Page 130 of Grumpy Billionaire Bad Boy

Leo downs his drink and takes mine out of my hand, swallowing down what’s left of it, too.

"Hey, what the hell!"

"Now we're even," he tells me. "By the way, thanks for checking out back there. I could have used your help."

"You were doing just fine without me, plus, that guy wasn't interested in me one bit. He had his sights on you."

"He's been begging me for years to merge with his company."

"And? What's so bad about that?" I chew my lip and wonder how expensive the drinks at the bar are and if I could afford to get us another round. I rummage through my bag, siftingthrough the dollars to find something more substantial. That's when I spot Archer's black Amex sitting at the bottom, staring up at me like it has a flashing sign. No, things between us have finally settled, I shouldn't stir the pot by using his card. Although…if he didn't want me to use it, he would have asked for it back. Maybe he shut it off, that would explain why he hasn't said a word about it. I guess there's only one way to find out…but on the very likely chance that he did, I'm not sure if I have enough cash on me to foot the bill.

"His business is clean," he tells me. "To merge with mine, that would be suicide. Now, if he died, I could acquire it at a low cost, expand my market, and pinch out the competition. You get the gist?"

"You're going to kill the old man?"

"Moments like this, London, I see what he sees in you." Leo stares right at me and I could punch him in the throat for implying what I think he's implying.

"Can I borrow twenty dollars?"

With a sigh, Leo pulls out his money clip, sliding off a thick stack of hundred-dollar bills, licking his thumb and pulling a few off. "Here." He shoves them into my hand.

"I said twenty, Leo." I pause. "Actually, no, it's fine, I'll take your money." I shove it into my purse and clasp it shut. "I'm getting us another round. I'll be right back. Stay out of trouble and don't kill anyone until I get back." I leave him there, heading straight to the bar without giving him a chance to follow me, because if he did, then he'd see me pull out Archer's American Express and try to use it. I don't particularly care if he knows but I don't want to lose face in front of him if it gets denied.

I go up to the bar and squeeze through a spot in the chaos, the last bartender who helped Leo coming right up to me.

"Two more tequila old-fashioneds?" He's already reaching for the ingredients without giving me a chance to interject, not like I would have anyway.

I tend to stick to the same thing once I get started out of fear of getting a gnarly hangover. It won't get rid of them completely, but it does lessen the likelihood of it happening.

"Please," I tell him and reach into my purse, latching onto Archer's black Amex, the weight of it gaudy in my grasp.

"Did I hear that right?" the guy next to me says. He's attractive, with his long on the top, short on the side dark hair and bright blue eyes. He's pretty in an annoying kind of way, like God decided to favor him a bit more than the rest of us "You're getting an old-fashioned with tequila? Never heard of such a thing." He points to the guy. "I'll have one of those, too."

I force a smile and keep looking ahead, my brain taking far too long to realize that this man is attempting to talk to me and I'm blatantly ignoring him. "Sorry, I'm being a total bitch." I turn toward him and extend my hand. "I'm London, and yes, it's a weird combination but it's really good. Trust the process."

He smiles, exposing his excessively white and perfectly aligned teeth. "Blake Manor." There's a sort of twinkle to him that makes me uneasy but I'm not sure if I should blame him or the entire environment itself, all this feeling a hint too on the nose for what I'm used to back home. And here I am, an imposter among them with barely two pennies to rub together.

We shake hands and his touch lingers longer than normal.

"Miss," the bartender says. "That'll be thirty-seven even. Sir, yours is eighteen fifty."

"Allow me," Blake chimes in, putting his hand out to stop me from reaching forward with the card in my hand.

My lips part to stop him but I don't out of fear it wouldn't work anyway. With the money from Leo, I would have hadplenty to cover it, I just didn't want to deal with the awkwardness of what-ifs.

"Thanks," I tell him and take the two drinks that belong to me. "I'm over here, with a friend." I point in the direction Leo is, our eyes meeting from across the way, his expression shifting when he spots me, his feet moving away from the couple he's talking to without hesitation.

"You're here with Leo Sin?" the man asks while sipping the old-fashioned.

"Yeah, you know him?" I walk a few steps away from the bar, Blake coming with me as Leo approaches.

"Blake," Leo greets him with not even a hint of friendliness in his tone.

"Leo." Blake remains cool and collected, neither of them letting on that they probably want to kill each other right here and now. If I had to guess, they're rivals of some sort, but I doubt either of them is going to confess the truth, not to me.

"Are your brothers here?" Leo takes one of the glasses from me.

"Here, there, you know how brothers are." Nothing about what Blake said just made sense and I don't bother questioning him because it's none of my business and I don't actually care all that much. "And yours?"

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