1 ACE MEETS FAY

Atop the stairs of the grand la casa real restaurant, Ace Atticus leaned on the glass railings, watching the obviously clueless redhead serve.

"This is the best you could find?" He questioned his personal assistant in the day, and driver at night, Grant Austin, in a deep monotonous voice.

Grant, usually garrulous, scratched his bald head, bereft of an appropriate response.

"Grant?" He called in a low but warning tone, which communicated his need for a quick explanation.

"Bu--- but she's beautiful!" He cried out in a desperate attempt to redeem himself.

Ace sighed, his eyes darting across the illuminated room. "If I wanted just beautiful, I would be on the first flight to Ukraine."

"No, you don't understand," Grant argued. "You're looking at a living breathing statistics. Do you know they're only about 0.04% of people with green eyes and redhead in th---"

"Shhhh." He was silenced with a hand, as a movement caught Ace's attention.

The redhead had moved to a new table, occupied by a man and woman he assumed were a couple.

"A dog? typical." He muttered with a head shrug, when he caught the man's naked eyes giving her a dirty look.

"What's that sir?" The miniscule man leaned closer to take a peek.

A brush of Ace's elbows sent him flying back to where he stood before.

"Sorry sir." His lip thinned, getting the message.

Ace knowing it was impossible, yet hoping to eavesdrop, squinted, his thick long black lashes almost covering his vision.

"I'll bet you a million dollars something interesting is finally going to happen." He said.

Before Grant could respond, he raised a silencing finger.

Like Ace predicted, something interesting did happen.

The lady on the table caught her date openly gawking at the waitress. Ace saw the disappointed look on her face, as she watched her man watch the redhead walked away.

A gust of excitement shot through him, as he anticipated what was to come. He held his breath when the waitress returned with their drinks.

It happened so quickly. one second she was crouching to drop the tray, the next, there was a loud screech which reverberated round the massive room, drawing everyone's attention.

"You bitch!" followed after.

At this point, everyone's eyes strained to see what was going on. The slow jazz music playing in the room before, upped it's tempo. Amongst these curious gazes was Aces.

"You threw your drinks on me on purpose so you could get with my man. I caught you flirting with him, with those lewd devilish eyes of yours!" The enraged customer pointed an accusing fingers.

"No ma'am," The redhead corrected with trembling hands, and a bulged eyes. "I really wasn't flirting with him. It was a mistake. Allow me clean it up please." She said, reaching out for the soaked white dress.

"Don't you dare lay those filthy hands of yours on me!" She pushed her back.

Everyone gasped, the drama getting even more entertaining.

Ace with his hand folded across his chest watched on in amusement. The lady, too much of a coward to confront her philandering man, would rather intimidate the naive girl.

"I'm so sorry ma'am. If you'll come with me please, we could offer you a substitute dress while I go clean this one up." She begged.

"Nonsense! I'll rather you pay me every bit of what you owe me. Do you know how much this dress cost me?" The veins in her neck stood, as her chest rose and fell from the fury she felt.

Her man tried to get her to stop, but she smacked his hand away, sending him a warning glare. He quickly retreated into his shell.

"Good evening Miss. I'm Richard Cyrus, manager of this restaurant. Is there a problem I can help you with?"

Ace raised a curious brow at this latest development. What was the almighty manager going to do?

"I bet the manager is going to hang her out to dry." He said, turning to see Grant on his toes, stretching out his neck like a distressed turkey.

"Definitely sir." He threw his face away, pretending he had not just been caught.

Ace shook his head, and returned his attention to the scene before him.

"This dress cost me fifty thousand dollars, and she's going to pay every bit of it!"

Again, he had predicted correctly.

The manager took a step back, quickly losing the smile on his face. "You should have been more careful! You can't even pay for this dress even if we deduct your paycheck for the next five years!" He scolded.

Ace's eyes narrowed on the girl. Her lip started to tremble, and instantly, she dropped to her knees. "Please forgive me Miss. I won't do it again." She bowed her head to the lady's feet, and began to sob loudly.

Ace blinked a couple of times, stunned at the ridiculous display. He really didn't see this one coming. Dropping tears on the shoes of the shallow woman furious over a dress was certainly a choice.

But he had seen enough to admit Grant might be up to something.

"What's her name?" He asked.

Grant recognizing that voice, smiled victoriously.

"Fay Landon." He replied eagerly.

"Hmmm," Ace allowed the name sit in his

mind for a few seconds. Clearly an expensive name for someone so---- well, inexpensive. "Age?"

"24."

"Parents?"

"Both dead. She lives with her aunt who has two other girls."

"So your modern day Cinderella story?" He cocked a brow.

"Exactly."

"Okay."

He had also heard enough to make a quick decision. There was prospect here. The girl had been kicked off, but was still on her knees crying like a young widow. Exactly what he needed.

"Let's go." He ordered, swiftly skipping past Grant.

With his hands carefully tucked into his pants pockets, he began the descent down the stairs. Grant keeping a good distance between them, followed behind.

He arrived the scene just in time to stop the manager from leaving the girl to her fate. Once again, the murmuring conversations in the room came to a halt, as his presence became illuminated.

Ignoring the stares, he walked straight to her, and squatted. "What are you doing on the ground my love?" He asked, stretching out a hand to her.

A collective gasp slithered through the thick walls of the room.

With tear stained face, and a heaving chest, she raised her head up to see the man that had just called her his love.

At first glance, her heart skipped a beat. By the second, her mouth hung loosely open, as her eyes roamed through every visible part of his body.

He was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Jet black hair tied behind his head, and chiseled jawline sculpted by God himself. All beautiful, but it was his smothering sea Blue eyes that had her attention instantly.

"My love?" He waved his stretched hand across her face. She looked daze, almost like she was in a trance. However, he wasn't fazed by her reaction. He was already used to women fawning over him like a piece of well cooked meat.

"Love?" The words sounded strange in her ears.

"Excuse me sir, but who are you?" A voice he recognized as the managers said behind him.

He took a deep breath, his hands dropping to his side. Slowly, he rose to his full height, and turned to face the man.

In comparison to everyone else around, he was a giant. They had to extend their necks to stare at him.

"Her husband." He said as politely as he could muster.

"Husband?" The redhead muttered under her breath.

"Husband!" The managers exclaimed, his jaw going slack.

"Husband." The enraged lady repeated, her words laced with disbelief.

Ace most pleased with the reactions, continued. "I watched everything unfold. Here's a few things I'll like to point out. First," He raised one finger up. "You're a horrible boss for not having your employees back. Second!," His gaze went to the couple. "Your man is a philandering scum, and you should direct your bile towards him instead of my wife."

"I---"

"No one speaks until I'm done," He quickly shut her down. "Grant?" He called, and his assistant hurried forward.

"Sir." He bowed.

"Write the lady a cheque for her dress. Call it an act of benevolence on behalf of my wife. And for the manager, request an estimate of what it'll take to buy this establishment. I can think of a handful of people who would do a better job of running this place." He continued, pretending the people he was talking about were not right in his presence.

"Yes sir."

"My love?" He crouched. "Let's go home." He picked her from the ground up into his arms. Without so much as a glance back, he turned around, and walked away.