Page 12 of Falling for Them

He pulled out his phone, avoiding my stare. “Nothing.”

That was utter bullshit. Ethan was always very open about his emotions and feelings, so him brushing off my question wasconcerning. Maybe he’d also woken up on the wrong side of the bed.

I looked back over my shoulder as Carter came running after us, Leo right behind him. I couldn’t help but smile at the two men in suits running around like children. Thankfully, most of the people had cleared out and the only ones left were the clean-up crew.

“You two trying to ditch us?” Carter breathed heavily, stopping beside me. “I have a car service, unless you two wanted to take an Uber.”

“We’ll take my car.” Leo adjusted his suit as he walked past us and stepped between two cars parked against the curb. A black SUV came to a stop in the street and Leo opened the back door. “Let’s go.”

Was he always so damn bossy?

As we all climbed into the back, I was hit with a sudden wave of nervousness. Not only was I alone with three very attractive men, but the alpha male energy coming from both Leo and Ethan was doing things to me.

Hopefully, it was just a side effect of being hungry, but part of me knew it was a hunger for more than food.

Chapter 5

Something in the Wine

Ethan

Only someone with Leo’s confidence and bank account could decide on a whim to get one of the hottest new restaurants in Manhattan to open exclusively for us. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little intrigued by the idea of private dining, but it was completely unnecessary and a waste of money.

As we stepped out of the SUV, Leo went to the ornate iron doors leading into Quintessence and keyed in a code before pushing one of the doors open.

Carter walked in the door Leo held open, shaking his head. “Really, Leo? You made the staff come in early?”

Leo shot Carter a weary look and shrugged. “The kitchen staff were already here prepping for tonight’s service. Don’t worry, they’ll be compensated accordingly.”

I stopped in front of Leo and lowered my voice so only he could hear. “What are you up to, Caponetti? She’s out of your league.”

He finally looked at me after having ignored me the entire car ride. “I’m treating my new employees to lunch.”

My eyes were going to seriously get stuck from how much I rolled them at this man. “Libby doesn’t like this kind of shit.” I didn’t know why I was telling him something that could potentially help him.

“We’ll see.” He let the door go and it nearly hit me as he strode toward where Libby and Carter waited in front of the hostess station.

Libby looked around the opulent restaurant in complete awe like she’d never been in such a place before, even though she had. It never got old seeing how she reacted to things. What did surprise me was that she was already comfortable showing her emotions in front of Leo and Carter.

Since the moment I’d met her, Libby had been hesitant and distant around new people, which usually presented as her being shy. It hadn’t taken long for me to break through her walls and gain her trust, but it seemed like these two were managing the same feat a lot faster than I could have ever imagined.

On one hand, I was glad that she felt comfortable around them, but on the other, I couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed that they were able to get through her walls so easily. There must have been some kind of rich playboy voodoo at work. Carter hadn’t said he was wealthy, but the expensive watch on his wrist told a different story.

A woman with long dark hair dressed in a black dress came from the back of the restaurant. “Mr. Caponetti, your table is ready for you, if you’ll follow me.”

“Thank you, AJ.” Leo put his hand on the small of Libby’s back, urging her to follow the hostess. I wanted to smack his hand away, but she was a grown woman and seemed fine with it, to my utter horror.

“He knows the staff?” I muttered to Carter as we followed Leo and Libby.

Carter made a dismissive sound. “He owns it.”

I tried not to be too obvious about my disdain and managed to give Carter a half-smile instead. He was friends with Leo, so I needed to watch myself.

I took in the modern interior of the restaurant as we walked between the tables. It was warm and inviting with deep blues and dark wood tones. If it hadn’t belonged to some rich asshole, I’d say it was the perfect spot for a romantic dinner.

We walked through two opaque doors that opened to a private dining room at the back of the restaurant. There was an electric fireplace on the back wall, modern art, and some sort of exotic flower arrangement in the center of the round table that probably cost more than my entire outfit.

“This is gorgeous.” Libby took the seat Leo had pulled out for her.

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