Page 23 of Love & Power

“With you…” Frediano echoed, brows furrowing. “Not the Raffa Family or the Caprioni Family, just you.”

“Yeees,” I said, stretching out the single word, trying to figure out what he had a problem with. “This is an agreement between Domenico and myself. I give him the bodies to win the takeover and my backing as head of the Caprioni Family to validate his claim as head of the De Santis Family. Well, I suppose I’m now head of the Raffa Family too. Either way, having one less family to contend with in this fight is a plus.”

“Astin, I’m not trying to say you did anything wrong. All I’m trying to parse out is what the exact agreement was,” Frediano assured me. “I agree this is helpful to the present situation, but my only word of caution would be to ask if your alliance ends if you were to die.”

Dread over what that implication might mean sat in the pit of my stomach like a rock.

“Asta, what’s wrong?” Atticus demanded, shooing Liu out of the way so he could sit next to me. Taking my hand, he placed two fingers on my wrist, checking my pulse. “You’ve gone completely white. Are you feeling lightheaded?”

“No, I-I’m fine,” I mumbled, my brain racing a million miles an hour. “Liu, I need your phone.”

Snatching it out of his hand, I scrolled through his contacts until reaching Bert Renolds. Hitting the call button, I placed it up to my ear and listened to it ring three times. Instead of going to voicemail like I expected, it clicked and started ringing again.

“Hello, Liu,” Ivy’s silky voice answered.

“Ivy, it’s me,” I corrected her.

“Astin—”

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to cut you off, but I don’t have time for pleasantries. You and Domenico had a history, right? I get the feeling you know each other pretty damn well, and it has nothing to do with him being a client,” I stated.

“Ask me the real question, Astin, since we’re cutting through the bullshit.” Gone was the voice of the woman I considered a friend. Instead, I was speaking to Ivy, the assassin.

“Did I just agree to help Domenico take over the De Santis Family in exchange for an alliance that ends with my death? Ivy, did I just sign my own death warrant?” I asked, closing my eyes, preparing for the worst.

The call went silent, so quiet that I cracked open an eye to make sure we were still connected. Braxton took my glass, setting it on the coffee table as my hand began to shake ever so slightly.

“Ivy?” I ventured. “Are you still there?”

All of a sudden, noise filled the line once more. “Sorry, I had to put you on hold so I could call Dom. I just informed him if anything ever happens to you, it better not trace back to him, or I’ll skin him alive and use it to make a new pair of shoes. Then I can walk all over him for eternity for daring to harm my friend.”

“Wow…” I blurted. “That is one hell of a visual. Can I borrow that from you?”

“Darling dearest, Astin, you can absolutely use that threat. Better yet, let it inspire you to create something equally visceral to the imagination,” she answered cheerfully. “Just don’t forget to share it with me.”

“What was Dom’s reaction?” I asked.

“You know I didn’t wait to hear a response,” Ivy admitted. “I said what I needed to say, and it’s better for all of us if I never find out if he was planning to stab you in the back. You see, knowing would mean I’d have to do something about it which, in turn, would leave you with three families to deal with when it could have only been two.”

God, just when I didn’t think I could have a bigger girl crush on this woman. “Have I ever told you how blessed I am to have you as a friend, Ivy? To be clear, I’m not at all saying that because of the skills you have or information you provide. I’ve never had someone I could call out of the blue, accuse them of setting me up, and have them turn around and threaten the person I thought you were working for. That is a friendship people dream of,” I pointed out.

Ivy chuckled. “Thank you for saying that, Astin. It means more than you know. Hey, what do you say we do lunch tomorrow? I’ll come pick you up.”

“I would love to, but I’m not in Springmont,” I explained.

“Well, good because I was planning on picking you up from La Prosperità Estate. I’ll be around by eleven, and I suggest you have one of your new bodyguards come with you. Mr. Boykov has suffered long enough sharing this plane with me.”

“Hang up the phone now, Ms. Foxxx.” I heard Ralph grumble in the background.

“Ta for now, darling, see you tomorrow,” Ivy said, ending the call.

Like most of my interactions with Ivy, I had to take a second to process what the fuck just happened. Clicking on the contact name, I pulled up the messages exchanged.

Bert: I know Mr. Boykov told you I’m on the plane. Do me a favor and keep that between us.

Liu: There are no secrets between Astin and me, so I’m going to need a reason to even consider keeping this to myself.

Bert: You are such a sweetheart, Liu, don’t ever change, my girl needs that from you. As for why you should keep it to yourself, it’s because I want to surprise her.