Page 441 of Dark Love

“Made plans for him to go to dinner with Adonis.”

Max’s jaw drops open.

“There was a good reason.”

“It better be a spectacular reason. Your friend is going to lose his mind.”

I wouldn’t call it spectacular. This is so not good. “Well. Kinda. Like I said, my boss is a really nice guy. Yesterday, he called me to his office to talk about my friend.”

There’s that eyebrow raise again.

“Adonis was concerned about me.”

“I bet,” Max whispers.

“Really. He was. We see a lot of women in abusive relationships…and Adonis was concerned that my friend might get abusive towards me. Which I assured him wasn’t possible. My friend is a very gentle man.”

Max snorts.

“To me he is. He would never hurt me.”

There’s that stinking eyebrow raise again.

“He wouldn’t. I need my boss to understand that my friend won’t hurt me.”

“What did you do?” Max asks.

“I… um… suggested that my friend join us at an after work dinner with my boss and some fellow employees.” Please tell me I’m—

Max bursts out laughing.

“This isn’t funny.”

“But it is. There’s going to be a bloodbath.”

Max is joking.

Max has got to be joking. “Um… you mean metaphorically, right?”

“Nope. At minimum, your ‘friend’ is going to punch your boss sometime during dinner. At worst, he’s going to need to find somewhere to bury the body.”

I knew this was stupid.

Really, really, really stupid. “I should cancel.” That won’t go well. Adonis will think Vex is afraid of facing him.

“Nope. But you need to tell me where and when so I can watch.”

“Has anyone told you that you’re twisted? And that isn’t helping me at all.” What am I going to do to avoid bloodshed? Maybe Max is being dramatic. Vex seems so calm. He isn’t going to punch someone at a restaurant.

“On occasion.” Max reaches for another cookie. “So I can expect that invitation.”

“Absolutely not.” There’s no way I want him sitting at a table laughing like a fool at the insanity of my life. “Should I cancel? I should, right? Who cares what my boss thinks? He isn’t going to fire me. That’s all that matters, right?”

“Take a breath. Or better yet, have a cookie.” Max nudges the plate towards me.

“I don’t drink.”

“This isn’t drinking.”

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