Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Iknow the second I walk into the dining room that my father is pissed off. I can’t really blame him. I fucked up. I should have been more insistent about Zara not going to that fucking party.
“Next time you think you want to go to a party and cause mayhem, don’t,” he says as I sit down.
He’s the only one in the room. I figure that’s by design so he can deliver the lecture I’m about to get.
“It wasn’t my intention,” I tell him. “And I wasn’t the one who did anything. I was only there to keep an eye on Zara.”
“She has parents, Ares. She’s not your responsibility,” he says.
My jaw clenches. She might not be my responsibility, but I’m not going to sit back and let her self-destruct. “So what? You need me to marry her or something so she can become my responsibility?” I ask him.
“Don’t be dramatic.” My dad rolls his eyes. “You’re eighteen. You should be out enjoying life, having fun.”
“I know what I’m doing, Dad. She’s not going anywhere.”
“I don’t have a problem with Zara. I like her. I just worry you’re going to end up hurt. What If your mother’s heart condition is hereditary? I’m not going to just sit back and let you get your heart broken to find that out. I’m not burying a son because his heart broke, Ares.”
“And he’s not going to live life in fear of falling in love. Leave him to make his own way, Vin,” my mum interjects as she sits down. “Imagine if I never gave you a second chance because I was scared you’d break my heart again? Ares and Cara wouldn’t even be here.”
“I wouldn’t be here,” my dad deadpans. “And that’s different.”
“How so?” my mum asks.
“It just is,” Dad insists.
“Well, I hope that when our children fall in love, they fall as hard as we did. I want them to experience the kind of love we have because I wouldn’t want to do life without knowing what that feels like,” Mum says.
“Okay, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There isn’t going to be a wedding anytime soon,” I tell my mum.
“Obviously, but if she’s the one, you already know. You just have to accept it.” Mum shrugs.
“Accept what?” This comes from Cara. Zara is standing right next to her.
“That you have the best brother in the world,” I tell her.
“Riiiight.” Cara rolls her eyes and sits across from me.
My eyes connect with Zara’s. She looks nervous and really fucking unsure what to do. “Hungry?” I ask her, nudging the empty chair out.
“Mmhmm.” She nods as she drops down next to me.
“Zara, how are you settling into school?” Mum asks as she starts piling a plate up with eggs and bacon.
“Um, it’s been good. Everyone is really nice.”
Cara snorts. “That’s because they’re all too shit scared of Ares not to be nice to you.”
“Probably.” Zara lifts a shoulder. “Whatever works, right?”
“What are your plans for university?” Mum continues.
“I have to study business, at Melbourne Uni. It’s the best in the country,” Zara says.
“You have to or you want to?” Dad questions.
“Bit of both,” Zara replies.
Her plate is still empty, so I pick it up and start putting a mixture of the foods on top—bacon, sausage, eggs, hash browns, tomatoes, and toast—before putting it down in front of her.
“Thank you,” she says quietly.
“Why business?” Mum presses.
“It will probably come in handy for when I have to take over the McKinley empire. My sister doesn’t want anything to do with it, or the Christianson businesses, and my cousin Faith is really invested in her family’s nightclubs.
So, if I don’t take over at least the McKinley side, it will be run by people who aren’t blood. That’s not a good thing.”
“You know you can do whatever you want. Your parents aren’t going to force you to take over their businesses,” I remind Zara.
“They expect it.” She shrugs again. “And it’s not as if it’s a bad thing to inherit a billion-dollar company.”
“Money isn’t a good enough reason to do something you don’t love,” Cara chimes in.
“Says someone who’s never known life without money. Plenty of people work in jobs they hate just to keep a roof over their heads, sweetheart,” Mum replies.
My mother didn’t grow up wealthy. She made sure to teach us the value of a dollar over the years and tried not to overindulge us.
It wasn’t an easy task for her, considering Dad did grow up wealthy.
He has never been shy about giving us whatever we asked for.
And then there are my uncles, who love to try to outdo each other in the gifting department.
I don’t complain. I like getting good shit from them.
“I think I’ll do lots of charity work too, after university,” Zara adds. “Help people who haven’t been as fortunate as I have. I mean, I won the gene pool lottery with my parents and their old-money families.”
“Not to mention the hot genes. You’re smoking—you get that from your mum,” Cara says.
“Um, thanks?” Zara blushes at the compliment.
As soon as breakfast is over, Zara is trying to leave. I’ve managed to convince her to stay for an hour. Once that hour is up, I’ll figure out another way to get her to stay for another hour. I don’t want her to go home and be alone. At least when she’s with me, I can see if she’s okay or not.
“Are you sure it’s okay for me to be in here?” she asks, walking around my room and looking at everything.
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“If you came into my bedroom, I think my dad would slaughter you on the spot and ruin my white carpet,” she says.
“Probably. But lucky for you, my parents like you too much to slaughter you.” I laugh. “Besides, they fully support us being an us.”
“Really?”
“They like you. Why wouldn’t they?”
“Because being with a McKinley isn’t all roses and sunshine, Ares. My life is under a constant microscope. Everything I do is watched, and a lot of the time, it’s spread across the gossip magazines. Are you sure you want that?”
“Nobody is going to care about me being seen with you, Zara. And I couldn’t give a fuck what anyone else thinks. I like you. Anyone who has a problem with that will have to deal with it.”
“You like me?”
“I thought that was obvious,” I deadpan.
“Mmm, I’m not sure you’ve made it all that clear yet.” Zara’s teeth bite down into her bottom lip.
I take the five steps needed to close the distance between us. My hand wraps around her ponytail, tilting her face upwards before my lips slam onto hers. My tongue pushes into her mouth. Seconds, that’s how long I get to kiss her before there’s a knock at my door.
“I’m busy,” I growl as the door opens.
“Too fucking bad. You’re needed.” My cousin walks into the room. “Ohhh, you’re that kind of busy,” Roman says, smirking as he eyes Zara up and down. “Zara, how’ve you been?”
“Good, you?”
“Can’t complain. Mind if I drag Ares away for a bit?” he asks.
Zara laughs. “I don’t own him. You don’t need my permission. I was just leaving anyway.”
“No you weren’t. Can this wait?” I glare at Roman.
“Nope, Uncle G wants us to do something,” he says cryptically. Great, just what I wanted to spend the day doing, errands for my uncle.
“I need to take Zara home first. I’ll meet up with you,” I tell him.
“Don’t be long,” Roman says before walking out of my room.
I stop out front of Zara’s house. She doesn’t want me driving up to the gate. I get it. She’d probably get the third degree from her father as to why she was with me.
“Is it dangerous?” She turns her body towards me in the car.
“Is what dangerous?”
“Whatever it is you’re going to go do with your cousin.”
Fuck, that’s not what I was expecting her to say. And I have no idea how to answer that question.
“It’s okay. Your silence is telling me enough,” she whispers.
“Honestly, I don’t even know what I’m going to be doing. He didn’t say what he needed help with.”
“But you’ve done this before? Jobs for your uncle?”
“It’s kind of the family trade, Zara. Just like you’re planning a future working for your family’s company, I’m going to be working for mine,” I explain.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you. I know it’s selfish, but I need you right now, Ares. And if you were to suddenly disappear, I don’t know how I’d cope,” she says.
“It’s not selfish, and I’m not going to disappear. My uncle isn’t sending me on jobs that would put me in jeopardy. My father would never allow that.” It’s a partial truth. If it were that dangerous, my father or one of my uncles would be doing the job, either with us or without me.
“Okay, thank you for… everything,” she says.
“Don’t think you’re getting out of this car without kissing me goodbye, Zara McKinley,” I grunt as my hand wraps around the back of her neck.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” She smiles into my kiss.