Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Skipping school isn’t an unusual thing for me to do. Turning up at my uncle’s house in the middle of the school day is. Which is why, when I walk in, Uncle Marcel is waiting for me in the foyer. The guards obviously alerted him to my arrival.
“You lost? Last I checked, this isn’t a classroom, Ares,” my uncle says.
“Shame. I bet I could learn a lot.” I make a point to look around. “Like how not to furnish a place, for example, or what colours not to paint walls.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to see Zia Zoe.” I smile, knowing this will just piss my uncle off.
It’s one of my favourite pastimes, seeing which uncle I can rile up the most. Usually, It’s Uncle Marcel.
He doesn’t have kids of his own and seems to have the least amount of patience for my bullshit.
My Uncle Gabe is the hardest to crack. He’s always cool, calm, and collected.
Uncle Gio I tend not to fuck with a lot.
He’s the boss and honestly probably the scariest.
“Why?”
“Because out of the two of you, I like her the most.” I shrug. “Is she here?”
Uncle Marcel smirks. “Yeah, I like her better too. She’s in the kitchen.”
I walk past him. “Did you know her cousin was in town?”
“Lorenzo? He’s been here a while.”
“No, Aurora,” I clarify.
“Aurora’s here? Where?”
“At her brother’s house. You didn’t know?”
“No. But you need to stay clear of anywhere that girl is.” Uncle Marcel’s tone changes to something more serious, making me stop in my tracks.
“Why?”
“There’s a bounty on her head. She started seeing some Irish kid from the O’Malley family and his parents aren’t too happy about their union. If they’re here, they’re both in hiding. How’d you find out?”
“Zara saw her when she was at her sister’s.”
“What’s going on with you and Zara?” Uncle Marcel asks.
“Nothing.”
“Keep it that way. Her father’s a fucking psychopath,” my uncle grumbles under his breath.
“Her father is your best friend,” I remind him.
“I’m aware,” he states. “She’s also not the kind of girl you can use to add a notch to your bedpost.”
“I don’t have notches in my bedpost,” I tell him. “That’s degrading to females, Uncle Marcel. Do better.”
“Whatever it is you do have, Zara isn’t one you’re adding to your numbers.”
I squint at my uncle. “You do know I’m your blood. I’m your family. You think I’m not good enough for her?”
“I think you’re more than good enough for her. She’s not ideal for you, though. I don’t want you having to jump through the circus hoops of dating a McKinley.”
“Don’t worry, Uncle Marcel. I don’t plan on dating anyone anytime soon.
It’s senior year.” It’s not a lie. I’m not planning on dating anyone, but if Zara wanted to date, I don’t think I’d turn her down either.
No matter what circus hoops I had to jump through because of her family.
I have a feeling she’d be more than worth it.
“Well, now that you know, I’m going to go see her,” I tell my uncle.
“Going to see who?” My Zia Zoe walks up and hugs me.
“Aurora. She’s at Kyla’s house,” I explain.
“She is? You knew she was here and didn’t tell me?” My aunt turns to her husband.
“No, I just found out. But neither of you should be going near her. She has a bounty on her fucking head,” Uncle Marcel repeats.
“And you know better than to tell me what I can and can’t do. I’m coming with you, Ares. Give me five minutes to get changed.”
I smile. This was exactly what I was hoping for.
An excuse as to why I’m showing up at Kyla and Lorenzo’s house uninvited.
Zoe and Lorenzo are cousins. She drops in a lot, and I’m sure the guards won’t think twice about her being there.
If I showed up unexpected, they’d be giving me the third degree.
“Aurora fucking Valentino, how dare you come to town and not call me,” I yell through the open door of Lorenzo’s office, which is where I find her with her boyfriend, who steps in front of her as if she needs protecting from me.
Aurora steps around him and runs in my direction. Her arms fling around my neck, and I make a big deal out of returning her hug, knowing it’s pissing off the Irish kid.
“Ares, what are you doing here?” she asks.
I wink and tug on the strap of my backpack. She’s smart. She knows exactly why I’m here.
Her boyfriend approaches, placing a possessive hand on her lower back. “This is Connor. Connor, Ares. He needs a bathroom. Can he use yours?” she asks her boyfriend.
Connor looks me up and down before returning his gaze to Aurora, and the two of them have some kind of silent conversation. “Sure?” he says.
“Why the fuck are you here, Ares?” Lorenzo calls out.
“I came with Zia Zoe. She’s talking to Kyla, but she heard this one was here. I just happened to be with her,” I tell him, which isn’t a lie.
“Don’t you have work or something to do, Lorenzo?” Aurora huffs. “Talk later.” She takes hold of Connor’s hand and walks past me. “Ares, follow us. I’ll show you where the bathroom is before I find Zoe.”
The moment we are closed in her boyfriend’s assigned bedroom, I drop my backpack onto the bed with a loud plop. “Okay, I got you some things,” I tell Aurora, pulling out a MacBook, an iPhone, and a small black box and dumping it all onto the bed.
“What’s this?” she asks, picking up the black box.
“A scrambler. No one will know you’re using a device within five meters of this,” I tell her. “Also, this.” I hand her a disk drive. “Internet. It’s prepaid and loaded.”
“So, like, burner internet?” she questions while eyeing the device.
“Kind of. If anyone asks, you didn’t get this from me. And Zara has nothing to do with it either,” I stress. I’m doing this for Zara. As much as I like the Valentinos, I don’t plan on getting involved in whatever shit Aurora has found herself in with the Irish.
“So, you and Zara, huh?” Aurora wiggles her eyebrows up and down.
“There is no me and Zara,” I say, keeping my tone neutral.
“You sure about that?” She laughs. “You know her father will literally feed you to pigs.”
“Your boyfriend’s parents have a bounty on your head. I think you have more to worry about than who I am or am not dating,” I retort.
“Pfft, they’re not going to find me. But I do need to hunt down Zoe before she bursts through this door.” Aurora looks from me to Connor. “You wanna meet another cousin?”
“What’s one more?” He picks up her hand and entwines their fingers.
“This one happens to be a De Bellis,” I tell him.
“And that makes her different because?” the asshole asks.
“If you’re rude to her, I’ll happily hold you down while my brother cuts out your tongue.
” I smile at him. I don’t have a brother, but he doesn’t know that and it sounds a lot better than saying I’ll have my little sister tear your tongue out.
Sounds sexist, especially with the number of women I know who are more scary than men, but it’s just a fact.
The criminal underground is always more afraid of the male gender.
“You could try, but you’ve met my girlfriend, right? Aurora likes my tongue way too much to let anyone cut it out,” Connor says confidently, which makes Aurora snort.
“He’s right. I do like his tongue.”
I’m too smart to fuck with Aurora Valentino. Like I said, I know plenty of women in our world who are worse than the men. She happens to be one of them. That girl is unhinged as fuck.
I shake my head and lead them out to the living room, where my Zia Zoe is waiting.