Page 83 of Love & Power

“Correct, and it looks like they’re both going to be there,” Cedro confirmed. “As for Gian’s wives, only two are marked as coming, but sometimes he does that if he’s mad at one of them. If they’ve made up by the time the party rolls around, all three will be there.”

“Which wife or wives do we need to be sure are there?” Astin inquired. “If there’s anything I know for sure about women in this world, there are some who are in it for the money while the dangerous ones are here for the power.”

“Serena,” Von and Domenico answered in unison without hesitation.

“Don’t get me wrong, Nella is a witch too, but she’s nothing like Serena,” Domenico continued. “The reason Gian will never divorce Serena even though they hate each other is because of the influence Serena’s family has in Trian politics. I’m sure Von can vouch for this after her recent visit, but since Gian married Serena, no Accardi has ever been held in that prison. She’s like his get-out-of-jail-free card and one of the only reasons he can do business in that country.”

“Man speaks the truth,” Von added, pulling a package of beef jerky out of the side pocket in Bear’s leather jacket. “Nella is the face of the family, but Serena is the one pulling the strings behind the curtain.”

“What’s with the third wife then?” Braxton pressed.

Von bit into a hunk of jerky and tore off a piece, looking just as feral as her namesake. “Oh, she’s just the insurance policy. Alessa is easy to please, cheap to pay off, and will fuck anyone Gian wants. Why else have a wife that’s half his age?”

“That’s so fucked up,” Astin muttered. “Okay, so if worse comes to worse, we need to take out Nella and Serena. Sounds like Alessa isn’t the one to worry about.”

Ivy chuckled and shook her head. “That’s exactly what everyone wants you to think, but you couldn’t be more wrong. Alessa is just as Von described, but Gian is the only person she takes orders from. She’ll claw your eyes out should anyone else dare to speak to her like Gian does. The woman isn’t trained or skilled at fighting, but Alessa is scrappy, and that can get you far in this world. No, the one who will be of the least danger to us, and the one he never is without would be Nella.”

“Great, so we have original Barbie coming for sure, which leaves psycho Barbie or wear-your-skin-as-a-coat Barbie we might need to deal with later,” Hound grumbled. “Is there anything we can do to make sure they all show up?”

“If they don’t, then that’s my problem to handle,” Von pointed out. “Remember, Queenie gave cleanup on aisle one to me, and aisle two is Ivy’s mess to deal with.”

Hearing Von say that was a helpful reminder that even if we missed out on the chance this time around, the major players wouldn’t survive this party, and that’s what really mattered.

“Moving on to Bosco,” Cedro cut in, directing the conversation forward. “He will be attending with his wife, Ottavia, and their two sons have also RSVP’d. Those two aren’t the players we need to be worried about, though. Bosco isn’t as concerned about the Leoni Family getting passed down to one of his boys. In fact, I’m fairly certain Marin, the youngest, has no clue what the Family actually does. He went to art school and whores around with his models he pays to stir his muse into action.”

Jace almost choked on his own spit hearing Cedro describe the guy. “Seriously? How is that man still alive?”

“Because people are scared of his father,” Domenico answered. “Bosco is one ugly, mean sonofabitch, and he doesn’t like it when people mess with his family. It’s not out of love, and I’m not sure he even knows what that emotion is. To him, it’s a matter of respect.”

Astin hummed in agreement as she finally took a seat. My guess is her leg was starting to get sore, not that she’d ever admit it still bothered her on occasion. Ryker might threaten to take away her heels, and that was a fight none of us wanted to witness.

“That is a sentiment I understand,” Astin commented. “So if his sons aren’t who he plans to handle things, then who is? Right now, as far as the rest of the mafia world knows, Curtis is named his heir.”

Ivy let out a bark of laughter that surprised us all. “I’m sorry, it’s just after all these years of studying Bosco, the last thing Curtis should ever be is the heir to the Leoni Family. Don’t get me wrong, the man is brilliant but only when it comes to science. He is more focused on getting printed in a medical journal than running a criminal empire. As Nella is the poster wife for the Accardi Family, Curtis is the stand-in covering for the real heir, Torben Hecht.”

Frowning, I glanced at the others, hoping one of them had heard of this person, but the looks on their faces told me we were all in the same boat.

“Who the fuck is that and how do I not know his name?” I demanded.

Before Colmazio pulled me in to work for the Caprioni Family, I’d spent quite some time being an assassin for hire. I put that knowledge to good use working for Colmazio and kept tabs on new faces or names that entered the scene. The biggest threat to import and export was loose lips or a pest who saw more than they should and needed to be taken out. Sometimes I could do the job of cleanup, but others I needed to outsource. Knowing who to trust and who to steer clear of was important, which was why I had no issue with Ivy and Astin being friends. I’d kept an eye on Ivy’s work because she impressed me. After meeting her in person, I can say she didn’t disappoint.

“Torben doesn’t go by his legal name. However, you might know him as Deadlock,” Ivy shared.

My brows shot up at the name. “You can’t be serious… he’s supposed to be dead.”

“Dead to the assassin world but not in real life,” Ivy explained. “It’s true he was shot and fell off a building, but he didn’t die. Bastard is like a damn cat with nine fucking lives. My guess is he used up eight and only has one more life to live.”

“Deadlock might be alive, but there is no way he could walk away unscathed,” I reasoned, knowing the story of how he fell off a five-story building. “So what’s fucked up? Arms or legs?”

“One leg. He lost it and now has a new one made out of titanium,” Ivy revealed. “From what I can tell, he’s also in immense pain from spinal trauma, but he uses that as fuel to keep the various tools they acquire in line. People think Bosco is a bastard, but they don’t have a clue just how awful Torben truly is.”

“I’m going to take a wild guess and say he isn’t coming to the party,” Astin commented. “That means we need to make damn sure there is nothing left for him to control. If Gian and Bosco are gone, that means the hold on those who were being blackmailed into working for him will scatter. Hearing how awful Torben is, do you think anyone would stick around to follow him? I suppose the better question is, if we don’t kill him now, will he take on the Leoni mantle or create his own empire?”

Ivy tapped her fingers rhythmically on the table as she considered Astin’s question. When the tapping stopped, she met Astin’s gaze.

“Honestly, I’m not sure,” Ivy admitted. “My gut says Bosco could have used the fact he saved Torben’s life, got him his leg, and gave him purpose to keep Torben tied to him. Yet, I’ve watched Torben, and he strikes me as someone who might have started out feeling indebted to Bosco, then learned to love the job. If Bosco had the ability to adopt Torben and make him his real heir, I think he would, but Gian won’t allow it.”

“Why?” I blurted, not seeing the logic in that.