Page 47

Evander clenched his jaw, now equally annoyed with both men.“This is not the place to be having this conversation.”

He might as well have been speaking Mandarin for all the difference this made.

“We were indeed,” Leon ascertained silkily.“Evander and I used to be in a relationship.”He raised an arrogant eyebrow.“For several years, at that.And it is one I very much wish to rekindle.”

Evander drew a sharp breath at the sheer audacity of the Frenchman.He threw his napkin on the table.“Who the devil do you think you are to presume that I would agree to?—?!”

A thunk froze his words.

Evander and Leon’s gazes found the dining fork Viggo had stabbed into the table.

“Over my dead body!”the Brute growled.

The possessiveness in his voice and expression sent an illicit thrill through Evander, briefly dampening his vexation.

“That can be arranged,” Leon parried smoothly.

The maître d’hôtel approached, evidently sensing the discord chilling the air.

“Is everything to your satisfaction, gentlemen?”he inquired delicately.

“The meal is positively lovely,” Leon replied with a pleasant smile that did not reach his eyes.“The company less so.”His gaze found Viggo.

Viggo pushed his chair back and rose, his body vibrating with anger.“How about you and I take this outside?!”

Leon stood up, magic charging the air around him.

“What a wonderful idea,” he ground out.

Evander’s voice cracked the air.“Both of you,stop this right now!”

The temperature in the restaurant dropped under the pulse of ice magic he involuntarily released.Frost crawled across the windows and chandeliers, dimming the light.Shocked murmurs rose across the dining room.

Leon and Viggo studied Evander with contrite expressions.

The maître d’hôtel looked like he was contemplating turning in his resignation.

“Sirs, I must ask you to calm down,” he pleaded.

Evander took a deep breath and dampened the magic bubbling through his veins.He climbed stiffly to his feet.“I apologise on behalf of myself and my companions,” he told the man with a curt dip of his head.“If you could please prepare the bill, we will leave immediately.”

“Evander—” Leon protested, his grey eyes dark with guilt and regret.

“Not now, Leon,” Evander said coldly.“We shall speak tomorrow, at Scotland Yard.”

He felt his former lover’s forlorn gaze on his back as he left the restaurant with Viggo.Though the Brute remained silent as Graham brought the carriage round, Evander could feel the tension radiating off him.

It wasn’t until they were safely ensconced inside that Evander finally spoke.

Chapter21

“Look, I understand you’re upset—”Evander began.

“Do you?”Viggo’s voice was deceptively quiet.“Because I’m not entirely convinced you do.”

The carriage wheels clattered across the cobblestones as they departed Covent Garden, the silence between them thick enough to cut with a knife.Evander’s chest tightened with remorse when he studied Viggo’s stony profile in the dim light of the passing streetlamps.The Brute’s jaw was clenched so tight it looked painful.

“Leon is here on official business, Viggo.I had no idea he would be in London until this morning.”Evander ran a hand through his hair.“And had I known he would behave so atrociously this evening, I would have declined his invitation.”