Page 13 of Love & Power

I got the sense Darkness didn’t want to answer that, but she did. “Yes.” With that begrudging confirmation, Darkness retreated until I couldn’t feel her, yet I knew she was still a part of me.

“Omae,” Liu called, resting his hand over mine on the table. “Come back to us, omae.”

Blinking a few times, I shook my head, feeling rather disjointed. “What just happened?”

“Your alter, Darkness, I believe she called herself, had a few things to share with me,” Frediano answered, his tone telling me she had, and it wasn’t anything good.

“Fuck,” I cursed, dropping my head and rubbing my brow in discouragement. Things had been going so well. Why the hell did she do that now?

Liu’s hand settled on the back of my neck as he leaned in to whisper harshly in my ear, “Sit up right now, Astin Caprioni. A queen never bows her head in the presence of enemies.”

Startled by the harshness of his tone, I quickly schooled my face and acted as if I’d gotten something in my eye. “Damn eyelash,” I muttered, combing my loose hair back with my hand as I straightened.

Three men I didn’t know had joined us in the dining room, but Ryker, Hound, and Jace were blocking them from getting closer to the table. I spotted Braxton and Atticus lingering in the doorway, ensuring there weren’t any other people to sneak up on us.

“Oh, I didn’t realize we had anyone else joining us,” I commented, glancing at Frediano. “Didn’t you say the morning was going to be a quiet one, Grandfather?”

“I did, but I believe you’re forgetting I mentioned some key allies would be joining us as well,” Frediano reminded me.

“Hmm…” I hummed, shifting my attention to the three men. “Seems a tad early for visitors to be stopping by, don’t you think?”

Frediano stood pushing back his chair. “Astin, tell your men to back down. It’s rather rude to treat my guests and our allies in such a manner.”

“No,” I stated, resting my chin on the back of my hand.

All three newcomers were older, dressed in expensive tailored suits, and had an air of commanding power to them. Two of the three men closer to my grandfather’s age looked irritated at my behavior, but the third, who was younger, seemed rather pleased. Right out of the gate, I felt this person was here with the right intentions, but I didn’t trust the other two.

“Astin,” Frediano snapped, glaring at me. “You are not the Don of the Raffa Family yet. You’re my heir, and I still run things around here.”

“All true, but there’s one thing you’re forgetting. I am the Don of the Caprioni Family with enough power and reach to make the five families rather nervous. These men are your allies… they are not mine,” I explained, pausing to sip of my coffee. “However, if they’d like to introduce themselves and allow my men to remove any weapons they might have, I’d be happy to meet them. Until that is done, they can continue to stand right there, where I can keep an eye on them. One can never be too careful these days.”

Frediano lost all traces of the doting grandfather urging me to make time for the people I loved. The man who stood before me was the one I remembered from my training days. Family be damned, Frediano Raffa didn’t tolerate being disrespected in front of anyone.

“Is that how you want to play things?” Frediano demanded, his tone flat, void of emotion.

A smirk tugged at my lips. “Put your demon away, Grandfather. I don’t want to be forced to kill you when I know you’ll be useful in this fight. There might come a time for our demons to meet, but trust me when I say it’s not now.”

“How dare you—”

The man was cut off as Jace shoved the muzzle of his gun under the older man’s jaw. “Unless you’re going to introduce yourself or apologize to our Mistress, there’s no need for you to speak.”

There was an audible gulp as the pressure from the gun made it hard for the man to swallow. The whole thing made me chuckle, but once I let the laughter start, I couldn’t hold it back. Setting down my cup, I grabbed the cloth napkin and dabbed at my eyes.

“Oh fuck,” I managed to say, trying to get ahold of myself. “Here I was worried that things here would be different from back home. That was rather silly of me. No matter where you go, men hate it when women end up in a position of power they believe a man should hold.”

“Not all men,” the youngest of the three interjected, handing over his gun. “I’m Armond Zuccaro, Don of the Zuccaro Family.”

I sat up a little straighter, knowing this was Durant’s son and remembered the Old Guard mentioning something about his granddaughter. Armond stepped forward, extending his arms, allowing Hound to pat him down. Two more weapons were found before Hound caught my gaze and nodded.

“Please have a seat,” I offered, gesturing to the one across from me.

Frediano seemed to have gotten under control and resumed his place at the table. While he didn’t comment on anything, I knew we’d have a heart-to-heart about this situation when we didn’t have an audience.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Astin. My father speaks rather highly of you,” Armond shared once he was seated. “You’ll have to forgive the other two. They have one foot in the grave and refuse to see the world is changing.”

“Mondo, you know that isn’t true,” Frediano argued, making me feel like this wasn’t the first time they had this conversation. “Renato is a lifelong friend who’s been loyal to me and the Raffa Family. He has every right to challenge someone for being outright disrespectful toward me when it happens in front of him.”

Armond’s gaze flicked to me for a moment before he returned it to my grandfather. “Yes, Renato has always been quick to challenge those who speak ill of you. Guess it was too much of me to assume he’d realize doing that to your granddaughter and future heir wasn’t the smartest choice. Then again, we all know his loyalty is yours and yours alone, not the Raffa name.”