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Allison could almost feel the heat radiate off her sister’s body. “She has a name, and it’s not Jelly, asshole.”

  “Whoa!” The guy with him, who’d been just as stunned as the rest of them, laughed nervously, turning to the asshole. “Dude, what are you doing?”

  Like a ray of light shining through the cloud of mortification that hovered over Allison, it suddenly came to her and she touched her sister’s arm. “Lila, no—”

  “No, bullshit!” Lila said, taking a step forward, but thankfully Sonny held her back. “That’s fucking rude. Who are you to—?”

  “Lila, I don’t think he means what you’re thinking,” Allison said, almost certain what the guy was referring to. It was still embarrassing but not nearly as bad as what she knew her sister was thinking.

  “What are you thinking?” the guy asked with that sudden look of distaste, the same one Allison had tried in vain to forget about.

  Again, thankfully, Sonny was there to intervene and took a step in front of Lila.

  “That Jelly’s an offensive way to refer to someone you don’t even know.” Sonny’s words, while firm, were far calmer than her sister’s, but he made a point to stare the guy down, since he was just as big as him.

  “But I do know her,” the guy retorted to Allison’s surprise.

  “And you call her Jelly?” Lila asked, trying to get around Sonny, only he stood staunchly in place, not letting her. “That’s still fucking rude.”

  “I don’t know what you think it means, but—”

  “I know what you meant,” Allison interrupted the guy, her heart thudding when he turned and those intense eyes locked in on hers again.

  I know her?

  Eyeing Gio, who was on his way back, she turned to Lila with a purpose. “It’s not at all what you’re thinking. I’ll explain later.”

  Allison lowered her voice, praying her still too riled up sister would just let it go. “Please go now. I can handle it from here on.”

  “Why and how does he know you?” Lila asked through her teeth.

  “From the last time I was here,” Allison said quickly, nudging both Lila and Sonny away.

  “So, did you all get acquainted?” Gio asked as he reached them.

  “Sort of,” Allison said then turned to Lila. “I’ll call you as soon as I’m done.” Her pleading expression willed her sister to just believe she’d be fine and go. Then she mouthed the words, “I promise.”

  Shooing her sister and Sonny, who finally complied and walked away, she turned back to Gio and the two guys. Unlike earlier, it now appeared that he was avoiding making any eye contact with her. When Gio asked if they’d exchanged names and Allison informed him that they hadn’t, the guy even looked away when Gio began the introductions.

  “Allison Rico, this is Rodney Henson,” Gio said, pointing at the other guy, then motioned to him, who was still glancing around indifferently, so unlike when he first laid eyes on her minutes ago. “And this is Leonardo Ledesma.”

  Leonardo met Allison’s eyes for just a moment. The slightest nod followed without so much as a hint of that near smirk he’d worn earlier as he glanced away again. Aside from his name, she didn’t know a thing about him. Yet already it was clear that his reaction to her today was uncharacteristic for him. His barely there acknowledgment, which now felt obligatory for Gio’s sake, was more like him.

  “From my own experience with interviews, I know there’s a lot of stuff discussed off the record,” Gio explained as much to Allison as she did to the two men. “So, for privacy reasons, Allison will be interviewing you in the boardroom separately.”

  Good Lord, she’d be all alone with Leonardo now. Somehow, Allison had expected the informal interview to take place in the break room again, with people walking in and out around them. Maybe somewhere even more public like one of the tables by the juice bar. To her utter relief, Rodney volunteered to go first. She thought she’d prepared enough, but this changed everything. Both men were tatted and as hard-looking as Gio had described, but for whatever reason, Leonardo unnerved her to no end. She needed a moment to get herself together.

  “Oh, wait. I have that call with my PO,” Rodney said with a grimace, making Allison’s heart thud, and she instantly panicked.

  PO? Call? What?

  “That’s right,” Gio said as they all walked together toward the boardroom. “That’s cool. This works out.” He turned to Allison as he opened a door to a darkened room then flicked the lights on just inside the doorway. “You can interview Leonardo first.”

  Allison walked into the room, gulping so thunderously she was sure they’d all heard. Adding to her already altered nerves, Gio didn’t even walk in with them. She turned just as she reached the long boardroom table. Gio was standing at the door still, and Leonardo pulled out the chair directly across from where she stood.

  “There’s water bottles in the fridge over in the corner if you need one,” Gio said with a big smile as Allison nodded, walking over to the fridge. “I’ll close the door so you can have some privacy. Just send Leonardo out to fetch Rodney when you’re done with him.”

  Allison thanked him then turned to Leonardo when the door closed behind Gio. “You wanna a water?”

  “I’m good.”

  She walked back toward the table, taking subtle but deep breaths as she pulled out the seat directly in front of Leonardo and sat down. This time Allison avoided looking up from her notebook, focusing instead on keeping her hands from shaking. When she finally had to glance up, he was eyeing her, not in that appalled way he had the first time. Only it still held an air of displeasure—irritation even.

  Focusing on her breathing so he wouldn’t pick up on just how intimidated she was by him, Allison looked him straight in those intense eyes. What would Lila do? Clearly, her sister had already proven, no matter how big and daunting this guy was, she was not intimidated by him. That’s when Allison’s first question for him came to her.

  Swallowing hard, she lifted her chin and tried desperately to muster some of her sister’s strength. “You know me?”

  The panicked flash in his eyes was so fast Allison would’ve missed it, had her own eyes not been inescapably glued to his. But like with everything else when it came to this man, she had no idea what to make of it because, just as fast, his brows furrowed and the expression of utter displeasure he’d worn earlier went even more severe.

  Three

  BEAST

  “I was volunteered for this.” Leo sat back in his seat, crossing his arms in front of him. “I didn’t know anything about it until I got here today.”

  He wanted that last statement perfectly clear. If he hadn’t been fucking annoyed with Rodney already for volunteering him to do this, he was beyond annoyed now.

  Allison appeared as confused by his response to her question as he expected her to be. He took in the lift of her brows, making sure he didn’t show any more of the effect she had on him as he’d already let slip.

  “Okay . . .” she said, obviously not satisfied with his answer to her inquiry. “But you said you knew me.”

  “You know how I know you, Jelly. Explaining it would’ve taken too long, and I wanted to be done with that before Bravo got back.”

  “Bravo?”

  “Gio.” He sat up, feeling even more exasperated about all this. “One of the owners of this place and someone who can get me sent back to the pen if I screw this up. I couldn’t have your crazy-ass sister going off—”

  “First of all,” she said, sitting up as well, and Leo forced himself to keep his eyes on her face and away from that voluptuous rack bulging underneath her snug shirt. “My sister is not crazy, and I won’t have you referring to her as that. Understood?”

  She paused as if to wait for him to agree or apologize. It shouldn’t have surprised him that the sister of such a spit fire would have some spunk. But it did. Not only did it surprise him, the hardened expression on such an otherwise sweet face amused him. Despite the inexplicable temptation to give in and o
ffer an apology—it wasn’t happening. With each moment they stood staring at each other in a silent stalemate, Leo felt himself searching deeper into those big dark eyes of hers. It was insane. He wasn’t even sure what he was searching for, but he couldn’t look away. When it was clear he wouldn’t be offering so much as a nod in response to her question, she went on.

  “You don’t know me and my sister’s aware of that. So, you referring to me as Jelly understandably set her off.” Watching her lift a stubborn little chin had Leo swallowing hard again, but like with her previous statement, he managed to refrain from further reaction. “I was thinking the same thing she was obviously, until I remembered my first encounter with you—”

  “The jelly donut,” Leo said, resting his arms on the table. “I remember.”

  How could he forget? He’d even dreamed of the day he’d been envious of a fucking donut. The way she’d licked and sucked that thing had him feeling shit no grown-ass man should feel over something so petty. Wiping the jelly off her face had been bad enough, but at least he hadn’t given into the thought he’d had the moment he saw it still there on the corner of her mouth—to lick it off.

  “But you don’t know me,” she reiterated.

  “No, I don’t.”

  This time he’d concede at least to that, but he’d be damned if he’d admit to her or anyone else just how much she’d pestered his thoughts since that day. Especially why.

  “You just caught me off guard today,” he continued, annoyed that he was having to explain any of this to her. “When I realized you were the same kid I’d seen that day. . .”

  Those widening eyes had Leo momentarily pausing, but he refused to allow them to continue to trip him up. “You just look a lot different is all.”

  She cleared her throat then mercifully dropped the eye contact when she glanced down at her notebook.

  “Your glasses,” he said, once again going against his better judgment, but he was curious. “You don’t really need them?”

  Though she continued to focus on her notebook, she had glanced up for a moment in response to the question. Watching her face tinge with color was something else. He’d seen his share of seemingly embarrassed or shy girls. Most of those times while he’d said something far more scandalous, he often questioned how genuine their reactions really were. Girls like Allison were rare in Leo’s life. Already he could tell there’d be so many other things he could say to her that would turn her beet red, but she was blushing over his questioning her glasses.

  “I do.” She cleared her throat, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear, then made eye contact with him again. “Just not when I’m wearing my contacts.”

  There was no question about it. Allison was as genuine as they came. No way could she be faking the flush of her cheeks. Leo should swallow back everything else he wanted to ask her. Get on with the damn interview and be done with this. Instead, his lips were once again moving, and the curious inquiry flew out without further consideration.

  “You look so much younger with them on. How old are you?”

  “Nineteen,” she said without breaking the eye contact, despite her face still glowing with deepened color. “Just had a birthday a few weeks ago. This . . .” She motioned a hand up and down in front of her. “The whole makeover thing was a birthday gift from my sister.”

  She paused as she opened her water bottle and brought it to her lips. Leo blinked slowly, taking in a very deep breath as her plump lips caressed the bottle’s opening and she drank from it.

  “Don’t women get makeovers to look younger, not the opposite?” Again, the words were out before he could put anymore thought to them, damn it. What was worse was her off-put expression had him scrambling to backpedal. “I mean, in your case, older isn’t old like in a bad way. I’m just saying it’s ironic that the outcome of yours was the opposite of what it’s normally supposed to be.”

  Her instantly furrowed brows had him cursing himself for having opened his mouth about this in the first place. Having talked himself into a fucking corner, he had no choice but to admit it. “Not that you don’t look amazing—” Good would’ve been enough, you idiot. “I just mean you’re nineteen, and I saw what you looked like before. I don’t think you needed a makeover.”

  Her expression softened instantly, even as the glow of her cheeks deepened again. Twisting the cap back onto the bottle, Allison shrugged, indulging him with a small but sweet smile. “The glasses being gone is probably what makes the biggest difference and why you think I look so much older. Thank you for saying I didn’t need a makeover, but I really did. I hadn’t aged since I was eleven. The hands of time needed a little nudge.”

  Leo stared at her, silently, aware that every moment he sat there it became increasingly harder to not take in every detail of her delicate features. That only reminded him that he needed to get out of there, especially now that he’d confirmed she was very young. Maybe she wasn’t as young as he’d initially thought but still. “Just so you know . . .” He straightened up, determined to get back to what they were supposed to be talking about. “You’re supposed to be interviewing me,” he said, attempting to get back to his harder demeanor. “About what? Because I didn’t know anything about this.”

  The pinch of her brows coming together had him looking away like a coward. Never in his life had he been so tempted to apologize when he’d done nothing wrong. Only speaking to her without the utmost respect and delicacy felt wrong. Just like visually groping her had felt the first time he’d laid eyes on her, remembering what her soft warm body pressed against his felt like had been too damn distracting for days after.

  “It’s, uh . . .” She cleared her voice again. “It’s for a story I’m doing on the work-release program here at 5th Street. I thought it was an interesting and unique concept. Lila was able to work out an interview for me with one of her bosses; then I requested to speak with some of the workers directly.” She glanced down at her notebook again, pausing for a second before going on. “But I’m sorry you were volunteered for this against your wishes. You’re right. If you didn’t sign up for this, then you shouldn’t have to be here. You’re free to go. I’ll just interview Rodney.”

  Torn between getting the hell out of there or staying put, Leo sat up even straighter but didn’t get up. What the fuck was he doing? She’d given him his walking papers. He should stand up and get out. Be done with this. The fact that he was still sitting there even considering sticking around longer, was further proof that his first instincts about this girl were spot on. She’d be nothing but trouble if he so much as got any funny ideas about her.

  “What’s a PO?” She glanced up at him, and he was quickly caught up in those overly expressive eyes again.

  “Probation officer.” Leo’s own curiosity had him sitting back in his seat already. “You don’t ever want miss a call from them. It could cost you big time.”

  “So, you’re on probation even though you’re on work release?”

  Apparently, she’d taken his answering her first question as an invitation to continue with the interview. Leo continued wrestling with the conflicting arguments going on in his head.

  You should get up and walk out now. What harm can come from sticking around and answering a few questions?

  It was a bad idea and Leo knew it, especially given how his dumb ass had already reacted to seeing her again. How easily he’d lost control of his curiosity. Leo could tell himself all he wanted that this was nothing more than having been drawn to her curves that first day. That, just like any of the other girls who’d turned his head at the gym, she was just another piece of ass he should steer far away from. The rules were clear enough, and the only thing he should focus on while on work release was this job and the training he agreed to do.

  But this was part of his job, right? Gio had asked Rodney to do this, and while Leo hadn’t been there to pass on it the way he would’ve respectfully done so, especially had he known who was doing the interviewing, he was doing Gio
a favor. Bad idea or not, this would be complimentary to his character, not a risk. Besides what harm could one interview with a college student possibly be? No matter how young she’d appeared to be, he now knew she was legal.

  “Your probation starts the moment you’re sentenced,” he said, hoping with all hope he wouldn’t live to regret not ending this when he’d had the chance. “It’s usually longer than the time you do in jail. Work-release means I get to finish my time on the outside as long as I comply with the restrictions of the program.”

  “And those are?” She glanced down at her notebook as she began taking notes.

  Clearly, her offer to let him walk was off the table now that he’d obviously—and possibly very stupidly—passed on it. Breathing a little easier because this didn’t seem too bad after all, Leo began listing some of his restrictions. He was allowed to be at the gym while he was working or training for boxing. He’d be subject to random drug testing and in-home visits. “I can’t leave the county, unless I have special permission. I have to attend the required therapy—”

  “What kind of therapy?” She glanced up at him, curiously.

  Leo pressed his lips together tightly, breathing in deeply again. It was beginning to feel like a habit he’d have as long as he was around her. “Anger management.” He shrugged, attempting to make light of it, and moved on to something else. “It’s just one of the standard requirements. Like the random urine tests for drugs, even though I’m not in for anything drug-related.”

  “What are you in for?”

  Christ, those eyes. For as too young as his head kept harping she was, there was something so incredibly sultry about the way she gazed at him sometimes that said she was all woman. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. Clearing his throat again, he decided to share only as much as she needed to know for Gio’s sake. The guy and the rest of his business partners had done so much for Leo. So that’s how he’d look at this. This was a favor for Gio—for 5th Street. But he didn’t need to tell her everything.