"She hurt her leg," Ivar replied with a smile dancing on his face.
Ares's eyes shifted to Angel who had thrown her face to the side.
He studied her momentarily, wondering what was on her mind.
After a while, he caught himself, and cleared his throat.
"Come eat with me, Ivar," he ordered in a calm voice.
Angel peeped, trying to see where she fit in that equation.
She was not alone in that thought. Ivar's eyes went to Xander, hoping he would help him out.
When he didn't get his answer from Xander, his worry grew.
These were the moments one had to be quick in their thoughts. Problem was, he never really was a fast, or even big thinker.
Ivar began to move with Angel still in his arm, when Sullivan, the third man in the room let out a long hiss.
"He's not serious, is he?" He looked around, hoping everyone mirrored his irritation.
Ivar stopped in his tracks, sensing trouble ahead.
Sullivan was different from any of the other guys. He hated any form of weakness, and never hesitated to show his disgust.
Emboldened by the silence of the boss, Sullivan continued.
"The boss asked you to come sit, not the bitch," he said.
Angel's ears widened at the same time her eyes did.
There was no way butcher boy just called her a bitch. No way!
Sullivan's gaze swept through the restless girl, with body movements suggesting she had something to say.
"Put the bitch down, Var," he ordered.
In the ranking of their family system, he was above Ivar. But the boss had a soft spot for Ivar, so he was always around.
Xander watched on in amusement, as he anticipated what was going to give.
Ivar's eyes went to Ares, hoping for confirmation.
The boss did not budge, or show any interest in their back and forth.
He had given an order, and expected it to be carried out with great care.
Sighing in defeat, Ivar returned his attention to Angel.
"Sorry pretty girl," he whispered, and began lowering her to the ground.
"That bastard didn't just apologise to the bitch, did he?" Sullivan hissed.
Angel's eyes shot up, just as Ivar moved away from her.
"Okay butcher boy, I'm not a bitch. The name is Angel. A-n-g-e-l!" She spelt the words out slowly.
Ares's brow lifted up, as he was a little taken aback by her retort.
He knew Sullivan would not take that insult, but was curious to see what would be his response.
It was as if the entire room knew too, as it became thick with tension.
"You talking to me?"
She sat on the floor with her legs stretched out, and a defiant raise of her chin.
"You're the one who keeps calling me a bitch. That's so mannerless."
"Oh you really—"
He was already rising to his feet as he spoke, when Ares lifted his hand.
Pissed at being held back, Sullivan frowned, but took his seat.
Angel's gaze moved from the men on the table to her foot.
She had seen what just happened. Mr unicorn was clearly their leader, just like her father.
She could tell his plan was to intimidate her, but as long as there wasn't a gun in sight, she wasn't going to make things easy for him.
But when he suddenly snapped his finger, a shudder ran through her.
The adjacent door opened, and she shook her head.
"So much for being brave, Angel. It's just a door," she thought.
The maids lined up with trays of food in their hands.
It was only when they began to serve the food on the table, her predicament was illuminated in her mind.
She was on the floor, whilst the men were seated like royalty on the table.
She was basically a dog, if she had ever seen one.
What would happen next? He'd ask them to serve her food on the floor?
She couldn't stop the scoff that escaped her throat.
Everyone's attention moved to her, and only then did she realise she had been loud with it.
She looked up, and her eyes widened with shock when an angry looking woman approached her with a plate in her hand.
Her thoughts began to riot. There was just no way Mr unicorn was that predictable. No way he really—
"Your food," the woman said in the strongest Russian accent she ever heard, and pushed the food on the floor.
Angel's eyes went to the plate, and the food she saw in it instantly made her nauseous.
She didn't think anything in that plate was edible.
Her face went to the side, and she held her tummy tightly.
"Don't throw up, Angel. Don't!" She begged in her head.
The door closed again, yet she could still feel everyone's eyes on her.
"Eat," she heard Mr unicorn's voice, and lifted her head, with disgust written all over her face.
"Eat what?" She challenged.
"Your food," he replied in a calm monotonous voice.
It was almost as if he was being condescending, and patronising.
Never in her life had she been this insulted. Reduced to nothing but a spectacle for ridicule in front of these animals.
"I'm not going to eat that crap. No way!" She protested loud, and clearly.
"You seem to think you have a choice in this matter. I said, eat!"
She studied him for a few seconds, curious about something she had noticed.
He never switched expressions. His face was always devoid of a smile, but filled with harsh menacing lines.
What kind of man was he? Because even as terrible as she knew her father could be, he laughed all the time.
"No!" She replied defiantly.
"Alright."
He bent to the side, and picked something off the ground.
Her brow lifted curiously, wondering what his next step would be, now she had practically told him to go to hell.
But when he lifted what he had picked up, she gasped.
"Snuggles?!" She screamed, and immediately covered her mouth with her hand.
Sullivan scoffed. "What is she? A child?"
"Nah, a princess," Ivar replied with sparkly eyes.
"Control it, Var," Xander warned, shaking his head.
The handsome man swallowed his response with his meal, but kept his eyes on the girl.
"Look Mr unicorn," she continued, when she found her voice. "I know you're heartless or whatever, but there's no way you'd hurt snuggles right? He did nothing to you, for God's sake! Where did you even find him?"
"In your car. He looks like he needs a good redesign."
He bent, and picked up a pair of scissors. Her eyes widened to the back when she clocked what he was about to do.
"No!" She began to tremble, as she shook her head. "You can't do that. You can't hurt him. That's—" her lips began to quiver, silencing her words.
"Then eat," he said.
A single tear rolled down her eyes, as she stared at the disgusting content in the plate in front of her.
She didn't want to eat it, but she had seen the unicorn's eyes.
Although he never showed any emotions, she knew he would really hurt snuggles.
"Fine, I will," she said in a hoarse, tearful voice.
Ares nodded, and dropped the stuffed toy beside his plate.
"Bon appetit," he urged with his hand.
She began to search for a spoon she could use to fetch the disgusting pudding.
"There's no cutlery," she called out.
"Cutlery?" He chortled dryly. "Your face to the plate, and then you slurp."
"What?" Her gaze shot up, at the same time his went to snuggles.
She understood what that meant, and nodded frantically.
Dragging her leg that hurt into a kneeling position, she sniffled, and bent her head to the plate.
The smell was awful, making her gag. She raised her head a little to get some air, before trying again.
This time around, she held her breath, until her mouth touched the plate.
It was just as awful as it looked, and smelled.
But she slurped, and swallowed, anyway. It was either that, or watch snuggles suffer. And she couldn't let that happen.
"Happy now?" Her body trembled, as she looked up.
"Not yet."
He stretched out his hand, and Sullivan passed him a phone.
"Did you take a picture?" She asked in shock.
"Better, a video."
"Oh my God! What are you going to do with it? Please don't tell me that's one of your disgusting fetishes?"
He didn't respond, making her grow even more red with anger.
Xander was amazed at how she continued to talk, despite how shaky she was.
She couldn't keep quiet to save her life, and he was fascinated by that fact.
Ares waited a few seconds, and the phone began to ring.
"He's so predictable," Sullivan muttered with food in his mouth.
"Like I said, just mannerless!" Angel whispered in her mind.
Ares answered the video call, and turned the screen towards Angel.
Her father appeared on screen, and she burst into tears.
"Daddy!" She screamed.
Ares quickly turned the screen back to his face, as he slowly lifted his middle finger.
"You'll pay for this," Hades muttered.
"Game on," Ares replied, and ended the call.