“Oh, we’re not… I mean, I don’t think…” I know Ares insists that we are together. But are we really?
“Oh, you are.” Cara laughs. “And I’m glad. I did not want to deal with him bringing a girl I hated home. You, I already love.”
“Why did you leave school? Are you back for good?” I quickly change the subject to her.
“Ares didn’t tell you?”
I shake my head.
“I had an issue with a guy. I called Ares and he came and, well, he sorted the issue. But I couldn’t stay at school after that. I wanted to be home,” she says.
“What did Ares do to sort out the issue?”
“That’s a question you need to ask him,” Cara tells me.
It’s probably a question I don’t really want to know the answer to. I know what Ares’s family is. I get they’re tied up in the criminal underworld. I just didn’t think Ares was that involved. Maybe he’s more involved in that world than I thought…
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.
