Through My Window (Hidalgos #1)(25)

On the third ring, I hear his voice.

“Hello?”

The lump in my throat makes it almost impossible for me to say anything. “Hello, Ares.”

“Who is it?”

“It’s . . . Raquel.” My voice breaks. I have tears falling from my eyes. “I . . .”

“Raquel? Are you okay? Are you crying?”

“No, well, yes . . . I . . .”

“For God’s sake, Raquel, tell me what’s wrong.”

I can’t talk, I can only cry. For some strange reason hearing his voice has made me burst into tears. The guy takes the phone from me.

“Hi, I’m the phone’s owner. The girl was attacked under a bridge.” There’s a pause. “We’re at the park on Fourth Avenue, in front of the construction building. Okay, all right.” He hangs up.

I’m just a sea of tears. The man touches my shoulder.

“He’ll be here in a few minutes. Calm down, breathe.”

The minutes fly by. Like I said, my neighborhood isn’t far, but I didn’t expect to see Ares running toward us. He’s wearing gray pajama pants and a T-shirt of the same color, and his hair is a mess. His beautiful eyes meet mine, and the concern on his face disarms me. I stand up to walk toward him. Ares doesn’t say anything but quickly embraces me, smelling of soap, and in this moment of safety, of reassurance, I am safe. He leans back and holds my face.

“Are you okay?” I nod faintly and his finger brushes against my busted lip. “What the hell happened?”

“I don’t want to talk. I just want to go home.”

Ares doesn’t push me to say more. He looks at the man to one side of us. “I’ll take care of it; you can go. Thank you very much.”

“You’re welcome. Take care of yourselves.”

We’re left alone, and Ares lets go of me, turns around, and leans forward to offer me his back.

I look at him strangely. “What are you doing?”

He gives me a smile over his shoulder. “Taking you home.”

Carefully, I climb onto his back and he carries me easily, as if I weighed nothing. I rest my head on one of his shoulders. My face is still throbbing with pain, and tears flood my eyes as I think about what just happened, but I feel safe.

In the arms of the idiot who broke my heart, I feel safe.

The silence between us isn’t uncomfortable, it’s just silence. The sky is clear, the streets are quieter now, and the orange streetlights are still there as if nothing has happened.

We arrive at my house, and Ares puts me down. My mom is at work, so he comes in with me. I go up to my room while he looks for ice in the kitchen. Rocky greets me enthusiastically, and I manage to rub his head a little before sending him to sit in the corner of the room. I take off my backpack and sit on my bed.

Ares appears with a plastic bag full of ice and sits down next to me. “This will help.” He presses the bag against my face, and I let out a groan of pain.

“I’m sorry,” I say quietly.

Ares frowns. “Why?”

“For calling you, I know that . . .”

“No,” he interrupts me. “Don’t even think about it. Never hesitate to call me if you’re in trouble, ever, understood?”

“Understood.”

“Now lie down, you need to rest, tomorrow will be another day.” I obey him and lie down, holding the ice pack against my cheek. He covers me with blankets and I just watch him. I’ve forgotten how cute he is.

I missed you.

I think about it, but I don’t say it. Ares seems to be getting ready to leave, and the panic of being alone overcomes me. I sit up. “Ares . . .”

Those blue eyes look at me, waiting, and I don’t know how to ask him to stay. How can I ask him to stay when a week ago I asked him to leave and never come back? But I don’t want to be alone. I can’t be alone tonight. He seems to read my mind.

“Do you want me to stay?”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, I’ll be fine, I—”

He doesn’t let me finish, throwing himself on the opposite side of the bed. Before I can speak, he puts an arm around my waist and pulls me close to him, hugging me from behind affectionately.

“You’re safe, Raquel,” he murmurs. “Sleep. I won’t leave you alone.”

I put the ice pack on the bedside table and close my eyes. “Do you promise?”

“Yes. I won’t leave. Not this time.”

Sleepiness comes over me, and I fall between that state of consciousness and unconsciousness. “I missed you, Greek God.”

I feel a kiss on the back of my head and then a quiet whisper.

“Me too, Witch, me too.”





FOURTEEN


   The Gentleman




Rocky’s habit of licking my hand when he wants food wakes me up. The sunlight is streaming through my window, warming the room. My eyes burn, and my face hurts, and it takes me a few seconds to remember everything that happened last night.

Ares . . .

With a jump, I sit up and look at the other side of my bed. My heart sinks when I see that it’s empty. But what did I expect? That I’d wake up to him cuddling with me? I’m so naive.

Slowly, I walk to the bathroom to brush my teeth. When I look in the mirror, I let out a squeal. “Holy mother of bruises!”