Page 8 of Salacious

Leo struggled with the bonds again, trying to sit up, but failing. “Missing,” Leo repeated. “For fucks sake, Ross, let me free,” he shouted. Ross chuckled again and quickly uncuffed him, easily releasing his hands and legs. Leo rolled over, tugging the sheet that Ross had just used, to cover himself.

“Your father is missing,” his mother said again as if starting over.

“Yes, you’ve said that. How long has he been missing?” Leo asked.

“Since last night,” she said. “You didn’t report in after you met with Ross and he was worried, so he took off looking for you. He didn’t come home and now, I’m afraid that he’s—”

“Missing,” Leo filled in for her.

“You have no idea where Tony is, Caroline?” Ross asked.

His mother shook her head. “No, and you don’t call me your aunt anymore?” she asked.

“Given what Leo and I just did all night, calling you my aunt wouldn’t be right. Plus, we aren’t really related,” Ross reminded. It was a fact that Leo was grateful for, but the last thing he wanted to do was talk about his and Ross’s sex lives.

“As I’ve said, he went out looking for Leo, believing that he ran into trouble, and never came home last night,” his mom said.

“Do any of his men know where he is?” Leo asked.

“No,” she almost whispered. “I went into the office and asked around, but no one could seem to give me a straight answer. All I got was that he left last night, with two of his guys, and no one has seen him since then.”

“Shit,” Leo growled. He knew that what his father did wasn’t exactly a safe business, but his father knew the importance of checking in with the family for safety reasons.

“Give us a few minutes to shower and get dressed, Caroline. We’ll go out to look for him and report back. In the meantime, you should go home and if you hear anything, call Leo’s cell,” Ross ordered. Leo had almost forgotten how bossy Ross was—well, until last night. He was fine with letting Ross take the lead on finding his father because Leo had no idea where to even begin to look for him.

“Please, just find him,” Caroline begged.

“We’ll do our best, Mom,” Leo assured. Maybe he was making promises that he wouldn’t be able to keep, but he had no other choice. For his mother’s sake and his own, he needed to find his dad and make good on his promise. The last thing he wanted was to become the head of his family and without his father, that’s exactly what would happen.

Ross

Ross worked all morning trying to track down Tony with no luck. The idea of him just showing up at his office was a long shot, but their only hope at this point. He had called in a few favors, asking around for Tony, but when he kept coming up empty, he knew that they were running out of options. To watch the hope drain from Leo’s face, with every passing hour, nearly gutted him. He hoped for Leo’s sake that Tony was alive and well somewhere, laying low from a threat that would eventually pass, but Ross knew how these things worked. Hoping and wishing for things never really worked out for guys in their business. That was the main reason why he wanted out.

“He can’t have just fallen off of the face of the planet, right?” Leo asked. Ross knew that he wasn’t really looking for an answer to his question, but he gave him one anyway.

“Not really,” Ross said. “Maybe he’s just laying low. You know, like in a safehouse or something.” Everyone in their family knew about where the safe houses were and went to them to lay low when things got out of control.

“I hate to think that he’s in trouble,” Leo whispered almost to himself.

“You worried about your dad or about having to take over as head of household?” Ross asked, cutting straight to the point.

“How can you ask me something like that?” Leo asked. “Of course, I’m worried about my dad.” He sighed and Ross knew that Leo was holding back. “Okay, and I’m worried about becoming the head of my family. It’s not something that I’m looking forward to,” he admitted. “I’m not like you, Ross.”

He barked out his laugh and Leo looked him over as though he had lost his mind. “You really think that I wanted this?” Ross asked. He looked around his office and sunk into his father’s old chair that sat behind his dad’s desk. Everything in the office had belonged to his father, something that he planned on changing sooner than later.

“You seem to really excel at it,” Leo added.

“Well, take another look,” Ross spat. “I’m drowning here. I hate that my father left me in charge of this—this shithole of a company. I’ve always hated everything about what my father does. I just wanted to live my life, my way, but he had to go and die and leave me in charge of everything. I had no choice, just like you will have no choice when your old man dies. We do what’s expected of us, just as we always have, and we accept it. That’s what you’re seeing, Leo, my acceptance of what life has delt me.”

“I’m sorry,” Leo whispered, “I had no idea.”

Ross shrugged, “How could you? I never told anyone how I felt about all of this. Hell, it’s still so fresh, I’m not sure that I’ve fully accepted what’s happening.”

“Have you ever thought about getting out?” Leo asked. It was all he had thought about night and day since his father died.

“Honestly, yeah,” Ross admitted. Leo was the first person he had ever told the honest truth too, and damn if it didn’t feel good to get it out. “I’ve thought about it, but Tony and Bobby have both told me that there was no way out unless I wanted to end up like my father.” Bobby was his father’s other partner and his friend Zane’s father. “One day, it’s going to be you, Zane, and me running things, and while I’d like to think that we’ll be able to change things, I’m not sure that’s completely true. We have a lot of people depending on us, and since my father’s death, I’ve felt their weight on my shoulders. I can’t just walk away and leave them all to fend for themselves—especially my mother and sister. It would destroy them if I walked away.”

“I guess we’ll just look forward to the day when you, Zane, and I are running things then,” Leo said. Ross wasn’t sure that he’d be able to hold out that long, but he’d have to try.

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