Chapter 52
Ares
ONE MONTH LATER…
“We Smile For The Cameras”
The ballroom for The House of Delacroix Gala glowed under warm chandeliers, champagne glasses in everyone’s hand, while cameras flashed every few seconds.
Outside the building, the press had been blocked by barricades and security, but inside the room was nothing but money, old alliances, and people pretending they didn’t know exactly what kind of families they were standing beside.
Laveau-Wells.
Delacroix.
Jackson.
The kind of names that made men behave a little better in public.
My sisters were already enjoying themselves near the bar with my mother, laughing with a couple of cousins from the Jackson side of the family who had flown in for the night. Seeing them here always reminded people I didn’t just come from European power.
I had roots in Compton.
And my family didn’t play about me.
Across the room, the Delacroix side moved differently.
More reserved.
More political.
Old money mixed with new blood.
Security stood in quiet places where most guests didn’t even notice them.
The cameras kept flashing.
Tonight wasn’t just a party.
Tonight was history.
Then I saw him.
Laurent.
Standing across the room like he had every right to be here.
He wore a dark suit, expensive enough to make most men nervous, and on his arm was a woman I’d never seen before.
Tall white girl.
Blonde.
Model type.
Definitely not Bianca.
I decided to check his temperature in the room, so I walked toward him. I knew he was coming. My mother already informed me.
Laurent noticed me coming and smiled.
That fake, charming shit he used when he wanted the room to believe we were cousins.
“Ares,” he said.
“Laurent.” My eyes slid to the woman on his arm. “Where’s Bianca?”
Laurent’s eyebrow lifted slightly. “Excuse me?”
I smirked. “Too scared to bring my leftovers in public?”
The woman beside him shifted awkwardly, but Laurent just chuckled.
“You always had a way with words. I’m no longer with Bianca, if you must know.” He wrapped an arm around his girlfriend’s waist. “This is Camille.”
She smiled politely.
The photographers noticed us standing together and rushed closer.
Two powerful men in one frame.
They loved that kind of image.
“Gentlemen,” one of them called. “Can we get a picture?”
Laurent leaned slightly toward me. “Of course.”
We stood shoulder to shoulder.
Enemies pretending to be family.
The cameras flashed bright.
And while the room only saw two men smiling for the press, Laurent leaned closer just enough that only I could hear him.
“You know what I find fascinating about men like you?”
Flash.
Flash.
“What’s that?”
“Eventually they all bleed, including me.”
Another flash lit up the room.
Laurent’s smile never changed. “Powerful men die all the time, Ares.”
I smiled back. “Maybe you. Not me.”
The cameras finished, and the photographers moved away to chase someone else.
Laurent straightened his jacket. “Enjoy your evening.”
“Yeah, you too.”
He walked away with his girl like the conversation had meant nothing.
But I felt the tension sitting in the air long after he disappeared into the crowd.
Start watching that nigga closer, were my last thoughts.
Across the ballroom, Yuna stood waiting with her cousins and glam squad, which she didn’t even use.
The veil covered her face, while the diamonds at her throat sparkled with every movement.
Security had already made sure the photographers kept their distance, and there were no phones in the building.
No one was getting a clear shot of her face tonight.
People had already started whispering about her.
The mysterious Delacroix bride to be.
Exactly how I wanted it.
I walked toward her.
Someone near the stage tapped a glass to signal attention.
Tonight was supposed to be perfect.
But habit made me scan the room one more time.
And that’s when I saw Naomi.
Standing toward the back of the ballroom, where the light didn’t quite reach.
She wasn’t dressed like the other women.
No diamonds.
No dramatic entrance.
Just quiet.
Watching.
Wearing a red dress.
Four months since I’d seen her, and Yuna had me occupied enough not to think of her.
Our eyes met for a brief second.
But I noticed something.
Her hand was resting low across her stomach.
Slowly rubbing it.
Like she was protecting something.
My brow raised slightly.
The gesture lingered in my mind longer than it should’ve.
Before I could step toward her—
She turned.
And disappeared into the crowd.
Gone.
Just like that.
I exhaled slowly.
Something about that moment didn’t sit right.
But tonight wasn’t about Naomi.
Tonight was about power.
About alliances.
About the woman standing beside me.
I turned back toward Yuna.
Reached into my jacket and dropped to one knee.