Page 15 of Fragile

“L-e-o-n-i-e,” Max repeated, savouring her name.

The match started up again and I purposefully turned the volume up, hoping the game would distract them. It didn’t, it appeared they could multitask; one eye on the match and the other on me.

The boys roared as Arsenal scored, leaning forward in their seats, and fist-bumping the air. Arsenal was my team and I backed them one hundred percent, but at that split second, I didn’t give a shit about football.

“So, the houseguest is a she, and you decided to leave that part out because she’s a fitty?” Max husked in that deep baritone of his.

“Yep, it appears Gabe has decided to hide her from us. I wonder why?” Miles blurted, taking a swig of beer. Motherfucker, I had visions of glassing him with the bottle.

“I must admit, I wouldn’t mind climbing that,” Adam said, causing a ripple of nods of agreement to occur around the space.

“She single?” Max queried, rolling his huge shoulders, the tats over the muscles of his arms flexing. Is she single, like that mattered to the prick? Hunter by name, and a hunter by nature. For Max, married women dropped their knickers in a heartbeat.

“She’s off limits, end of,” I stated. Cut them off at the source, and say it how it is so they didn’t need to decipher any type of code.

Max looked mega shocked at my words; almost like I’d just told him that his grandmother likes to take it up the arse. I suppose it would come as a surprise as I’d never warned my friends off any woman before. Even those I had been mildly interested in. As far as I was concerned when it came to pussy; let the best man win.

“What the fuck does that mean sunshine?” Max added, composing himself, those shrewd eyes roaming over my face before his focus was tugged away.

“Gabe’s trying to cockblock us,” Sam put in and then followed this up with a mighty belch. Sam owned several cash and carry units; he was a proper Del Boy but minted with it.

“I must say, for once, shit for brains is right. That’s exactly what I’m doing.”

“Alright big man, calm the fuck down. When did you become such a fun sponge?” Sam taunted with a cocky smirk.

Max glanced with an amused expression at Sam, who then started texting on his phone. He was probably messaging his girlfriend, which was rich, considering he’d just been eye fucking said houseguest.

“So, where is this angel?” Max asked, his blue eyes glancing towards the corridor which led to the bedrooms. He had the longest eyelashes ever, much too long for a man. I’d told him that one night when we were in the pub and got smacked in the face for my trouble. Max was a brawler and loved using his fists. Sam was the total opposite; the calmest of the lads, you were lucky if you could piss him off at all. And believe me, we’d all tried.

“Leonie is in her room,” I informed them all and then added for effect, “Somewhere none of you fuckers will ever be.”

“Leonie what?” Max questioned, tasting her name again. It didn’t sit right in his mouth in my opinion. He was watching me intently and I knew that look well. The guy read me like a book.

“You wouldn’t know her. She doesn’t move in the circles we do. Leonie Smith, and she’s staying here temporarily as a favour to Asher. That’s all you need to know, now move the fuck on.”

My message was clear but would they listen? Would they fuck. Even though they knew who I was, who my father was. These guys were all big hitters and had never, would never be afraid of me and mine. Some may call that foolish.

“So, you already tapping that? I bet she’s a stellar lay,” Luca surmised, his eyes still on the game. “Bit close to home, isn’t it?” Luca was a model and walked the catwalks, he was a huge success but we still took the piss out of him. I remember one birthday as a wind-up, he sent me a massive poster of himself standing in only Calvin Klein underwear. That had not gone down well as you can imagine, especially when he started to tell the others I put the thing up in my hallway. As if.

Batting off the thought, I jumped in with, “No, ‘that’ as you so eloquently put it has fucking complicated written all over it,” I aimed my reply toward Max, even though Luca had posed the question. Luca may be the prettiest, but Max was my direct competitor where women were concerned. We were similar in so many ways, in looks and personality. Fuck me, we’d shared the same girls at one point. Although I was a suit, pristine and sleek; Max generally lived in jeans, sweaters and boots and looked as rough as fuck. He was one of those guys who you would never pick a fight with. He was also way too lazy for a proper relationship and wouldn’t touch anything that made him work for it. Hence my reply about getting involved with her on any level being complicated.

“Don’t you think the lady should decide for herself? I haven’t had a proper date in a while,” Max sighed, his brow curved, mischief dancing in his eyes. He was being sarcastic as he didn’t date; neither of us did. Too much of a fucking headache.

“You mean you haven’t got laid in a while?” Dale corrected. The others chuckled at that one.

“If you class the last six hours as a while, you’re spot on mate,” Max boasted drily. We all believed him of course.

“So, who was the lucky girl?” Miles questioned. He enjoyed listening to stories of our conquests as he rarely got his end away; he probably needed some sordid details to top his wank bank up.

“No one you know,” Max replied dryly.

“What was she like? You make her cum with the thunder?” Miles chuntered, verbally sucking Max’s cock. He saw the older man as God’s gift to women and he was, in a fashion. Miles went through a phase of attempting to style his hair like Max’s. He even adopted his walk, until we all advised him to climb out of the big guy's arse.

“Have you popped the daughter of your business partner yet? That tight little number?” Adam cut in with a leering look on his face.

Here we go again. It was well known that Max hated his new colleague's meddlesome only child; if you could call a twenty-one-year-old woman that. A tiny, pale freckled virago with a huge stick up her arse. Max had vented that she was spoiled and stuck up and trying to hold her own in the world of construction; a field still heavily lorded over by the male of the species. I must admit, I found her ballsy to go against someone like Max. She’d gained my respect within the first hour of meeting her. I wouldn’t confess that to Max, of course, he’d string me up by the nuts.

“What’s her name again, Amber something?” Adam mused with a stupid look on his face.

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