Disclaimer: I do not own and I do not make any money from this story

Here is part IV of the Worth the Risk series I hope you enjoy and yes I know I promise slash in the other stories and there will be some in this story, this story is rated T and M for spanking, drugs use, swearing .

Chapter 1: Twisted Emotion

Neal looked at Mozzie from where he was lying on the ground "Mozzie… it's so good to see you again," Neal slurred a bit as he moved his hand up and rubbed his head. Dante smirked as he sat up and looked at the older man "Well, if isn't Mozzie; it sure has been a while… if Burke's sent you here it's because he wants Neal back at his desk doing menial work putting big scary men behind bars. Neal's taking a personal day so when you speak to Burke again tell him that" Dante remarked as he put his wine glass down on the coffee table. Mozzie looked at the other two men, after a moment of silence he spoke. "Well, if that's so then I'll go Neal just pick up the phone next time and tell him you're fine so I don't have to be bothered," Mozzie said as he gave a small wave and walked out of the apartment.

Dante laughed as he looked over the coffee table at Neal, "I heard back from my mother, everyone is looking forward to the family reunion," Dante said as he held a hand out to his cousin and pulled him to his feet. Neal groaned "I almost forgot about that, I'm supposed to be hosting it too," Neal said as he made his way over to the couch. When he finally sat down he looked at Dante "I'm not a good planner so I'll just hire someone to do it, Neal said as he put his head back. Dante laughed "Burke's wife is an event planner and she would jump at the chance to plan this for you," Dante said as he stumbled to the fridge and found a beer.

"You're right Elizabeth is an event planner and I think I will hire her for the job, I doubt she would charge me much at all," Neal remarked as he put his head down to sober up. "Dante, why does Peter hate me so much?" Neal asked as he turned and looked at his cousin. Dante sighed and walked back over to his cousin and sat beside him. "You're a con artist who breaks the law and he is a federal agent that is one reason and he is also playing the married man card" Dante said patting Neal on the knee. "You are a very good looking man and if you give him some time and keep flirting he'll wear down eventually to your charms."Dante says in a reassuring tone.

With a small smile Neal chuckled "Yeah…your right he'll bend to my charms some day," Neal said as he yawned. Dante moved his hand and patted Neal's head a few times. "Go to bed, I have a feeling if you keep up your plan of ignoring Burke he'll show up here eventually to check on you," Dante remarked as he sat back and downed more beer. Neal got to his feet with very little trouble, when he got to his bed he dropped onto it face first the downy soft comforter, giving a soft moan at the comfortable feeling on his face.

Watching his cousin for a few minutes as he fell into a deep sleep, Dante finished his beer and put the bottle down and with a smile that could rival the devil's own; Dante walked out onto the terrace and looked at the city view. Driving a wedge between them is easier than I thought, Dante mused to himself as he watched a few cars zip down the street quickly to catch a red light at the far end of the road. "I did promise Aunt Nat I would watch over him or suffer her wrath," Dante mumbled to himself as he smiled at the idea of his Aunt taking him on.

Looking down at the street Dante pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed a long distance number, as he listened to the other end ring he glanced back to make sure that no one was watching him. "Caffarelli residence…" a young girl's voice said on the other end. Dante smiled "Is this is Nela… you're getting to be a big girl to answer the phone, is your daddy home?" Dante asked "Yeah… Daddy, Daddy! It's Uncle Dante," Nela yelled as she waited patiently.

After a couple seconds of waiting Dante heard a male's voice on the other line "Dante, it's good to hear your voice, I was just going to call you. Mom wanted me to tell you that we're just waiting for a date for the reunion and then we'll fly over. Other than that how are things?" the younger brother asked. Dante gave a small sigh "I'm good, I guess you heard about everything that Neal and I went through, it's been tough but we're getting through it slowly," Dante said looking back over his shoulder.

"Neal is getting over it easier than I am; I'm doing my best to keep his mind off it as best I can," Dante added as he walked around the terrace. "Well I shouldn't keep you, this phone bill will be astronomical already I'll see you soon Romano, give my love to Lise and Luka," Dante said before hanging up. As he headed back inside Dante started to clean up the glasses and wine bottles. Once the apartment was clean he started to snoop around looking for anything to pass the time while Neal slept. As he snooped around he found various amounts of cash hidden around the apartment, hidden items and papers but nothing of real interest. After giving up the search he grabbed a book off the shelf and began to read.


Peter walked around his office and sighed as he heard Neal's phone go right to voice-mail telling him that Neal had turned his phone off. Giving an annoyed groan Peter hung up his phone and called Mozzie's phone and when Mozzie picked up he ignored saying any type of hellos "Did you talk to Neal?" Peter asked "Yes… well no actually he was slurring his words, Dante did most of the talking…this is going to sound paranoid," Mozzie paused in his reply.

"That hasn't stopped you before," Peter cut in with a chuckle. "Very funny Suit, but I've known Neal a long time and maybe it's because of the shared encounter but his cousin seems to be making decisions for him." Mozzie said over the phone. Peter paused for a moment before speaking, "I don't think he…Dante likes me very much. He started the conversation and goaded me into saying the right thing to upset Neal," Peter said sighing. "I'll give him a day to sober up and I'll talk to him in the morning. That is if I can get him away from Dante's poisonous words. I'll call you back once after I try talking to him," he added before hanging up the phone.

After pacing the office a couple more times Peter thought back to the altercation earlier remembering right away how he had walked right into Dante's trap to make Neal trust him even less, Neal had heard the part of the conversation that Dante wanted him to hear. As he sat back down behind his desk Peter grabbed the top folder and opened it to look the information over. Maybe if I bring this over I can tell him we have to talk about a case and then I can work in a talk with him that is if I can get in through the front door of his apartment, Peter thought as he flipped through the pages of information.

Diana walked into Peter's office "Hey boss, we have some more surveillance from the building, three more deliveries went in. Also Hughes wants to know when you plan on sending Neal in undercover," she asked noticing the folder in Peter's hand. "I plan on talking to him about it tomorrow that is if I can get him to talk to me that is, I'm sure he's still pretty upset with me from earlier," Peter said putting the folder down on his desk. "Do you have any advice on how I could get through to him?" Peter asked hoping someone could help him.

"Neal is fragile he plays everything off as not affecting him but it does and he keeps everything bottled up inside. When he heard you say that you didn't care I have a feeling that his mind shut down right when he heard those words. Which means before you can talk about cases with him you have to mend the bridge between you two, it's the only way," Diana said as she closed the office door and took a seat across from Peter.

Peter was ready to jot down mental notes on how to get Neal to listen to him. "You sound like you know what you're talking about. I don't know what to say to him, I'm worried that I'll say the wrong thing again and upset him more," Peter remarked as he ran his fingers through his hair. Diana smirked as she sat back in the chair "Why don't you start off with that, sit Neal down and tell him you don't know what to say and if he starts to cut you off then just stop him and say you never meant to say what you did, even though you said it loud enough for the whole office to hear," Diana said as Peter rolled his eyes.

Both agents sat there for a moment while Peter thought of how to approach Neal and speak to him. "So you're saying that I should tell him the truth and hope that he believes me and then I can tell him about the new case?" Peter asked hoping he understood the inner workings of emotions.

With a small nod Diana stood up "I think you'll do well in apologizing to Neal, I know where Neal is coming from being so confused about everything in his life. It took a lot of guts for him to tell you how he felt…before you even ask during the week he asked me about some things, and also there are the looks he used to give you, the doodles on the reports or in his notebook. I put the clues together it's pretty obvious how he feels about you. Well I need to get back to those reports," Diana said as she left quickly.

Once he was alone again Peter grabbed the case file and looked at it for a moment before picking up his phone and dialed June's number and waited for her to pick up "June… it's Peter could you do me a favor, I'm coming over to see Neal and I was wondering if you could check on him and see if his cousin is with him…if he is could you get rid of him for a while?" Peter asked as he packed a few things away in his desk as he got ready to leave.

"Of course Peter, he'll be gone before you get here…" June said a smile evident in her voice. Peter looked at the clock on his desk "I should be there in twenty minutes thirty at the latest, could you not tell Neal I'm coming either I want to catch him off guard. I'm leaving now, thanks again June," Peter said before hanging up. Taking a quick glance around his office he stood up and left his office. "I'm taking an early lunch, I might be late getting back" Peter said as he walked by Jones' desk.


June walked upstairs and knocked on the door and waited for someone to open the door. When Dante opened the door June smiled "Hello Dante, I was wondering if you would do me a favor the young man who runs errands for me is sick and I need a few things from some stores down town would you be a dear and get me a few things?" she asked smiling at the young man.

Dante looked over at Neal still passed out on the bed "Well Neal is sleeping and I really should keep a watch on him," Dante lied as he tried to keep himself from being separated from Neal. "It would mean so much if you could do this for me I'll pay you if you like," June said handing Dante three hundred dollars. With a smile Dante looked at Neal again "He'll be fine for a while I'll just need a shopping list and some addresses I'm still learning how to get around the city," he said pocketing the money. June handed him the two lists and smiled "I'll keep an eye on Neal, for you," she said walking past Dante and over to Neal. Busying herself she tucked Neal in and pushed his hair away from his face. "He just looks so adorable when he's asleep," she commented as Dante left the apartment.

Three hundred bucks to run some old woman's errands… I can't believe I've sunk this low, Dante thought as he walked to the street corner to hail a cab; walking down the street he stuck his hands in his pocket. Once he flagged down a cab he got into the back and gave the driver the first address. He didn't notice the blue Taurus that passed his cab as they pulled away from the street corner.


Peter parked his car and went inside and made his way upstairs to Neal' apartment where he found June waiting for him at the table. He looked around and saw the conman waking up. June smiled "I'll leave you two to talk," she said as she left the small apartment closing the door behind her.

Neal rubbed his eyes and walked out of the small alcove where his bed was to find Peter sitting at the table. "Peter I don't want to talk to you right now," Neal said as he slowly approached the other man at the table. "That's fine you don't have to speak I will," Peter remarked as he motioned for Neal to sit down. The younger man sat down and crossed his arms over his chest before crossing his legs and leaning back in his seat. Peter watched Neal before speaking to him.

"Look Neal, what you heard this morning when Dante was talking to me and what you heard was…" Neal stood up in a quick fluid motion and slammed his hands on the table "Was what! The truth that you have always hated working with me this whole time, I heard the words come right out of your mouth; I wish you never kept chasing me why couldn't you give up like the others… you had to be the perfect agent and catch me and systematically ruin my life. I trust…trusted you; I even put my feelings on the line by telling you how I felt. Dante was right you're a jerk and when I'm done with the FBI I want nothing more to do with you!" Neal yelled his voice starting to break up at the end.

Letting Neal take a moment Peter sat in silence before speaking "If that's what you really want then I won't force you to stay with the FBI, you'll be a free man and you can go anywhere you want," Peter said calmly hoping to make Neal feel better. "I don't want to leave the FBI you uncaring jackass, I just want you to love me! Not just as a friend but more or can't you get that through your head," Neal said angrily as he looked at Peter.

Peter sat at a loss for words, as he got to his feet when there was a knock on the door. Neal tried to calm his breathing down as he opened the door, and when he saw June he instantly felt his anger shrink away to nothing. "What is going on in here, I heard all this yelling up here are you two alright?"June asked noticing that Neal was still trying to control his breathing. "We're fine, just a small argument nothing worse than that," Neal said as he walked over to the sink and got himself a glass of water.

June looked over at Peter and saw him wave her off "Well I've sent Dante to pick up some things and when he gets back I'll make all of us some tea," June offered as she looked at Neal. With a forced smile Neal put his glass down "Tea would be nice, thank you June," Neal remarked as he glanced over at Peter with a venom in his eyes that made the other man suppress a shiver. In all the years he had been chasing Neal he had never seen him look at him in such a way. The look hadn't slipped past June. She knew that it wasn't her business to get in the middle of the fight. "We'll I'll leave you two to settle your differences," June said giving both men a smile as she left the apartment.

Peter walked around the dining room table and looked at Neal "I'm sorry for what you heard this morning; I never should have let Dante talk me into such an obvious trap, he saw you and he said what he did to anger me," Peter apologized hoping to get through to Neal, as Neal stood there he saw the door open again.

"I was going to let you take care of this by yourselves and I hate to intrude but I saw that look you gave Peter and it shook me to the core and now you two are going to sit down on that couch and you are going to tell me just what's going on," June said taking on a more stern tone. Neal skittered around the older woman and parked himself on the far end of the couch. Peter walked over and sat down on the couch beside Neal before looking at June. "You're each going to have a turn, Peter you may go first, and Neal don't interrupt" June said looking at the FBI agent.