“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.”
