Page 31 of Lovely Deceit

“Listen here, you sniveling brat,” Leon grinds out. “You’ll be a Forbes. You’ll do all those things, and you’ll do them with a smile on your goddamn face.”

“Fuck. You.”

Leon Forbes’ palm connects with my cheek with a crack, the burning sting radiating down the side of my face.

That fucker slapped me.

“The first thing my son will do is beat that smart mouth right out of you.”

Tears prick my eyes, but I refuse to cry. I pick up my untouched coffee and throw it at him—mug and all. He narrowly avoids it, shifting his head out of its path, but milky brown drops splatter over him. Behind us, a table cries out as my coffee cup lands directly on someone’s plate.

A hurtling body comes out of nowhere and I see a flash of tattoos before Leon Forbes is tackled to the floor. Cries of surprise erupt around the room.

A growly voice echoes through my core. “Don’t you dare touch her again.”

The table blocks my view, but I take the opportunity to get the hell out of there. My chair screeches back, and Dad tries to reach for me, but I yank out of his grasp.

Keegan’s next, but I give him a wide berth while scrambling away with my crutches. “I didn’t know,” he calls out, but it’s all muted as I leave the shitshow behind, feeling more lost and alone than ever.

I always thought Dee and Keegan’s forced relationship was a joke. I was even more astonished when it seemed as if she actually liked him, but that was the only reason I ever approved of it. Because I wanted my sister to be happy, and for whatever reason, she chose him.

But I don’t. And I’m certainly not going to disgrace my sister’s memory by marrying the only man she ever loved.

16

Leo

Rage doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt when Forbes slapped Eden across the face. I didn’t realize my feet were propelling me forward until I was already across the restaurant and lunging at him.

The shocked, scared-as-fuck look on his face was icing on the cake as we landed on the ground in a heap. People like him aren’t used to being treated this way, but I couldn’t not do anything.

He physically assaulted her.

“Don’t you dare touch her again,” I growled in his ear before getting to my feet. The restaurant is in an uproar, the majority of its patrons sneering at me because of my tattoos and the way I ran in here. Did any of them blink when this misogynistic asshole slapped Eden, though? No.

I lock eyes with Eden’s father. “You should be ashamed of yourself, letting anyone touch your daughter like that.”

I take one cursory look around the place for Eden, but don’t find her anywhere, so I stride toward the exit. A man in a black suit comes out from the office and tries to stop me. “Hey. Hey, young man.”

Brushing past him is easy.

“The police have been called,” he shouts after me.

“Good. Arrest Leon Forbes for physically assaulting a young girl. Or did you conveniently not see that?” I growl in his direction before stomping through the parting crowd and pushing through the main door.

The fall chill seeps into me as I peer around, trying to find Eden. Shockingly, she’s standing by my car farther down the street. I tried to park it far enough away so she wouldn’t realize I was watching her. I don’t give a fuck about following her for my grandfather anymore, but I’m glad I did today. Trouble seems to latch onto her wherever she goes.

I jog toward her, avoiding the cars driving down the city street. One honks at me as I dart in front of it but I couldn’t care less. I have my sights set on her, and that’s all I care about right now.

When I get there, I just stand in front of her lamely. Oliver would’ve scooped her up into a big hug. Alaric would say something charming to make her melt, but I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing. I’m only going on the instinctive feelings inside me. “Hey.”

She peers up, her eyes flashing. There’s a red handprint on her face, and I briefly consider running back into that restaurant and giving Forbes one to match. Bet he would love a good bitch slap. “You followed me?” she accuses.

I nod. I really hadn’t meant to. I’d almost stayed where I was, but there was this feeling inside me that said she still needed to be watched over. I could’ve just given my grandfather the covert update that she had lunch with her father, and he would’ve been happy with that.

“You’re taking me back to Jarvis Hall,” she snaps before maneuvering around to the passenger side of the vehicle. She throws her crutches in the backseat and then gets in, slamming the door behind her. I get in, too, and it’s like slicing through a big ball of tension. Anger is radiating off her in crashing waves.

I swallow, starting the car. “I thought you had him with the coffee cup.”

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