Cupping my cheeks, he brushed his lips against mine, kissing the corner of my mouth softly. “There are no boundaries between us, my rose. And if there are, I will wipe them off. Nothing can come between us, not even a single gust of air.”

“I want to know everything about you, Ace. Everything that I don’t know.”

“You know everything about me, baby. What more do you want to know?” He frowned.

I held his gaze. “Your past. Everything about your past.”

He stiffened. Something flashed across his eyes. But it was gone soon as he kissed my forehead.

“What do you want to know?”

I was surprised at the ease his stance was radiating. I’d have believed he wasn’t bothered by my words if his gray eyes weren’t so blank that I couldn’t even trace a hint of emotions in them. And it unnerved me.

“Where’s your mom?” I asked. “After your father’s death, she was gone from your life. Where is she, Ace?”

His face remained neutral as he said, “She’s in Italy now.”

“Why did she leave you and Caleb like this? You had no one to look after you. Didn’t you try to stop her?” As far as I knew, she always adored Ace and Caleb. I didn’t understand what had gone wrong.

His grip tightened on my hips. “As I told you before, after my father’s death, she couldn’t take it. So, she left. Due to her depression and habit of consuming alcohol, she needed an escape from her life and this place. To get herself better, she left us with Arthur and went to Italy for treatment. She couldn’t come back. This city held too many bad memories for her.”

As he spoke, I didn’t find a hint of hatred towards his mother in his voice. I thought he hated her for leaving him like that. But he didn’t. Instead, he was giving me justification for her.

She went to Italy for treatment and stayed there. Didn’t she even try once to meet her son?

“You’re still connected to each other? I mean, I understand why she doesn’t want to return, but doesn’t she wish to meet you once in a while?”

He nodded. “I do meet her on some occasions. Especially on her birthdays. But except that, we talk sometimes on the phone.”

The edge in his voice had my heart clench. He missed her a lot. I noticed how he didn’t say she wanted to meet him, instead he said he met her every once in a while. What made her turn like this? Didn’t she miss her son?

“Do you miss her?” I whispered.

A muscle of his jaw ticked. “Sometimes.”

I rubbed his chest to provide some comfort. “Why don’t you talk to her every day?”