Taking time to relax at the beach put both Ares and Eliza in such positive moods, they ended up finishing their day at a seaside bar. The sun turned the sky a brilliant orange and pink, making the water look rose gold. Eliza ended up taking a few photos on her tablet. It was too pretty to ignore. She inadvertently showed Ares the picture she took when they first arrived in Australia as she scrolled through her album. She tried to scroll past it, but she was too late.

"When did you take that last photo? You know, the one you just passed like you didn't want me to see it."

Eliza felt her face grow warm. "Uh, yesterday when we got here."

"Can I see it?"

Without meeting his eyes, she handed it over. She started sipping on her piña colada and stared out at the water. It shouldn't have embarrassed her because it was a great shot. The color contrasted nicely, and the wind made the image come alive. It was just unfortunate that Ares was in it.

"This is well done," he finally said, handing it back to her with his lips turned upward. "I didn't know you enjoyed photography."

She shrugged and put her tablet away. "I took more pictures before moving, even though it was a dying art. I still hold on to it. It's calming."

"Even when I'm in the middle of a good shot?" His eyes filled with mirth.

"Unfortunately, you were needed in it."

"I will take that as a compliment." Ares picked up his glass of whiskey and took a swallow. "So, did you quit taking photos after... you know?"

Eliza's demeanor darkened. Her eyes seemed to look in the past and she took an extremely long drink. "In part."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, but you brought me out here for a reason and I have an inkling as to that reason. I don't think I have much of a choice."

"You always have a choice. I don't expect you to explain anything to me. Not yet, at least. It sometimes helps to talk about it, though."

"They always say that," she muttered, setting her nearly empty glass down.

"It's true."

The patrons at the bar muted in her ears as she leaned over the table. The smell of liquor disappeared and the wood grain on the table blended together. It was just her and Ares. He tried to brighten her day taking her to the beach and he was successful. She had fun. She relaxed. Maybe it was fair to let him know that one thing.

"I met Mae Valen after moving to Mars. It was chance, I suppose. She bumped into me at a bar I decided to check out. It's not even in business anymore. There was some kind of aura around her that attracted everyone. Guys thought she was a goddess and ladies wanted her as their best friend. I was one of the few who didn't care, and she loved me for that. We became friends. She was probably the closest friend I ever had.

"When I first visited her and her family during Christmas, that's when I met her brother, Luke. We hit it off better than me and Mae. The more we got to know each other, the more I could see Mae's jealousy. She loved her brother, but he was better at everything. She hated that about him. I was her one thing she had over him. It all went to hell after that."

Ares' eyes refused to leave Eliza's face even when she paused to take a deep breath. She hated the attention and she hated telling her story. She could already feel her body shaking.

"It took little time for me and Luke to fall for each other, as crazy as that sounds," she released a breathy chuckle. "Mae was furious when she found out. I think it sent her over the edge and she started to try breaking us up. It never worked. We were engaged in the following summer. I asked Mae to be my Maid of Honor, despite how upset I knew she was, and she agreed. I should have known she was only going to sabotage everything.

"Not even a month after Luke proposed, Mae got into the dealings with the prominent gang at the time. I think they called themselves the Creed, but I don't care to remember. Mae found herself at the top in a matter of weeks. She was the one to be worried about. None of the bounty hunters could catch her. That's when drugs entered her life. She would come over to our apartment barely conscious. It worried Luke so much that he tried to step in and save her from the path she chose. Instead, he got involved, too. Without much work, he rose up the ranks faster than she did. He was on the verge of taking her out of her position when she decided to kill him in the middle of the night, in our bed, was the best course of action.

"I wasn't there because I fought with Luke over how dangerous it was for him to be involved in Mae's extracurricular activities. He was roped so far in, there wasn't much hope for him, but I didn't want to give up. The thought of breaking up the engagement was heavy in my mind all the time. Mac talked some sense into me that night. He said Luke needed me more than ever, so I decided to apologize the next morning. My head was filled with a stupid fantasy of actually being happy with him. Instead, I walked into our apartment and found him dead. Our sheets were drenched in his blood. I knew it was Mae because of the knife left in his chest. It was the one her grandfather gave to her when he died. A dragon was carved into the handle. Luke had always wanted that knife and she killed him with it. She didn't care about him and she didn't care about me.

"Mae tried to talk to me after that as if she never killed him. I confronted her with my fist. I wanted to kill her, I did. I was going to use the same damn knife, but I was too soft then. I just handed it and her over to Donovan.

"We held a funeral for Luke, but hardly anyone came. He'd cut off so many people. Mae managed to get out of custody the next day. That's when I started hunting. That's why I took that bounty. I knew the risks, but I wanted her to get what was coming to her. I had waited for so long to catch her. But we don't kill, so I have to hope that she'll be taken down now with all the charges against her."

Eliza wiped away the stream of tears she didn't realize fell. "I'm sorry I took the bounty, but I couldn't let someone else get her. It had to be me."

Ares frowned. He couldn't deny he would have done the same in her case. He would have risked everything to take her down. "I'm sorry you went through Hell and back."

"I'm successful because of it," she shrugged. "I'd still be soft without it."

It suddenly made sense why she was so pissed when she broke into the room Mae took him into. Eliza expected Mae to take him away from her. Sure, she didn't think of him as more than a partner, but he could tell she had minimal dependency on his company. Well, he hoped he read her correctly. It didn't seem to matter if she was irritated by his presence, she expected him to be around.

"You know, I'm not going to desert you," he said. "You're my partner and it's going to stay that way for as long as you want."

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

It was nearing midnight when Eliza and Ares returned back to the house. Katie was already in bed, so the lights were shut off except the front porch light. They were quiet when they walked inside.

The silence grew between them once they left the bar. Eliza was fighting her demons and Ares was mulling over her story. There was nothing really to say. The chirping of crickets cut through the silence after they shut the front door. Eliza barely heard them. Ares couldn't hear anything beyond them.

Eliza started walking up the stairs, but Ares decided he wasn't quite ready to let her go. Before she made it halfway up the staircase, he bounded to the stair above her and pulled her into a hug. He expected the stiffness when he squeezed his arms around her shoulders. He didn't expect her to bury her face into his chest and release the sob she had been holding in. When her knees gave out, he carefully brought them to a sitting position and continued hugging her.

Katie heard the sound and quietly stepped out to see what it was and paused. Ares met her curious stare and he gently shook his head. If he knew anything about the woman crying in his arms, she wouldn't want anyone else to see her in such a state. His mom seemed to catch on and nodded before going back into her bedroom.

Ares let his chin rest on the top of Eliza's head and waited patiently for her to calm down. It didn't take long. With a final sniffle, Eliza stood up. Ares did, too. She wiped her face, sniffled again, and nodded at him. It was more than enough as her thanks. He silently watched her finish the walk up the stairs and disappear into her room. She'd be okay. They'd be okay.