Chapter 40

Ace


I stand up from my stool “ Mr. O’Sullivan I don’t want your money. I will let you bleed me dry if that is what it takes. I just ask for one thing.” Cormac looked at me for a second “ What would that be?” I set aside my pride to do something I should have done months ago. I’m asking for help. “ Help me get my daughter back. I had Ailee for such a brief time before I fucked up and I don’t know how to fix it. I’ll give you whatever you need, just help me.” I pretty much begged. At this point the only thing I had to lose was Ailee and she was already lost to me. We all stood in silence waiting for his answer. It felt like hours. But I would wait all day. Anna walked over to Cormac placing her hand on his arm. “ Cormac, come on. As a father yourself, help him out. Even just a little. Let him try. Not for you. Not for Ace. But for Ailee. You know she won’t admit it but she wants this. Do it for her. Give Ailee her father. Even if it is just a little while.” she says.

Cormac smiles down at Anne with affection and pats her hand, “ You are right as always, lass.” Since when did these two get so close. Are they seeing each other? What else have I missed? He turns to me “ Mr. Ripley, I will help you get your foot in the door. After that you are on your own. Don’t fuck it up this time. As Anna said. Be sincere and tell Ailee what is in your heart. She will listen. But as I said, time is not on our side. The chemo isn’t working like it should this time.” I can’t believe I wasted so much time. I could have been too late. I’m a fucking idiot. I won’t waste a minute more. “ I will wait until after the transplant if I need to. Just get me in. That’s all I ask. Set everything up and tell me when I will be there.” I told him. Anna squeals in delight. Viper says “ About damn time fucker.” Cormac nods “ I will make all the necessary arrangements and inform you when.”

“ But I will tell you this. If you hurt my princess again. I will drain you then make you suffer a horrible death. I love my granddaughter with everything in me. My daughter as well. I would give up everything for them. I’m not a good man. But Mara and Ailee are the light in my darkness. And I won’t allow Ailee to be hurt.” Cormac said. I have no doubt he is speaking from his heart. “ Mr. O’ Sullivan even though my actions don’t say so. I love my daughter with everything in me. The minute she told me about herself my heart filled with love for her. A love I didn’t know I was capable of. I won’t screw up this time. I can’t. There is too much at stake.” I told him. I just poured my heart out to a man that just said he would kill me. I need him to know how serious I am. “ Mr. Ripley, I will give you one word of advice. When you talk to Ailee. Speak from the heart even if you don’t have all the words. And tell her the truth. That will mean more to her than anything. Never miss a chance to tell her that you love her. You never know when it will be your last chance.” Cormac says.

I take his words to heart and nod. Cormac turns to Viper “ Lad it is good to see you as always.” Viper shakes his hand. “ You too Cormac. You are always welcome.” Anna looks at the guards “ Can I get you boys some coffee to go?” The one in front shakes his head “ No, thank you Miss Anna.” Anna waved her hand at him “ Lance, you know it is just Anna.” He laughs, “ Yes, Anna.” Anna turns to Cormac and grabs his hands “ As for you handsome. Don’t forget we have a lunch date.” I swear I watched Cormac melt at Anna’s words. What the hell? “ I wouldn’t miss it.” Cormac says before he kisses her on the cheek. Anna watches them leave like a lost puppy.

Viper clears his throat like he is trying not to laugh. Anna whips her head around “ What?” “ Is there something you want to tell us, young lady?” Viper chuckles. Anna turns beat red. I can’t believe my eyes. Anna has seen all the shit around here. She has seen brothers fucking skanks on the pool table and never batted and eye. But this makes her blush. Holy shit. “ Mind your business.” Anna says and stomps off. Viper starts cracking up. Once he calms himself he turns to me. “ I’m proud of you Ace. This is a good move. Ailee is a good girl. She will give you a chance. I’m also going to give you a bit of advice.” This should be good. “ I know you are a fan of Lug being with Ailee. But Ace, he is good for her. Don’t try to get in the way of that. Or Ailee won’t give you the time of day.” Viper says. It seems my nephew is full of wisdom today. I think back to the photo on the bar. And the way I saw them looking at each other last night. I’m not going to interfere in that. “ I won’t. But he still isn’t good enough for her.” I said. Viper laughs, “ Spoken like a true father.”
Ailee

I have been feeling increasingly tired since the gala a week ago. At first I thought maybe I had over done it and just needed a day of rest to bounce back. But that wasn’t the case. I also noticed black bags under my eyes. And all of my joints started to ache. Then I knew what it was. The chemo. It was making me sicker than before. My body was breaking down. The clock was ticking faster on my life. My six months had been shrunk down. I had maybe three or four left. There was still no donor to be found. I have long given up hope of Ace helping me. He doesn’t care or he would have reached out by now. I decided to keep it to myself and prepare. I need to make sure there is someone to take over the charities. I need to redo my will. And make funeral arrangements. I’m not going to make my family deal with it. They will dealing with enough at that point. I also want to finish making some good-bye videos. I have done Lug and grandda’s. But I still have several more. You might be wondering why I’m not telling the people most important to me that I’m getting sicker. The answer is simple. I want to leave them with happy memories of me. Of me smiling and having a good time not in a hospital bed hooked to wires waiting for me to take my last breath.

And I may be being a little selfish and just want to live what I have left to the fullest. I want to spend my time with the people I love in my home. And that starts today. I’m spending the morning going over resumes of possible replacements for me. Later this afternoon I’m going to Gretchen’s baby shower. This will be the first one I have gone to and I’m going to soak it all up. Lug had a meeting at the clubhouse but would pick me up after the shower. I was looking through some papers when my grandda came in and sat down beside me. He turns to me and I can see the worry in his eyes. “ Don’t look at me like that. I’m fine grandda. I promise.” I told him. I didn’t want him to look too closely. He can tell when I’m lying. He has been able to since I was a kid and lied about doing my homework because I wanted to play. “ You are looking a little tired, lass.” he said. I won’t deny that one. “ A little. Nothing a nap won’t fix.” I said.

He let it go for now but I knew this wouldn’t be the end of it. I just had to hide as long as I could. “ Ailee, could you put your papers down. I want to talk to you about something.” he asked. Something about his tone made me put them on the table and turn to him. “ What’s wrong?” I asked. “ I went to see Ace last week,” he said. “ Oh, grandda. Why did you bother? You know he isn't going to help. He is too selfish. He doesn’t care about me.” I said. He grabs my hands and pulls me to his side. He wraps his arm around my shoulder. I lay my head on him taking comfort like I used to do when I was young. “ I know you think that way, lass. I don’t blame you after his actions.But he did ask me to talk to you. He wants you to let him come see you. He seems genuine this time. I just ask that you give him a chance.” Grandda says. I think about it for a second. Knowing I’m closing in on the end I don’t want to have any regrets. And if there is a chance to get to know my father in a short time I’ll take it. I can hear him out at least.

“ Ok. Tell him I’ll listen. But I won’t make any promises beyond that.” I said. He kisses the top of my head. “ That’s my girl. You rest. I’m going to talk with Finn and Callen.” he said. I sat up and leaned on the back of the couch and closed my eyes. I will listen to what Ace has to say. Hopefully he won’t let me down again. There is a part of me that hopes he doesn’t screw up again. I do want him in my life even if it is for a short time. There is a part of my heart that has yearned to get close to him since the beginning. The little girl inside that just wants her da. I guess she never gave up hope of finding him one day. I need some privacy for my call so I go to my room under the pretense of resting. I might after I make my video call if there is time.

I lay back in bed and called up my lawyer on video. He has been a trusted member of the family for as long as I remember. I recall when I was little and he would come over for meetings with grandda he would always bring me a treat. Usually lollipops. As I got older I used him as my personal lawyer as well knowing he would treat me well. It took an hour to settle things. I divided up my assets between grandda, Finn, Callen and Lug. I did set up a small trust to go to the kids at the clubhouse for college. I set it up so if their parents wanted they could all contribute to the fund to help any other kids that came along. After I gave my last instructions for the videos I ended the call thanking him for all he has done for me over the years. I looked at the time and saw that I had at least three hours before the shower and decided to take that nap after all.