Page 17 of Love & Power

The room fell into a heavy silence at Astin’s announcement, but I couldn’t be more proud of her. Just last night, I asked her what she was willing to give to this fight, and Astin just gave us all her answer. There was no doubt her grandfather would be trying everything in his power to change her mind. What he didn’t know was once Astin made up her mind, there wasn’t much that would reverse her choice.

Gemma hurried into the dining room with a man who seemed to be in his twenties right behind her. Their entrance broke the uncomfortable moment, but it caused Gemma to stop so abruptly, the man behind her almost crashed into her.

“I apologize for making you wait, Lady Astin. Dr. Necci took the medical bag prepped for situations like this, so I needed to collect those supplies before coming,” the presumed assistant rambled, snatching off his cap.

Gemma hissed something as she elbowed him in the ribs. “Ah… I… I’m Cleto. Cleto Necci, Dr. Necci’s apprentice. I… I mean assistant.” Sweat beaded on his brow as he twisted his cap nervously. “How can I be of service?”

Astin leaned forward and caught my gaze, signaling me to take the lead on this. Seeing how nervous this guy was, I didn’t blame her for handing it off to someone else. Plus, I was the one who examined the wound.

“Mr. Forte is the one in need of your attention, Cleto,” I explained, gesturing to the end of the table. “He was shot in the arm, through-and-through, with no signs of major damage. However, I’m not a medical professional, so I suggest you take a look yourself just to be sure.”

Cleto bobbed his head and tried to bow at the same time, making him look more like a nervous chicken than a doctor in training. Gemma assisted in getting Aldo’s suit jacket off which had the old man swearing up a storm.

When Cleto started to roll up the sleeve, trying to get to the wound, Gemma stopped him. “I think for this, it might be best if you just cut the sleeve open.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Cleto mumbled, taking a pair of scissors from his makeshift kit.

Unable to watch anymore, I noticed I wasn’t the only one trying to ignore the ineptitude happening at the end of the table.

“Armond, your father mentioned you have a daughter,” Astin said. “He seemed so certain we’d get along. I’m surprised you didn’t bring her with you this morning.”

“I’ll bet he did.” Armond chuckled. “My father has a soft place in his heart for my youngest. Although you’re right, I would have brought her with me, but she’s in jail at the moment.”

Why her father seemed so amused about this fact was strange to me. He didn’t sound like the father who would let his daughter wind up in jail, and we all knew he had the money, power, and influence to get her out if he wanted to.

“I really shouldn’t be surprised at how Von turned out. You see she’s the only girl with two older twin brothers who never seemed to remember Von was a girl. The three of them are so close that she learned everything they did as they were learning it. At the age of six, she was learning at a nine-year-old’s level, refusing to be left behind by her brothers. If they could do it, then so could she, and damn if Von didn’t prove it to all her teachers as well,” Armond shared, a warm smile on his face.

“Being the third child and a girl, I didn’t see the harm in Von learning how to fight or shoot, knowing how dangerous our world is. Hell, if that girl didn’t take to it like a duck to water, surpassing her brothers in skill. Lucky for me, my boys didn’t care and are equally proud of her success.” Armond paused, shaking his head as if he thought of something funny. “Now, my baby girl has put all that hard work and skill to good use. Von is the biggest weapons dealer and smuggler on three continents. If you need something and you’re willing to pay for it, my little girl will make it happen.”

“If she’s as skilled as you say, how did she end up in prison?” Atticus questioned. “Even if her skills failed her, I would think that her being your daughter, she’d be able to avoid such detainment.”

Internally, I cringed at his question, knowing he didn’t mean it to sound offensive. My fear wasn’t that Armond would feel insulted by the question but how he responded. Astin was an extremely rational woman, but when it came to protecting Atticus, she would shoot first and damn the consequences. I’d been a little jealous of their connection, but seeing how torn up she was having Luca taken from her helped me realize she’d do the same for all of us. However, Atticus has spent his whole life fighting against ignorant people treating him like shit all on his own. Astin was just helping to even the score and ensure everyone gave him the respect he deserved.

“You’re absolutely right… she can leave anytime she wants,” Armond agreed. “Yet that stubborn-ass child of mine won’t go until she has the information she’s looking for.”

“Holy shit,” Braxton blurted. “You’re saying she purposely got caught and sent to jail? That is fucking ballsy.”

“That’s one word for it,” Armond grumbled. “I tried to explain how important this meeting was, but she said she was too close to getting the answer. The brat wouldn’t even tell me what information she was looking for so I could help.”

I glanced at Astin’s face and knew that expression meant she’d be asking to visit yet another prison. For a minute, I’d hoped we’d be done with those for a while, but it looks like I’d been wrong.

eight

Breakfast concluded with Aldo patched up as good as new, although a little more humbled. Renato remained silently sulking as I talked with the three other men about the current situation with the families. When I reached the point I couldn’t ignore his glare in my direction anymore, I lashed out.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Renato, stop acting like a wounded animal because you were scolded by your lover in public,” I snapped. “How did you think he would react to you being so disrespectful to me and my men? The only person you have to blame for how this morning turned out is you. All I wanted was for you to introduce yourself and allow my men to ensure my safety. This could have been a lovely morning, but you chose to do things the hard way.”

You could have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed my outburst. Everyone’s attention shifted to my grandfather, waiting to see his reaction. To his credit, Frediano had a perfect poker face, betraying nothing as he gazed at Renato. It was clear to me that Frediano wasn’t going to be the one to break the silence and expected Renato to speak up for himself.

Angrily, Renato shoved back his seat and tossed his napkin on the table. “I don’t need to sit here and listen to you berate me like a child. If you’ll excuse me, I have things to attend to.”

“Ren,” Frediano said, stopping the man in his tracks. “If you walk away right now, you walk away from everything.”

The ice in my grandfather’s words as he refused to even look at the man he was speaking to had the hair on my arms standing. Though his words were cold and brusque, the pain in his blue eyes told a different story. Could it be that he wasn’t the one keeping their relationship a secret?

“Don’t say that, Fredi. You know what my choice will be,” Renato warned.

I watched my grandfather’s hand ball into a fist as he closed his eyes. “Raffas rarely give second chances, but they will never give a third. You’ve made a fool of me long enough, Ren. Get the fuck out of my house and consider all benefits of our relationship revoked. I suggest you tell your wife why you must leave your home, give up your car, and lose your business all in a day. Then your wife can realize the man we loved didn’t give a shit about either one of us.”