Page 41 of Love & Power

He stood there motionless, only wearing leather pants and an open leather jacket, not at all bothered by the biting cold in the air. Tattoos and scars covered his chest, neck, and face, giving him a frightening appearance. This is the type of person I pictured finding down in that prison. The only thing that moved were his eyes, which were so dark they seemed black. It was almost as if he was searching for something he believed I should have.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Ivy and Von exiting the prison. In a vain effort to protect my friends, I tried to warn them, picturing my father’s death all over again. “Run,” I screamed.

It was too late. The beast of a man moved like lightning, aiming straight for Von. I pulled my gun and aimed, but Ivy blocked my view, arms spread out, eyes wide with fear. “No, Astin, stop. He’s not a threat.”

I could feel my pulse pounding in my head as my adrenaline surged through my body. It took a second for me to connect the words she was speaking to meaning. Ivy slowly stepped forward and pushed my arm down, lowering the gun.

“It’s okay, darling. Take a deep breath,” she soothed, resting her hands on my shoulders. “I’m so sorry. I should have warned you before we stepped outside that Bear would probably be waiting.”

“Who the fuck is Bear?” I demanded.

Instead of answering me, Ivy stepped to the side, revealing Von perched on the man’s shoulder while he rubbed his face against her bloody stomach like a fucking pet happy to see its owner. Bear was the mute bodyguard Ivy warned me about on the plane, and I’d almost shot him.

“Trust me, your reaction to him is pretty typical, but if you’d killed him, then nothing would have protected you from Von’s wrath. I have never seen two people more bonded than those two. In fact, I’m not sure either of them would be able to live without the other,” Ivy explained. “Bear is a good man once you can see past his appearance. Although, make no mistake, his loyalty lies with Von, so if she says you’re out, then it won’t matter how Bear feels about you.”

“Holy fuck, I need a drink,” I sighed, dropping my head to rest on Ivy’s shoulder.

“I’m sure once we get on the plane, we can make that happen,” Ivy reasoned.

Grunting my agreement, I holstered my gun and patted Thad’s shoulder. “Nice moves, Thaddeus. I’m almost inclined to forgive you for being a snitch.”

There was no response as he ushered me onto the plane, gun still in hand, not quite as willing to trust Ivy’s word that Bear wasn’t a threat. Dropping into one of the armchairs, I flagged one of the flight attendants over. “Double whiskey on the rocks, please.”

Ivy boarded next with Von and Bear right behind her. Gemma went for her gun, and Thad stiffened where he stood beside me, so I decided introductions were in order. “Thad, Gemma, meet Von, Armond’s daughter, and her bodyguard, Bear. They are the reason we stopped before heading to our next destination. Gemma, would you please show Von where the shower is?”

It wasn’t that I wanted Gemma to act as a maid, but I didn’t trust Thad to put our alliance with Von ahead of something he considered to be a threat to me. If what Ivy said about Von and Bear was even a fraction as serious as she made it sound, one wrong move could bring down everything we were working toward. Which was why I decided it was better to be safe than sorry, especially while trapped in an airplane together.

seventeen

None of us seemed to be able to focus on the work we’d started, knowing that Astin was out with Ivy. I had more of a connection with the woman, but everyone knows a business connection doesn’t tell you who the person really is. Not that I believed Ivy would do anything to harm Astin or put her in danger, but we didn’t even have the reassurance to know Boykov was with our girl to keep her out of trouble.

I stared blankly at the photograph of a penthouse apartment in Dolsa, the capital city of Nepreea. From what I could tell, most of the five families had homes in this city, which made sense. Anything related to the Nepreeian government happened there since that’s where the Council of Ministers conducted business. If you wanted to keep tabs on the legislation and laws being tossed around, then you had a presence in Dolsa.

“Knock, knock… mind if I interrupt?”

Snapping out of my daze, I looked up to see Armond and two other men who were identical copies of each other. They shared Armond’s dark brown hair and square jawline, leading me to conclude they were his sons. One of the twins had his pin-straight hair down, falling just past his jaw, while the other had it back in a low, haphazard bun. Where Armond was stocky with muscle and a bit of a gut, his sons were lean and ripped.

Braxton spluttered, shooting up from where he’d been lying on the couch with an open file draped over his face, which was now scattered all over the floor.

“Huh? What? Oh, Armond, what brings you by?” Braxton asked, trying to play off the fact he’d been sleeping.

The twins grinned, trying not to laugh as they set two full boxes of more papers and files on the coffee table. One of the twins with hazel eyes, which had more green than brown in them, picked up the folder and handed it back to Braxton. “You dropped this.”

“Thanks, man,” Braxton said with a chagrined look. “That will teach me for sleeping on the job, huh? Lucky for me it was you guys and not our boss, or I’d be in trouble.”

I had to hand it to Brax—he knew when it was best to laugh off a situation he wasn’t going to recover from. Looking around the room, I noticed it was just the two of us in there, and I had no recollection of the others leaving. I guess I’d zoned out for longer than I thought to have missed something so obvious.

“Frediano reached out and said you guys wanted information on properties we own and if we knew about any used by the Arccardi or Leoni Families,” Armond explained. “He might have also suggested we come by for lunch since it would just be us men folk.”

“Lunch…” I muttered, looking at my watch. It had been two hours since Astin left with Ivy.

“The others are already in the dining room. We offered to grab you since we needed to drop off these boxes,” the second twin said, then reached out a hand. “I’m Lazzaro, by the way.”

Grasping his hand, I assumed he would just shake it, but instead, he pulled me to my feet, causing me to stumble. “Nice to meet you, Lazzaro,” I responded once I’d caught my balance. “I’m Liu Gallo, lieutenant of the Caprioni Family.”

The other twin shoved his brother out of the way and offered me his hand. “Metteo, firstborn and underboss of the Zuccaro Family.”

“Don’t even start that bullshit, Teo. You’re firstborn by all of three minutes, and we both hold the underboss position,” Lazzaro cut in, bumping his chest against his brother’s.