Page 113 of His Wicked Revenge

“That dress looks beautiful on you,” he compliments, eyes drifting to my face. His eyes light up at the curls, but his brows furrow when he drops his gaze to my eyes. “Your eyes.”

“What about them?” My brows dip in confusion.

His hand lifts, one finger pointing at my face. “They are brown.”

“Yes, I know.” I turn away from him and grab my purse off the kitchen counter.

“Veronica, you should put your contacts in,” he suggests in a worried tone.

“I don’t want to. Not tonight.” I sling the strap over my shoulder and spin to face him. Leo opens his mouth to say something, but I beat him to it. “One night without my contacts won’t hurt anything.”

“But—”

“Leo,” I cut him off. “It will be fine. I want to feel like myself tonight. No contacts.”

“Okay.” He nods in defeat but with a slight understanding in his tone. “We should get going then. We have a reservation to get to.”

I’m not sure what I was expecting for this date night. A dinner? Yes. But this restaurant he brought us to is the nicest I’ve ever seen. When I was little, my parents dragged us around to places similar, but they were never this nice.

Leo didn’t have to look for a place to park because there was a valet. A young man opens my door for me, offering a hand to help me out. Although I don’t want to touch him, I politely take his hand and step out of the car. Rounding the back end, Leo smiles lightly at me before handing off the keys to the worker.

My gaze shifts away from the man who helped me as I turn to admire the building we are standing before. The sun has already set, and there isn’t much lighting except for the facade lights on the stone structure. Beautiful greenery surrounds the building, with little pink flowers poking out of the shrubs.

A hand gently presses against my lower back, drawing my attention away from the beauty. Leo tilts his head towards the main door and then ushers me to the wooden frame.

Before he reaches for the handle, someone inside opens it for us. A woman dressed in all black smiles at the two of us.

“Hello, and welcome to Ember.” She steps aside, allowing us to enter. “What is the name under the reservation?”

“Madden,” Leo tells her.

She walks behind a stand and glances down at a notebook. “Perfect! I’ll take you to your table.”

With two menus in hand, the woman leads us to our seats. My eyes remain wide as I take in the interior. It is dim, with wall lights that provide a bit of light. They are beautiful, though. Gold plates sit on the walls, and then a rod extends up and over, dropping to where an elegant glass covers the lightbulb.

Above us, fairy lights are strung from the ceiling. They dip down only to curve back up. It is like that throughout the entire restaurant.

Each table has a candle to add to the ambiance. I’m so invested in my surroundings that I bump into Leo’s back when we stop at our table.

The woman from the front desk tells us to enjoy our meals before leaving. I step over to my chair, surprised when Leo pulls it out for me. I smile sheepishly, a slight blush coating my cheeks. Thank goodness it is dark here, and he can’t see it.

“This place is amazing.” Words finally leave me as he gets comfortable across from me.

“It is,” he agrees. “It’s tough to get in unless you know somebody.”

“And who do you know?” I ask with a grin, unfolding the cloth napkin and placing it on my lap.

He does the same and says, “Myles has a buddy from work that comes here often. He was able to do me a favor.”

Before I can respond, the waiter comes to our table. Leo orders a whole bottle of wine and some appetizers that seem impossible to pronounce.

While he talks with the waiter, my eyes drift off to the restaurant, glancing at the other guests. They are all older. Leo and I might be the youngest ones here besides the staff. I make eye contact with an older woman who looks at me strangely, causing my eyes to drop to the menu.

The food has fancy names, and the price for each dish is outrageous. The words slip out of my mouth before I can think.

“You did not need to bring me somewhere this nice.”

Leo has been working for his father at the car shop. I don’t know how much he makes, and that doesn’t matter, but what matters is that he is wasting that money on this dinner, wasting it on me.