Page 82 of Bound By Flames

“Even arranged marriages can have happy endings. You know that, right?” Her soft gaze locks on mine.

“How romantic.” I chuckle ironically.

“No, seriously, just because you guys had a rough start doesn't mean it can’t work out,” she assures with a smile.

I shrug. “Yeah…maybe.”

“Trust me, Ares has you under his skin. You’re blind if you don’t see it, girl.” She sips her tea.

Under his skin.

Really?

Could this mean….more?

I pull my hair behind my ears nervously. “You said you started crochet?”

Real smooth, Mia.

She winks at me but doesn’t push me more, and I am grateful for it. “Yes! It’s quite bad, actually. Swear you won’t laugh? I tried to do a sea-shell bra.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” Who starts crocheting with such a difficult project?

“I know I should have started with socks or a scarf, but that’s gonna look so hot once I’m done.” Her hand rests on her cheek like she’s picturing it already done.

“Show me,” I tell her enthusiastically.

“Here,” she says, jumping off from the stool and to a basket near her sofa. Then she comes back with her so-called bra, and I can’t contain my giggles.

“Erin.” I burst into laughter, the bra the size of ping-pong balls. “What are you planning on doing with these ?” I touch the wool.

“Shut up.” She laughs, holding her stomach. “It’s, it’s fashion, you don’t get it.” She throws the bra on me.

“Of course I don’t. I know nothing about fashion.” I laugh so much that my ribs hurt. “Well, if you guys have a cat, you could still use it to warm his ears in the winter?”

She shakes her head, still laughing. “Okay, now you know what my level is. The real question is, can we fix it ?”

“Sure, where are your needles?”

“Here.” She gives me the tools.

“Okay, so we’re gonna start with a simple knot.” I show her.

“Hey, thank you, by the way.” She stops, looking at me with warmth.

“It’s okay, I like doing this,” I assure her with a smile.

“Well, thank you anyway,” she says before sitting back next to me.

We exchange a smile, and I stay here another hour, laughing and teaching her how to crochet.

-

It’s been a week since the gallery exhibition, and we landed this morning in Chicago to visit my family and settle Kiara’s situation. Ares was busy at the club, mentioning another gang they’d been having a feud with. I’ve been busy with work too, and we’ve barely talked since he came back to bed after I fell asleep every day. I prefer when he’s there so we can talk and argue and hang out in the kitchen. But I haven’t pushed him. The look on his tired face each morning was speaking for itself. He looked like a man who needed more hours in the day to accomplish what needed to be done.

I’m grateful he still wanted to go to Chicago and settle Kiara’s issue, even with the mountain of work he had to deal with.

I thought a lot about what he could do to my father to twist his hand into letting his treats go. But in our world, there was only two options: you’d either had something to offer or something to damage.