Lexi's POV

I soon decided that dropping that conversation would be in my best interest.

Leo could talk circles around me without me realizing it until after the fact so I had to cut him off quick.

In all honesty, I didn't quite want to admit that he was right.

Although I wouldn't call it fate.

I'm still calling it curiosity.

Speaking of curiosity, I found it odd that he hadn't said a single word to me since our last conversation.

It had been nearly an hour and I hadn't heard a peep from him.

Which was definitely nice. It gave me some time to cool off and think some things through.

Pushing myself up from my bed, I soon realized that the reason for that was that he was fast asleep face-up on my couch.

My eyes narrowed, partially annoyed at the fact that he felt comfortable enough in my room to allow himself to sleep.

Then again, I can't imagine he got much sleep chained up in the basement...

Still, he's leaving himself completely defenseless to anything that I could do to him.

I then looked at the cat resting on his stomach and the hand that rested on her back.

Her head lifted as I shifted to the edge of my bed, watching me move.

Maybe he hoped that AK would wake him if I even tried to approach him.

With the volume at which she can meow, I wouldn't doubt that she could.

And I doubted that he was a heavy sleeper.

People who do the job that we do rarely are.

I listened intently to his breaths, trying to decide if he was really asleep or faking it.

I wasn't exactly a master at telling the difference but from what I could tell... He seemed to be asleep.

Eventually, I sighed to myself, coming to the conclusion that one way or another, it didn't really matter.

What did matter though, was that I was hungry, plus I wanted to see what Leo did happen to have in his wallet.

His phone too could have some decent information.

I'll at least get that much, but I'll hold off on taking those cuffs off his wrists until later.

With that in mind, I stood and headed downstairs.

It seemed moderately quiet down here for the most part. Tyler was still out, so we still had nothing to do.

I froze as that thought entered my mind.

Tyler... I wonder how he's going to take to the fact that Leo 'escaped'.

I can't imagine he'll be pleased, but he won't go on a hunt for him, right?

At the end of the day, it wouldn't be worth it so hopefully, he'll get over it quick.

"Somethin on your mind there, Lex?" I heard Dylan say from my right.

I turned my head, seeing that he was apparently getting some drinks for himself and his younger brother.

"Nah, I must have just zoned out," I began, "Do you know where we put Leo's stuff?"

He blinked at me, apparently finding my question odd.

"I assumed he took it with him, but if he didn't, it should still be in the closet."

I nodded and thanked him, immediately heading there.

The light in the closet didn't exactly work, so using the light from my phone I found exactly what I was looking for

Amongst the admittedly impressive assortment of bullets and blades, I found his phone and wallet.

As well as the two darkened silver rings he was wearing

I think the boys already knew that I had first dibs on his stuff.

Slipping his phone in my back pocket, and the rings in my front I walked out. On my was snagging two bags of beef jerky and placing them in my hoodie pocket.

I admired that dark leather of his wallet as I stepped back into the light.

"You're telling me he managed to sneak out right under our noses, but he didn't think to grab his stuff?" Dylan asked, catching the attention of the rest of the boys in the room.

"I guess he was in a rush," I said, flipping the wallet open.

Wow, when he said he had cash, he wasn't kidding.

It's most likely all stolen, but impressive nonetheless.

"The look on your face tells me he's got somethin' good in there," Ashton commented from across the room.

I glanced up at all the eager stares I had on me.

So, knowing what they were waiting for, I pulled two one-hundreds out of it and placed it on the counter.

Leo had enough cash to spare.

The eyes I had on me widened before Dylan snatched up the bills, "Hell yeah boys!"

Their chorus of celebratory hollars erupted.

All except Spencer, which I refused to let myself think too much about.

They all knew that money was purely going to be paying for some good food for these next few days.

Dad only recently started sending us, and still, it was just enough to get by, so any extra we spent on luxuries.

Smiling to myself I headed back upstairs to let them enjoy themselves.

Once the door to the stairs was closed, I pulled out Leo's phone, surprised that it still had some battery left.

My eyes widened once I saw the notifications on his lock screen.

186 text messages and 74 calls from someone just named "L".

Of course, Leo was the type of person who had his phone set to where you couldn't see the messages unless his phone was unlocked.

I looked at the screen a little longer, trying to decipher who "L" was.

It couldn't have been his boss. No sane boss would ever text and call so much.

Maybe a friend or a side chick or something.

That honestly wouldn't be surprising.

I put the phone back in my pocket before heading up the stairs, seeing him in the exact same position that I left him in.

I walked closer to him, being met with AK's stare yet again.

So, taking out a bag of beef jerky, I threw it hard against his chest.

Both the impact and Leo's sudden movement as his eyes shot open with a grunt caused AK to flee over to my bed.

I watched in amusement as he groggily tried to figure out what was going on.

His eyes finally landed on me before he figured out what I threw at him.

Then they widened apparently not expecting me to actually give him food.

Originally, I wasn't, but I figured since he was trying to gain my trust, I guess I could gain something from gaining his.

Letting him have a false sense of security could be beneficial.

"Hey thanks," He said as he leaned up into a sitting position.

I just hummed a 'you're welcome' before sauntering over to my bed.

Just before I reached it, I turned and threw his wallet to him.

He effortlessly caught it, looking it over a second before looking at me.

"I want Korean Barbeque," I began before sitting on my bed beside my cat.

If he really wanted to take me on this date and seriously intended on paying for everything, then I was going to take advantage of that.

"On Friday?" He clarified for himself.

I nodded, opening my beef jerky, "There's this supposedly good place a little west of here. I want to try it."

He thought this over for a moment, opening up his wallet.

He smirked at the obviously missing bills.

"Sounds like a plan," He said, placing his back against the armrest so he was facing me, "and for dessert?"

"Dessert?"

He shot me a deadpanned look.

"What kind of date doesn't have dessert?" he stated plainly.

I hesitated for a moment.

I honestly hadn't been to many places for just dessert alone.

Most of my jobs are based around clubs or bars and I rarely leave the house for anything else.

I've barely even been to a sit-down restaurant.

Leo apparently read the look on my face.

"I'll choose dessert then," He said, popping some jerky in his mouth, "There's a Ghirardelli place downtown that I've been meaning to try."

"Gira-what?"

He snickered a bit, "It's like a chocolate place. They've got ice cream and brownies and whatnot."

I hummed a bit, bringing my knees up towards me.

That sounded pretty good I guess.

"Wait," He began again, his eyes practically lighting up, "Does this mean you're saying yes to my proposition?"

I glared at the look on his face.

Then, I shrugged.

"As long as you don't do anything to piss me off until then, what do I have to lose?"

At the end of the day, I was the one in charge of his whole preposition.

A victorious smile plastered itself upon his face before he relaxed.

"You won't regret it," He assured me.

"We'll see."

I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket after I spoke.

Except when I reached back to grab it, I realized that it wasn't my phone.

Leo had gotten another text from "L".

"Who's L?" I finally asked.

"L?" he wondered himself before he realized what I had.

The wide-eyed look on his face looked really close to worry, and the sudden tightening in his shoulders only added to it.

I cherished that look, turning the front of his phone to face him.

"Yeah," I taunted, having been craving to see him look like what for days now, "They've been trying a lot to reach you quite a lot since you've been here."

The speed at which he stood and approached me impressive really.

I was half-way expecting him to just take the phone from me but he didn't.

With the sudden desperation on his face, I was surprised that he didn't.

If anything, his look caught me off guard.

Enough so that I actually leaned back, holding the phone to my chest.

He noticed this, promptly clearing his throat and taking a small step back.

"Please," his voice came out quiet, desperate even, "It's my little brother."

His words somehow surprised me more than his actions.

For some reason that was the absolute last thing I thought he would say.

I guess I wasn't expecting something so... sincere.

Leo apparently misjudged my lack of response and tried to elaborate more.

"He's back at my base and I never told him that I intended to come here. He probably thinks that I'm dead just please-"

He stopped as soon as I held his phone out to him, not expecting me to comply so quickly.

I wasn't expecting myself to comply so quickly, but I'd be lying if I said that a part of me didn't feel a bit guilty.

I don't know what I'd do if Tyler didn't check in with me while he was out for a couple days on a job.

Realistically Tyler was the only family I had left.

I had my dad, but I wouldn't necessarily count that.

"Thank you," He breathed out before taking the phone.

He didn't even look through the messages, just automatically called him before sitting beside me.

He sat so the phone was on the same side I was, allowing me to hear a little bit from the other side.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say he did that on purpose.

He wanted me to hear so I knew that he wasn't lying about who it was.

The phone barely even rang once before I heard a voice from the other side asking Leo's name.

I saw his shoulders relax ever so slightly.

"Hey Lucas," he spoke tentatively, apparently feeling guilty himself for not letting his brother know where he was.

Then the other voice blew into a yelling fit that I could hardly understand.

The few words that I could understand weren't exactly nice ones.

Leo flinched at his brother's lecture.

"I know, I know," Leo finally said, scratching the cat that came and sat between us with his free hand, "I followed my gut on something and ended up getting separated from my phone for a few days, but I'm okay."

I joined him, stroking the fur on AK's back while I continued to listen.

His brother had calmed down and was talking quieter so it was difficult to hear what he was saying.

"No," he sighed, "I didn't get the case. Apparently, I wasn't the only one after it and they slipped right through my fingers with it."

I nearly missed the smirk he sent me.

Then I had to catch and stop myself from returning one back to him.

"I know he told me not to return without it, but I'll figure something out. That's what I'm best at."

Well, I'll give him that much.

"Trust me, Lucas, I'll get him something else, but just have my back until he does."

I found his tone very interesting.

It was almost comforting without even meaning to be.

And it was surely missing that cocky attitude he liked to hold 24/7.

"Good. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

I barely heard Lucas' begrudged 'okay' before they said their goodbye's.

As soon as he hung up, Leo turned to me, noticing the thoughtful look on my face.

"Well, there's a side of you that I didn't know existed," I admitted

I reached into my pocket for his rings while he just shrugged, setting his phone in his lap.

He eyed my hand, offering one of his face up as I brought my closed fist over to it.

Then a soft smile rose on his lips as I dropped the rings into his palms

"Family is the only thing we really have in this line of work." is all he said, rubbing over the metal with his thumb before situating them onto the same fingers they were on the night I met him.

I guess that was true...

I don't know how I'd be doing if I didn't have Tyler here with me.

The boys definitely helped, but it wasn't the same.

"Anyway," He began handing me his phone, "What are the odds that you'll give me your number?"

I just looked at it for a moment, trying to decipher why he would need it if he just planned on staying here.

Eh, what the hell.

His number could be useful if this thing between us were to go south.

I took the phone and typed in the digits before handing it back.

He fiddled with the device before I felt my phone vibrate.

I grabbed it and looked at the screen.

Unknown Number: ;)

I glared at the screen, hearing him laugh beside me.

This date better be worth it.