Page 79

Something is wrong. Terribly wrong.

Ares doesn’t even look at me.

Just barrels past, his shoulder grazing mine, a storm in human form. I freeze, clutching the book in my hands tighter as I watch him disappear down the corridor, his footsteps heavy, unrelenting.

“Ares?” I whisper, even though he’s already gone.

No answer. Not even a glance back.

The air he leaves behind is colder somehow. Thicker. Like whatever he’s carrying bled into the walls.

I stand there a moment longer, heart pounding for reasons I can’t explain. Something’s definitely wrong. I felt it in the way he moved, the tension carved into every line of his body. I know he said he wanted us to act normal, but that wasn’t normal. That was...ice cold.

I take a slow breath and walk toward the nearest window. He’s outside now, pacing across the courtyard like he’s trying not to explode. I see his back stiffen, then Bianca steps into view.

They’re talking. I don’t have to think too hard to figure out what.

I can’t hear the words, but I see the way Bianca folds her arms, the way Ares turns his head just enough to avoid looking at her. His hands flex at his sides like he’s holding something back.

Then he looks up.

For a second, I think he’s seen me watching.

But he turns away again, his features grim.

My stomach twists painfully.

Whatever that was… it wasn’t nothing.

And suddenly, I’m not sure if I should go back to my room or run after him.

Instead, I go and find Bianca. I won’t rest until I know what they were talking about. I find her in the hallway near the kitchen, her fingers wrapped around a glass of water like she needs something to hold onto.

“Bianca.”

She looks up, startled. “Hey. You scared me.”

I step closer. “What were you and Ares talking about?”

Her eyes shift, just for a second. “Nothing important.”

“Don’t lie.”

She sighs and places the glass on the table, wiping her palms against her denim dress. “You saw us?”

“I saw him walk past me like I didn’t exist, and then you followed him outside.” My voice tightens. “So yes, I saw.”

She leans back against the wall, crossing her arms. “We were talking about you.” she admits.

I frown, “What about me?”

“I’m trying to protect you.”

“From what ?”

“From him, Jordyn.”

Silence falls between us, sharp and immediate. I shake my head slowly. “What did you say to him?”

“I told him to leave you alone.”

The words hit like ice water down my spine.

“You what ?”

Bianca’s face crumples a little, but she doesn’t back down.

“Jordyn, I’m not blind or stupid. I see what’s going on between you.

I know you’re together. You can keep denying it, but I know my sister.

I see the way you look at him. And I see the way he looks at you. He didn’t exactly deny it, either.”

My chest tightens. “Biana, you don’t understand?—

“I understand enough. ” Her voice rises. “He’s dangerous, Jordy. He’s got blood on his hands. He’s involved in things we don’t even have the language for. And you… you’re not built for that world.”

“I’m not a fucking child,” I snap.

“No. But you’re still grieving. You’re still vulnerable. And he— she pauses, choosing her words carefully. “He’s not safe. No matter how he makes you feel. ”

My throat closes around the next words, because I don’t have an argument. Not one she’ll believe.

Not when I’m shaking on the inside, and his scent is still somewhere in my memory, warm and electric and wrong in all the ways I crave. I don’t move. I just stand there, staring at her, the ache in my chest morphing into something sharper and meaner.

“You had no idea, told him to leave me alone,” I say again, voice trembling. “Like I’m some helpless little girl who doesn’t know what she’s doing.”

“I told him to protect you,” Bianca bites back. “Because he sure as hell won’t do it himself.”

“Right.” I laugh, bitter. “So you made that decision for me, did you?”

“Someone had to.”

I step toward her, anger rising fast. “Would you say the same thing if it was Enzo?”

That hits. Bianca’s face changes, only slightly. She tries to cover it, but I see it. The way her mouth parts. The hesitation in her breath.

“You wouldn’t, would you?” I push. “If Enzo had blood on his hands, if he was caught in whatever darkness Ares lives in, you wouldn’t walk away. You’d stand by him. You’d stay. ”

“That’s different,” she snaps.

“ Why? Because you’re older? Because your mistakes are allowed but mine are reckless?”

“Because I love him!” she shouts.

“ So do I! ”

The words tear out of me before I can stop them.

Bianca’s face goes pale. Her lips part, but no sound comes out.

“Why are your feelings more valid than mine?” I go on, breath shaking. “Because you think this is some silly little crush I’ll outgrow? I love him, B. And I know what he is. I see it.”

She shakes her head. “You don’t love him. You’re blinded. He’s not good for you?—”

“And Enzo’s good for you?” My voice sharpens. “You want to talk about blood? About monsters? Don’t stand there and act like Enzo’s a saint just because he wears a nicer suit and smiles at the right moments.”

“That’s not fair.”

“No, what’s not fair is pretending one of them is clean and safe just because he’s the one you sleep next to. Ares might have blood on his hands, but that doesn’t make Enzo any less of a monster. He’s also responsible for every drop of blood that Ares has shed. You just choose not to look at it.”

The silence that follows is suffocating.

Bianca’s eyes shine, but she doesn’t say anything. And maybe that’s the worst part...because it means she knows I’m right.

I take a step back, my heart thudding like it’s trying to escape my chest.

“You’re no different from me. We’re both in love with monsters, B,” I whisper. “The only difference is mine lives in shadows and is forged from blood and violence. And yours… wears charm like armour and hides the monster behind a perfect fucking smile.” Bianca’s eyes fill with tears.

I didn’t ask for this.” I tell her. “But I’m not going to apologise for feeling it.”

“Do you honestly think this is going to end well, Jordyn?” Bianca snaps, grabbing my arm just as I turn to leave. Her grip is tight, desperate. “You’re delusional if you believe the two of you have any kind of future together. You’re nineteen, Jordyn. He’s thirty-four .”

I rip my arm from her grasp, spinning back to face her, fire in my throat. “And you’re twenty-nine. Enzo’s forty. Want to run that argument by me again?”

Her mouth opens, then shuts. I don’t give her the chance to speak.

“You’re closer in age to his son than you are to him, B. But no one questioned it when you showed up with a diamond on your finger. No one pulled you aside and told you to end it.”

“That’s not the same?—

“ Why isn’t it? ” My voice shakes with fury. “Why is it okay for you to be with someone older, someone from this world, but when it’s me and Ares, suddenly it’s too dangerous, too messy, too wrong? ”

Bianca says nothing. So, I go in for the kill.

“Did you listen to Mum and Dad when they told you Enzo wasn’t right for you? When they begged you not to marry into this family? No, you didn’t. You married him anyway. You chose him anyway. And now you’re standing here telling me not to do the same?”

Her expression falters, just for a second. And in that tiny moment, I see the guilt flicker.

“You don’t get to rewrite history just because it suits you now.”

The words reverberate between us. “You can say what you want about him, but Ares doesn’t hesitate.

Not when it comes to me. He’d watch the world choke on smoke before he lets it touch me.

” Bianca stiffens. I don’t look away. “Can you say the same about Enzo? Would he set fire to everything for you? Or would he just ask you to survive it?”

Bianca blinks, swallowing whatever defence she’d started to build. But I can already see it, she knows I’m right. She just doesn’t want to admit that what scares her most is that I’m following the same path she did.

Only difference is… I’m not running from the darkness.

I’m walking straight into it.

Then I turn and walk away. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned in this house...it’s that love doesn’t always come in the form you can explain.

Sometimes it comes like a blade.

And sometimes… it chooses the hands already covered in blood.

I don’t go back to my room.

I can’t sit in silence, can’t listen to the echo of Bianca’s words bouncing off the walls like accusations. I feel like I’m vibrating from the inside out, like if I stop moving, I’ll fall apart completely.

So I do the only thing that makes sense in the chaos.

I go to him.

My feet move before my brain can stop them. Down the corridor, past the long stretch of windows, out into the humid Sicilian air that clings to my skin like heat from a fever. I don’t care who sees. Don’t care what time it is.

I just need him.

The path to his villa is carved into memory now. My heart slams in my chest with every step, like it’s trying to outrun the storm still trailing behind me.

I spot Dante leaning against the side of a blacked-out SUV, a cigarette in hand. A couple of Ares’s other men linger nearby, speaking low in Sicilian, their voices barely rising above the hum of the night.

When Dante sees me, our eyes lock. He says nothing, just gives me a single nod. Not of approval. Not one of warning. Just… acknowledgment. Like he already knows why I’m here.

So do I.

I reach the door and don’t knock.

I step inside like I’ve done it a hundred times, even though I haven’t. Not really. But it feels like I have. This place has become a part of me. Of us.

I hesitate, just for a second, but then I open it.

It’s dark inside. Quiet.

“Ares?” I call out softly.

No answer.

I move through the open-plan room, searching, my bare feet whispering against the cool tile. The only sound is the distant hum of cicadas outside and the pounding in my chest.