Page 48 of Scandalous Little Obsession

"What?" The concern I hear in his voice suddenly has me on edge as well. I scan the room, looking for anyone I might recognize, when I see him.

His long strides carry him across the room quickly. The second Leo sees him, he grabs my hand beneath the table and whispers an apology to me under his breath.

"You two look nice tonight. First date?" Julian asks as he takes a seat across from us.

"Uh, yeah," I answer when Leo remains silent.

"Any big plans for after dinner?" Leo and I share a look but neither respond. "Listen, I couldn’t give a shit less that you two are seeing each other. I'm not going to say anything to Max."

An audible sigh leaves Leo as he bows his head to his chest.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. If he treats you wrong, he'll have a dozen or so guys to answer to, after we hand him over to Max."

"He won't," I assure Julian as he stands.

Extending his hand, I nudge Leo. He stares at Julian's hand for a long time before finally taking it in his own. Seconds later, Leo is pulled out of the booth by Julian and they're walking away.

I watch as they retreat to the other side of the restaurant, disappearing down a hall. He's gone less than five minutes, but when he returns, his face is white as a ghost.

"What was that?"

"A warning I'll never forget."

"To what? Keep your hands off me? Did Julian pull a Max?" I swear to God if he threatened Leo the same way Max did, I'm going to kill him. It's bad enough I have one big brother—well, five if you count Max's other friends who have adopted me—I don't need to add another one.

"No. A warning to avoid Max like the plague after he finds out." We knew he'd have to do that. "And to avoid my roommate. He's been spying on me for Max, I guess. And I won't lie to you, Craig has it all figured out. He knew it was you I was going out with tonight. I had to lie and say I canceled my date before he gave up on it."

Quickly pulling out his phone, Leo taps on the screen like a man on a mission, his lips pressed together in frustration.

"What are you doing?"

"Sending Craig before and after pictures. I told him I had to clean my mom's gutters. Wait. That didn't sound right."

A fit of laughter washes over me at Leo's choice of words. He chuckles with me for a few beats before taking my hand in his and turning to fully face me.

"Evie, I'm so sorry. I knew this was going to be hard, that this could potentially be an issue between you and your brother, but I didn't think it was going to end up like this. With everyone warning us away from each other. With threats of bodily harm from Max. The last thing I want is for you—"

"Are you breaking up with me?" I ask before he can finish.

"No!" Lowering his voice, he leans in close and whispers, "Your brother’s going to have to break both my hands if he wants me to stop touching you. Both my legs if he wants to keep me away from you. Blind me if he wants me to stop looking at you. And cut out my tongue if he wants me to stop kissing you."

A shiver runs up my spine, his words a sweet caress despite the gory visual images that accompanied them.

"Then what are you saying?"

"I'm saying I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to come between you and your brother. I know family is important, and if you want to break things off with me, I'd understand."

If I want to break things off with him?

Why would I want to do that?

I mean, aside from the parts about him getting mutilated by my brother—which he wouldn't do.

"Listen to me close." I wait until he makes eye contact with me before I continue. "My brother is going to be furious. He's going to feel deceived, which he has been. He might try to punch you. He'll definitely threaten to do worse, but that's all it will be. Empty threats. Because Max loves me. And as much as he doesn't want to see me date anyone, he does want to see me happy." Cupping Leo's cheeks, he leans into my touch and kisses my palm. "You make me happy, Leo. He won't see that right away, he won't want to, but once he does, things will be fine."

"You're pretty confident."

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