Page 101 of Ares

It’s Aurora Murphy.

My stomach knots as I read on.

It also tells me that her stepfather, a seedy sonofabitch called Donnie Hatzakorian, is very, very dead.

He was murdered a year ago.

So why the fuck did she come all the way to Tennessee and ask me to kill a dead man?

ARES

She opens the door, and my stomach drops when I see her face.

She’s been crying. It also looks like she hasn’t slept at all.

My instinct is to reach for her, but I don’t.

“What are you doing here?” Her voice is soft.

Over her shoulder, I see two packed suitcases, and the knot in my chest tightens. I look back at her, but she’s looking down, a frown pressed into her forehead.

“Don’t,” she whispers.

I brush past her to enter her apartment. “You’re leaving me?” I can’t hide the desperation in my voice.

“I have to go, Ares.”

“Where?” I bite out through gritted teeth.

“Back to Boston.”

The chaos in my head spins wildly, and it’s hard to contain my emotions. My fists clench, my face tightens.

She’s fucking leaving me.

I storm over to her. “I tell you I’m in love with you, and you pack your fucking bags?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me why.”

“Because I didn’t come here to fall in love.” She lifts her gaze. “I came here to kill you.”

What.

The.

Ever.

Loving.

Fuck?

Her words echo around the room and then hit me right in the goddamn heart like a bullet.

I don’t move as my head scrambles to work it out.

She’s here to kill me?

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