Chapter 129: Too Close For Comfort

“Alright, my little Princess.,” Asher added lightly, though something sharper glinted beneath the humor. “You ride with your Mommy.”

Lara hesitated. The stables were a short walk… but still outside the immediate security perimeter. And with Ares injured and the attack earlier, she was worried.

Before Lara could respond, another voice slipped in — low, controlled, unmistakably dangerous.

“I’ll go too.” It was Ares.

He was already pushing back his chair, ignoring the way the movement pulled at his bandaged ribs. Pain flashed across his face and vanished just as quickly, buried under sheer will.

Lara frowned. “You shouldn’t—”

“I’ll be fine.”

Not a reassurance. A statement in finality.

Shay clapped her hands, delighted. “Yay! Mommy and my two daddies are coming!”

The word hung in the air like a dropped glass.

Two Daddies.

Silence followed — brief, but sharp enough to cut.

Ares didn’t correct her.

Didn’t even blink.

Instead, his gaze drifted back to Lara — slow, deliberate, unapologetic. It didn’t just land on her; it held her there, pinned like a thumb pressing into a bruise. There was a challenge in it, dark and wordless, as if he were daring her to protest… or to surrender.

Across the table, Asher watched the moment unfold with naked curiosity. The easy charm drained from his expression, his smile thinning into something sharper,— a blade dressed as politeness.

“Well,” he drawled, leaning back in his chair as if settling in for a show, “looks like a family outing.”

But his eyes never touched Shay.

They locked onto Ares.

“Brother,” he added, voice honeyed and edged with teasing, “you shouldn’t really come. No need to put your health at risk.” A pause — measured, deliberate. “Don’t worry. I can take care of them.”

Ares didn’t blink. He met the look head-on, something glacial and territorial igniting in his stare — the ancient, silent language of men who didn’t bother with words when dominance could be carved into the air itself.

Mine!

Lara felt it before she understood it — a tightening in the air, the oxygen turning heavy, charged, electric. It crawled over her skin and settled in her chest, making every breath feel shallow, borrowed.

This has nothing to do with Shay and the pony.

Shay tugged at her hand again, small fingers sticky and impatient, blissfully unaware of the storm crackling above her head.

“Come on, Mommy!” she burst out, bouncing on her toes.

The sound snapped Lara back into herself. She forced a soft and careful smile, the kind adults wear when everything is not fine, and smoothed Shay’s hair with a steady hand.

“All right,” she said quietly. “Let’s go.”

As she stood, Ares moved at the same time — not quite touching her, but close enough that she could feel his heat, his presence, the dangerous gravity he carried everywhere.

It was protective, encroaching, and impossible to ignore.

For a fleeting second, their hands brushed.

It was nothing. Barely a contact. Yet it sent a shock straight up her arm, stealing her breath.

Ares stilled too, jaw tightening, eyes darkening as if he’d felt it just as strongly.

Neither of them pulled away immediately.

Across the table, Asher’s gaze sharpened, amusement draining into something far more serious.

Interesting. He mumbled.

Ares stepped back first, creating space — but his eyes never left Lara’s face.

“After you,” he said quietly.

Lara walked ahead with Shay, acutely aware of him behind her — every step, every breath, every beat of her heart suddenly too loud in her ears.

Because she knew, without looking…

He wasn’t watching the path.

He was watching her.

And he was patient enough to wait for the moment she would stop pretending she didn’t feel the shift.

His jaw tightened.

He didn’t know why he was pushing.

He didn’t have the right.

But the thought that Asher might be interested in her made something primitive rise in him.

Territorial instinct.

Something stirred in his chest — unfamiliar, unwelcome, and impossible to ignore. It wasn’t desire alone nor curiosity but something deeper and dangerous.

The kind of feeling a man like him had spent a lifetime making sure he never felt for any woman.

And yet… here it was.

“Are you really coming?” Lara asked suddenly, her voice soft but steady. “I’m worried about your injuries.”

The concern sounded simple on the surface, but it wasn’t. It threaded through the air between them, quiet and deliberate, like a hand reaching out just to see if he would pull away.

The question caught him off guard — not because of the words, but because of her.

Her eyes were calm, almost too calm. No panic. No dramatics. Just a clear, searching look that seemed to peel past his composure, testing what lay underneath. As if she were measuring him… weighing him… deciding something.

Ares didn’t look away.

He held her gaze, unflinching, letting the silence stretch until it felt tight enough to snap.

“Yes.”

The single word dropped between them like a stone into still water — heavy, final, sending invisible ripples through the air.

Lara’s breath caught, so faint most people wouldn’t have noticed. But he did. He noticed everything about her — the minute shift of her shoulders, the way her fingers curled slightly, the flicker of something unguarded crossing her face before she smoothed it away.

His jaw tightened.

He leaned closer, voice lowering into something rougher, darker — a sound meant for her alone.

“Why? Would you rather that I don’t come, so you could spend time with my brother?”

Lara’s pulse quickened, though her face remained composed.

“You’re overthinking,” she said softly.

“Am I?”

He leaned forward slightly now, elbows resting on his knees, gaze intense but controlled.

“You’re living under my roof. You’ve slept beside me. My daughter calls you ’Mommy.’”

His eyes darkened.

“If there’s a man you’re still holding onto in your heart, I deserve to know.”

The words were rational.

But beneath them was something far more intimate.

If you’re emotionally tied to someone else, don’t let me get attached.

Lara felt that unspoken layer.

For a moment, the gazebo fell silent except for the rustles of the leaves.

She looked down at Shay.

Then back at him.

“I don’t belong to anyone,” she said quietly. “Not in this life.”

The choice of words made Ares’ gaze sharpen.

Not in this life.

What did that mean?

Before he could press further, Shay stirred slightly, clutching Lara’s hand.

“Mommy…” she mumbled.

The tension snapped.

Lara immediately shifted her attention to the child, instinctive and protective.

Ares continued walking, his cold mask sliding back into place.

The stables came into view.

But the conversation was far from over.

Because now—

He was competing for favors.

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