Page 44 of Risky Behavior: Submitting to the Ruthless Guard

“She’s here?”

Ares’ and Anthony’s voices grew quieter as they made their way from the room and down the hallway. I sat there for a minute wondering what the new leader of New York City’s crime families could need and then realized the only thing I could equate it to was some old mob movies that Raven and I used to watch. Shrugging off the thoughts I picked up my phone and dialed my best friend.

Home

Leo

Homewasn’taplaceanymore. Well, it was, but it was more about who I was with. Talia was home for me now and the second the plane touched down, I felt an ease come over me. Noah and I went our separate ways at the private airstrip. We had spent years working together every day, but since our work with The Dark Kings had ended, he had become more entrenched with the work he did for The Syndicate and I picked up odd jobs for Beckett. Everything about our lives had changed and yet, over the last few months, we had both gone through a major shift again. Talia nodded sleepily and closed her eyes. Tonight we were safe, and she was going to be okay. That was all I needed to concentrate on right now. Unfortunately, intrusive thoughts of destroying the assholes in that file Ares gave me kept creeping in, and I was starting to wonder if I didn’t take care of it myself that they may never go away.

Ares was waiting for me at the front door, even though it was nearly four o’clock in the morning.

“It’s late.”

“Early to some.”

“Good to see you, man.” He reached forward and pulled me into his embrace.

“How is she?”

“Good, I think. She hasn’t talked to me and the guys much. Spent most of her time with Valentina and the kids, but that’s expected. Everyone likes our wife better than us.”

“Is she up?”

“She just fell asleep about an hour ago. Much to everyone’s disagreement, she insisted she stay awake for you, but exhaustion finally won out. I don’t think she’s been sleeping well.”

“I’m not surprised. When I first got to her, they had her windows covered. It took a while for her to get used to day and night, and that wasn’t that long ago.”

“I still can’t believe the shit she’s been through.”

“You don’t know the half of it.”

He nodded. “Listen, I won’t keep you long because I’m sure you want to get to her. This is everything I have on the guys Carter hired. I had to loop Alessia in because they work for one of the other families. She set up a meeting, and she believes these two took this contract on their own. The family is willing to take care of this for you, but I told her I wanted to speak with you first.”

“Thank you.”

“Let me know how you want to handle it.”

“I will.”

I watched as he turned to head back toward his side of the house. “Hey, Ares?”

“Yeah?”

“I wouldn’t have trusted her with anyone else. I owe you for keeping her safe.”

“You owe us nothing, Leo. You are family and we take care of our family.”

I gave him a nod, and he left. I stood there and opened the large envelope he’d handed me. There were a few police reports with mug shots of the guys Carter had hired to kill my beautiful woman. Fury ran through me and I wanted nothing more than to tear their heads off one at a time, but the reality of the situation was that it would require me to leave Talia again, and I just wasn’t ready to do that.

I shoved the papers back into the envelope and made my way down the corridor that led to her. When I approached her room, I saw the door open and my sweet girl asleep while sitting up in bed, fully clothed, with her phone in her hand. Guilt hit me for the first time. I realized how much I must have stressed her out. I was going to have to make some decisions to change my lifestyle if I wanted to keep her safe and healthy. Those decisions were long overdue, anyway. I wasn’t a young kid anymore, running the streets with my brother, taking out people who harmed the Corsetti family. Hell, I was nearly an old man, and my priorities had changed massively over the last few months. Talia was my life now, and I needed to make sure she understood that.

I quietly walked into the room and slid my boots off by the door. After swinging it closed, I stripped away the rest of what I was wearing until I got to her. I sat down on the bed and pulled her phone from her hand, which caused her to shift and let out a slight moan that made my cock stiffen.

“Little Bird, I’m home,” I whispered, trying not to startle her.

She moaned again and rolled over, curving her body around mine before she realized she wasn’t alone and her eyes opened.

“Leo,” she breathed out with a smile on her face. “You’re here.”