"I'm exhausted" Damien groans as soon as he slumps down into the seat across from me.

I shrugged my shoulders and continued to slurp on my cherry flavored slushy. I made sure the icy goodness was fully gulped down before responding.

"It's what you get for taking three shopaholic girls to the mall with stacks to waste," I tell him, my voice childlike.

Damien shakes his head in disbelief, "I didn't think it was even possible for one person to shop as much as Sage does." Sage remains silent beside him, taking in the scene of the mall around her before tapping away on the phone Damien bought her. A special tool that we'll use later.

A laugh bubbles up from my chest, irrupting the hushed tone we've both adopted into our conversation. "You should see Novah shopping, I'm sure Luca is about ready to collapse by now."

Damien nods his head slightly, as if slightly unsure of what I said until his eyes catch sight of something behind me. "Holy cow" he whispers, his voice pitched with disbelief.

I whip around and find Novah and Luca walking towards us with a thousand bags on each of their arms. Novah had a proud smile planted on her glossy lips while Luca looked impassive as usual.

I quickly stand up from my metal chair and rush over to them. I grab a few bags from Novah's left arm to help lighten the load.

"Holy cheese balls" I gasp in surprise at the weight of the bags. Said bags nearly dragged me to the dirty floor.

"There were a lot of really good sales today and we couldn't resist!" Novah defends herself. Luca gives a nod of agreement and I shake my head.

"Well, Nov it appears you've finally found your shopping match," I say as I stumble towards our table. I drop the bags as soon as I reach my seat, causing Novah to glare daggers at me as she fussed over the bags.

"Be careful! There's a ton of Louis Vuitton in these bags!" Novah scolds, gathering said bags to her chest.

I just stare dumbfounded back at her, taking in the sight of her on her knees with bags upon bags of clothes on her lap as she patted them lovingly.

My first and only thought being; "Bloody hell she has a problem... meh that's all Luca's problem now."

In my peripheral vision, I notice Ace walking towards us. I look away from Novah's crazy coddling to look at him. His jaw was clenched and his eyebrows were furrowed with what I assume is anger but that didn't stop me from admiring him. I know he kidnapped me, for reasons unknown to me, but I can't deny the truth. Which is Ace is one fine ass man.

When he reaches our table he collapses lazily in the empty chair next to me. His anger all but evaporates from his face as he takes my hand in his. I watch shell shocked as he rubs his thumb over the back of my hand in absentminded circles.

"Girls again?" Damien asks, looking at Ace with sympathetic understanding.

Ace nods his head with a look of annoyance, his jaw ticking as he does.

Girls? What girls?

"Every time the boy's and I are out we get swarmed like bees to honey" Damien exasperates, taking an angry bite out of his pretzel. When did he get that? I want one.

I raised an eyebrow at both of them before nodding my head, "interesting." I look around the food court and catch sight of a group of girls trying to wave Ace's attention over to them. Anger flares up inside me and wastes no time in clawing it's way up.

"Oh no, you don't. You better calm down right now." My conscience warns.

I ignore the annoying voice as I glare daggers at the hideous, toilet paper stuffed bra havin' ass, monkeys.

"He kidnapped you, for no apparent reason!" My conscience tries again.

'Maybe he was just incised by my beauty' I waved the voice off. logic was no longer in control over my body as I pushed my chair to face Ace.

'He let the girls tickle you' my conscience was becoming desperate.

'Free entertainment, at least he didn't get it some other way.'

Ace looks down at me confused until I grab the front of his shirt and pulled him towards me. His face was centimeters away from mine and I felt the warmth of his breath. I inhaled slightly and the scent of his mint mouthwash hit my nostrils.

'He's probably a gangster!'

I was already getting lost in the depths of his eyes. He was staring at me, his eyes dancing across my face as he licked his lips with anticipation.

"Can I kiss you?" I whisper breathlessly. My eyes were stuck on his and I almost didn't hear his answer.

"Do it." His voice was pitched deeper than normal and it almost sounded like a growl.

I smashed my lips on him and he met me with the same ferocity. I didn't feel the fireworks that you read about in books. Instead, I felt the emotions that have been pent up these past couple of days.

The fear, the anger, the frustration, the undeniable curiosity, the lust, and the infatuation.

His arms snake around my waist as he pulled me up onto my feet so we could get closer. It was then when his hand rubbed soothing patterns on my hip and back of my neck that I felt the fireworks go off inside of me. The sensation lit up all of my nerve endings leaving me tingling in Ace's arms. Kissing him and being this close felt incredibly right despite my conscience telling me it was wrong.

I pulled away when I couldn't ignore the pressing need for air. I sucked in the oxygen around me into my starved lungs greedily. I allowed myself to lean against his chest until I could support myself fully.

"Well, that wasn't very PG13" Novah snickers.

I snap my heads over at the group of friends, my cheeks heating up with embarrassment. I totally forgot they were right there! Oh my god, they just watched the whole thing happen. I never wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole more than I did this second.

Sage was nodding her head in agreement with Novah as she munched on Damien's abandoned pretzel. Luca and Damien were arguing over some bet and who now had to pay up. Ace still had his arm wrapped around my waist, pinning me close to him.

My cheeks were probably beet red as I tapped on Ace's chest.

I found his attention already on me by the time I had the courage to look up at him.

"No more girls" I grumble, my pointer finger digging into the middle of his sturdy chest.

The wonderful sound of his laugh filled my ears and I drank it up like nectar. It was quiet so only I could hear which made my heart spasm for some reason.

"I only want one girl, and she's in my arms right now" he leans down to whisper in my ear. When he pulls back he gives me a million-dollar grin.

I match his grin before the cold realization crashes down on me like a tidal wave. Suddenly sick I step out of his grip and take a seat back in my chair. That wasn't smart, fuck.

I absolutely cannot develop any type of feelings for Ace. Not when the girls and I need to escape.

I mean why would I even like him? He's a kidnapper!

... A kidnapper with a dazzling smile and a voice that could sweep even the purest of angels off its feet. Don't get me started on his face and body that's been carved by the gods themselves.

I'm in trouble.

.*.*.*.