Page 80 of Love & Power

“Thank fuck,” Jace murmured, kissing my cheek. “I hope you don’t mind, but we asked for your dinner to be sent up here. We weren’t sure how long you’d be out or if you’d be up to being down there with everyone.”

“Ooo, does that mean we can eat dinner in the tub?” I asked, feeling like that sounded like an excellent idea.

Braxton kissed my knee as he started to work on my thigh, rubbing life back into the limb. “How about in bed? We’ll finish getting you cleaned up, wrap you in a robe, and then we can sprawl out in your bed so we can tuck you in when you’re ready to sleep. Remember, we have to be up super early to make it to the airport like you wanted to.”

“Ugh, whose bright idea was it to fly into Dolsa at four in the morning,” I grumbled.

“Pretty sure that was you,” Jace pointed out.

I glared up at him. “That was a rhetorical question.”

“I know, but you’re hot when you scowl at me like that,” he pointed out with a shrug.

“You’re lucky I love you, or I’d punch you in the mouth for saying that shit,” I muttered.

Chuckling, Jace kissed along my neck. “I love you too, Astin.”

thirty

There isn’t much to see when you arrive in a city while it’s still pitch-black outside. Yet it’s the best time to show up someplace when you don’t want to be seen. Rocco’s funeral was yesterday, meaning anybody and everybody I wanted to avoid was in the city. We’d decided I couldn’t arrive sooner because we can’t take any chances of drawing attention away from the funeral. No one could suspect there was foul play or the whole plan we’d come up with would go to shit.

The Raffa penthouse was located smack dab in the middle of the city, which is why we weren’t going to use it right away. Instead, Von had a house on the edge of the downtown area, which would give us a little more time to stay hidden. Thankfully, while people knew I was the new head of the Raffa Family, not many knew what I looked like. When it came to the guys, no one had a clue to even guess at their appearance so they could move about the city all they like while I had to stay behind closed doors, hidden from the world again for a short time. The difference was, it was my choice this time.

I hadn’t been expecting a typical house or a flashy penthouse suite when it came to where Von chose to live. Yet, rolling up to a rough-looking warehouse in a historical industrial district had me second-guessing my choice to do this. However, once we were inside the garage part of the building, I realized it was all a ruse.

The interior of the warehouse had been remodeled and turned into an impressive modern living space. The building was three stories high, and the garage was separated from the living area by a wall of glass that ran from floor to ceiling. Von was out of the car first, flipping on the breakers, powering the place up. It was like a scene out of a movie as lights flickered on, revealing an impressive sight.

“Welcome to the hub,” Von announced, tossing her arms wide to show off the place. “This was our headquarters for a long ass time, but business kept taking me out of the city, so we moved. Now we’ve set up shop closer to the major port, which helps keep shipments from getting noticed.”

“This is fucking sick,” Hound blurted with a grin. “Seriously, Von, this is badass.”

“Aww, thanks, Hound Dog… that’s sweet,” Von commented, patting him on the arm. “Let’s head in, and we can find beds to pass out in for a bit. At least, that’s what I plan to do. My ass does not get up this early for just anyone.”

Entering the ground level, it was obvious this place was meant to conduct business first and be lodging second—meeting rooms, an office, an armory, and an industrial kitchen with an eating space that had a cafeteria feel to it. The second floor had the hangout areas with a library, pool tables, ping pong, a small movie room, and a fully equipped gym. We didn’t linger on the second floor long since Von shared that all the sleeping spaces were located on the top floor.

“How many people did you have living here?” I asked, peering into a room that looked like a military barracks.

“Oh, it fluctuated,” Von explained, waving us to follow her down a wide hallway. “It depended on how big an order was, where it was coming from, and if training was going on… it was always so hard to predict, so I went big. Most of the time, we just used the big bunk areas and left the individual rooms for special guests.”

Turning to the left, we entered a different section of the place that had a more lived-in feel. Art was on the walls, artificial plants were scattered about, giving it a dorm-like feel instead of being so sterile.

“All right, so you guys can pick from any of these rooms, but for the five at the end of the hall,” Von instructed, pointing to the rooms behind her. “They’ll be locked, so you can’t use them anyway, but figured I should let you know. I have someone who comes once a month to check on the place, but I gave them a heads-up that the place was needed, so the sheets and shit should be good to go. If you’re hungry, the kitchen ought to be stocked, so help yourself. I’m not your fucking mother so if you can’t find something, then figure it the hell out. With that cleared up, I’m going back to fucking bed.”

Von marched off to one of the five rooms and entered a code to let herself in. Bear did the same for a room next to hers, leaving the rest of us to fend for ourselves. Atticus let out a loud yawn and kissed me before picking a room at random. The poor guy hadn’t gotten a proper eight hours since the bombing happened, and I was a little worried about him.

“I’m gonna head down to the kitchen,” Hound shared, catching my hand. “You want anything, Luna?”

“Actually, I’m gonna join you. There’s too much for me to go over. I won’t be able to sleep,” I answered.

Ryker’s phone rang, surprising us since no one in their right mind should be awake. He looked at the number and sighed. “Boykov, I’m sorry I didn’t text you to let you know we landed, but we just got to Von’s place.”

I motioned for Ryker to hand me the phone which he did without a fuss. As much as I wanted to have Ralph at my back through all this, there was simply no way. He was recovering and doing well, but definitely not well enough to take on this fight. Telling him he needed to stay at the estate with the doctor looking after him was one of the hardest conversations I’d ever had to have. Of course, he’d taken it well and acted as if he was completely fine with my choice, but little things like this told me he was anything but fine.

“Ralph, what are you doing awake right now?” I asked, moving away from the rooms people were trying to sleep in.

“Lady Astin, why didn’t you pick up your phone?” he demanded.

“Because I didn’t take it with me. We only have burner phones that can’t be traced,” I reminded him. “Look, I promised to keep you in the loop, and I meant it, but you’re still on some pretty intense meds.”