Page 13 of Rico

“Apologies will never be enough,” I said. Alfonzo inclined his head in agreement. I gripped Anurak’s hand in mine and led him toward my office. “Have Bento come see me,” I ordered. Alfonzo gave an affirmative from behind me before I heard his footsteps retreating.

Anurak fell into step next to me, his fingers linking through mine. “What’s going to happen now?” he softly asked.

“You are going to sit in my office with me until I feel okay enough to let you out of my sight again. And I’m going to have a talk with Bento.” I pushed open my office door and led Anurak over to the couch. He sat down and immediately tugged his blanket around him. I dropped a kiss to the top of his head and rounded my desk, taking a seat just as Bento knocked on the door frame.

“You called, sir?”

“Yes.” I beckoned him inside. He stepped further into the room. I leaned forward and linked my fingers together on top of my desk. He swallowed thickly. “When Anurak is awake and I am not with him, you are his fucking shadow, do I make myself clear?” Bento nodded once. “He just had several guns pointed at him, and had one of Emmanuel’s men slipped, my boy would be dead. And if I lose Anurak, Bento, I will burn this whole fucking world to the ground, do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal clear, sir,” Bento said.

“Good.” I waved him off. “You are dismissed. Do not let this happen again, or it’ll be my bullet in your fucking skull.”

Bento turned and walked back out. Anurak frowned at me. “You can’t kill him. He probably didn’t even know I was awake?—”

I held up a hand, and he immediately stopped talking, his teeth clacking together as he snapped his jaw shut. “Perrito,” I forced my voice into a calmer one for his sake, “while I like Bento and he has worked for me for years, your safety isnota fucking game. I will not let it be treated as such. He knows the rules of being your bodyguard, and he knows what is expected of him. He had one slip-up. He’s lucky I didn’t break his goddamn fingers, but without his fingers, he is worthless to both you andme. He’s getting a second chance.” I met my boy’s soft eyes. “I assure you, he won’t fuck up again.”

He frowned at me like I’d disappointed him, and it made my chest feel like it was caving in. “You can be really mean sometimes.”

I sighed and patted my lap. Immediately, he rose and crossed the distance between us. I tugged him down onto my lap and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Sometimes,perrito, I have to be mean. It comes with the business.” I cupped his cheek. “But I willneverbe mean to you. Understand?”

He nodded. “I understand.”

I kissed him. “Good boy.” And fuck, the way he preened under my praise… “I need to get some work done. Do you want to stay here with me or go back to the couch?”

He immediately rested his head on my shoulder. “I’ll stay here.”

Good choice.

CHAPTER TEN

Anurak

Alfonzo looked like death when he stumbled into the dining room. I blinked in surprise, and Rico grimaced at him. Every time I’d seen Alfonzo, he was always well put together. “Christ, you look like shit,” Rico grumbled. “The fuck is wrong with you?”

“Stomach virus,” Alfonzo muttered. He kept his distance from us, which I was grateful for. I didn’t want to catch whatever he might have. If a strong man like Alfonzo was brought down by whatever he had, I knew it would make me feel like death.

Rico must’ve felt the same because suddenly, my chair was being yanked to the head of the table. I squeaked, looking at Rico in alarm, but his eyes hadn’t left Alfonzo, who was looking a little green.

“Take your ass back to bed,” Rico ordered. “I’ll have someone bring you something for your stomach. I’ll handle the exchange with Jax today.”

Alfonzo nodded once, gave a low moan, and rushed off. A moment later, I heard the nearest bathroom door slam shut. I winced. Poor man.

“Is he going to be okay?” I asked.

Rico nodded. “He’ll be fine,perrito.” He dragged my pancakes in front of me. I’d already finished my eggs, bacon, and fruit. It was a stipulation that I had to eat that first before I got to indulge in pancakes. Rico thought I was too small and frail, and honestly, he probably wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t like Master had fed me all that often, and when he did, it had never been anything actually nourishing. So, Rico was very big on protein before I got to eat anything sugary and, as he put it, fun.

And pancakes were very fun and sugary.

“Eat your pancakes,” Rico gently ordered. “I need to make a phone call.” He stood from his chair and leaned down, dropping a kiss to the top of my head before he slipped from the kitchen, more than likely heading to his office. Bento popped in almost immediately after Rico left, smiling at me as he dropped into the chair that had been across from me before Rico had dragged me next to his seat.

“Good morning,” he greeted, his accent thick this morning. “Did you finish that book you started reading yesterday evening?”

I shook my head. “No. But I got about halfway through. Rico made me put my phone away so I could get some sleep.” That was another thing Rico was big on—rest. He said I needed a lot of it after all I’d been through. And honestly, putting that book down hadn’t been hard when Rico wrapped his arms around me and spooned me from behind. The weight of his arms around meand the warmth of his chest pressing to my back had knocked me out like a light.

Bento chuckled. “Sounds like him.” His phone vibrated, and with a sigh, he pulled it out, reading whatever was on his screen. I focused back on my pancakes as he got involved in a text message conversation. When I was finishing my last bite, he was shoving his phone back into his pocket.

“Rico wants me to bring you to his office,” Bento informed me as he stood to his feet. “Come.”