Page 51

Bella

The moment I answer the phone my heart sinks at the urgency in Nick's voice.

"Bella, thank god. I need you at the store. Emma's... she's not okay. I can't get through to her."

The fear in his voice sends a chill down my spine. "What's wrong?"

"Just... please come. She needs you."

"I'm on my way." I end the call, already moving to gather my things. "Something's wrong with Emma."

Ares pulls his shirt back on, and I watch the change ripple through him like a wave.

The tender lover from moments ago disappears beneath something harder, more dangerous.

His jaw sets into granite lines, shoulders squaring as if preparing for battle.

When he turns to me, his eyes have gone dark and calculating.

"I'm coming with you."

When we arrive at Simply Irresistible, the 'CLOSED' sign in the middle of the afternoon makes my stomach drop like a stone.

Ares exits the car first, his gaze sweeping the street with predatory focus.

He positions himself slightly in front of me as we approach the door, one hand at the small of my back.

The casual gesture looks protective to anyone watching, but I feel the tension thrumming through him—a caged lion ready to strike.

"Oh god." The words escape in a whisper as we push through the door, the bell's cheerful jingle a jarring contrast to the tension radiating through the air.

Ares's hand tightens on my waist as he takes in the scene, cataloging every detail with those sharp Saint eyes. I recognize that look now—he's not just seeing the destruction; he's looking for patterns, for signs, for proof of whatever this is.

The scene inside stops me cold. Emma—always put-together, always smiling Emma—stands in the middle of her pristine kitchen, surrounded by destroyed pastries and cakes.

Her hands shake as she pulls another tray from the display case, dumping perfectly good cupcakes into an already overflowing garbage bin.

"Emma?" My voice cracks as I take in the devastation.

She looks up, and the raw panic in her eyes hits me like a physical blow. Flour dusts her cheeks, tear tracks cutting through the white powder like rivers through snow. "I have to start over. All of it. Everything has to be perfect."

Nick hovers nearby, relief flooding his face when he sees me. "She's been like this for hours. I can't... I can't reach her."

"The reviews keep coming." Emma's voice wavers as she yanks open another display case.

"One star. Two stars. 'Found hair in my cake.

' 'Got sick after eating here.' 'Worst bakery experience ever.

'" Each word falls like a stone, building a wall of despair around her.

"And now the health department—they're coming tomorrow because of complaints about food poisoning and allergic reactions and—"

"Hey, hey." I move closer, careful, like approaching a wounded animal. "Emma, look at me."

She shakes her head, tears spilling fresh. "I have to fix this. I have to make it right."

"By throwing away perfectly good food?" I gesture at the immaculate kitchen around us, gleaming under the fluorescent lights. "This place is spotless. Your food is amazing. You know that. I know that. Everyone who's ever tasted your creations knows that."

"Do I?" Her laugh is hollow, bordering on hysterical. "Because according to these reviews, I'm serving contaminated food in a dirty kitchen. Everything I've worked for and built—it's falling apart, and I can't..." Her voice breaks. "I can't lose this place. It's all I have."

Behind me, I hear Ares and Nick talking in low, urgent tones, but I keep my focus on Emma, on the friend who's always been my rock, now crumbling before my eyes. "You're not going to lose anything."

"You don't know that!" The words explode out of her.

"The reviews—they're killing my business.

New customers see those ratings and stay away.

Regular customers are canceling orders. I have a wedding cake due next week, and they just called to cancel because they saw the reviews about food poisoning.

And on top of that, someone from the health inspection is coming by tomorrow.

" Fresh tears spill down her cheeks. "This is my dream, Bella. What if I lose it?"

My throat tightens as I watch my best friend fall apart, the strongest of us reduced to this trembling shadow.

The kitchen gleams under the fluorescent lights, every surface sanitized to perfection.

Emma's always been meticulous about cleanliness—it's one of her defining traits.

These complaints, these reviews... they're not random. They're targeted.

Just like the ‘postponed’ gallery event.

Just like Amanda's supplier problems and mysterious flood.

The realization hits me like ice water in my veins. I turn to find Ares watching me, and I see the same knowledge in his eyes.

"Emma." I grab her hands, stilling their trembling. "Listen to me. This isn't your fault. None of this is your fault."

She blinks at me through tears. "How can you say that?"

But before I can answer, Ares steps forward. "We're going to fix this." His voice carries that quiet authority that brooks no argument. "All of it. But first, you need to stop destroying your inventory."

Nick moves to Emma's side, pulling her into his arms. She collapses against him, the fight draining out of her. "How?" she whispers. "How do we fix this?"

I meet Ares's gaze across the kitchen, seeing the determination there. Because he knows what I know—this isn't just about bad reviews or health inspections. This is war, declared in the most insidious way possible. This is the Saints, striking at everything I love.

Hours later, the journey back to my loft feels heavy with unspoken fears.

Every streetlight we pass casts shadows across Ares's face, highlighting the tension in his jaw, the darkness in his eyes.

The same tension that's been building in my chest since we left Emma's store, threatening to suffocate me.

The moment we're through my door, everything bubbles over.

"This is about you hacking into his computer, isn't it?" The words tumble out, sharp with fear and accusation.

Ares's silence is answer enough. I run trembling fingers through my hair, panic clawing at my throat like a living thing.

"The media's been quiet about us because they've found a better target."

I pace across the room, unable to stay still as panic claws up my throat. "They're not coming after us directly—they're destroying everyone I love instead."

"Bella—"

"No!" The word tears from somewhere primal inside me. "They're methodically dismantling everything that matters to me. Every business, every friend, every support system I've built."

Ares reaches for me, but I sidestep, my back hitting the wall. I need space, need air, need to think through the terror threatening to drown me.

"Do you understand what's happening?" My voice drops to a whisper. "These are people who built everything from nothing. And now they might lose it all because I was selfish enough to think we deserved happiness."

I press my palms against my eyes, fighting to regain control.

"Don't." Ares's voice is rough as he closes the distance between us, pulling me into his arms despite my weak resistance. "Don't you dare blame yourself for their cruelty. For their vindictiveness."

I collapse against his chest, sobs wracking my body. His arms tighten around me, one hand cradling the back of my head while the other presses against my lower back, holding me together as I fall apart.

"I'm so sorry," he whispers against my hair, his own voice thick with emotion. "We're going to fix this. All of it. I swear to you."

"How?" I pull back just enough to look up at him, tasting salt on my lips. "How do we fight people who can destroy lives with a few phone calls? Who can ruin businesses with fake reviews and 'anonymous' complaints? Who have the money and power to make problems appear out of nowhere?"

The hesitation in his eyes makes my stomach drop. "I don't know yet," he admits, thumbs brushing away my tears. "But I swear to you, Isabella, I will find a way. I won't let them take anything else from you."

"That's not good enough." My fingers curl into his shirt, twisting the expensive fabric. "They're hurting people I love, Ares. We need more than promises."

He cradles my face in his hands, forcing me to meet his gaze. "Listen to me. I will burn my father's empire to the ground before I let him take anything else from you. Whatever it takes, whatever I have to do—I will make this right."

The fierce determination in his voice should be comforting, but all I can think about is Emma's devastated face, the tremor in her hands as she destroyed her own creations. The hollow sound of Amanda's laugh as she surveyed her ruined inventory.

"What if it's already too late?" The words come out as a broken whisper. "What if they've already won?"

Ares's grip tightens, almost painful in its intensity.

"They haven't won. They won’t. They think this is about control, about power.

" His eyes burn with something dangerous, something that reminds me of exactly who he is—what he comes from.

"But this is about love. About family. About loyalty.

And those?" His thumb traces my bottom lip, tender despite the fire in his eyes.

"Those are things they've never understood. Never will understand."

I want to believe him. God, how I want to believe him. But the weight of what we're facing presses down on me like a physical thing, threatening to crush us both beneath its terrible weight.

"I'm scared," I admit, the words barely audible, torn from the deepest part of me.

"I know." He presses his forehead to mine, our breath mingling in the small space between us. "But we're stronger together. And whatever game my parent’s playing? There about to learn exactly how dangerous love can be when it's threatened."

I breathe in his familiar scent, trying to draw strength from his certainty. But even in his arms, I can't shake the image of dominos falling—one dream after another, collapsing under the weight of Saint vengeance.

His dark eyes hold mine, and I see everything we're risking reflected back at me—love and fear, determination and doubt, the fierce need to protect warring with the quiet fear that we might not be enough.

Some wars aren't meant to be won with love alone. But God help me, I'm going to fight beside him anyway.