“What about the Greek myth?”

“Have you heard of the twelve trials of Hercules?”

“Vaguely. I can’t remember much about them though.”

“His first trial was to find and kill the enormous and powerful Nemean Lion with the impenetrable hide.”

“Oh, that rings a bell.”

“Hercules manages to corner the lion in a cave, stuns it with his club then strangles it with his bare hands. To prove his victory, he must bring the pelt of the Nemean Lion back to King Eurystheus. He works out the only way to get the pelt is by using the Lion’s own claws to cut it from his body and ends up using it as his own personal armour.”

“Keep going.” I was completely mesmerised by his storytelling.

“There are multiple versions of how that story connects to the constellation. Most legends assume it is done in homage to Hercules, but then why would it be of the lion he defeated?”

“That’s right. It was an honour to ascend to the stars. I remember that.”

“Right. My mum only ever told me one version. Queen Hera had a very strong connection to the lion. Angry at her husband, Zeus, she sent it to live in Nemea where there is a shrine to Zeus. Anyone wanting to worship Zeus had to get past the gigantic and almost indestructible lion. When the lion was hunted down and killed, Hera allowed him to—”

“Ascend to the stars.” I finished his sentence, completely absorbed.

“There are a lot of other explanations for the Leo constellation, but that’s the only one my mother was interested in.”

“Can you show me the other stars in Leo?”

“I can try. It’s low in the sky and will drop below the northwestern horizon soon. So you can see Regulus about halfway between Jupiter and Venus?” Leo pointed to the sky.

“Got it.”

“From there, you go up in the shape of a backward question mark. That’s the lion’s head. It’s marked by Algeiba and Adhafera.”

“Okay,” I said unconvincingly.

Leo chuckled. “Back to Regulus. Take a straight line to the left and you get to a triangle of stars—Chort, Zosma and Denebola. The lion’s rump.”

I laughed. “You lost me at Regulus, I’m afraid.”

Leo hugged me to him and laughed. “Thought I might, but you did ask.”

I snuggled into him and put my arm over his chest. “I did. Thank you.”

“I haven’t really looked at the stars in years.” His voice was shaky. “I forgot how much I liked it.”

I cranked my neck back so I could look up at the sky without letting him go. “What do you believe in, Leo? Do you think maybe your mum and dad are up there amongst the stars?”

His body shuddered, and I immediately felt like I’d said something wrong.

“Everything okay?” I asked, willing him to drop the guard that just shot up.

“Are you too cold?” he asked, pulling his arm from under me and sitting up. “We should probably get going.”

“I wasn’t cold until thirty seconds ago.” I felt dejected. Every time I felt like he was opening up, I seemed to say something to make him shut down.

“Did you hear that?” I asked, sitting up, startled and suddenly on high alert.

“The crack?”

I nodded.

“We’re in the country, princess. It was just a branch breaking.”

I relaxed, knowing he was right. It was just so incredibly quiet compared to the city.

“Okay. Sorry. I might just use the bathroom again before we head off.”

“I’ll pack the basket into the car.”

He pulled me to him and kissed me hard on the lips. “What was that for?” I asked, breathless.

“Do I need a reason to kiss the woman I love?”

I shook my head and smiled. “I’ll see you at the car in a minute.”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Leo

As I rounded the corner of the house, I stopped in my tracks.

“Don’t take another step.”

Standing in front of the Mini was a man I recognised from fight night. He was the one who had attacked Juliette, and he was pointing a handgun at me with a sly grin on his face.

Memories of him being rough with Juliette unleashed my rage. I clenched my fists and took a step forward.

“I said, not another step.” His voice lacked absolute authority even though I heard him pull back the hammer. The slight reservation was all I needed to know he wasn’t about to shoot me.

I raised my hands above my head as I took another step forward. I didn’t want him to perceive me as a threat, but I needed to get closer.

“What do you want?” I seethed, stopping my progress to engage him. The most common mistake in situations like these is being too confident. The second most common is fighting back, unless you are trained to disarm, which I was. My biggest concern was ending this before Juliette came back, and I knew I didn’t have long.

“Where’s the little blonde bitch?”

“She’s none of your concern, mate. Just tell me what you want. Then no one gets hurt.” I took another step forward.

He waved the gun around aimlessly. “I don’t give a fuck about you or the stupid bitch. I just want my money, and that means I need to deliver a message to you, and only you.”

“Who put you up to this?” I edged forward whilst keeping the conversation going. “Maybe we can come to an arrangement.” The only arrangement I was planning was the rearrangement of his face.

“Have you ever shot a gun before?”

“Of course I have.”

He was lying. His eyes glanced to the left, his mouth was tense, his lips pursed and he rubbed his nose with his gun. He had amateur written all over his body. I was obviously stronger than him, and he’d been at fight club, so he’d seen me fight. He shouldn’t have let me get so close to him.

I had one chance and I acted without hesitation. Before this amateur fuckwit knew what hit him, I moved myself to the left, out of the discharge line of the gun. It is slower for a man to aim to the firing side of his body than to the support side.

In a blur of rapid movement that caught him completely off guard, I grabbed his wrist that was holding the gun with my left hand and simultaneously grabbed the barrel of the gun with my right, pushing it in towards him. I rolled it against his thumb, being the weakest point of the hand, and he squealed like a pig.

I was in control and forced his hands down towards his body, dropping the arsehole to his knees with the weapon now facing him. Clearly in pain from a twisted wrist, he released the gun and I took a step back.

“Hands in the air, motherfucker.” When he’d obeyed my order, I pointed the gun at his head. “How did you find me here?”

He spat at the ground in front of me, aiming for my shoe but falling short. What a complete loser. I hit him across the side of his head with the handle of the gun. He yelped and toppled to the ground, sobbing like a baby. I stood over him and asked again, completely calm.

He managed to get back up on his knees, looking pale and defeated. “I’ve been paid to make you an offer,” he mumbled.

“Speak up, douchebag. I asked how you found me.”

“I saw you get in the car with blondie, but I lost you on the way here,” he continued. “She’s a fucking maniac on the road. I had to track her phone’s GPS. My employer is offering to pay you handsomely on a monthly basis. The only condition is that you stay away from the girl.”

I shook my head at the ridiculous offer. “Well, you can go back to Dick. I’m assuming it’s Dick who sent you. Tell him to man the fuck up. I’m not taking money to stay away from her. He missed his chance and I will fight for her. I’ll fight and I’ll win.”

I removed the magazine and racked the bolt, rendering the gun unloaded and safe in under a second.

I nodded my head. “Get up.”

When he was standing in front of me, I bunched his hoodie in my left hand and spoke calmly, but with the absolute authority of a seriously pissed off man protecting his girl. “Get the fuck off my property and, if you value your life, stay away from me. More importantly, if you get within ten miles of Juliette, I’ll kill you and make it look like an accident.”