Chapter 15
15
brIAR
T he Cobras have been doing fantastic in their pre-season games, but Leo has been in a mood for the last few days.
“I have people coming over tonight, is it okay if you and Elara find something to do tonight? You can take my card,” Leo tells me, and I grin at the prospect of spending his money.
Not because it’s him, per se, but who doesn’t think spending a millionaire’s money is fun?
“I have some work to do, but Zara was going to take Elara to the aquarium so I can do it without her interrupting. So that works.”
He nods, leaving the room. I stand there, coffee in hand, watching him retreat up the stairs.
Okay…
I drown out the sounds of people talking all around me with my headphones, bobbing my head to Snow Patrol as I look over all my files.
Although my secret project is coming along, it’s been slow. But I also need to get my life in order, which also happens to mean getting Leo’s life in order.
Going over his calendar is one of my least favorite activities, and updating our spreadsheets, tracking brand deals and other things he has to manage could be a full-time job all on its own.
I lean back in my seat, watching the group of girls in the corner drink their coffees, gossiping about the boy at the table a couple rows away from them.
When my music stops, I’m confused, but take my phone out of my pocket. I’m getting a call, but I’m not sure who it’s from. Not one to answer calls from strangers, I let it go to voicemail, but only a few seconds later, it’s ringing once more.
“What the hell?”
Staring at it for a few seconds, I contemplate answering. Could it be Tony? Or someone who knows Tony? Could it be one of the officers from the other night? If it is, how had they gotten my number?
Maybe I missed a bill somewhere months ago, and it’s a collections call. I’m constantly on top of all of my bills, but the thought is still there. Maybe it’s time to go through everything again to make sure everything is paid. I mean, Elara did have that doctor's appointment a couple of months ago when she got super sick…
My heart beating out of my chest with the thoughts of everything being wrong, I decide that it may just be easier to answer the call.
So I do.
“Hello?” I ask hesitantly.
“Hi, is this Ms. Crosby?” a man says on the other line .
“Um, yes it is. What can I do for you?”
“I’m calling about Leo. I’m sure he told you that we decided to part ways with him the other day. We still haven’t gotten the paperwork he took. He said that you would be faxing it to us?”
Heat rushes to my head.
Firstly, what the hell? His publicist fired him? Does that even happen?
Secondly, where the fuck do I find a fax machine?
“Uh, I actually didn’t know any of that,” I tell the man honestly, closing my laptop. My fear is replaced with confusion and then annoyance as I think about how Leo has been acting the last few days. What the hell had he done to make this happen?
Was it really that bad?
Did I miss something?
“May I ask why you guys have decided to part ways?”
“There was a video of him taken that we worked hard to get removed from the news cycle, but we have decided that it was one thing too many. We have other clients that we need to be using our time and energy on.”
I nod, groaning internally. Their minds are made up.
I’m going to be tasked with finding him a new publicist, I can already tell.
“Thank you. I’ll ask him about this as soon as I’m home and get them sent over to you. Out of curiosity, are you able to receive digital copies of the forms?”
“If you’d like you can just come drop them off this week. Just please let me know when it’s done and they are in your hands. We want to ensure that this gets done in a timely manner, and that it’s taken care of so we can cut ties cleanly.”
Leo what the hell did you do?
“No worries, thank you.”
After asking the man for his contact info as well as their office address, I gather my things, anger bubbling within me .
What the hell did Leo do? How much trouble can he possibly get into, and why is it that even when he seems to be doing well, he finds some shit to stir?
Not only does it make my job five times harder, but it’s going to have a terrible effect on his career.
Huffing, I shoot a text to Zara to let her know that I’m running back to Leo’s to take care of something, and that I’ll come back to pick Elara up after.
Gathering my things, I head out, walking through the thick mid-evening air toward home.
The only thing I can think about is getting to the bottom of this. What did Leo do? What was the video? And where are the papers? On top of worrying about those things, I’m worried that it’s going to take us well into the season to possibly find Leo a new publicist, and keeping him out of trouble until then is going to be awful.
The biggest challenge of my life, honestly.
Knocking on the door, I’m already amped up and ready to let my fists fly when Leo opens it. “Leo. Warner. Why the fuck am I getting a call from your PR agency telling me they need you to sign some paperwork?” I bellow, putting my things down. When I don’t get a response, I make my way further into the place. “Are you going to answer me?”
His face comes into view, his skin pasty as the color leaves him.
I wave my phone in his face, trying to get him to snap out of it.
“Uhh,” he says sheepishly, looking to the right.
And I freeze.
Right .
Owen.
Leo’s friends.
Leo has friends over.
One of whom happens to be my brother.
My brother who looks livid.
My brother who had no idea that I was working for Leo, and definitely had no idea that I’ve been living here for the past month or so.
Fuck.
Just when I open my mouth to say something, there’s a bark from my bedroom. I close my eyes, hoping no one heard it. It would be so much easier if I could ease him into this. Tell him that I was just working for Leo, but leave out the part where I was living with him.
Admitting to living with him would mean I have to admit to the issues with my old place.
And my issues with my ex-husband.
Owen is, well, not a fan. Never was. He knew the divorce was ugly. He knows that Tony is a piece of shit. But he doesn’t know everything.
Neither do my parents.
I’m not sure I can live with the I-told-you-so’s.
“Was that a dog?” their friend Emmett asks, his face pinched.
“Probably the pipes,” I say quickly, my attention still on Owen.
His face is red, his eyes narrowed at Leo.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he seethes. “I know you were mad at me, but did you really have to stoop so low for some petty revenge?”
“What?” Leo and I ask at the same time. Leo leans against the wall, his arms crossed over his toned chest, as I stand in the middle of the room, my hands at my sides awkwardly as I look between everyone. The oven dings, likely more pizza being made.
“Did you really fuck my sister?”
Leo goes to open his mouth, but I beat him to it.
“Owen Crosby,” I hiss, thoroughly pissed. “Do you really think I’d do that?” Leo’s head whips to mine, and I can’t be sure, but I almost think that hurt flashes in his eyes. “You know me better than that.”
I can take care of myself. And honestly? Even if I wanted to fuck Leo, I’d do it. But that’s my decision.
Immediately, Owen’s neck grows red as he draws back, realizing what he did. “I’m sorry,” he says sheepishly, a grimace on his lips. “I know you have this.” His lips tightening, Owen looks at the floor, clearly trying to decide if he should continue talking or not.
“I’m an adult. I can make decisions for myself.”
I know Owen had a lot of issues with Leo last year, and the way Leo was far too protective over Isla. Although I get wanting to make sure your sibling is safe, I’d hoped that Owen would know that I was good to make my own decisions. I’m older than him, anyways. What is he going to do?
Even if I did like Leo, even if we did have something going on, it wouldn’t be any of Owen’s business.
“I know,” he says, his tail between his legs.
“Then please don’t assume,” I say finally, crossing my arms over my chest.
As the conversation continues, Emmett looks between us all, clearly entertained. I can just imagine him going into the facility tomorrow and telling everyone what happened.
It brings me joy that Leo will have to defend himself to all of them, I won’t lie.
I turn back to Leo. “What the hell happened?”
Emmett chuckles. “Got caught leaving a hotel room with strippers.”
My arms drop to my sides, my head rolling back as I let out a loud groan. “Are you fucking with me? ”
Leo’s face pinches as he winces, his hand going to the back of his head as he scratches it. “Yeah…” is all he says.
“When? I’ve been with you constantly,” I say, realizing my mistake a little too late.
Not wanting me to yell at him but clearly annoyed, Owen catches my eyes, his head tilting.
And I decide to just rip the band aid off. With a sigh, I tell him. “We’ve been living here for a little while as I help Leo. He needed an assistant, and I needed a job that would let me watch Elara.”
He looks confused. “You know Isla is home most of the time, right? She works from home still. She could watch Elara during the day.”
I shake my head. “Do you know how much energy that kid has? You guys do enough, but I don’t need Elara around all of her expensive paints and things. I know she paints with her a little when she has her, but while she’s trying to work? I wouldn’t do that to her.”
“If you need it?—”
“I’ve been doing fine here,” I cut him off, giving him a look that clearly suggests he needs to stop.
And he does.
My brother knows me so well.
Owen and I have always been close, mostly from bonding over trying to meet our mom’s expectations. He was the one who convinced me to move closer.
“Leo has been professional—” I cut myself off. “As professional as Leo can be, and Elara likes living here.”
“Bruh I was wondering about the plants,” Emmett shakes his head, laughing. “Ain’t no way that asshole bought plants, no matter what he told me. I was convinced he was seeing someone.”
Ignoring him, I turn back to Leo. “When was it?”
“The night you picked me up,” he says, his shoulders dropping .
I stop, thinking back to that night. “You didn’t have anyone with you. You didn’t even smell like perfume or anything.”
He nods. “They were leaving and asked me to walk them to their cars since they didn’t have anyone else to.”
“And you thought that was a good idea for you, a famous man constantly in the news for one thing or the other, because…?” I ask.
“Because everyone else was shitfaced and I wanted to make sure they got to their cars safe! They were there for hours, Briar. I sat in the corner by myself. Didn’t even touch them.”
“That’s… weird?” Emmett comments, brows furrowed.
“How is that weird?”
“Like a year ago you would have had fun with the guys no matter what.”
“I had fun. In the corner. With my beer.”
Owen snickers, and Leo shoots him a look.
“Bottom line, I didn’t do anything with them. And walking them to their car was innocent. I guess there was someone behind us who took a video. I don’t know.” His hands fly up in the air before coming down at his sides loudly.
“I just don’t understand how you get yourself into these situations, Leo.”
My gaze shifts to Owen and Emmett as they exchange a look, getting up from their spot on the couch. “I think we’re going to head out,” Owen mutters, not looking super pleased about it. “But later I do want to know why you guys didn’t tell me about this.”
I roll my eyes. “Whatever.”
As the two massive men walk by Leo, Owen pats him on the shoulder. “Good luck buddy, you’re gonna need it.”