“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 youwant 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 leastthe 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 Daddidgrow 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’twant 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 anus.”
“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.”
