Brianna's POV.

The moment the cold air of the night touched my face, I let out a breath. I couldn't hear the appraisers anymore.

Everyone inside this room was sick.

“No,” I muttered, shaking my head when the thought of what happened with Ares crossed my mind.

"Don't blame yourself, Brianna. Find a way to go home and forget all of these." I thought to myself and headed to the street.

It was even more silent than when I first got here. I couldn't see anything in the distance, so I took out my phone and started getting in touch with any Uber app on my phone that could come and pick me up here.

According to their GPS, I needed to walk to the main street before I could reach them. Oh, goodness. This would be stressful.

I hit myself on the forehead, wondering why I even thought of going after Ares in the first place. I should have known that he was up to no good.

Now that I thought of his name, my stomach was filled with anger. A rage that was unusual. I could swear that my veins were popping out.

I didn't even know if I was annoyed at the fact that he kissed me, that I met him in such an arena, or that he took away my first kiss.

He stole my first kiss from me in public! I cringed at the memory, and my instincts made me pull my shirt onto my body again. I felt exposed.

I managed to drag myself past the street until I heard the sound of car engines. The main street was just ahead. My spirit felt elevated, not until I heard my name.

"Brianna stop!" I would recognize that voice anywhere. I didn't want to answer, so I began to walk very fast. "Anna, wait up. Just fucking get into the car."

"Get away from me!" I raised my voice at him, hoping he would get the memo and just let me be.

"You have no idea how dangerous this place can be so late at night. The least you can do is allow me to drive you home. Please." He tried to fight against the clear irritation in my tone but I couldn’t let him do that. I didn't want him anywhere near me.

I stopped on my track and glared at him. Fuck, I hate that he couldn't see my facial expression except when he came close to me.

"What do you want? Can't a girl just be left in peace?!" I raised my hands over my head in frustration.

He finally stopped in front of me with a pitiful look that made me almost want to forgive him for tonight.

"I just want to drop you off at home. It's dangerous around here. These alleys you see around hide evil men. They can hurt you here."

I shook my head. "It's not like you care, so just get lost. I will get a cab."

"We don't know when that will arrive. Listen for once, this place is nothing like where you come from." He argued with a pleading voice. His thick voice was beginning to break, and for unknown reasons, I felt bad for that, only for a moment though.

"What do you want me to do?" My anger resurfaced again. "To smile at you and forget everything that happened in there? I don't even know you anymore, and to worsen things, you molested me by taking away my first kiss from me." Something flashed across his eyes when I said that, which was unintentional, but I just didn't care anymore.

"You didn't even do it privately; it was in public. What if any of the people there recognized me on the street? What am I to do? I am your step sister, not some slut you can do those weird things to. We are families. This is bad."

I didn't know when tears began to flood my eyes, guess I was too angry.

He took one step forward, and I saw the look in his eyes. He looked like he actually felt remorseful. I could tell from the way he couldn't maintain eye contact with me.

"Will you keep everything you saw tonight to yourself? Please do me that favor." I shook my head at his words and tsked.

"What is stopping you from getting away from this asshole?" A thought popped into my head.

I just turned towards the path I was following before and arrived at the main street. Ares finally gave up; he didn't follow me, and I appreciated that.

All I needed right now was some silence.

Twenty minutes later, I was still here, waiting for the Uber. Just when I picked up my phone to call the Uber driver again, a Mazda stopped in front of me.

Wrinkles formed on my face because I felt scared of the unknown. I only became calm when a young man rolled down the window and flashed his teeth at me. "Hello, do you need a ride somewhere?"

"I..." I remained startled.

He quickly waved his hands. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you, nor did I mean any harm. Just a safe ride. I'm Diego, just so you know. I have an ID and a driver’s license if you are in doubt," he uttered and put his hand into his breast pocket, probably to bring out his ID.

"You speak exactly like a kidnapper or a serial killer trying so hard to convince his victim." I teased when my eyes landed on the identical card, and he groaned at himself.

"Really? I am bad at being innocent, then, am I not?"

I chuckled lightly and opened the car door to hop in. "Thank you. I'm Brianna."

He smiled. "You have a nice name, Brianna."

Throughout the ride, Diego talked to me as though he had known me before. He was very free, but I wasn't. I just couldn't trust anyone anyhow, especially since this wasn't a city I grew up in.

To be honest, I missed my mom. On nights like this one, I would have loved to tell her how I was feeling strangely, and she would have explained whatever it meant.

Seeing Ares up there, I just wasn't angry. I felt something else that I couldn't explain, maybe a sense of ownership. As though he wasn't supposed to be doing those things to those girls, mainly when I was there.

I sighed as I arrived at home. By the way, it was weird of Diego to get the direction in a swift way even when I had described it vaguely.

"You are an amazing driver, Diego. Thanks for tonight. I hadn't expected you to get the directions, as I, myself, was confused."

"Don't worry ma’am, I am at your service, always." He had smiled at first, and in a flash, I caught a weird facial expression from him when he stared at the house.

"Have a goodnight," I said to my new acquaintance.

"You too. I hope I see you sometime again." He hoped, and I nodded before he drove away.

Whelp!

Heading into the house, I just prayed for one thing: to not see Ares’ shadow tonight.