Page 20 of Sleeping with the Frenemy

What could he say to that? There was no way he could pull his normal bait and switch with them. He respected them too much. “How?” he asked. “How did you know?”

Abuelo shrugged. “Rosie told me all about the argument you two had and I put it together.”

Ugh. Rosie, his six-year-old niece. “That little backstabber.”

“Don’t blame her. She didn’t know what she was sharing. Besides, I bribed her.”

Of course, he did. His bribe had probably been better than Leo’s. You get what you paid for and he got five dollars’ worth of silence. “I knew I should’ve bought her the video game instead of the coloring book,” Leo muttered.

“I’m her favorite abuelo. She would’ve told me anyway.”

“Back tomygranddaughter,” Doña Fina interrupted.

Since the jig was up, Leo decided to be honest. “We do have a past, but Sofi’s been done with me for a year and seven months.”

Doña Fina tilted her head. “What about you? Are you done with her?”

Leo rubbed a hand over his face. He beat back the immediate urge to lie and considered her question seriously. He would love to say yes, he was done with Sofi, but he knew that was more wishful thinking than truth. He honestly didn’t think there was anything she could do that would make him truly done. Hell, she’d basically told him to fuck off and then disappeared for a year and a half and he still felt a pull to her. “I should be,” he told Doña Fina with complete honesty. “I was shot last year.”

“Dios mio.”

“I could’ve died. There was a moment I thought I was going to.”

“Ay bendito.”

“It made me realize that I needed to grow up. I need to stop playing around and actually do something with my life.”

“Claro,” both old people said at the same time.

“But Sofi doesn’t want that. She’d rather continue to play the same game we’ve been playing since we were kids.” Leo shook his head. “I can’t do that anymore. I’m sick of the making up and breaking up. I’m sick of the hiding and sneaking around.”

Abuelo Papo nodded.

“But you want to be with her,” Doña pressed. “Quieres un futuro con mi negrita.”

Leo paused again, considering her declaration, because it had not been a question. She’d said it like she already knew the answer. If anyone had said those words to him a year ago, Leo would’ve denied it with everything in his body. He’d been just as into the game as Sofi had. He’d thought the back and forth was exciting and, as someone who dreaded boredom like others feared death, he’d chased that excitement. He’d been just as prone as Sofi to do something to cause a fight. He’d thought the constant fighting was just another demonstration of their passion.

Then he’d been shot and had faced death in a way he’d never had before. He’d realized that what they’d allowed themselves to have was not only toxic but a complete waste of both of their time. Leo refused to waste his time because he finally knew just how precious it was. He’d come out of that experience determined to make his life look exactly how he wanted it to be. He was ready to do whatever he had to do to make it happen, hence his dedication to training, helping his family however he could, and making himself the type of man he really wanted to be.And where does Sofi fit into that? Are you willing to work just as hard for a real chance with her?

As if he could read Leo’s mind, Abuelo Papo jumped in. “The question isn’t whether or not you want her.” He waved a hand at Leo. “I think we all know that you do. The question is, what are you willing to do to get her?” Abuelo Papo said. “Because a woman like her will take a lot of work and even more sacrifice.”

“But she’s worth it,” Leo told him, surprising himself with the decision he’d apparently come to. “Sofi is literally the most difficult person I’ve ever met in my entire life. Most days she makes me want to pull out my own hair. But I’ve never been able to envision a future without her and I’m sick of trying. I just want her to see our future too.”

Doña Fina released a huge smile. One that made her look more like her granddaughter than ever. “I was hoping you’d say that.” She shuffled forward in her chair. “If you let me, I can help you get what you want.”

“Me too,” Abuelo jumped in to say. “You already know that I’m good at it.”

That was true. Abuelo Papo had proven that he was willing to lie, cheat, and manipulate in order to help his beloved grandkids win over their significant others. First, he and Killian had blackmailed Kamilah and Liam into faking a relationship that led to them finally realizing their feelings for each other. Now the two were as close as two people could be and making it official with a wedding. Then Abuelo Papo had skillfully maneuvered Saint, Leo’s serious and stubborn oldest brother, into spending time with the equally determined Lola León by starting a prank war with her grandfather. He’d pushed them together in any way he could and eventually they both figured out how to bend enough to make their relationship work. Now they were happily making a life together with little Rosie, Saint’s daughter. But could he do the same for Leo and Sofi?

Was there too much history between him and Sofi for either one of them to get over? Sure they’d never done anything truly terrible to each other, but there had been so many little hurts.Death by a thousand cutspeople called it. Was there any way Leo could revive their relationship even with the help of the two people in front of him? Worse, was that even what Sofi wanted? Leo wanted to believe that deep down it was, but he wasn’t positive especially not after she’d been away so long. If he’d changed in the last year because of his experiences, it only made sense that she had too. Maybe this new Sofi wanted him even less than the old Sofi. Was he willing to risk the little bit of peace he’d gained in order to find out?

It shocked him to realize that he was. He was willing to risk it all if it meant even the smallest possibility of gaining a future with Sofi. Leo had always been a gambling man and a bit of an adrenaline junkie, but nothing compared to the feeling he felt now. He was standing at the edge of a cliff with an old parachute on his back, ready to jump. He would jump no matter what. The only thing to see now was whether the parachute would open when he needed it to or if his luck would finally run out and he’d end up smashed on the rocks below.

Leo gulped. “Okay,” he told his new teammates. “Let’s do it.”

5

Sofi couldn’t stop looking at Leo. She wasn’t the only one. Just about everyone in the restaurant had been sneaking glances at him since the scene he and his mom had made. She could tell that he was getting annoyed with the attention, but he was playing it off like he wasn’t.

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