Page 22

“ U h,” Leandro says. “That’s interesting.”

“What is?” I look over to where he’s sitting at his desk.

“I’m not sure what I’m looking at exactly. Benjamin’s brother seems as boring as their parents, but interestingly enough, he was paying some dude money, good money. First, on a regular basis, then just every once in a while. He hasn’t paid for a bit, though, and when I looked into the dude receiving the payments, I found out he died from some heart thing, even though no one knew he had problems with his health.”

I sigh. “Sometimes people get unlucky. Stop looking into Benjamin, we have more important things to do.”

Leandro meets my eyes, giving me the navy blue dead stare I’ve learned over the years to stand my ground against. “If he’s going to be my other step-dad, I need to make sure he’s good enough for Tennant. Roman and you have kept me away from the Martellis thus far, which, rude. So, I’ve had to look into things myself. You might be okay with letting some stranger come into your life, but I’m not.”

I wonder if I can throw my knife at him faster than he can shoot me. It’s not worth the risk, but sometimes, it's really fucking tempting. Being the mentor and stand-in parent for a twenty-one-year-old psychopathic mimic is…exhausting. Especially when he has a… unique way of showing he cares about people.

“Do you think Ten would notice if I borrowed one of his torture rooms for a bit?”

“No,” I say, making sure my tone is firm. “You are not going to torture Benjamin’s brother. Whatever he was into, it seems to have stopped, yes?”

He glances back at his monitor and does a bit of scrolling. “I mean, there hasn’t been any suspicious activity since the last payment, but you have to admit, it’s odd.”

“It doesn’t concern us.” I watch him carefully as I speak. “You will not, and I mean it, will not go about snooping into Benjamin’s family. Understand? They’re perfectly normal, boring people who don’t need to be brought into this. Shady transactions or not.

“Benjamin, despite being Emilio’s best friend, and a little unhinged himself, is a kind and honest person. He’s good for Tennant, in a way Roman, Jude, and I can’t be. We will let him have this because we care, and want him to be happy. Right?”

I get a blank stare, but he does seem to be listening, so I wait him out. I’ve learned that patience, and a good dose of firmness, is needed when dealing with Leandro. I’ve also had to quickly learn how to read the boy. He is way too good at mimicking how most people respond to things. If you don’t know him, it’s too easy to take him at face value.

We should probably worry more about that, but…he’s good at staying within the boundaries Tennant and I set for him—most of the time.

“I mean it, Leandro. You don’t want Tennant to catch wind that you’re looking into Benjamin and his family. He means a lot to Ten. I’ve never seen him this way. Even when he fell for Roman, he wasn’t this reckless. Benjamin brings something to the table that Tennant needs, a softness mixed with his ability to stand up to him, not just beside him.”

“Roman’s not enough?” There’s a coldness to Leandro’s tone that scares me.

“It’s different.” How the hell do you explain the nuances of the human psyche to someone like Leandro? His baseline for emotions is zero. It’s why he uses Roman as an example when he needs to pretend to feel something.

“Tennant is everything to all of us, but he’s Cristian’s first. He molded himself to be what the Boss needed him to be from a very young age. And after Cristian saved him from the hospital, that cemented whatever loyalty and weird imprinting thing that was already between them.

“Tennant and I…” I sigh and try to find the right words for the both of us. “It was the first sign of trust for us both. Outside of my siblings, I didn’t trust anyone—I couldn’t fathom it, nor could Ten. He didn't expect to have anyone on his side, except Cristian. We fell into what we have after he stalked me.”

Leandro snorts at that, and I have to smile a little. The whole situation was ridiculous, but utterly perfect in a weird Tennant way.

“I keep him human, but he needs more than that. He needs the vulnerability Roman brings, and the challenge Jude does. And the softness mixed with a not-quite-realized bloodthirstiness that Benjamin has, though I think he’s coming into that quickly.”

Leandro grimaces. “More is not merrier, but I don’t judge.”

I laugh. “I hope someone sweeps you out of your chair one day.”

He sneers. “They better fucking not, unless they want to discover if dicks can be reattached or not. I dare someone to touch me.”

Snorting, I shake my head. “I didn’t mean it literally, but I do agree that they need your consent first.”

He rolls his eyes. “Right, because you and Ten take consent so seriously.”

I sober up. “We do. Just because we like to play games, doesn’t mean anything. I know if I was really uncomfortable and against the things we do, Tennant would stop them. He’s very much in tune with my wants and needs. If someone doesn’t, Leandro, if you feel as if someone disrespects your limits, don’t think you have to deal with that on your own.”

He smiles, a sinister grin that would terrify me if I didn’t know him as well as I do. In truth, I probably know him better than even Roman does—the boy only sees what Leandro wants him to. “You don’t have to worry about me, Hollis. I can take care of myself. Not only that, the games I play are fully consensual…even when they’re not.”

I decide not to ask any more questions. There are some things a parent really doesn’t need to know. Especially when it comes to the question of whatever type of sex life Leandro may or may not have. Asexual and touch adverse, he may be, but he’s not sex adverse, at least, according to Roman. He’s also a devious fucker, so who knows what “games” he’s playing. I just hope the poor sucker under his thumb knows what they’re doing.

Before I can think any harder about it, my phone goes off with a text from Benjamin. As I read it, my respect for Ignacio goes up—thankfully, as I really was starting to question Il Padrone’s choice in him—because someone should have fucking seen it, or thought of it. But then again…we’ve been running in so many directions since all this started, it’s impossible to consider all theories at once.

“I’m going to forward you this text?—”

“Don’t bother,” Leandro says. “I’m already on it. I can’t fucking believe I didn’t consider the motive behind all this.”

I look over at the boy, who’s already busy typing something. “Get out of Benjamin’s texts,” I order. “Actually, pull out of his phone entirely. I swear to fuck, Leandro, I will ground you if you don’t stop doing shit like this.”

He blinks innocent eyes at me. “I told you, I had to make sure he was good enough for my dad. Which, considering he still hasn’t responded to Ten’s message, I have to say, it’s not looking good.”

I roll my eyes. “In case you haven’t noticed, they’re dealing with a lot of shit over there. Knowing Ten, it’s nothing important; he wouldn’t want to distract Benjamin. I bet if I looked into it, it’d be some words of encouragement, wouldn’t it?”

He huffs. “Still. It’s impolite.”

“Leandro…” I say in a warning tone. “We don’t have time for your shit. I will ground you until your next birthday.”

“That’s almost a year!”

“Exactly. So, think very carefully.”

“I’m an adult now, you can’t do that.”

“Wanna bet?”

He glares, but turns back to his monitor and I do the same. “So, we’re narrowing our search parameters,” he says, fully in work mode now. “Are we still saying the asshole’s probably a fed of some kind?”

I nod, even though he’s not looking in my direction. “Yes, I still think that makes the most sense with the type of reach they have, not only with the locals, but the way they’re able to organize and orchestrate everything.

“It’d make sense, too. We mostly have the locals doing our bidding—even the ones not bought off or indebted to us in some way. A fed would be stupid enough to tangle with either Family in a way that the locals won’t. If they’re lax enough to not keep tabs on what their loved ones are doing, that’s on them, not us.”

Leandro hums. “They’re either cocky as hell, or just that desperate. I can’t understand the latter, but well, I’d probably burn the world down for Roman—especially if it’d make him feel better. He’s so sad right now, it’s getting on my damn nerves.” He scoffs and says, “Don’t tell him I said that, about burning the world for him, I mean. I don’t care if he knows he’s irritating the fuck outta me.”

I laugh a little. “Your secret is safe with me. You wanna do deaths, and I’ll look into the ones who had someone hurt enough to be life-impeding? I’m not sure a threat would be enough. It’s not our style to threaten loved ones directly—though the Martellis might be different. I’ll make a call to Keegan to get his opinion on that.”

“Sounds good. Once we have the parameters for what we’re looking for, I’ll start building the automation, though I’m still working on that skill—H is far better.”

“I still haven’t ruled out calling him, but we have enough of a shitstorm on our hands with Emilio being pissed about Tennant going feral on Benjamin. I'd rather let that calm before doing something else he protested against. Start the program and I'll finish it.”

The sounds of both of us typing soon becomes the only noise in the room—with the occasional snore or snort from Boston, until one of Leandro’s guards takes her out for a break.

The familiarity of it all calms some nerves, and everything else begins to fade away as I put in a call to Keegan and the three of us work on narrowing our search for whoever stole our Bosses even further.

By the time we're done, no stone will be left unturned, and it's only a matter of time before the bloodshed we're all craving rains down.