Page 52

Ares

The numbers blur together on my laptop screen, endless lines of encrypted data that might hold the key to everything—if we could just crack the damn code. I rub my temples, fighting the familiar throb of an oncoming migraine that's been my constant companion for days.

"Still nothing?" Ethan's voice carries from the suite's living room, where papers and laptops have transformed every surface into a war room of sorts, a battlefield of information and dead ends.

"Nothing useful." I lean back in my chair, checking my phone for the hundredth time. Four weeks of chasing leads, only to discover ex-Saint security officer Richards died of a convenient "heart attack" two years ago. And Finn, our last hope, sits in prison and refuses to talk.

Ethan appears in the doorway, brandishing a fresh cup of coffee like a peace offering. "When's the last time you actually slept? And I don't mean those twenty-minute power naps you've been surviving on."

I accept the coffee with a grunt of gratitude. Sleep feels like a luxury I can't afford, not with everything falling apart around us. Red tries to hide it, but I see how each new "accident" in the past month chips away at her spirit, her resilience.

The gallery's insurance suddenly "discovering" code violations requiring immediate, expensive fixes.

Venus facing unexplained shipment delays that leave shelves half-empty during peak season.

Emma's bakery supplies arriving spoiled three deliveries in a row, forcing her to absorb thousands in losses.

Brian's liquor distributors mysteriously canceling long-standing contracts, citing "internal restructuring. "

Each problem just plausible enough to look like bad luck or business hiccups to the untrained eye.

Each one calculated to slowly bleed them dry without leaving my parents' fingerprints anywhere.

Too many coincidences piling up like bodies in a morgue—death by a thousand cuts instead of a single, traceable blow.

"You're doing it again." Ethan drops into the chair across from me, his usual playful expression replaced with concern that makes me look away. "That brooding thing where you try to solve every problem in the universe by glaring it into submission."

"I'm not brooding. I'm—"

Ethan's phone cuts me off with its shrill ring. The smile drops from his face as he answers, and something in my gut twists with premonition.

"What?" His voice turns sharp, all trace of humor vanishing. "When? ... Are you sure?"

I straighten in my chair, coffee forgotten. "What is it?"

He holds up a finger, listening intently, his face growing grimmer by the second. "Thank you for calling." He hangs up, and the look he gives me confirms my worst fears before he even speaks.

"Finn is dead."

The news hits like a physical blow. Our last lead, gone. "How?"

"Prison fight. Another inmate stabbed him in the shower block." Ethan's jaw tightens, a muscle jumping beneath his skin. "Convenient timing, considering we just started asking questions about what happened fifteen years ago."

"FUCK!" I slam my hand against the desk, sending papers scattering like frightened birds.

"That's it. That's our last fucking lead.

" I push away from the desk, pacing the room like a caged animal, rage and helplessness churning in my gut.

"Wells is dead, Richards is dead, Finn's dead, and these fucking codes are useless without the missing piece Heath needs. "

"Ares—"

"No!" I run my hands through my hair, tugging hard enough to hurt, needing the physical pain to ground me.

"Every day, something else happens. Every day, they chip away at her life, at everything and everyone she loves.

And I can't..." My voice cracks, betraying the desperation clawing at my throat.

"I can't protect her. I can't even figure out what the hell my father's hiding in these fucking files. "

"We'll find another way." Ethan's voice is steady, a lifeline in the storm of my rage. "There has to be something we're missing. Some angle we haven't considered."

"What if there isn't?" I turn to face him, the weight of failure crushing my chest until breathing feels like a battle. "What if this is exactly what my father wanted? To watch me scramble for answers while he systematically destroys everything Red cares about? While he breaks her piece by piece?"

"Then we change the game." Ethan stands, his expression hardening with resolve. "If we can't crack the code, we find another way to fight back. Another pressure point. Another approach."

I stare at the laptop screen, at the endless strings of numbers that mock our efforts.

Isabella's trying so hard to stay strong, to keep fighting.

But I see the toll it's taking. The way her smile doesn't quite reach her eyes anymore.

The constant tension in her shoulders. The fear she tries to hide when her phone rings, as if each call might bring news of another disaster.

"I promised her I'd fix this." My voice comes out rough, scraped raw with emotion. "I promised her we'd make it right."

"And we will." Ethan's hand lands on my shoulder, squeezing hard enough to anchor me to the present. "But maybe we need to stop looking at what happened fifteen years ago and focus on what's happening now. On protecting what matters most."

I close my eyes, seeing Red's face when she looked online and saw Emma's bakery being flooded with one-star reviews overnight.

The devastation carved into every line of her expression.

The way her shoulders curved inward, a physical manifestation of guilt.

The tremble in her fingers as she scrolled through the damage, each fabricated complaint another knife between her ribs.

What haunts me most is how she looked at me afterward—that split second before she masked it with determination.

A look that said she was counting the cost of loving me and finding the price steeper than she'd imagined.

As if her greatest sin wasn't defying my parents or uncovering their secrets, but simply daring to love me at all.

A knock at the suite door cuts through my thoughts.

When I open it, the sight of Red brings my world to a grinding halt.

She stands there, mascara streaking down her cheeks in black rivers, her entire body trembling like a leaf in a storm, like she might shatter into a million pieces at the slightest touch.

"Ares..." My name comes out as a broken sob before she collapses against my chest.

"Hey, hey." I catch her, my heart thundering against my ribs. "What happened? What's wrong?"

She tries to speak but only manages another sob, her fingers clutching my shirt like it's the only thing keeping her upright. I guide her to the couch, feeling how violently she's shaking beneath my hands. Ethan appears with water, his face tight with concern.

"Amanda's store..." Red finally manages, her voice raw from crying.

"Someone... broke all the windows. The store front windows are shattered.

Everything in the window display was destroyed.

Thousands of dollars of merchandise ruined.

" She draws a shuddering breath that seems to rattle her entire body. "And Brian... God, Ares…"

My blood runs cold. "What’s wrong with Brian?"

Her words come faster now, panic rising like a tide.

“This morning they've shut Six-Pack down completely because of 'anonymous tips' about illegal activities.

Nick and Cole are trying to handle it, but.

.." Fresh tears spill down her cheeks and her breaths come erratic, bordering on hyperventilation.

I cup her face, trying to ground her even as my own world tilts on its axis. "Breathe, Red. Just breathe with me. We'll figure this out."

"How?" She jerks away, her fingers raking through her hair, pulling strands loose from her braid.

"We've been saying that for weeks, Ares!

Weeks! And it's only getting worse." Her voice rises, fracturing around the edges.

"Every day it's something new. Every single day they find another way to hurt someone I love. "

She paces like a caged animal, each movement sharp and desperate.

"We don't have time for 'figuring it out' anymore.

Do you understand? Emma can't handle more weeks of this.

Brian's about to lose everything he's spent years building.

Amanda—" Her voice breaks completely. "What happens when they stop going after their businesses and start going after their families? Their children?"

I reach for her again, and this time she doesn't pull away. She collapses against me, her body shaking so violently I'm afraid she might shatter beneath my hands. I hold her tighter, as if I could absorb her pain, her fear, her rage.

"Red—"

"I thought I was strong enough," she whispers against my chest. "I thought we were. But they're too powerful, Ares. They have too many ways to hurt us. To hurt everyone."

Over her head, I meet Ethan's eyes. The grim resignation I see there mirrors the cold weight settling in my stomach. My best friend, who always has an answer, a plan, a way out—even he looks defeated.

This is my fault. All of it. My parents are systematically dismantling her world because I dared to defy them, because I had the audacity to choose love over duty. And now the woman I love is breaking in my arms, splintering under the weight of a war she never asked to fight.

I pull her closer, feeling her tears soak through my shirt, each sob like a blade between my ribs.

"I won't let them win." The words come out fierce, even as desperation claws at my throat. "I swear to you, Red. I’m going to fix this. All of it."