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 standsandwhere you stand on her dating other people. I don’t need to be cleaning the city of dead teenagers,” he says.
Chapter Nineteen
What have I done? I close my eyes and see George’s battered face, his lifeless body on the ground. All because I wanted to prove a point to Ares. I’m an idiot. What was I even thinking? The worst bit? As I waswatching Aurora’s boyfriend smash George’s head in with a rock, I wasn’t thinking about George. I was wondering what it would feel like if I were the one on the ground having my skull beat in.
George is dead because of me. It should have been me. Not him. I’m the one who doesn’t deserve to be here. Was George a dick? Yes. And he hit my friend, which he deserved to get beaten up for. But dead? I don’t think anyone deserves that.
I’m sitting in Ares’s car. He hasn’t said a word to me since he started driving. It’s so silent, other than my own intrusive thoughts. Why am I like this? Why am I sabotaging whatever is building between Ares and me?
Because in the end, I’m only going to hurt him. That’s why. And the thought of hurting him doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t want to do something that will get him injured or worse. I don’t want to be the reason he’s hurt.
The tear slips down my cheek before I can stop it. I swat it away with my hand but I’m not quick enough. Ares sees it.
The car swerves to the side of the road. He puts it in park and turns to me, gripping my chin between his fingers. His eyes search mine for a minute, neither of us saying a word, and so much being spoken at the same time.
“You’re going to be okay,” he finally breathes out.
I don’t believe him. I know I’m a lost cause. I know it’s a matter of time before the darkness inside me wins. I only have so much strength to fight it, and I’m tired of fighting.
“I don’t think I am,” I whisper. I’ve never admitted to anyone other than Ares that I’m not okay. It’s really not fair to burden him with my issues.
“I’m going to make sure you are.”
“I’m not your problem to fix, Ares. You don’t need to worry about me.”
Ares drops his fingers from my jaw. “I don’t need to worry about you, P. But I do anyway, and I’m not just going to stop because you tell me to.” He starts the car again and pulls out into traffic.
“I don’t want to go home,” I tell him.
“Where do you want to go?”
“I don’t know.”
He looks over at me and nods his head. I know it’s really selfish of me to ask him to spend more time with me. I’m not ready to let go yet. I need him for a little bit longer.
“It’s my fault,” I say quietly.
“What is?”
“George. He’s dead because of me.”
“George? The fucking asshole you brought to that party?” Ares hisses out.
“Yes.”
“He’s not dead because of you, Zara. He’s dead because he hit Aurora. If her boyfriend didn’t kill him, Aurora would have.”
I turn in my seat. “Do you like her?”
“Who?”
