Chapter 5

LIZ

We stepped out of the bathroom together, hands clasped. We looked left and right for any sign of trouble, but I couldn’t see anything obvious.

The way to the main hall yawned ahead of us. But all I could think about were Ares’s hands holding mine, and that we were going to leave here and go to his house.

It filled me with a certain sort of dread and excitement at the same time. I should have been worried about the mafia coming after him—and, in extension, after me—but I could only focus on how my heart beat faster while I held his hand.

We walked faster as we got towards the main hall. Once we got there, we stayed at the edge of the door and looked in. Passing waiters stared at us with confusion on their faces, but Ares urged them to go past quickly. He was staring at the entrance and squeezing my hand hard.

“What is it?” I whispered.

“They’re in that room, so we can’t go through here. We have to turn back and take the back door. I’ll text my assistant and tell him,” he said. The words were so matter-of-fact that I wondered if he could even get scared.

As we turned back, he looked to one side and locked eyes with one of the men. “Move!” He commanded.

We turned immediately, and I just barely avoided hitting one of the waiters as we ran toward the other exit. I hiked my gown up as much as I dared to run faster, but considering I was wearing heels, it was almost impossible.

Ares stopped and knelt before me before removing my heels quickly. Despite his haste, he still had a smile on his face.

“How can you be so calm under all this pressure?” I asked him, my heart stuttering. I was shaking all over—partly due to panic and partly because his hands on my feet were soft, like a warm caress. His fingers chased out all the fear and replaced it with a rising good feeling that spread throughout my heart and filled my brain.

“I stay calm because I need to reassure you that it will be all right,” he told me as he handed me my shoes. He stood and grabbed my hand again.

I smiled at him, as radiant a smile as I’d ever managed, even though part of me wanted to roll my eyes. Of course, that was the reason he stayed confident. I saw the gleam in his eyes as soon as I smiled; it brought red rushing to my skin. “Focus, Ares!” I shouted.

“Right.” His hands tightened on mine as we started running again.

Behind us, there were men in the corridor, and they were closing in on us. “Stop there, Ares Scott!” they screamed.

“What are they chasing you for?” I screamed, out of breath.

“I don’t know, but I know it cannot be good. That’s all I need to know.” He bent down in one fluid motion and scooped me up. “Hold on.”

I squeaked and wrapped my arms around his neck. I looked into his eyes, feeling spots of red spreading from my cheeks again. I could feel his chest, his arms, and the hard muscles working beneath his clothes as he moved. The way I bounced on him was almost obscene, and a little sound escaped my lips as my body broke out in goosebumps. My nipples hardened rapidly, and the tips prickled against the fabric of my dress and birthed another little moan that escaped from me.

A door opened to one side, and a waiter exited a nearby room. Ares pushed through the door immediately, and we found ourselves in a large room with chefs and waiters all around. The image was completed by a short, slim, screaming man in a hat.

He stopped in surprise when he saw us, turning to stare at the both of us. He had a rolled-up paper in his hands. “What is this?” he asked. His eyes were incensed, and his lips quivered. He raised a skinny arm in the air and closed his fist. “What are you doing here?”

“Sorry, chap, do you perhaps know how we can escape from here?” Ares asked, lifting his voice so he sounded a little British.

I snorted before I could stop myself.

“The door is behind you!” the man thundered.

“No can do!” Ares replied and rushed past him as the door behind us banged open. He began to weave through the tables, moving me expertly out of the way before I could crash into anything.

“I will not allow this! In this room, I am God!” the man screamed.

I glanced behind to see that he was trying to attack the men with the rolled-up paper he held. I winced when the man in the front simply reeled back and punched the chef in the gut, hard.

An audible gasp came from a lot of mouths, like the expulsion of hundreds of breaths. The chef whimpered, his hands grabbing his stomach as he crumbled to the ground.

“Stop there, Ares!” the men commanded again, but we were already going through the other door.

“Grab my phone from my pocket and tell my assistant that there’s been a change of plans,” Ares said. “Tell him he has to meet us by the back now and he needs to be fast, or we might not escape this alive.”