalled by her audacity. She didn’t even feel guilty enough to render a sincere apology.

"I’m so sorry. Please forgive me."

"Who sent you?" He reverted back to his initial question.

"I told you it was a—"

"I know your face. I’ve seen you. If this turns out to be more than a silly game, I know where to find you," he took a step forward, and she staggered back. "I don’t like to play games, but if I need to, I will. And get this straight, I never lose."

He walked away, leaving the frightened girl trembling.

Not bothering to divert to the restroom, he returned to the bar.

"I’m leaving," he announced to Landon.

"Leaving?" Landon raised his head questioningly.

"I believe I spoke English, Lan. I’m leaving."

He picked up his car keys, and his wallet, then shoved his phone into his pocket.

"What happened back there?" Lan asked suspiciously.

"I’m not just comfortable anymore. You can call your friends back."

He turned around to leave, when he felt Landon beside him.

"You really think I’m going to sit by myself? Let’s leave together."

Ace cringed at his words, but shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Together, they walked towards the exit door. They were about to step out when a big burly man from behind stopped them.

Ace turned around first, his brow lifted with curiosity.

"What’s this?" He directed at the man who had just tapped on his shoulders.

"You can’t leave without making payments. This is not a charity organization, sir."

"Oh shit! I’m so sorry for—"

Landon was apologizing when Ace cut him off.

"And why are you taking that tone with your customers? Even if we forgot to pay the bills, are we not regulars here?" He hissed, wanting trouble.

He was aching to throw a punch at anything. A wall, or better yet, this asshole’s face.

"We don’t feed our families based on customer intentions. We use actual money. If you want to run a scam, pick another organization," the burly man said, flexing his muscles, while eyeing Ace.

"Scam?" Landon scoffed in disbelief.

"Do you know who you’re talking to?" Ace regarded him with irritation dripping from his voice.

"I don’t ca—"

"Ace Atticus?" Sonia, the owner of the bar, suddenly stepped forward. "I thought I heard your voice. It is you," she said, beaming.

Slowly, her smile faded when she saw the glaring eyes of Ace.

"What’s going on here? Cyrus?" She turned to the big man who was the recipient of Ace’s stare.

He suddenly couldn’t speak. Of course he had heard that name. Unfortunately, he had never seen the man before.

Everyone knew him as the devil. Be it in business, or life.

"Sonia, who is this man?" Landon directed at her.

"I don’t know what happened Lan, but you have to forgive Cyrus. He’s new here." She begged on behalf of her silly cousin.

"Check your staff," Ace simply warned, before turning around and walking away.

"I’m so sorry Lan. Please tell Ace how sorry I am. Everything you took is on the house, please."

"Don’t insult us, darling," he pushed his hand into his pocket, and retrieved a card. "Take out your money, and send me the card when you’re done."

"Lan please— apologize quickly Cyrus." She shoved the big man.

Before he could speak, Landon stopped a waiter who was passing by. It turned out to be the waiter that served them.

"Here, take this. Collect your money from it. When I come back to the bar, return my card to me."

"Lan please!" Sonia called, but it was too late.

Without acknowledging her, he shoved his hands into his pockets, and walked out on them.

"You didn’t leave?" He smiled when he stepped into the rain that had trickled down to a drizzle, and found Ace in his car.

He knocked on the window, and Ace wined down.

"Why did you leave in such a hurry?"

"I was tempted to throw a punch," he said in a lazy voice. "Did you settle everything that needed to be settled?"

"Yeah," he chuckled. "Sonia begged a lot, but I pulled a you and ignored her."

Ace’s eyes widened a little, but he wasn’t about to dignify that statement with a response.

"See you tomorrow." He placed his hand on the steering, and started the car.

"Hey Ace," he called, despite the drizzling that was quickly wetting his clothes.

"What?"

"Drive safe."

He hissed, and whined up.

"Hey, my necks still—" Landon pulled away, before he could be rendered incapacitated. "Jerk!" He screamed after him, as Ace drove away.

A wry smile formed on Ace’s face, as he caught sight of Landon through his rearview mirror. It was rare to find a friend as loyal as he was. For him, he was grateful.

Ace honked at his gate, and one of his gate guys quickly stepped out.

It didn’t matter how late it was. When the boss arrived, there had to be a staff there to wait on him.

After confirming that it was indeed Ace, the gate slid open, and he drove straight to the parking lot.

He stepped out of the car to find Cam already waiting for him.

"Welcome back—"

He threw the keys to him, interrupting his salutations.

"I brought an umbrella."

He ignored him, and walked into the house. Sometimes, the staff did a little too much.

The distance between the parking lot to the house wasn’t great enough to be needing an umbrella for a drizzling rain.

He did understand them though. Service was what put food on their table. That was why they crumbled on their backs to be the best at it.

"Welcome Sir Ace," Marilyn, who made sure not to sleep until her boss had retired for the night, said, as she watched him enter the house.

"Goodnight Marilyn," he replied, not in the mood for chitchat.

Climbing the staircase two at a time, he arrived at the corridor.

He was going to walk straight into his room, when he paused and turned around.

Ignoring the warning bells in his head, he walked straight to Fay’s room.

"What are you doing?" A voice in his head questioned.

He couldn’t answer that question, so he ignored it.

His hands settled on the handle of the door, and his steps paused.

"Just to check up on her after the shitty day she had," he promised himself.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the door, and stepped into her room.

His eyes went straight to the bed where she was hurdled up, fast asleep.

The corners of his mouth spread subconsciously, as he stood by the door, just watching her.

Greedy for more of her, he stepped forward, careful enough not to wake her up.

But as he stood beside her bed, his eyes fell on her face. There were stains of tears glued from her eyes down to her cheeks.

He felt a stir of pity in his heart. She had obviously fallen asleep whilst crying.

Reflexively, his hand reached out to her face to stroke, and comfort her. But just before he could touch her, he pulled away and swallowed hard.

He shouldn’t be here. He should have just gone straight to his room and called it a night.

Seeing her this vulnerable touched something in him. The need to protect her was so great, almost blinding.

"If you don’t leave—you have to leave," a voice warned.

He wondered what would happen if he didn’t leave. Not ready to test that theory, he half turned, hoping his legs were strong enough to pull him out of her room before he embarrassed himself.

Just before his body could fully turn, her phone on the bedside table beeped, drawing his attention to it.

The screen turned on, and so did he. His eyes went to the phone, and found she had received a text.

"Queen of hearts?" He blurted, as his brow furrowed.

"Now’s the time to leave," he thought..

He couldn’t move though. He was suddenly too curious.

Walking forward, he picked up her phone, and opened the text.

"There’s more where that came from. I just want you to know Ace will always be mine."

He scrolled up and found a video. As he pressed play on it, his hand folded into a fist, and anger burned like a furnace in his heart.