When Mac came downstairs expecting to see Ares asleep on the couch, he paused. The couch didn't look slept on. The blanket was still folded where he left it, but the pillow was gone. Donovan looked up the stairs toward Eliza’s room. Eliza letting a man into her room after Luke was the last thing he expected. It was the only other place Ares could have gone and his Liz didn’t have him lying outside the door. As much as it hurt his soul knowing there was a man in her room, she needed comfort. If Ares was the one to give it, then he would let him. Her heart was opening up again, or so Mac hoped.

The cop’s lips turned up and he continued his descent. He pulled out his old phone and ordered in some breakfast from a restaurant down the street. They knew him well at the Benedict Café. Cooking wasn’t something enjoyed anymore after Eliza moved out and he had to be at work soon. The least he could do would be to get the food as close to homemade as it could. He’d make sure to stick around until it showed up. Rebecca, the cook, could whip up a whole meal in two minutes.

Upstairs, Ares stirred. The sunlight blinded him momentarily as his eyes opened. He stared up at the ceiling, blinking away the veil of sleep. Eliza shifted and he tensed. She sniffled and sighed before settling again. Her arm draped over his torso and her leg rested over his waist. She made herself comfortable in the middle of the night. Ares didn’t recall feeling her move when he went to lie on his back. It also didn’t matter at all because she was asleep, which was why he stayed in the first place.

Ares turned his head to look at Eliza’s sleeping face. She tucked against his side, allowing him to see one side of her face and free of tension. He wondered if she had nightmares at all. Would it show on her face? He wasn’t sure he wanted to find out. His arm wrapped around her shoulders as best it could and squeezed her a little closer. She’d been through Hell and Hell came back for her. Eliza had been through enough. His free hand brushed some of her hair away from her face and then rested on top of hers. Waking her was the last thing he wanted, and he was completely fine to lie there and wait for her.

A short ring echoed from downstairs, causing Eliza to twitch. He heard the front door open, muted tones of speech, and the door shut. The crinkling of a paper bag seemed loud, but Eliza stilled. The sweet smell of food meandered into Ares’ nostrils and his stomach growled. He’d suffer just to let her sleep longer. The front door opened and shut again, the solid sound of the deadbolt telling Ares that Donovan left. He’d have to thank the cop later for opening his home up to them.

Another 20 minutes went by before Eliza started to wake. She was a little disoriented, but it all came back. She pulled her arm back to her, her hand pressing against Ares’ side. She stared at the fabric of his shirt after removing her leg. It had been a long time since she felt it, but she recognized her face turning red in an instant. She refused to look at his face. Eliza didn’t have a desire to kick him out of her bed, out of her room, and that made her uneasy. She wasn’t supposed to feel comfortable with anyone in her bed, yet she asked him to stay and he did. All she could feel was gratitude; no ill will or irritation. Ares wormed his way into her life and was breaking into her heart. It scared her.

Ares noticed her still again, thinking she was still sleeping, so he carefully slid out of the bed. She didn’t move so he tip-toed out of the room. He'd come back to get her a little later.

Once the door shut and she heard his retreating steps, she sat up. Her hair was a mess, she could tell, so she did her best to untangle the strands. She gave up when she felt how oily it was. A shower was her only solution, but she needed to wait a little longer before leaving the room. Eliza didn’t want Ares to know she was awake when he left, or that he woke her up when he left. Dramatic was an understatement for the way she was acting, and she knew it. Why couldn’t he have stayed annoying? It was like he never had an inkling to irritate her when she had her meltdown. He was so calm and knew what to do to help her. Damn him.

Eliza climbed out of bed and gathered her things for a shower. She was going to have to suck it up and deal with him soon enough. The box of fear she placed herself in wasn’t going to hold her. Whatever was coming, she’d take it head on. Mae, the Scorpions, even Ares. It was time for her to grow up and deal with her problems. Mae would only continue taking advantage of her unstable state of mind. No more.

Ares was coming up the stairs when Eliza stepped out of the room. His lips formed a brilliant smile as she paused to look at him. He continued taking steps until he stood at the last one. The corner of her mouth flipped up.

“Mac got us breakfast downstairs. Said to enjoy and he’d be back tonight with information on the apartment,” he said.

She nodded and muttered a sound of understanding.

“I’ll make sure to save you something.” Ares nodded and turned to go back downstairs.

“Thank you, you know, for yesterday,” Eliza said, looking at the ground.

“It was my pleasure.”

Leaving the house wasn’t on Eliza's agenda after breakfast. She was willing to take steps to combat the onslaught of her past, but she needed a solid day of rest. They needed a game plan. Mae was intelligent, so Eliza had to find a way to be a few steps ahead. But if Mae was working with someone else, Eliza's plan of action could fail.

While she did dishes and Ares took a shower, Eliza pondered potential partners Mae would seek out. Mae's contacts ran deep. Anyone could have been working with her and it had to be someone who wanted to come after Eliza, too. Or someone using Mae to get to Ares. Eliza wasn’t blind to the tenderness Ares was showing her, which meant others would see it too. Mae having beef with her would mean distracting Ares to get a jump on him. The only person she knew who wanted something with her partner was Terence. Is Mae how he planned to come after them?

The sound of the stairs creaking made Eliza turn around. Ares' hair was still wet and curled at the ends. He wore slim-cut jeans, a white t-shirt, and a red and black plaid button-up that he left unbuttoned. She didn’t recall him wearing it in Australia or at all. He looked good. But she had a more pressing matter than daydreaming about her frustrating partner.

“Could Mae be working with Terence?”

Ares crossed his arms as he leaned against the counter next to the dishwasher, his face stony. “It’s not impossible. Why?”

“What if he's using her to get to me, which leaves you unaware of his attack? He'd use whatever tactic he could, right? I’m your partner with a bad past that they can use to manipulate me and leave you by yourself.”

“That is how he likes to work. We'll have to watch ourselves. After yesterday, I suspect they'll be waiting for us to be distracted.”

She nodded. “Why is he after you?”

“It's a long story.”

“I told you mine.”

“Fair enough. Terence, for starters, is my half-brother. We share the same father, the very one who owns and leads the Scorpions, Ezra Logan.”

Eliza nearly dropped the spoon in her hand. She put it in the dishwasher. “Your mom married a gang leader?”

“He wasn’t when they met in college. Mom fell for him in an instant and they got married after her first year. She dropped out when she got pregnant, but he finished school, hoping to get a job to support them. When I was born, Mom stayed home with me and he worked. By the time I was five, he quit coming home some nights and when he did make it home, he was always drunk or pumped up with drugs. Once the rock showers started, he changed completely.

“Gangs started popping up and he got himself involved with several. He was always angry when he came home. Mom didn’t put up with it for long. She divorced him the next day when he threatened to hurt her. She took me with her when she left him for good. I was around 10 then. The divorce went through eight years later, no thanks to him, but he only did it because I promised to live with him. I did it for Mom. She deserved better and I wanted her to be safe. That’s when I found out he had an affair.

“Terence was a teenager when he came along, and he was already taking on the role my father wanted me in. My father was so proud to have a son who wanted to be like him. I disappointed him. I refused to be a Logan, keeping Mom's maiden name, and he knew I was there to protect her. Terence became his pride and joy.

“I stayed with them for too long. I was there when they started the Scorpions from nothing. I had enough once I reached my mid-twenties. I left and they never left me alone. Teel paid me regular visits, sometimes we talked, sometimes we fought. My father has used him to keep tabs on me. The day I came over bloody and bruised was when they found out we were working together.”

The dishes forgotten, Eliza sat down from the shock of his story. “They didn’t like it, did they?”

“I hate to tell you, but your name gets passed around a lot among gangs. There's a lot of people who have hostile opinions of you. My father and Teel are only two of them. Terence said a lot of disrespectful things about you and I punched him. Mom taught me to fight for the women in my life and to defend their honor. It’s a little traditional, but old habits don’t die easily. You know how that fight ended up.”

“I would have been fine no matter what was said about me. You didn’t need to be a hero.”

He released a burst of air through his nose, “Eliza, I watched you walk into a bar in a dress that barely covered you. And that was only to catch a bounty, and you were far from okay. I wasn’t going to let Terence talk about you like that. I didn’t want you to ever hear those words he said because I didn’t want to see that light in your eyes die again.”

Eliza’s gaze fell from his face when his eyes met hers. He was more observant than she thought. If he had gotten into a fight with his brother, she really didn’t want to know what Terrence said. She wasn’t oblivious to the way criminals thought of her. Most reveled in getting arrested by her. She ignored it, but since Ares came around, it bothered her more and more. She was confusing herself again.

“I think you are the one thing my dad and half-brother fear because you’ve made a name for yourself. They don’t like me much and our partnership pissed them off. That’s why Teel sought you out that one day. Unfortunately, you made our situation just a tad worse, but we'll handle it. Together.”

“What about your mom? Donovan? Lauren? Anyone else we know?”

Ezra hasn’t cared about my mom since he found Teel's mom. Plus, he’d never make it to her. Mom prepared for his possible return for years. She'd shoot him out of the sky.” Ares paused to ponder the people important to Eliza. “Donovan has the entire police force on his side. They are big but they’re not stupid. Lauren doesn’t pose a threat, yet, so we can ask Donovan to keep an eye on her if you feel she's no longer safe. You don’t see her much, so I wouldn’t worry too much.”

“I don’t want her kids involved,” Eliza said. “They’d be easy targets.”

Ares shook his head, “They don’t go for kids. They want us, so they'll come to us. Other people are tedious to deal with. Donovan poses the most danger in coming after us, but there isn’t much they can do about him.”

Eliza slumped forward, resting her head on her crossed arms on the top of the table. She was so tired of fighting people, tired of protecting the few she cared about. When would it end?

“They'll be okay, Lizzy. They'll be safe.”

“I want to go back before all this.”

“Before me?”

She wanted to hesitate, but her mouth moved before her brain could stop it. “No. Not that far back.”

His deep chuckle rang out, “I'm flattered you'd still want me around.”

Eliza didn’t respond. She didn’t need to say anything. There wasn’t a point. She let the unspoken words tell the story through the quiet. She needed him.