Whisper✅

Chapter Five

It's been at least three weeks since everything with Leo's brother. Any time I worked at the shop, Leo was there and any time he wasn't it was Mark or our older brother Thomas. Sometimes even my father stayed although we knew it was a matter of time before Leo's family came at us full force. We had moved out of my apartment and in with my family, even if it was for more protection on my part. It was in these three weeks that stress weighed heavily on my soulmate and I as we thought of solutions to our problem. It was more stressful on Leo, as more times than not he would be sitting in my office with me looking for options such as different countries or an investigator to help us put his family behind bars. Unfortunately for us, no investigator wanted our case so it left us with the option of running away. It was something both of us wanted nothing to do with, we like our lives here. I had my coffee shop and Leo had the boxing gym he worked at with James.

"Aley?" I heard my name being called out, my focus on the laptop in front of me as I scrolled through living expenses, airfare and other money-related aspects we'd need to consider for fleeing the country. My body was pressed up against the wooden headboard of my bed as I tried my best to relax against the stress. "Aley."

I finally looked up as someone pushed open the bedroom door, my older brother, Thomas standing in the entryway. He held his arms crossed over his chest as he stared down at me. "Leo just called and said that he was going to be running late and that you should really answer your phone sometimes."

I could see the smirk on my brother's face as I searched around the bed for my discarded phone. Where the hell did I put that thing? I was still looking for that dreaded device when Thomas couldn't hold in his laughter. I shot a glare up at him for his laughing, but it turned into a deadlier glare when I saw him holding up my phone.

"You left it in the living room." He laughed. "Either way, Leo said he's coming home late. Oh, and mom said it's time for dinner."

I sighed, it was weird living back with my parents. It was something Leo and I decided shortly after our problems started. Well, first his idea was to move in with me since his family knew where he lived and not even a few days after he moved in with me, my parents nearly forced us out of my apartment to come and live with them. Said it was easier to keep me safe that way. And so here I was, my boyfriend and I both living with my parents. Of course, it didn't help that Mark was still a minor living in the house and Thomas just coming back from the Airforce at twenty-seven.

"You hear me baby bro?" Thomas asked in a strong voice, standing in the doorway a moment longer before turning his back to me and descending the hall. "Be down in five or Dad, Mark, and I will have Mom's cooking gone."

"Save some for Leo at least," I called, breaking out of my little trance before scrambling to push the laptop off me to run down after my brother, all worries forgotten for the short amount of time. "Besides, Mom knows how to make a shit ton of feed for all of us men." I launched myself from the last two steps tackling Thomas who had just stepped off the last stair, his giant body unmoving as I hung on him. "Plus, you guys love me enough not to starve me."

"We do?" It was my father who asked in a chuckle, his spot at the head of the table already taken. "I don't know about that."

Thomas stopped us in the dining room, chuckling along with our father even as Mark and our mother walked out with food in hand to set the table. All laughter stopped at that moment as we gathered ourselves around the table, an open spot next to me that was set away from my late overworking lover.

"Aley, baby, when Leo gets home tonight tell him that he had food left in the stove to keep warm. He just might need to heat it up a little bit more when he actually sits down to eat." My mother told me in a soft voice.

I nodded my head as I took a spoonful of mashed potatoes for my plate. It plopped onto the dish with a soft glopping sound spreading a little as the hard surface stopped the round ball food. Next came the chicken that smelled sweet, it was a mix between an orange and honey smell, my mother's version of orange chicken that was passed down to her from her mother. The last article of food that graced my plate was an overly generous amount of green beans, my favorite. With my plate settled to eat, I set to work digging into the awaiting food.

"Does Leo not feed you?" My mother asked me with a soft smile. "Or do I not feed you enough?"

"Leo sucks at cooking," I mumbled after swallowing down the food. "And when I say horrible, I mean he burnt his cereal accidentally by setting it down on my used burner after I made myself an omelet. I mean how?"

My family laughed with me as we all sat around the table enjoying each other's company. The stories are an endless array of our daily lives and as the stories continued so did the night. It was approximately an hour after we had all finished eating that my soulmate finally walked through the front door. I was curled up on the couch watching a movie with the rest of the family when I heard the front door slam shut. He stood there in his own little world as he kicked off his shoes and tossed his keys into the glass bowl by the door before looking up and meeting my eyes. He grinned upon seeing my own smile as I peeked at him over the thick blanket, I lay tucked away under.

"Hello. Love." He whispered to me in a husky voice as he walked over to kiss my temple.

"Hi," I whispered back up to him, my eyes focusing back onto the tv screen before me. "Mom saved you some food, it's in the stove meaning to stay warm although it has been about an hour, so you might need to warm it back up."

"Thank you." He mumbled before walking off toward the kitchen, Mark turning to me as he disappeared. "Is he really capable of heating up his own food if he burnt his own cereal?"

We shared a quiet laugh as I heard Leo clank around in the kitchen, praying to god he didn't burn the house down as he did so before he finally came back into the living room to sit down next to me. He placed another kiss on my temple before going back to his food, my body moving to lean against his right shoulder, thank god he was a lefty.

"How was work?" I whispered softly, my eyes never leaving the screen.

"Long." He sighed heavily. "Jason scheduled me a teaching lesson and it took nearly an hour after the session was over for this kid's mother to finally show up to get him. Of course, I couldn't leave because leaving a minor is frowned upon after the gym closes and Jason didn't want to wait again with me because he and Emily had dinner plans."

I smiled up at him. "I'm sorry but at least you're home now, I missed you."

"Miss you, too."