Page 96 of Fragile

I imagined for a woman with fire who demanded equality, Max would be a tough cookie to deal with. He wasn’t a bad guy but he could be sexist. You have to dig beneath the surface with Max. When he was backed into a corner, he used aggression to break free. He also had some twisted sexual kinks that wouldn’t be for all women. Especially that feminist type.

“There’s someone for everyone they say,” I said, testing the water. You had to go easy on Max as it didn’t take him long to snap. “Maybe a small redhead with freckles and a huge fucking chip on her shoulder for one?”

“That ship has sailed mate,” Max said and I detected a trace of regret. He then added to that but it came out as an incoherent grunt.

“Did you invite her for drinks tonight? It would have the perfect setting to work it out?”

He gave me an annoyed look. “I did.”

“Well, that’s good,” I said in an encouraging voice. Fuck knows when I became a fricking matchmaker but it appeared Max needed more help than me.

“She told me to go fuck myself.”

“Ah,” I replied with a hang-in-there buddy shoulder tap, but he shrugged my hand off. I had to do damage detail and change the subject.

“Or what about your friend over there,” I began, clearly taking the piss, motioning towards the overly tanned girl. “Maybe you’ll get free tanning bed sessions.”

He shook his head as he cast his eyes towards the approaching woman.

“She said she’d been on holiday. Where’s she fucking been, Mercury?”

I spat out part of my drink, Max’s sense of humour was usually quite dry but he’d had a skin full. His restraint surprised me, yes, the girl was rather bright but she was passable and Max being Max liked to stick it in every passing woman, if given the chance. I wondered if a fiery little redhead was the reason that he’d started to become choosy. Either way, something was up, he hadn’t been himself lately and was drinking way too much.

My cheeks were hurting from how hard I was smiling and my laughter must have encouraged him as he grinned at me.

“Anyways, your girl is coming back so put your game face on. As I said, don’t fuck it up. I’ll give you some space, Miles has challenged me and Adam to a game of darts. Better be off before I’m set upon by old Tango there,” he stated quickly. “I also need to take a whizz.”

Chuckling I said, “And you call me a pussy when you’ve got the bladder of a woman.”

“What do you expect, I’ve just sunk three bottles in a row.”

“You can’t take your booze either, a sign of old age maybe?” I snickered.

“Fuck off, you cheeky bastard,” he volleyed back with a huff. Max had always been sensitive about his age and now he’d hit a milestone, I had loads of ammunition to throw at him.

My words almost died in my throat as Leonie came back from the ladies. As she glided back over, I lifted her onto Max’s empty seat and a wave of possessiveness slammed into me. God I fucking loved the woman.

“What’s your poison kitten?” I question, remembering one of the boys had asked that when she’d gate-crashed my lad's night that first time.

“I would say you, but I guess you mean what do I want to drink and so beer please,” she said with a grin. I remembered back to that first night she’d arrived at the house and hadn’t understood the lingo. How far you’ve come, you adorable girl. I loved that she thought of me as her poison and she was right. I knew I was wrong for her in every fucking way but I couldn’t help myself. I had to be near her.

“Can I smell marijuana?” Leonie suddenly said, sniffing. That got Luca’s attention and he held the joint he had just rolled out to her.

I put my foot down. “She doesn’t smoke dickhead.”

Leonie scrunched up her cute little nose and peered up at me. “Maybe I should try it. I think it’s time I started to try new things.”

I grinned down at her. “No. You’re not trying it and I have plenty of new things to teach you, kitten.”

The way she lifted those flirty eyes made me want to bend her over the pool table and fuck her raw.

We spent the next two hours talking and laughing with my friends, playing pool (badly) and dancing (badly). I genuinely felt like a twenty-four-year-old without the huge burden of a future working for the mafia on my shoulders. Things were looking up.

It was almost like Leonie’s presence in my life had normalised it. I felt less tense and worried. She fed my inner beast and kept him at bay.

I had fallen in love with the very girl I had been determined to avoid and I was enjoying every minute of that weakness.

At the end of the night, Marco was due to pick us up along with Asher and Mark. They were also staying at the apartment. Mark had grown on me, he had a good sense of humour and cared about my brother. He was a tad bossy at times, but Ash would have been fine with that having always been the one to bow down to authority. Being assertive wasn’t in his genes.

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