Page 41 of Playing with Fire

"I sure do," I said with a grin and handed her the backup stress ball I'd shoved in my pocket earlier.

With the way her eyes lit up, you'd think I'd handed her a live unicorn. "Wook! Wook, Daddy! Ball!"

Lettie sauntered in behind her fathers, her twelve-year-old eyes briefly glancing up from her phone to take in Leo. "Is this your boyfriend? The one you've been stalking?"

The question made Leo choke, and I felt a flash of unexpected embarrassment. Had I been that obvious? The thought that my interest in Leo had been transparent enough for a twelve-year-old to notice made me feel strangely vulnerable.

"Jesus, Lettie," Pax murmured, but there was pride in his voice.

"It's not stalking," War corrected his daughter automatically. "It's intensive observation with romantic intent."

"Sorry I asked." Lettie rolled her eyes, thumbs still flying across her phone screen.

"That's enough, Lettie," War said, but he was fighting a smile. "Go help your grandmother in the kitchen."

"Fine," Lettie huffed, finally pocketing her phone. Then she swiveled to Leo, leveling a pointed look at him. "Break my uncle's heart and I'll remove your spleen while you watch."

Leo blinked rapidly. "That's... specific."

"She's been reading War's medical textbooks," Pax explained with a mix of resignation and pride.

"She's going to make an incredible surgeon someday," War added, beaming at his daughter as she disappeared into the kitchen.

"Or serial killer," River muttered, earning an elbow from Theo.

"Like she wouldn’t be both. My baby’s an overachiever to the max like her daddy War," Pax added proudly before crossing the room to muss my hair. "So that's what your natural hair color looks like!"

I swatted his hands away. "Fuck off. I just haven't had time to color it lately."

The front door opened again, and Shepherd entered, a bottle of expensive wine in each hand. He and Tatty spoke briefly, exchanging cheek kisses before she took the wine from him. His eyes swept the room, before settling on where Leo's fingers were intertwined with mine.

Eli strode in behind him, hands in his pockets, until Tatty threw her arms around him. Then his whole face blossomed into a warm smile.

"Leo," Shepherd acknowledged with a slight nod. "Still alive, I see. Good."

Leo stiffened slightly beside me, the memory of Shepherd holding a knife to his throat during that messy situation with the Dogs clearly not forgotten. The tension between Shepherd and anyone associated with the Junkyard Dogs never quite disappeared, even at family gatherings. I slid my hand to Leo’s lower back, finding the exact spot that always made him melt when I applied pressure there.

"Dr. Laskin," Leo replied evenly, meeting Shepherd's gaze with more backbone than most people managed. "You look... well."

I fought a smile, proud of how he stood his ground. Few people did that with Shepherd after experiencing his darker side. But then, Leo had been standing his ground with me for two years, which was probably better practice than most people got.

"Well, if it isn't the lovebirds," Xander sang out as he swept into the living room, dramatic as always in a flowing purple sundress with butterfly clips in his hair. "Ready for the full family inspection, Leo?"

Behind him, Ash Valentine merely raised an eyebrow, his expression that of a man who'd long ago accepted his fate.

"We were just leaving," I said, already pulling Leo toward the back door.

"Running away? Smart," Xander called after us. "I would too!"

Leo pressed closer against my side as we escaped, relief evident in his shoulders. The way his fingers gripped mine told me everything I needed to know about his current anxiety level.

"Where's Xion and Boone?" I asked.

"Outside with your dad and Nikita," Ash supplied, gesturing toward the back door. "They're at the grill."

"I told you that you could go out there with them if you wanted," Xander said.

"No, you said I could hang outwith the other old menif I wanted."

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