Love Me Harder [R18]

CHAPTER 15

I slipped on my heels.

"Sofia, we're ready to leave," Denice shouted from the entrance of the house.

"I'm coming," I replied loudly, grabbing my bag before heading out of my room. I braved the stairs, knowing the people who were waiting at the bottom. Ace's mother had stolen his attention so he was facing away from me. His mom gasped at the sight of me, covering her mouth with her hands.

I watched as he turned around, his eyes widening slightly and his jaw becoming unhinged and I could have sworn my heart stopped for a moment. Kai simply scoffed and left for the limousine which was waiting outside. Ace snapped his head back to his father, a threatening stare piercing his father's back. He clearly did not like the scoff that Kai had made.

"I'm sorry I took so long," I muttered to Ace as I played with hands. He grabbed my them gently. "You annoy me so much when you do that." he admitted, still holding them tightly. I stared into Ace's eyes, my heart was pounding. He looked down at our hands. Before I could say anything, he shook his head and walked out, leaving me with Denice.

What was that about?

"Sofia!" someone shouted. I turned my head only to see Olivia running down the driveway.

"What the f**k?" Ace growled.

"He's a bad person," she shouted toward me; at me. "He killed Vince!" Olivia roared as loud as she could. "He took Ryder and Blake too," she pleaded with me to do something. My eyes widened at the words I was hearing come out of her mouth. I always knew he had, but I never wanted to admit it; Only one thought crossed my mind, how does Olivia know?

"You killed Vince!" I spoke with a shocked tone.

"He hurt you," Ace grumbled, with a shrug that match the carelessness of his tone.

"You don't kill someone because they hurt someone," I shouted at him. His expression became furious. It started rain and it was getting really dark already.

"I can't do anything Olivia," I sighed defeatedly, knowing Ace wasn't going to let them leave anytime soon.

"What do you mean?" she yelled at me, her eyes welling with tears.

"Ace, you need to release them," I hissed at him. I had to show Olivia that I was trying.

"I won't," he gritted out, scaring me. The expression on his beautifully cruel face was enough to make my knees wobble.

"You have to!" I challenged him.

"Oh, what a stupid girl." Kai smiled evilly as he watched Ace clench his fists.

"I'm not letting them go, and that's the last we mention it, get in the car now," Ace snarled angrily, his tone threatening me where I stood.

"Ace, your mother would never do this, put Sofia in her place." Kai yelled at his son as I glanced to Denice who stared out the window opposite to the commotion. Ace was already flooded with anger. Frightening wasn't a strong enough to describe him.

My heart pounded as I spoke again. "Let them go."

"Ace, we have to leave now or we'll be late." his father shouted at him.

"Don't do anything stupid, my son," Denice voiced from the backseat. I watched as Kai slapped Denice across the face, making her cry out with pain.

Suddenly, Ace didn't have an expression on his face anymore. He walked over to me and grabbed my arm roughly, pulling me towards the limo. He forced me into the car and shut the door before marching over to Olivia.

"Who let you in?" Ace spoke angrily.

"The guards, I showed them a photo of Sofia and they let me in." Olivia stood her ground.

"Leave before I kill you along with your friends," Ace snapped savagely. "And don't come back."

He climbed into the limousine, sitting across from me. I gritted my teeth angrily as I stared at him. He stared right back, not daring to look away. The limousine stopped at the front gate before Ace spoke, "If she's not gone in 5 minutes shoot her."

"No, you can't do that," I pleaded but we had already drove away.

The drive to the ball had felt like years, nobody daring to shatter the silence.

"This will be great for the evening I have planned " Kai broke the silence just as we arrived. I hadn't looked at Ace since he told the guards to shoot Olivia. He just left her there.

That's when I found myself wondering if everything they had said about him was true. If he truly didn't feel anything at all. If it was a mask, it was inpenitrible because not even Denice could get through to her own son.

I got out of the limo and walked up the steps, leading to a huge mansion, even bigger than Ace's. No one lingered outside.

"We're last in, if you are worrying, dear." Denice rubbed my shoulder and I found myself wondering if I should be the one rubbing hers. She was the one stuck with these men.

"Let me see your arm," she asked. I held up my arm, showing her where Ace's fingers had wrapped around my skin. She shook her head.

"That will leave a bruise," she sighed at her son's actions.

"Not the first one I've gotten and probably not the last." I shook my head as I stood at the door. It was a brutal comment to remind him what he had said about hurting me, about never abusing me.

"I don't even want to f*****g be here," Ace snarled at his father.

"Don't let the women ruin your night, go have fun." Kai pushed his sons head, playfully.

Ace shot his father an angry look. At least, he doesn't like Kai more than me, then i'd be in serious trouble. "You, here, beside me." Ace demanded from behind me. I stopped and walked beside Ace, my arm linking with his. For a moment, I thought about how I could run, and leave this world, this violence behind. It wouldn't matter that I didn't have any money, it wouldn't matter at all.

Kai grabbed the massive double doors and swung them open. All eyes turned to the door, where we were stood. There was no chance of successfully escaping anymore. Hundreds of people filled the massive hall, men and women.

"We're here," Kai announced to everyone. They all clapped as we walked in; There had to be atleast 500 people here, possibly more.

Suddenly, I wasn't so angry at Ace, I only wanted him to protect me because as terrible as he was, these men were worse. I could see it in their eyes; in the way their smirks stripped me bare. They would do unimaginable things to me. Ace hadn't tried to force anything between us yet, and that made him better than these creatures standing before us.

Almost as if he could sense my fear, his hand wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer to him. "Stand tall, don't let them see your fear," Ace whispered in my ear. I nodded slightly in response. He kept a straight yet truly intimidating face at all times. I took his advice and I stood tall, not an ounce of emotion shown, following his lead.

"Good." He nodded at me.

"If you get lost, our meeting point will be at the doors." He whispered softly, his fingers brushing my hips soothingly.

"Okay," was all I managed to blurt in response. He's not a good man, I told myself. Not a good man.

"The men in here... we are all murderers, if they look at you and they want you, they will try to take you. Most of them come with prostitutes dressed up. They don't have wives and they definitely don't see you as someone who is fit to make decisions for yourself." He offered a few tips as we glanced around.

"I already see one staring at you," Ace growled angrily.

"It's fine, I'm not interested," I mumbled as my eyes met his, as I attempted to make myself remember my rage from moments ago.

"Try make friends with the ladies and not the prostitutes," Ace uttered to me.

"How do I know the difference and why do the ladies deserve any more respect than the prostitutes?" I whispered.

"Easy, they'll be married, look for the ring. The ones with the rings are the ones you should make friends with, it'll be good for business which is why you should only interact with the ladies. You may chat to how ever many prostitutes you like, but they won't benefit our cause," He rambled as he checked his phone.

I could feel a pair of eyes burning into my back. I whipped my head around to see a man with a green suit staring at me. He winked at me while holding a girl in his arms. I threw him a disgusted look and he smirked before I turned back to Ace.

"I don't like these people." I moved a step closer to Ace.

"You'll be fine as long as you're with me." His grip tightened on my waist, reassuringly.

This man was a completely different person when separated from his father. He informed me that he does what he wants, but I wonder if he knew that he was as trapped in this mafia, as I was.

A sinking feeling lingered in the air, my stomach twisting with dread.