Banging the Superhero by Rebecca Royce Page A

cheek with her soft hand. "Are you feeling all right?
    Do you need to go somewhere to feel better? Somewhere with some music, maybe?"

    "We'll talk to Grayson. Then I'll drop you at home and come back when I'm better in control."
    She bit her lip, her chestnut-colored eyebrows pointing down in concern. "Are you sure?"
    "I'm fine."
    He hoped.
    The door opened right up to Grayson's apartment. "He owns the floor? How much do you pay him?" No one lived like that in New York City.
    She sighed. "If he's sent a hit-man after me, apparently he doesn't think it's enough."
    "Honey, if he sent someone after you to kill you, he's dead where he stands."
    Ace knocked on the door. Loudly. The doorman had called upstairs to announce their arrival so it wasn't like Grayson didn't know they were coming. The fact that he wasn't standing there waiting for them was rude, considering everything Alice was going through.
    If Ace hadn't needed her to help him deal with Grayson, he would have left her at home. As it was, his head throbbed as he monitored each and every electrical device in the building.
    The door swung open and Grayson stood in front of them. He held a drink of what smelled like bourbon in one hand and a revolver in the other. Ace was more interested in the gun.
    Faster than Grayson could see, he pushed Alice behind him into the elevator and ordered the machine to take her down to the first floor and stay there. She screamed as she realized what was happening, but the doors had already closed. They wouldn't open again until he instructed them to. Or until someone managed to break through them with a crowbar.
    "Going to shoot me, Uncle Gray?"
    He deliberately used Alice's name for him, or rather, the name she was no longer allowed to use since, in the sick workings of Alice's life, business trumped family. At least for her family .
    "I didn't mean for this to happen."
    Ace stepped into the apartment. With no time to admire the grandeur of the place, he did note the very large, wall-sized window across the room with a view of New York City behind it.
    "Why don't you put down that gun and we can talk like men?"
    Grayson's hand shook. Ace really didn't think he was going to shoot him. Truth was, he couldn't get out of the way of a bullet. He wasn't that fast. Some of the Superheroes he employed could. It would be no problem for Lael to dodge a bullet; the kid was so fast it was almost off the charts. Ace, however, had long since determined his strengths and weaknesses. Speed was not his strongest suit. He was going to have to talk Grayson down or get the gun away from him.
    "You'll never believe me. I'm not going to jail."
    Ace shrugged, as if adrenaline didn't race through his veins—though it did.
    "I'm not the police. It's not my call whether or not you go to jail. It's up to Alice if she wants to press charges or not."
    He silently sent a call to the elevator still holding Alice hostage. It was still as he'd left it, safe and closed, although he could feel The Mask pushing at his command instructions to attempt to get the elevator to move. Unlike earlier, The Mask wasn't putting much effort into his attempt. That factor caused Ace concern. Why was The Mask being so easy about it? Still, that was something to contemplate later and he couldn't be lax and assume the attempted mechanical takeover of the elevator would remain easy to handle.
    This discussion with Grayson couldn't go on indefinitely.
    "Alice hates me."
    Ace shook his head. "She doesn't. She's a tough lady with a lot of walls to climb over, but she loves her family even if she doesn't understand them. That much is obvious."
    "I didn't hire anyone to kill her."

    "Then why does the lunatic who is all over the television screen say you did?"
    Grayson dropped the gun on the floor. It hit with a thud and Ace took a protective step back, worried it might go off by accident. He stared at the gun for a second before running for it. Picking it up, he stared at Alice's uncle. He