Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
The moment I walk into Ares’s room, I drop my bag on the floor and run over to his bed, jumping on him like a monkey. My legs wrap around his waist, my arms around his neck.
“I missed you,” I whisper right before my lips fuse with his.
“Probably not as much as I missed you,” he says.
“You do know you two saw each other less than twelve hours ago. You need help, both of you.” Cara’s voice has me pulling my mouth away from Ares, reluctantly.
“Twelve hours can be a really long time,” I tell her.
“It’s really not.” She smirks at me.
“Is there a reason you’re in here?” Ares asks. I can feel his cock hardening underneath me. Damn, I wish we weren’t interrupted.
I’ve been home for a month now and have had mostly good days. I still have moments of self-doubt and sadness, but it helps to be able to talk to Pepper, and I’ve also been receiving house visits from Dr Finn.
“Yeah, you got an delivery. Box is in the foyer,” Cara says.
Ares stands up, with me still sitting on him. Then he turns around and drops me onto the bed. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.” He runs out of the room, leaving me with his sister, both of us staring after him.
“What did he order that’s so important he has to run off to get it?” Cara looks to me.
“No idea.” I shrug. “Shouldn’t you be at school?”
“I should be, but I gave myself a sick day,” she says.
“Are you okay?”
“Yep, can you keep a secret?”
“Depends. Is it something I have to keep from Ares? If so, then probably not, to be honest.”
“I met someone I really like, but I can’t tell if he likes me or hates me so I’m going to drop by his place of business and find out for sure today,” Cara whispers. “Ares does not need to know yet.”
“Argh, I don’t like keeping things from him. He always knows when I try to hide something,” I groan.
“It’s not a secret. I’ll tell Ares when I know for sure.”
“Wait a minute. You said place of business. How old is this guy, Cara?”
“He’s a little older, but not like old, old,” she says.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
“I’m positive.” She smiles and walks out as Ares walks back in with a large box.
“What is she positive about?” he asks, looking at the open door his sister just exited.
“I’m not supposed to say,” I tell him.
“She tell you about the guy she’s crushing on? She can be as sure as she wants. He’s not touching her.” Ares smiles.
My eyes widen. “You know about him?”
“I know everything when it comes to my sister, Zara,” he says.
“So, who is he? She said he was older.”
“He is, which is why he’s not fucking touching her if he wants to keep his fingers attached to his hands,” Ares growls.
I blink. I know Ares isn’t an angel. I know he can be violent. And I also know he does “errands” for his Uncle Gio. But I think this is the first time I’m seeing this side of him so openly.
“Would you actually cut his fingers off? That seems like it would be messy.”
“It is messy. But yes, I would.”
“Okay.” I nod my head.
“Here. This is for you.” Ares hands me the box he went to collect.
“What is it?” Whatever it is, it’s heavy.
“Open it and find out. That’s how gifts work, P.”
“You don’t need to buy me gifts, Ares,” I tell him as I grab the scissors he hands me.
“I don’t have to. I want to,” he says as he watches me tear into the packaging.
I pull out the brown paper on top and stare inside the box. My eyes widen. “Oh my god, Ares!” I’m speechless as I eye the stack of colouring books, two sets of water-based markers, a lot of coloured pencils, and heaps of gel pens.
“I wanted you to have enough supplies here so you can colour whenever you want to,” he says.
My eyes water. This is one of the most thoughtful gifts I’ve ever received. “I…”
“Shit, Zara. This wasn’t supposed to make you sad. I can send it back,” he says, sitting down. He picks me up and settles me back on top of him.
I shake my head. “I’m not sad. I’m happy. Thank you. It’s just… overwhelming how much you care sometimes,” I try to explain. “I really like them, and I love that you think about what I need.”
“Your needs are always at the top of my thoughts, Zara. Always will be. I love you.”
“I love you back,” I tell him.
“Good, because I was never planning on letting you go.”
“You two, downstairs study. Now.” Mr De Bellis knocks on the door. By the time I turn my head to look behind me, he’s gone.
“Are we in trouble?” I ask Ares.
He laughs. “I’m never in trouble, P. My parents wouldn’t know how to punish us if they tried.”
“I’m sure that’s not true.”
His dad is a De Bellis brother after all. The stories of that family handing out punishments to those who cross them are all over Melbourne, almost like urban myths.
My hand is tightly gripping Ares’s because I don’t know why his dad has called us into his office.
I’m nervous. I don’t particularly like being in trouble.
I’m used to it but don’t love it. And I’ve never been in trouble with Ares’s parents.
It’s different when it’s your own parents about to lecture you about something you’ve done wrong.
When we walk into the office, I’m surprised to see my Uncle Xavier sitting on one of the sofas. He stands, after glaring at the hand that is still holding on to Ares, walks over and hugs me—pulling me away from Ares in the process.
“This boy is not good enough for you, Zara,” my uncle whispers into my ear.
“Uncle Xav, trust my judgement here. He is,” I tell him.
My uncle steps back, sends Ares another dirty look, and then reclaims his spot on the sofa.
“Sit down,” Mr De Bellis says.
Ares takes hold of my hand again and leads us over to the double-seater. “Whatever it is, I’m pretty sure I didn’t do it,” Ares says as we each drop down on one of the cushions.
“You two are getting serious. It’s my job to protect Zara’s interests. I have some paperwork for you to go over and sign, Ares.” My uncle opens a folder that’s sitting on the glass coffee table in front of us.
“What?” I gasp. “Uncle Xavier, don’t you think you should have discussed this with me first?” I turn to Ares. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know they were going to do this.”
Ares smiles and shrugs. “What is it?” he asks, picking up the folder.
“There’s an NDA and some financial disclosures stating that you have no claim to Zara’s assets. I’ve already read through them all, Ares. You can sign them,” Mr De Bellis says.
“Wait… Why does he need to sign an NDA? Seriously, Uncle Xavier, no.” I jump up from the sofa. “He’s my boyfriend, not some business transaction.”
“Everything in life is business, Zara. This is to protect you,” Uncle Xavier replies.
“It’s okay. I’ll sign whatever you want. I don’t want or need any of her assets,” Ares says.
“You don’t need to sign that,” I tell him.
Ares stares at me. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to protect you, P. Signing some documents isn’t a big deal.” Ares turns to my uncle. “Where do I sign?”
I’m mortified my family would spring this on us. And that no one thought to mention it to me first. I’ll deal with that later.
“You two are supposed to be studying, by the way. And I’m pretty sure last I checked, neither of you was enrolled in an anatomy class. Whatever you were doing wasn’t studying,” Mr De Bellis says, and my cheeks flame.
“Sorry,” I murmur.
“Maybe you should try studying downstairs.” Mr De Bellis smirks.
“Sure.” Ares stands after signing the paperwork. “That it?”
“Yes.”
“Pleasure as always, Mr Christianson.” Ares waves as he pulls me out of the room.
“I’m so sorry,” I tell him as we continue down the hallway.
“Don’t be. It’s not a bad thing. Your family is looking out for your interests, Zara,” he says.
“I don’t want you to think that I think you’re after whatever assets I have.”
“P, you’re worth billions.” Ares laughs. “Those billions need protecting. But I’m only after one thing when it comes to you. And it’s not your money.”
“Yeah? What is it?”
“You. I just want you. I want your heart. I want your soul. I want your body. I want your love.”
“And you have all of that, and there’s a no-returns policy, so you’re stuck with me now.”
“Good thing I was never planning on returning you then.” Ares leans in and presses his lips to mine.
I know I still have a long way to go with my mental health and learning to live with my depression.
But having Ares is one of the things I’m most grateful for in life.
For the first time in a long time, I don’t look at my future as a trap.
I’m looking forward to what our future brings. My and Ares’s future together.