Page 71 of Love & Power

Reaching out, I gripped Ivy’s neck and stepped closer, darkness pouring off me. “Yet when I woke up this morning, I discovered something. What I want out of all this is for them to know with their dying breath the person who managed to pull it off was me.”

“People will remember more than that, Astin,” Ivy countered. “After all, they will never forget the Raffa name or what it means if you cross them. That is no small feat, my darling friend, so don’t cut yourself short.”

Dropping my hand, I smiled and pulled her into a hug. “Thank you, Ivy. I needed to say that out loud to someone who I could trust not to turn their back on me. This is who I’ve fought against becoming, but it’s who I was always meant to be. A queen can only hold her throne as long as she’s willing to shed blood for it, and I don’t plan on losing.”

“I won’t let you lose,” Ivy assured me. “None of us will.”

“God, you were so right when you told me I needed some female friends.” I sighed, stepping back. “There are just some things in life you need a woman to weigh in on. Luckily for me, you decided to take that role.”

“Aww, darling,” Ivy cooed, tapping my nose with her finger like I was a cute puppy or something. “You’re too sweet. I might even blush if you keep talking like that.”

“The day I see you blush, I will need to mark it down somewhere because that will be history in the making,” I teased.

Tossing her head back, Ivy laughed. “Oh God, I’m not even sure if I can blush. It’s been years since I’ve felt innocent enough to do something so pure.”

Waving off the idea, she coaxed me inside and directed me to the bathroom. “Let’s get you ready for the day. I want you to shower, put on a hair mask, shave everything, and do all the steps in your skincare routine before stepping back out. If you’ll allow me, I’ll pull together an outfit and lay it on the bed for you. Once you feel like the queen you are, meet the rest of us in the dining room. There were some rather interesting developments last night while you slept.”

I’d been feeling good about taking my time getting ready and centering myself for what was ahead, but now she’d ruined it with that last remark. “What happened? Is everyone okay?”

“Darling, do you really think I wouldn’t lead with that if something was terribly wrong?” Ivy challenged. “Goodness, no wonder you and Ryker end up butting heads all the time. You go from hot to cold and back again in the blink of a fucking eye. Go, do as you’re told, and if you’re a good girl, I might send one of your men in to give you an update on Mr. Boykov.”

Tossing my hands up in defeat, I surrendered. “Fine, you win. I’ll go get ready.”

Ivy’s pleased look made me want to do something childish like mess up her perfect rose-gold hair, but I didn’t. She was being the friend I needed right now and forcing me to take care of myself. I’d been in Nepreea for four days, and it was wearing me down faster than I’d like to admit.

“Oh, and Astin,” Ivy said just as I was about to close the bathroom door. “If you show up downstairs in less than an hour, I’ll make you come up here and start all over again. A queen might need to fight for her throne, but I’m gonna make sure she looks damn good doing it.” With that warning, she pulled the door closed and left me to pamper myself.

An hour and a half later, I made my way down the hall to the dining room. I stopped to see Ralph but didn’t stay long since he was sleeping. The doctor wanted to keep him from moving too much and pulling at the fragile skin. Thankfully, Dr. Necci had full confidence that everything would heal in time, and we just needed to be wary of any possible infection. With a promise to keep me updated with any changes, I kissed Ralph’s head and left him to rest.

Ivy had been right—I needed this time to myself. I don’t know what it was about truly investing in a little self-care, but it had me feeling like a whole new woman. There was a bounce in my hair, a sway in my hips, and damn, that sound of my heels hit differently.

Ivy had left me with an outfit I hadn’t packed or would have ever picked out, yet it was exactly what I was feeling today—black, high-waisted flare slacks with a white cropped sleeveless sweater and a red cropped blazer to pull it all together. The only thing I switched out was the shoes Ivy chose. Today, I needed my trusty tried-and-true pair of black red-bottom heels—these babies had never let me down.

When I entered the dining room, I found my guys, Armond, Von, Bear, Gramps, Demaso, Zani and his wife, along with Domenico and a man I didn’t know seated beside him. Upon seeing me, the room fell silent, and everyone stood while Braxton pulled out my chair. A little unsettled at the change in attitude, I approached slowly, trying to figure out what the fuck was going on. Once seated, the rest followed suit, and the atmosphere relaxed at the table. Staff came out and set the food on the table for everyone to dig in, except for me. Anselma set a full plate down, filled my coffee cup, and gave me a friendly wink before disappearing again.

“I didn’t realize everyone was going to be here for brunch,” I commented as I cut up my eggs benedict.

“That’s because it wasn’t planned,” Ryker grumbled. “They just kept showing up after they heard about what went down last night.”

My fork screeched across the plate at that information. Setting my utensils down, I took a deep breath, trying to calm the anger burning in my gut. “Is that so,” I said, letting my gaze drift over everyone at my table. “Would anyone like to share how they came by that information? Or have my people forgotten that a loose tongue flapping about will get them killed?”

Von leaned over to the man I didn’t know and whispered loudly, “See, just like I said, Astin is a total boss-bitch. Still think it was smart to crash the party?”

The stranger looked from me to Von, looking a little worried but not as much as I would have thought. He believed he had every right to be here sitting at my table, and I wanted to know why.

“Anyone here feel like introducing this man since he clearly doesn’t possess the manners to do it himself? Or have you found your balls while sitting at my table eating my food?” I questioned, my tone cold as I stared him down.

His light green eyes went wide as if shocked by what I was saying. Then the man dared to ignore me, shifting his attention to Ivy. “You didn’t tell her?”

Ivy dabbed at her mouth with her napkin. “What exactly did you expect me to tell her, Ced? Since this is your world, I assumed you’d know how to introduce yourself to the head of one of the five families.”

“Ivy,” Dom cut in with a low-warning tone. “Don’t take your anger at me out on him. You know damn well he doesn’t deserve it. Not telling Astin we were coming was a choice made to get us in trouble.”

“Trust me, if I wanted to get you in trouble, you’d know,” Ivy corrected. “No, what’s happened is a case of assuming, and now you’ve made an ass out of yourself all by yourself.”

Domenico stood, shoved his chair back, and threw down his napkin. Everyone tensed, and Von even stopped cleaning her nails with the knife she held, watching the situation.

“Astin, please forgive me for assuming Ivy would tell you we were coming by this morning. This is my brother, Cedro,” Dom introduced, gesturing to the man. “He stopped by last night looking for Ivy, not realizing what happened. As luck would have it, Ced was able to help with the matter of figuring out who the man wearing the bomb really was. Although I’ll let him share that information, I’m not a scientist, and I wouldn’t want to give misinformation.”