Page 59 of Blood & Heartache

“How lovely is that! I’m glad someone around here is taking me seriously, present company not included,” I commented, waving off their indignation. “All right then, let’s get this show on the road. Gramps, you good keeping track of our dearly departed’s head?”

“Yes, dearest Granddaughter, he will be safe with me. In fact, I actually think I prefer spending time with him this way, far less opinionated,” Frediano said, a smirk tugging at his lips.

“Ryker, what’s the situation with security? How many people do we have that you trust to take orders and follow through with them?” I questioned, limping out of the room. “If I’m going to cleanse the Family of those supporting the founding families’ agenda, I need backup.”

I stumbled, but Braxton was right there to steady me, and Hound was coming up behind with the wheelchair.

“Don’t say a damn word, Luna. Sit your ass in the chair, and let us take you to the main floor. Unless you want to…” he paused to gesture to all of me, “... I don’t know, clean up a bit?”

Giving in to his wishes, I sat and took a second to look over myself. I was barefoot, covered in blood, my hair was loose and looked like it even managed to have blood coating the ends. Which, in turn, meant it was wiped off on my dress. Having no idea where my jacket went that I’d been wearing, I ascertained I must look like the survivor of a horror movie.

Damn right, we would survive, Darkness whispered to me, chuckling in my mind. Use everything I’ve provided for you, Astin. Your throne might be covered in blood, but you’ll know the second someone dares to touch it. Fear doesn’t bring you respect, but it damn well makes them listen really carefully to what you have to say.

Okay, us talking to each other like this is weird, I pointed out, but I couldn’t deny that she was right. Then again… she was still me… so I was right? Ah, fuck it, who cares? All that matters is the idea was brilliant, and I was going to do just that.

“Are you saying I don’t look nice like this? Here I was thinking I looked rather festive for this evening’s gathering.” I deadpanned, keeping my face as blank as possible to see how he’d react.

“My Moonflower, you’re the most stunning woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. If you want to embrace the macabre look you’re rocking right now, then, babe, sign me the fuck up,” Hound answered, taking both my hands and pressing them to his cheeks, smearing blood on them. “Look, now we match.”

“Hardly,” Ryker interjected. “If you want to try that hard to impress her, then go roll in the man’s blood like the dog you are.”

Hound snapped his finger and gave Ryker double-finger guns. “Now that’s taking initiative, Ry-ry.”

The idiot started to head back into the room like he was actually going to do it. “Get the fuck back here, Hound,” I ordered. “You’re not fucking rolling in the filthy man’s blood. Seriously, you have no idea where that’s been or what kind of diseases he might have.”

“Damn, you’re taking all the fun out of things.” Hound groaned dramatically, stomping back over, then winked. “Did you think I was really going to do it?”

“Why wouldn’t I? It’s exactly the type of thing you would do just to prove to Ryker you would,” I countered. “But since you’re not going to do it, then talking about it more is a moot point. Now, Ryker, how about that security?”

“The moment I heard what Athos said about the pin and number of people, I had my most trusted security keeping a lookout for them,” Ryker informed me. “If what Athos said is true, then only a small number of them will know one another. There hasn’t been a meeting this large in a decade, so there wouldn’t have been a chance for them to meet naturally. This gives us the advantage of drawing them out by acknowledging what the pin means and putting them somewhere they won’t cause trouble. So far, we have twenty-seven in a guarded sitting room near the ballroom under the watchful eye of my men.”

“Fabulous. Now let’s go introduce the Caprioni Family to their new boss,” I instructed. “I have a feeling it’s going to be an event they’re never going to forget.”

Chapter 26

The farthest I allowed them to wheel me was to the closed doors to the ballroom. This room was only used for full Family meetings since there would be hundreds of people. That’s not including all the outlying people who worked for the Family in our not-so-legal areas of business. If my estimations were right, there would be fifteen hundred people, give or take. With my announcement and swift judgment on those who supported Athos, I figured I’d lose roughly three to four hundred. As the gardeners always say, you have to prune back the deadwood so you don’t smother and kill the whole plant.

Braxton had handed me a bottle of water and pain meds in the elevator. They weren’t the strong ones that would knock me out, but they would help make this more manageable. I seriously need to work on making sure I don’t get shot in the leg ever again. It was seriously putting a cramp in my badass mojo when I needed it most. Grabbing Jace’s forearm, he helped to pull me to my feet, and Atticus handed me a cane. It wasn’t the one I had been using and didn’t give off medical-supply-store vibes. It was white, inlaid with mother of pearl, and the handle was polished silver. The thing had some weight to it as well, making me curious.

“Atty, is there something I should know about this cane?” I questioned with a quirked brow.

He smiled and nodded. “I knew you wouldn’t want to use it, so I figured if I made it more functional, you might rethink it making you look weak. There is a blade attached to the handle, and if you twist it to the right, it unlocks the sheath, and you can pull the blade free.”

Grinning excitedly, I did as he instructed, and sure as shit, there was a lethal dual-edge blade winking back at me. “Oh, this has to be the coolest thing ever.”

“So you will use it?” Atticus pressed.

“You bet your ass I’m going to use it,” I assured him. “Now let’s show it off to everyone else, hmm?”

The dual security standing in front of the ballroom doors each grabbed a handle and pulled them open. Daddy always told me he liked how the doors slid outward because he felt like a king when they opened them for him. I had to admit that right now, I felt like a motherfucking queen as everyone in the room turned around to see who was entering. Liu offered to announce me, but I thought seeing how I looked, it would make a bigger impact on them to simply appear.

Gasps echoed through the room as women clutched their pearls and clung to their men. These days, women were so separated from the reality of being part of the mafia they forgot just how brutal the life really was. Not saying a word, I moved forward, and people parted for me like the Red Sea. I spotted many faces I knew from my studies. Business owners, law enforcement, politicians, and key people within the Family, everyone was here as Liu said.

Reaching the front of the room, a long table was stretched from wall to wall with stations set up to perform the oath ritual. With so many people, I wasn’t going to do this one by one. Instead, twenty people at once would step up, I’d say the words, and they would slice their hand with the blade provided to them. This was important, but it also needed to be efficient. There was too much to do, and this matter needed to be settled.

Casimira stood at the front of the room with my half-brother, Jamison. I was surprised to see him here. I didn’t get the impression he’d been all that inclined to accept this lifestyle, but I suppose it would be seen as support being my brother and all. Casimira looked the best she had since Daddy died. She seemed present, not lost in the haze of a tranquilizer, and she smiled at me when I approached. We exchanged air kisses as a greeting since I was, well, covered in blood.

“It seems I’ve missed more than I realized the past week. Forgive me for allowing my grief to overwhelm me in such a manner,” Casimira whispered.