Through My Window (Hidalgos #1)(18)

“If you need anything, call me, okay?”

“Calm down and go, the taxi is waiting.”

Dani gives me a hug. “As soon as he sobers up, send him home.”

“I will.”

Apolo is lying on his back on my bed, mumbling things I don’t understand. His shirt is open and his hair is a mess. He still looks cute and innocent despite the alcohol in his veins and some vomit on his pants.

“Oh, Rocky. What have I done?”

Rocky just licks my leg in response. I take off Apolo’s shoes and hesitate as I look at his pants. Should I take them off? They have vomit on them. Decidedly, I take off his pants and his shirt, which also has vomit on it. I leave him in his boxers and tuck him in with my sheet.

A loud ringing makes me jump. That’s not my ringtone. I follow the sound and grab Apolo’s pants off the floor, pulling out his phone, and my eyes widen when I see the screen.

Incoming call: Ares bro

I mute it and let it ring until the call drops, and then I see how many messages and missed calls Apolo has from Ares and Artemis. Oh shit. I hadn’t thought about how his siblings and parents would react if he disappeared from the club and didn’t get home safely.

Ares calls again, and I hang up. I can’t answer him. He’d recognize my voice. I can send him a text message, but what do I tell him?

Apolo: Hey, bro, I’ll sleep at a friend’s house.

I hit send. That’s it; that should calm him down.

Ares’s answer comes quickly.

Ares bro: Answer the damn phone, now.

Okay, Ares has not calmed down. He calls back. I watch in alarm as his name taunts me from Apolo’s cell phone screen. It feels like years pass, but Ares finally stops calling. A sigh of relief escapes my lips, and I sit on the edge of my bed, where Apolo is still sleeping deeply. At least he hasn’t vomited again. His cell phone screen lights up, catching my attention. I check it to see if Ares is calling again, but it’s just a notification from a cell phone app called Find my iPhone.

Find my iPhone!

It’s an app used to locate any Apple devices that are registered to an account. If Ares uses the app on his Mac, he can get the exact location of the phone I’m holding. Panicking, I throw the phone on the bed.

He found me!

I know he found me. Why does Ares know so much about technology, why?

He’s going to kill me. Ares is coming for me, and not even a miracle can save me.





TEN


   The Discussion




Don’t panic, Raquel!

Don’t panic!

“Argh!” I groan in panic, pacing back and forth in my room.

Rocky follows me faithfully, perceiving my anxiety. I glance at Apolo, who is beyond dreamland. I bite my nails. Ares is definitely very angry, and he’s coming for me.

I hate you, technology! You’ve caused me so much trouble lately.

“Okay, calm down, Raquel. Breathe. One thing at a time,” I say to myself, tousling my hair. “If he comes, don’t open the door and that’s it, nothing happens.”

I sit on the edge of the bed, taking a deep breath. Apolo’s hand is dangling off the bed. Rocky sniffs at it and growls, baring his teeth. Apolo’s a stranger to him.

“Rocky, no, come on.” I lead him out of the room and close the door. The last thing I want is Rocky biting Apolo while he sleeps. That would just complicate things even more.

I don’t know how much time passes, but I yawn. I check my phone and Apolo’s, but there are no new notifications, not even a call. Could it be that Ares has calmed down? The clock on my nightstand shows me the time: 2:43 a.m. The night has flown by.

I walk into my bathroom and my reflection in the mirror is like a slap in the face. Wow, I look awful. My eyes are red and my brown hair is a mess, with locks pointing in every direction. My eyeliner is smudged under my eyes, and I could easily go out on the street and scare people. At which point did I go from looking great to awful?

It’s called alcohol, my dear.

I tie my hair into a messy bun and wash my face to remove my makeup. Barefoot, I leave the bathroom and head to my bed. I sit on the opposite side of the bed from Apolo, hesitating, but sleepiness wins the battle. My first night out has been too chaotic, and I’m exhausted. It’s a miracle I’m not already asleep and hitting REM. I sigh and rub my face. My eyes are slowly closing, and the breeze coming through the window gives me chills. My eyes shoot wide open again when I remember the time Ares climbed up to enter my room through the window.

“Shit!”

I run to the window, but halfway there I stop abruptly. A silhouette is clearly visible through the curtains. I don’t have time to think before Ares jumps into my room, pulling the curtains out of his way.

?Oh, mierda!

As Dani would say in her attempts at Spanish.

Ares Hidalgo is in my room. Again. His height making my room feel small, again. He’s still wearing that gray shirt with the rolled-up sleeves that fits him so well. He looks at me with such coldness that I swear it gives me more chills than the breeze. He is annoyed. He is very, very annoyed. His features look tense. His lips are pressed tight, and his hands are bunched into fists. His entire body language indicates that I need to handle this carefully if I don’t want to end up as Greek god food.

“Where is he?” he shouts, surprising me.