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“Ares,” the tall boy said, finally taking Callum’s hand. “Nice to meet you. Heard a lot about you.”
Once Ares had Callum’s hand, he didn’t let go, a nice long shake. Callum continued to shake Ares’s hand too, his head tilted.
“Ares,” Callum stated, a question in his voice. “A last name go with that, son?”
“Yeah. Mallick.” A noticeable snip hit Ares’s voice, and Callum let go of his hand.
The man returned it to his pocket. “I see.”
“Mmm,” Ares returned, being weirder than he already was. Really, he was being borderline rude. He took a step, but paused when Lucas approached.
Ares’s gaze flicked over to Callum’s driver, but his attention refocused when Callum regarded Lucas.
“You can wait in the car, Lucas,” he said to him before facing Ares. He smiled. “Good to meet you.”
Ares might have said something, but Callum had already entered Bru’s room. I heard his voice inside shortly after, greeting my brother.
Lucas tipped his hat at Ares and me, the large man nodding. He didn’t stay long before he was rerouting back down the hallway, and with his exit, Ares glanced into my brother’s room.
I did too. My brother and Callum were chatting in there, but more of my attention settled on Ares. “You okay?”
“Yeah. You?” The snip had returned, and my brow jumped. Ares looked at me. “You okay?”
I shook my head, confused as fuck. I wasn’t really okay. Not by a long shot, but that had nothing to do with the weird way he was acting now.
I didn’t say anything, and Ares angled in. “Little…”
“It’s Dorian.” I hugged my arms, and though I hadn’t wanted to say anything, for some reason, I was flapping my lips. I kept doing that with him, and I didn’t get it. I sighed. “He was at the house when I got there.”
“What?” Ares got close. I started to say something more, but his eyes flashed. “Wait. Was he there when—”
Ares didn’t get to say because in the next moment, Callum returned to the hallway. He was putting his suit jacket back on, and I frowned. “Are you leaving?”
“I am.” He straightened his jacket. “But I’ll be back. Wanted to stop by and see Bru again before I checked into my hotel. I drove straight here from the airport, so I’m going to go take care of that now. Especially since you kids are entertaining.” He leaned in. “Don’t want to cramp your style.”
He wouldn’t be, but it was nice he was thinking about that.
Ares’s lips pulled tight. “Staying in town long, Callum?”
Callum’s sight fell on Ares. His head lifted. “I’m in town for Bru, so as long as he needs me.” He faced me. “But the way your brother was laughing and joking with me just now, I can’t imagine that will be for long.”
I hoped he was right about that.
“I’ll be back after a while,” Callum stated, then pointed at Ares. “Again. Good meeting you. It’s nice to see the kids have made some friends at school.”
Hands in his pockets, Ares didn’t get a chance to respond. Callum strode away, and Ares followed him with his gaze.
“What’s your deal, Mallick?”
“What happened at your house?” Ares swiveled in my direction. “You said Dorian was there. That you had interference. What happened while he was there?”
So, yeah. None of that was his business, and I definitely didn’t want to talk about that.
I was already embarrassed.
I gave in so easily to him, and I didn’t want to think about it.
“Sloane.”
