AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ares was so mentally unbalanced that he rarely felt anything except happiness, lust, rage, and what I liked to call chaosity. It was when he was so busy being a chaos gremlin that all he could do was fuck up whatever laid in his path. The man was a living grenade, exploding shit and reveling in the destruction he caused.
There were a few moments of silence, and then a knock at the door.Ares. My protective wards weren’t as complicated as Desmond’s or Bash’s. I simply had to verbally confirm that someone could enter.
“Come in,” I said aloud. The door clicked, and he entered, scooping me up in a bone crushing hug. His chest was bare, hot to the touch. His lifelike tattoos dazzled me as they moved with his muscles. Being cocooned in his warmth brought my anxiety down a few notches.
“Hey, don’t be nervous,” he cooed into the crook of my neck.
A feather soft kiss on my pulse point made my insides melt to a warm, oozy goo. Ares always knocked down my walls so easily, as if they were a house-of-cards.
“This plan is going to crash and burn,” I croaked into his chest.
“No, it won’t, look at me.” His firm tone of voice grounded me. Pulling away from me, he grabbed my shoulders and locked eyes with me. “Do you trust Des?”
“Yes, but he’s ambitious.” So much so that I worried about him sometimes. I ran my hand over the Gemini constellation tattoo Ares got for me on his right forearm.
“He’s a smart man who leads us for a good reason. Trust the process, Mal.”Fuck that smile. Why did he have to smile like that?
“I guess you’re right. We’ll see how it all goes. Do you want to stay?” I gestured over to the bed.
“Of course, but we’re just cuddling. None of that mischief you’re always getting us into,Malevolence. I better not feel your ass rubbing against me. I want to be daisy fucking fresh when we pick up the Little Goddess tomorrow.”
Ewww.He had a fucking cutsie nickname for her already? He hasn’t even met her and he was practically offering her his dick on a silver platter.
Women ruined everything. They could train her–give her the world–and she’d take it all and find a way to fuck us over probably. I tried my hardest to relax in Ares’ arms, opting to turn over so he was spooning me. His leg was thrown over mine with his arms wrapped around my pecs and navel.
Goodnight, Mal. Sweet dreams.He kissed my neck again, sending a wave of warmth through me.
You too.
Gripping his forearm, I tried my hardest to turn my brain off. I struggled to drift into a restful sleep. Nightmares of being dragged through an endless hallway by a neon rope of magic plagued me. Whether I trusted Desmond or not, my gut was telling me that this plan would crash and burn.
After snoozing my alarm for the third time, I heard my door creak. Her footsteps were soft, but not stealthy enough. I sat up before she could rip my covers off. My Aunt Angela knew something was off. She didn’t need words, her face said it all.
“Bellissima, what are you doing in bed, it’s after one, don’t you have classes?” She looked down at me, frowning. Her concern wasn’t misplaced. I never missed class or stayed in bed after nine. I barely slept at all between school and work, a fact she reminded me of often.
“Stop frowning like that Angie. You’re going to give yourself wrinkles, then people will think you’re my mom and not my older sister.” People always thought Angie was my sister, but she was my aunt. At thirty years old, she was only eight years older than me. She was the youngest of her four siblings. My mom had me when she was eighteen, and Nonna raised Angie and I together, making us more like sisters than aunt and niece, “I emailed my professors last night to let them know I would be missing class. I’m not feeling well.”
She sat next to me on the edge of my bed and put the back of her hand to my forehead. “You could fry an egg on that. If you could actually cook.” She smirked, scolding me while pulling one of my arms out from under the covers. “You’re clammier than the chowder down at that shithole diner on 4th and Locust. What’s happening? You’ve looked off all week. When your nonna and I came home from the shop, your deathtrap was in the breezeway, and you were already in bed.”
“What were you doing at the shop so late at night? I don’t care if we’re in Prospect Park, Angie, it’s not safe to be traipsing out and about around Brooklyn that late.” She lightly smacked the side of my head, smirking at me. Nonna still owned and operated The Beef Block, a butcher shop and catering company she and Pop Pop started when they immigrated from Italy forty years ago. Even though my Pop Pop passed, she and Angie ran the shop, keeping his legacy alive and providing the Prospect Park area with tender, juicy meat.
“You smartass. Those street gremlins should be scared ofme.” She spoke the truth. Last year she punched a wanna-be-mugger in the face. He’s lucky that’s all he got, and the butcher’s cleaver she always carried in her Gucci purse didn’t make an appearance. “I’m a grown woman who can take care of herself. The question is, why were you sent home early? I know you didn’t volunteer to come home,paper chaser.”
I didn’t think there was any way of hiding the headaches anymore. Eventually I would have to come clean. They were getting more frequent, and now they impacted my job and my coursework.
“I got another migraine and–”
“—Diana Rossi!” she interrupted. “You should havecalledme!” She ran her fingers through her black, wavy hair. Her exasperated exhale and flared nostrils signaled a rough conversation ahead.
“Yeah, I would have if I didn’t pass out. I went down like a sack of bricks and dropped an entire tray of Moet & Chandon flutes.” Her eyes widened in shock, and she grabbed her matching pentacles medallion. I could see the wheels turn in her head as she worked it back and forth on the chain.
“I don’t give a flying fuck about some overpriced, bitter champange,” she barked at me. “What thefuckhappened? How did you get home? Tell me everything, I’m sick of you keeping things from me.Della famiglia. We take care of each other.”
Oh shit, she was speaking Italian, which meant she was beyond mad. She narrowed her chocolate eyes at me as she fixed her bangs. Her nostrils flared.
“I’m not sure. The shift started out fine, no issues. Then it felt like someone cracked my head open. I couldn’t even describe the pain to you.”
“Did it feel like a tidal wave of hurt crashed into you and you were drowning in it?” She leaned forward, narrowing her eyes on me.
