33. Lourdes
Lourdes
The words hang in the air. Incomprehensible at first.
I search Ares’s face for signs of elation or bloodlust, but there’s only that expressionless calm that terrifies people.
Me included right now.
“Did you kill him?” I whisper, sitting up.
“No,” he replies evenly. “But the details are irrelevant.”
A strange, hollow quiet opens in my chest. No screaming. No relief. Just…space.
Ares stands up from the bed. “David worked for a man named Elias Black. A ringleader of contract killers.”
“Killers?” I say on a clipped breath. “In Westchester?”
“You knew?”
“I didn’t think David was a killer.” I shake my head, though I really didn’t think too much about anything David did. “I figured he was a low-level bag man collecting debts or…” Clearing my throat, I add, “He didn’t care about my career, and I stopped caring about his the minute he turned violent.”
“Because you planned to leave him.”
“Yes.”
“You no longer have to worry about your abusive, despicable husband.” He kisses me. “But you still have to be careful.”
“Me?” I push to stand. “Why? I’m nobody.”
Ares pins me back to the bed with his muscular, glowing, naked body. “Do not ever say something like that again. You are not nobody. Not to me.”
“I meant—”
“And you are certainly not nobody to the Bratva. From my intel, I believe they were the ones who really want you. They run Chicago. Perhaps it has something to do with your father.”
I shudder. Now I have to get to Chicago and get my sister. I’m ready to sit up and tell Ares about her, but he leans against me with his full weight.
“There’s only one way to make sure no one ever touches you or takes you for me.” His hand curls around mine.
Oh shit…
“How?” His words make my heart race, and I’m certain I won’t like what he’s going to suggest.
“You will marry me.”