74. Leona
LEONA
Cas slung his arm around my shoulders. We all waited in front of the prison. My heart pounded in my chest, and I shifted from foot to foot.
“Anxious, princess?” Cas teased.
I poked his side, and he laughed.
On his other side, Ryu leaned backward against the SUV with his arms crossed. “I bet his skin is terrible. Eight months in prison? It would wreck my complexion.”
“I’m sure his skin is fine, Ryu,” Ciel said as he nudged my shoulder. “Are you okay, baby girl?”
I nodded while swallowing.
Ciel wrapped his arms around me from behind, and I leaned back into his calming grasp.
Ciel had gotten a secure cell phone into the prison so we could talk to Max, but it didn’t make up for the real thing at all.
Even though we’d all visited as often as we could, nothing would be the same until Max was home.
He was supposed to be released today.
I glanced at my phone. Five minutes late. I pulled out from under Ciel’s grip and began pacing in front of the SUV.
“What’s taking so long?” I muttered.
“They’re processing his release, nke’m,” Obi said, lifting my hands to kiss the backs of them. “Don’t worry. Badawi will live up to her side of the deal.”
Max’s official testimony convinced a jury that Greco had been leading the Italian mafia. With his death and Max’s arrest, the mafia was effectively ended.
At least, that’s what the courts believed.
Badawi and Samuel had worked together to reach a deal.
Max had to go to prison, but with a judge who owed Obi a favor, some well-placed bribes, and all the official paperwork still stating that he was quietly serving out his sentence, he was getting released early.
He’d only had to serve eight months, enough to wait until the public’s attention died down.
Every single one of those months, he’d sent me gifts.
A pair of gorgeous earrings. Enough bouquets of flowers to cover our entire house.
An entire spa treatment day. A fucking Maserati.
He even organized a weekend girls’ trip, where the queens and I got to enjoy some quiet bonding time in Philadelphia.
The guys had helped him, but he was so far living up to his promise of trying to make his mistakes up to me.
“We paid a lot of money to get him out,” Ryu said, kicking off the car. “They had better not turn on us.”
I huffed and cracked my knuckles. “They better fucking not. I know we’ve been playing nice the last few months to stay under the radar, but I will unleash hell on New York if this deal doesn’t go through. I’ll fucking rage—”
Obi smiled and pulled my head against his chest. “Shh, dear one. Look.”
My head snapped up.
The doors opened.
A familiar head of sandy blond hair shone in the spring sun.
“Max!” I shouted, raising my hand.
A grin split his face.
“Go on, princess,” Cas said as he nudged my back.
I squealed while I broke out into a run, launching myself at Max. He met me halfway, squeezing his arms around my middle and lifting me into the air. I wrapped my legs around his waist and plastered myself to him. His laugh was clear and pure while he spun us around.
“Happy birthday, Leona Theresa,” Max whispered in my ear.
My face was about to crack from how wide my grin was.
“Best birthday present ever,” I said before I fused my lips to his.
When we broke apart, the rest of my guys were there, hugging and clapping him on the back. Cas laughed while he squeezed Max. Ciel and Wynn smiled widely, giving Max their own hugs. Ryu raised his hand so they could clasp, then yanked him in for a man-hug. Finally, Obi clasped him on the shoulder.
“Good work, Max,” Obi said, smiling. “You did well.”
“Thanks, Obi,” Max replied, but his sight was locked on me. “It feels fucking good to be out of there.”
“How’s your skin?” Ryu asked. “I bought you some badass moisturizer. It’s at home.”
Max laughed. “Aww, how kind.”
“I also hid a grenade somewhere in your room,” Ryu added. He glanced at the clock on his phone. “You have…five hours until the timer goes off. Better find it before then.”
“Now that’s the Ryuji I know,” Max said with a sigh. “Nice to be back.”
“I was going to put a claymore at your doorframe, but Cas talked me out of it. We settled on this instead.”
“Gee, thanks.”
Cas shrugged. “It was the best I could do.”
Max cupped his palms on my cheeks and kissed me again. “I know it’s your birthday, but can I make a request?”
I nodded. “You’ve spent the last eight months in prison because you protected us. You can have whatever you want.”
“I know exactly what I want.” His voice dropped low, and his nose brushed mine.
“I want to go home, take a shower, and then I want to spread you out and devour you until you can’t handle it anymore, and then I want to fuck you until you can’t walk.
When that’s done, I’m not stopping until I’ve gotten at least eight orgasms out of you, one for every month I’ve been gone.
And that’s just for today. Tomorrow, we’re starting all over again.
We’re not leaving the house for at least a week, maybe more.
I will make up for every second I spent behind those bars, mark my words. ”
My core clenched, and I sucked in a breath.
Everyone stood frozen, eyes wide.
“Time to go,” Wynn said, pushing Ryu and Ciel toward the car. “We have work to do.”