Page 50 of Love & Power

“Oh, you should probably mention Teddy Bear here doesn’t talk much,” Von whispered loudly.

Bear scowled and poked Von in the side, making her flail like she’d been shocked. Only the burst of laughter gave away the fact she was just ticklish. “Fuck you, Bear, you know I hate that shit.”

In response, Bear gave her a pointed look that I interpreted as, now you know how it feels. What I couldn’t figure out was the irritation from the nickname or bringing up the fact he couldn’t speak.

“Um… as Von mentioned, Bear prefers to communicate through sign language,” I offered, praying it was the nickname that was the problem.

In a surprising twist, Liu smiled, waved, and proceeded to sign something rather confidently to Bear. A deep, rumbling laugh emanated from Bear as he responded to Liu. It would seem I had been worried about them all getting along for no reason. Clearly, things were off to a good start, and that was all I could hope for these days.

“Astin,” Frediano spoke up, drawing my attention. “I’m sorry, but did you say something about Von being your blood-oath sister?”

“I did. In fact, Ivy is one as well,” I shared.

Hound gripped my arm gently and pulled it up for him to see. “So that’s what this is from. Sneaky Ivy picked a restaurant that didn’t have surveillance in the private rooms, so I couldn’t see what was going on.”

“Precisely why I did it.” Ivy sniffed. “There are times in a woman’s day that men simply can’t intrude on.”

Choosing not to fall for Ivy’s bait, Hound didn’t respond, instead pressing a tender kiss to the bandage like it would magically make it all better.

“So the three of you entered into a blood pact?” Frediano pressed, his brows furrowed. “For what purpose?”

I knew this was something most people wouldn’t understand, but they didn’t have to. What we did was for us, and that is all that mattered. “Now, each of us knows there are two other people in our lives we can trust to have our backs, no matter what. I have the guys who I trust with my life, and that is beyond rare to experience in this world. However, their goals and mine are not the same… they can’t be. They’re not women. With this blood oath between the three of us, I know we can bring about a change. I told you before I can’t be the one to lead the new generation once I destroy the old, so I found people I believe can make that happen. For years, Ivy has been disrupting the trafficking ring as a one-man act. Now she’ll not only have my backing but Von’s as well to assist her in collapsing this network.”

Ivy’s eyes grew wide as I laid out the plan I’d been secretly plotting since hearing her story. It made logical sense. She was a spy who already knew the players and the system. With our help and extra manpower, Ivy could pull off bigger hits, freeing more innocent victims.

“My goal is to come and go between the two families I now control, leaving a person I trust to maintain things while I’m gone. I have someone in mind, but I’d like to see how things play out before divulging who that is. However, Nepreea is Von’s home and stomping grounds. With her eyes and ears all over this country, I’ll have someone I trust to make sure whoever I put in place is doing as I’ve instructed. Likewise, if Von wants to expand into Mansara, I’m happy to provide any and all of my connections with customs. She could even use the docks we control in Springmont if that accomplishes the goal,” I explained, winking at Von, who bounced with excitement.

Taking a breath, I shrugged, splaying out my hands. “You asked to what purpose am I doing this? Simple answer… to prove to everyone we fucking can.”

“Wooo,” Von cheered, leaping to her feet. “Hell yeah, this is what I’ve been fucking waiting for.”

Bear let out a low, rumbling growl before yanking Von back onto his lap like she was a misbehaving child. It was fascinating to watch the chemistry between them like watching two wild animals such as a bear and wolf, who shouldn’t be friends yet somehow made perfect sense. The other thing that was glaringly obvious to me is how Von seemed to have no clue how deep the devotion Bear had for her was. Then again, they always say those closest to the situation are the last to know.

“I stand corrected… this obviously wasn’t a wild impulse between the three of you as I assumed,” Frediano acquiesced.

“You know what they say about assuming,” Von added with a cheeky smile.

My grandfather flicked his gaze to the woman as if he were going to put her in her place. I cleared my throat, casually crossed my arms, and glared at him. Thankfully, he picked up on my warning and let out a heavy sigh before taking a sip of his liquor.

“Gramps, I believe Jace mentioned you had an update about the family meeting?” I asked, shifting the topic to safer territory.

Hound kissed my cheek before taking a seat, but I remained standing. After my nap, I felt rejuvenated and wanted the freedom to move around as we talked. I found that after being forced to keep weight off my leg for three weeks, I valued the ability to stand far more now.

Frediano set down his now-empty glass and picked up a group of papers, offering it to me. “This is a list of every blood-related member of the Raffa Family. Eighty-five percent of them will be here tonight roughly by ten o’clock. The other fifteen percent are unable to travel due to age or illness, but I don’t think it matters since they wouldn’t be able to help to us in this fight. Thankfully, the majority of the family resides in Nepreea so I’ve organized our three planes to shuttle the largest groups here to speed up the process. Would you be willing to add the use of the jet you were using today?”

I listened as I scanned the list of people, picking up on many I knew by name and reputation. “Yes, that’s fine… whatever needs to be done to speed things along. How is Anselma managing the lodging preparations and finding help for the kitchen?”

“That is all sorted and moving along just fine,” he assured me. “Is it still your intention to make the announcement tonight?”

“Absolutely,” I stated. “As of right now, we have five days to build a plan before Domenico is ready to take over the De Santis Family. Once that happens, we will need to shift quickly into the phase before our enemy can move against us. Tomorrow, I plan to reach out to Domenico and hash out what exactly he needs from me. Knowing that will tell me if I need to push him to delay just a little while longer for us to get the information we need.”

“Darling, if information is what you need on these men, I am happy to help provide all I’ve gathered over the years,” Ivy offered. “I know locations, accounts, puppets, and many weaknesses. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the backing or the name to put most of it to good use.”

Armond and Frediano seemed to finally see past the pretty face and long legs, catching a glimpse of the deadly spy in their midst. The twins were less subtle about their appreciation for Ivy as they shifted in their seats, trying to adjust themselves.

“Splendid. I’ll have you work with Jace and Luca to review all you have and pull what bits are still relevant and what we can use. Hound is working on building a secure way for all those tied to the Raffa Family to share information they know about the Accardi and Leoni Families. Things like local hangouts, mistresses, and people believed to be in their pocket,” I explained. “Ivy, I know your information is good and you have sources, but in this situation, there is no such thing as too much data. Our goal is to find the perfect place to hit these bastards and collapse their empires in one fell swoop. Then we go in to clean house once the protective walls they built have crumbled.”

Everyone nodded and murmured their agreement to my overall sketch of a plan. It wasn’t much, but we had to start somewhere, and the clock to make it all happen was ticking away faster than I would like.