Page 9 of Bulletproof Baby

There are several magnetic mini-LED lights that tell me where my security teams are stationed. Every tiny flashing light tells me what country and city the team is in.

South American teams are usually on some diplomat's detail to keep their family safe. There is another team deep in a village near Sierra Leone protecting medical facilities and international volunteers. The bulk of our teams are in the U.S. with at least two teams of six waiting for new assignments.

I don't want to waste too much time thinking about Lia and her family. We need our focus back to the business. Correction, I need to focus.

I tell him, "I want to know what Saul Caputo's interest is in the Bonetti Brothers construction firm. It's a mom-and-pop outfit in Brooklyn. They have a project going at Saint Bartholomew's Community Center. Do a deep dive. I want to know everything. Once you get that for me, I want a private detail assigned to Lia Bonetti. We may need a team to protect her parents as well."

Armande sucks in a breath, raising a brow to question me. "We have the Prime Minister of Ireland coming in for a conference. They want a private detail for the kids' teacher and nanny. We shouldn't stretch ourselves too thin. How important is this Bonetti situation?"

"I don't know yet. Once I know what Saul knows, that will determine how important it is to me. Lia is—" I hesitate, unsure of what I feel about her just yet. "Lia is important enough to me to keep her safe. Saul wants her and I had her for the weekend. I just want to know more before I toss her back into her life."

"Ah, the auction win. Very nice, Valley boy." He snickers at the name he's been calling me since we were five. "You outbid Saul for her, too?"

"Yeah, but he's got something on the family. The whole thing just rubbed me wrong. I like fucking with him, but breaking up whatever he has on the Bonetti family feels necessary."

"Are you sure you want to save this family? What if they're his burial company? Bodies in the foundations of buildings and shit?" Armande asks. I can hear the sarcasm in his tone, but it's not an impossibility. Saul Caputo is capable of heinous shit.

"Just do it please," I tell Armande with a sigh.

"Whatever you say, boss. Whatever you say."

5

LIA

Somehow, waking up in my childhood bedroom doesn't welcome feelings of safety and happiness. The once white walls could use a touch of paint and the hardwood floors creak even louder than I remember. Faint aromas of perfume from my teenage years waft in from memories long ago, but the calm of coming home no longer greets me in these walls.

I push myself out of bed, knowing that I'm going to get a late start this Monday morning. The full-sized bed of my youth still holds me snugly, but I'd much prefer Valentino to my comforter set. I wanted to go with him when he offered to have me stay at his place. It's exactly what I want, for him to want to be around me, to want to protect me.

However, a notion struck me as he chased off the intruder. I don't know him as well as I know the way his cock feels driving in and out of me. The memory of every orgasm blurs together with the conversations we had about food and music. But we really didn't spend much time talking about our families or anything important.

To have Valentino protect me when my parents are the ones who never should have put me in this situation in the first place is putting too much on him. He already has an ax to grind against Saul Caputo. What if Valentino makes things worse? What if he helps me only as a way to put himself in a better position than Saul?

Valentino is another don. The only difference is Val doesn't make my stomach churn or my heart race from fear. The confusion of my emotions pushes me through my awkward morning routine only because I need to get to work to get out of my feelings.

When I finally make my way downstairs to the kitchen, my parents are sitting at the table. Pop's reading his newspaper while sipping coffee. Ma's at the stove putting together breakfast like I'm on my way to school. She sets down three plates and the third is obviously for me.

"Morning, Lia. How was your weekend with Don Barrone?" Ma asks with a hint of excitement.

"How do you know who I was with?" I ask her. "And what about the guy who broke into the office last night? Shouldn't we call the police or something?"

"Honey, you know why we can't call the police," Pop says without looking up from his newspaper. "We know who you were with because we've been allowed to keep the funds gifted to us from the auction."

"That doesn't sound right." I frown at the plate of bacon, toast, and a huge omelet. I'm in no mood to eat.

Ma's still beaming with joy. "Don Caputo says that he purposely let Don Barrone outbid him to put you in a position to help all of us."

"Ha!" I scoff, tossing my head back and waving them off. "If you were at that auction, you'd know that's a lie. Valentino hates Saul, and Saul hates Valentino. Their families have some sort of feud?—"

"Exactly," Pop interrupts me. "Don Caputo wants us to use Don Barrone's money to reinforce our construction sites. Keep them safe, so things like last night don't happen again."

"Are you fucking kidding me? There's no way you believe that anything Saul Caputo is doing is for our benefit." I can't believe what they're saying, but the delusional insanity continues.

Ma chimes in. "We're just trying to make the best out of a shitty situation, Lia. You can tolerate Don Barrone. That's obvious since we didn’t hear from you until you showed up last night. So go with it. Whenever you're together, just pay attention to who he talks to and what kind of business deals he mentions."

"Now I'm a spy?" My fingers cradle my forehead as I stare at the food growing cold on my plate.

Pop puts his paper down long enough to look at me, saying, "It's not spying. It's gathering information that's useful to our family."