Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
I’m fucking fuming. I had to blow off one of my mother’s charity events to be here at some stupid fucking high school party.
It’s a rule in my family to always support my mother’s events.
They’re important to her, which makes them important to my dad and it’s been drilled into both Cara and me that they’re important to us too.
That’s what makes it so hard to ditch her event tonight to come here just to be able to watch over Zara and make sure she doesn’t do something stupid.
I heard her tell Constance she was going to take someone with her.
I just didn’t think she’d be foolish enough to actually bring some random guy.
I’ve made it very clear around school that she’s off-limits to everyone.
There’s no one stupid enough to even try to get with her.
But the preppy douchebag she’s with right now doesn’t know she’s mine.
I pause at that thought. She’s mine.
She’s not. And yet she is. Whatever is happening between us scares her. It’s why she’s trying to pull away. Too bad for her I’m not that easy to scare. When I want something, I make sure I fucking get it.
I’m two seconds away from storming over to her, to igniting the fire she’s so keen on playing with. I will burn that motherfucker to the ground, starting with the hands that are currently touching her.
My phone vibrates in my pocket. Pulling it out, I see a text from my dad.
Dad:
Where are you?
Me:
At a party.
Dad:
What was more important than your mother’s event?
I groan. I’m not going to hear the end of this. It’s not like I didn’t want to be there. I love my mother, and I like supporting her. I just don’t trust Zara not to do something fucking stupid, like try to hurt herself.
Me:
Zara is here.
I didn’t need to tell my dad who I was worried about.
He figured it out. When he came to me with a list of doctors and an alias already set up for her to use, he told me to do whatever I thought was best for Zara, even if she hated me for it.
Letting me know he knew exactly who I was trying to help.
The thing is, I don’t need to do anything for Zara to hate me.
It seems she’s doing that for no fucking reason right now.
We haven’t spoken about that night in the car.
She refuses to really talk to me. She did acknowledge it today, though.
She’d said something about nearly hurting me.
Which tells me she cares. If she didn’t, the fact that I was in the car wouldn’t have bothered her the way it has.
Dad:
She okay?
Me:
She bought some preppy douche to the party.
Dad:
You okay?
I look up and see Aurora approaching me, her asshole boyfriend behind her. Just what this night needs, a dose of fucking insanity in the form of a Valentino.
Me:
Yes. Aurora just walked in.
Dad:
Valentino?
Me:
You know another one?
I pocket my phone, as I watch Aurora walk right for me. “How’d you manage to get out?” I ask her.
“I have my ways.” She smirks and then wraps her arms around me before stepping back. “What’s the deal with you and Zara?”
“There is no deal with me and Zara,” I insist.
“Yeah? Does your face know that?” She laughs.
Shaking my head, I stare at Zara and that fucking prick she’s got hanging off her.
Aurora follows my line of sight. “Who is he?” she asks.
“Who?” I glance in her direction.
“The guy she’s talking to.”
“No fucking idea. Never seen him before,” I grunt. It’s the truth. I’ve never seen the fucker before.
“Okay. You two catch up. I’ll be right back.” Aurora goes to walk off when her boyfriend stops her.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing. Relax. Have a drink. Ares will have the good stuff. I’ll be right back,” she tells him.
I glance at Connor. He looks like a lost puppy wanting to follow right along behind her. Surprisingly, he doesn’t. “You know, if Aurora says she’s doing nothing, she’s definitely doing something.”
“I know who my girlfriend is.” He glares at me.
“Cool. She’s right, you know.” Bending down, I pick up an unopened bottle of Cinque, the whiskey my father and uncles make. “I do have the good stuff.”
Connor smiles. “You’ve never had Irish whiskey if that’s what you think is good.”
“You do know this is my family’s label.” I cock my head and eye him from head to toe.
“I’m aware,” he says.
This fucker just insulted my family to my face.
I’m about two seconds away from smashing the bottle over his fucking head when he starts walking towards Aurora.
I see that prick Zara is with reach out and grab her.
Aurora pulls Zara back and shoves at his chest. Then he does the stupidest thing a person can do. He punches Aurora in the face.
Rage fills me. Before I can reach them, Connor is there. When I see Aurora try to step between the two, I wrap my arms around her waist and haul her backwards.
Aurora jerks her head and connects it with my nose. “Fuck, Aurora, calm down,” I yell into her ear, my hold on her tightening.
“Let me go!” she yells back.
“Do not let her go,” Connor says before returning his attention to Zara’s date.
I’m keen to see what the Irish kid has in him.
Judging by the look in his eyes, the guy on the floor isn’t leaving here walking.
I watch as Connor jumps on top of him, landing blow after blow to his face.
Then he grabs hold of the guy’s head and starts smashing it into the ground.
Repeatedly. Somehow Connor gets hold of a rock and starts using it like a hammer, beating against the fucker’s skull like he’s trying to flatten it out.
“Ares, let me go. He’s going to fucking kill him.” Aurora manages to escape my hold. She grabs her boyfriend’s arm and tries to stop him.
I can see it in Connor’s eyes. He’s not going to. He looks from Aurora to the guy, and then at the rock in his hand. People in the crowd are screaming. Some running from the scene, others watching in fascination. Or fear.
When I realise Connor really is going to kill this guy, I spin around. “Get the fuck out of here, all of you. Now!” I scream and watch everyone clear the scene. Except Zara.
“Connor, you’re going to kill him. Stop!” Aurora tries again.
“That’s the whole point, princess.” Connor smiles at her.
Fuck, maybe these two lunatics are a match made in hell. Because right now, I see it. He’s just as insane as Aurora is. He yanks himself free of her hold and brings the rock down on the guy’s head one last time.
“I don’t think he can get any more dead, mate.” My dad’s voice has me turning around. He’s surrounded by other men. One of them being Lorenzo Valentino, Aurora’s brother.
“Wasn’t me this time, Dad.” I smirk.
“Yeah, I can see that.” He looks from me to Connor to the now-dead teenager in front of us.
Lorenzo walks over to Aurora, inspecting her face that is now sporting a bruise from where the asshole hit her. If Connor hadn’t just killed him, her brother would have.
“What the fuck were you two thinking? How in any fucking universe is this staying out of trouble? Staying hidden?” Lorenzo asks, staring at Aurora and Connor.
“It’s not his fault. I wanted to come. He just followed me,” Aurora explains.
“I have no doubt about that,” Lorenzo says before looking to Connor. “Is he dead?”
“Yep,” Connor replies. I look at the body. The fucker’s not just dead. He’s a human pancake. Or at the very least, his skull is.
Lorenzo glances around. His hand comes up and then three of his soldiers appear. “Get rid of that. Make sure there’s no evidence that my sister was here,” he orders them.
“On it.” One of the soldiers nods, and all three walk away.
“I’m sorry. He was being an ass to Zara.
” Aurora’s words have me looking at Zara, who appears paler than usual.
She’s not from the same world we are. She might be exposed to the families, but she’s never seen this level of violence.
She’s lived a very sheltered and protected life. One I’d much rather her keep living.
Lorenzo turns to Zara. “Does your father know you’re here?”
“Of course he does,” she says. But she doesn’t even believe herself.
“I’m taking her home.” I grab Zara’s hand. She’s fucking trembling. It’s slight and not all that noticeable unless you were paying attention. And when it comes to her, I’m always paying attention.
“Make sure there aren’t any stops along the way!” Lorenzo calls out to me.
I look over just in time to see my Dad stare Lorenzo down. “Don’t threaten my son. You’re in our town, Valentino. Don’t fucking forget that.”
Then he turns and follows me to my car.
Once I have Zara in the passenger seat and the door closed, my dad clears his throat. “Make sure she’s okay before you drop her home. Don’t leave her if she’s not,” he tells me.
“Okay. Thanks.”
“Ares, whatever her issues are, they’re not yours to fix. Make sure she knows where she stands and where you stand on her dating other people. I don’t need to be cleaning the city of dead teenagers,” he says.