Page 82 of Love & Power

Really, he was asking if he was in the doghouse for calling Ivy to deal with me, but I knew he’d done the right thing.

“I’d love that,” I answered, taking his offered hand as he pulled me to my feet, only to scoop me up in a bridal hold.

“Sorry, but I’m taking advantage of every second I get with you right now,” he admitted with a look of chagrin.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I leaned my head on his shoulder and let out a yawn. “So even a dark knight can be a prince charming. Who would have known?”

“Only for you, Astin,” Ryker whispered, kissing my head.

thirty-one

We entered the club as a group with Astin in the center, keeping her hidden from sight. Ivy had done an amazing job disguising her with a wig and contacts, but none of us were willing to risk her drawing attention. Why we changed the meeting location to this place at last minute still didn’t make sense, but Domenico assured us it was the safer option.

Music thumped as lights danced around the room, making it impossible to see who anyone was. While this setting was beginning to make sense, I didn’t like it one bit. There was no way for me to see danger coming or to spot someone we needed to avoid. Thankfully, we were escorted into a back lounge area with security watching the door. A curtain was pulled back, and another door was revealed which needed a handprint scan to unlock.

“Okay, why do I feel like if we step foot behind that door, we’ll never come out again?” Hound asked.

“Because you watch way too many scary movies,” Braxton offered. “Are you really telling me you couldn’t hack us out of this place? It’s all guarded by technology… that’s your wheelhouse.”

Hound just shoved his hands into his pockets and glared at Brax. I agreed with the dog—this whole thing felt like a setup, and we were just walking blindly into it.

When the door opened, Cedro was on the other side, grinning at us. “You guys should see your faces right now. All of you look like you’re walking into a horror movie.” No one laughed at that, cluing the man in that we actually felt that way.

“Guys, it’s all good. This is where Dom and I have been working on things for years,” Cedro explained, his expression sobering. “We know this building is secure, and only our people run the place, so it’s as safe as we can make it.”

Ryker and I exchanged looks, to which I nodded. Jace, Ryker, and I had talked about Astin’s security after what happened at the dinner. With Boykov out of commission, that left Thad to run point with the two women backing him up. None of this was a problem, but the situation made us realize just how much we relied on Boykov to keep our girl safe. Staying in the city meant danger was lurking behind every corner, being this close to those fucking bastards. Soon enough, they would be a distant memory, but right now, they were all I could think about.

Cedro led us to another door where he had to enter a code and scan his handprint to enter. Holding it open for us, we filed into the room, and I couldn’t help but be impressed. If you had told me we actually walked into some government spy agency, I would have believed it. Screens covered one whole wall, watching various places in the city, but also flipped to a new location every couple of minutes. Some places I recognized from the De Santis Estate and other properties they owned, but most of the others were random buildings.

“Welcome to ground zero, my friends,” Domenico greeted as we entered. “I’m sorry for the abrupt change, but things around the estate were too volatile to risk going someplace out of the ordinary. It’s well known that this is my favorite place to go and the one club I personally run. Guess it’s not hard to figure out why.”

In the middle of the room was a long table with maps and blueprints spread out, along with the layout one of Von’s men built to show the inside of the event hall Astin acquired for this plan. It was driving her absolutely crazy that she couldn’t see the place for herself and get a feel for it. I guess this was something Astin normally did before picking her next target to steal from.

“Dom, I thought we were going to do a run-through with the staff of Twilight Hall,” Astin pointed out, crossing her arms to hold back her irritation. “It’s Wednesday night, … we have two days left to make sure we don’t fuck this up. You and I both know there’s only one shot to pull this off without it turning into an all-out war.”

“I’m fully aware of how little time we have,” Dom snapped. “Do you know how hard it is to pretend to be their fucking lap dog? I have their people in my home all the time treating me like I’m just a puppet for the people to see while they run my legacy. Trust me, I want nothing more than to see them all dead. However, you’re the one who decided not to make it clear that we were allies, so guess what? This is me keeping that secret for you.”

Just as Astin was about to lay into Dom, Atticus grabbed her hand, pulling her back, as Ivy stepped between the two hotheads.

“This is not productive,” Ivy stated, glaring at them. “Dom gave me a heads-up he was having trouble getting away without one of Bosco’s men following him, so I agreed this was the best choice. I know working as a team isn’t what either of you are used to, but it’s the only way this is going to work. So play nice, or I’m going to be the one you’re in trouble with.”

Domenico instantly backed down and took a seat, raising his hand in defeat. Astin wasn’t quite as easily persuaded, but she gave in enough to relax against Atticus, who whispered something in her ear that got her smiling. That man had a magic touch when it came to Astin digging her heels in on something. I wasn’t going to question it, just like I wasn’t going to question the voodoo magic Braxton used when she was pissed to calm her down.

Hell, I was the one she came to when things were too much, and she needed someone safe to turn her emotions off around. It was something I’d noticed after coming back. The more Astin let us in, allowing us to love her, also brought the floodgate of emotions she’d learned to lock away. Out of all the guys, I understood how overwhelming this could be since she was doing the same damn thing to me, but I wouldn’t change any of it, and neither would she.

“Can we get down to business now?” Ivy asked, to which we all nodded or mumbled our agreement. She might have meant her threat to the top dogs, but the rest of us weren’t looking to draw Ivy’s anger either. “Excellent, Von, I’ll hand them over to you.”

Von popped out of the chair she’d been lounging in as Bear absently spun it while we talked. “About fucking time,” she said, clapping her hands together. “As we speak, the temporary staff Ivy and I have pulled together are entering the club. They should all be here in roughly a half hour so we can do the rundown. I brought all the tools we’ll be using for this shindig so they won’t have any problems when it comes down to it. What I want to be crystal clear on tonight is who are the people off-limits? You know, the walking dead who are reserved for a more refined hand to end their life.”

“Gian and Bosco are mine,” Astin declared. “If anyone lays a finger on them before I do, I’ll kill ’em.”

Von mimed licking an imaginary pen and jotting down notes. “Crusty-dusty one and two belong to Queenie. Touch them… you die. Got it.” Pausing, she looked up at the rest of us. “Do we have any strong feelings about the wives? What about the grown-ass spawn also referred to as children?”

“Do we know which ones will show?” Jace asked.

Cedro flipped open a laptop, and with a few key taps and clicks, a guest list appeared on a large screen. “This is what we know right now. It’s a given that Poseidon and Apollo won’t be there, but the other three of Gian’s sons will be. Two of them are married, and I believe Hermes just got divorced for the second time.”

“Zeus is married to Bosco’s daughter, right?” Braxton questioned.