Page 20 of Love & Power

“Your men are all in the main living room, Lady Astin,” Beatrice informed me once we entered the house. “Gemma stayed with them while I was with you,” she added, noticing my questioning look.

It seems Gemma is working overtime to make sure I don’t have anything to question about her performance. We headed deeper into the house, passing various rooms I’m sure at one point served a purpose but now sat empty. I spotted one of the maids Frediano had mentioned dusting what appeared to be a library. I guess it kept them busy to have so many rooms to maintain.

Entering the living room, I paused at the sight of a gigantic portrait of my grandfather, grandmother, and mom hanging on the wall. It must have been painted shortly before Mirabella’s death since my mother seemed to be around fifteen or sixteen years old. It was crazy to see how similar we looked and that we’d both gotten our looks from Mirabella. Although Mother seemed to have inherited Frediano’s proud-looking nose, it fit her graceful features.

“Astin, earth to Astin,” Braxton said, waving a hand in front of my face.

“Huh?” I responded, pulling my gaze away from the painting. “Sorry, were you talking to me?”

Braxton smirked at me. “Nope, it was someone else who looks an awful lot like my girlfriend. Guess that explains why she was ignoring all of us.”

I scowled at him, but he grabbed my face and kissed me until I gave in, wrapping my arms around his neck.

“There she is,” he murmured against my lips. “You want to join us on this weird, uncomfortable circle couch and fill us in on why you looked ready to murder someone?”

“A what couch?” I asked, taking in the whole room. “Oh…”

Two semicircle couches that seemed to blend the feel of a modern sectional sofa along with a more ornate vintage style sat in the middle of the room. Seeing the others as they attempted to sit comfortably on the couch with how low the back of it was made me snort.

“Yeah, looks pretty cool in a room like this, but appearance is about all this thing is good for,” Braxton shared, taking my hand to lead me over.

“Why did you guys stay here if it’s not comfortable?” I questioned.

“After the whole thing went down with Renato and you went after Frediano, the staff moved us in here. They brought coffee, tea, and snacks to munch on while we waited. Armond even stayed to hang out. In fact, he just left a little while ago needing to take a call,” Braxton explained.

Hound caught my other hand as I passed by, pulled me onto his lap, and made me yelp in surprise.

“Trust me, it’s going to be way more enjoyable to sit on my lap than the cushion,” he assured me, perching his chin on my shoulder. “That, and it looked like you could use someone to lean on.”

That was absolutely what I needed right now, so I relaxed against him as he used an arm across my hips to hold me in place.

“Is there anything stronger than coffee or tea to drink?” I asked.

Jace stood and walked over to a cabinet, pulling open the door to reveal three rows of liquor bottles. “Let’s see… we have gin, scotch, rum, or mezcal if you want to drink it straight.”

“Double scotch, please,” I said, rubbing my forehead.

A strong, firm hand gripped the back of my neck and used its thumb to hit the pressure point at the back of my skull. Groaning in delight, I let my head fall back, putting more pressure on the spot as they made small circular motions with their thumb.

“Omae, your neck is as hard as a rock,” Liu gasped. “When’s the last time you had a massage?”

“Braxton rubbed my neck a few days ago, but I don’t typically like strangers touching me. Oh God, that feels amazing,” I moaned. “You, on the other hand, are more than welcome to do this anytime you like.”

“Babe, you might want to tone it down, or the maids are going to think we’re fucking,” Jace commented with a smirk as he handed me my drink. “Not that I would have a problem doing that if you think it will help your stress level.”

I took a sip of the amber liquid, letting it slide down my throat and warm my belly. “I might take you up on that offer later, but first, I have to tell you guys something.”

My tone caught their attention, causing Liu to pause his work on my neck and the rest to sit up, focusing on me.

“What did he do,” Ryker demanded, a slight growl to his words.

It was clear to me there was no great way to ease them into this, so I said fuck it and went right for the kill. “I’m officially the new head of the Raffa Family. Frediano stepped down as of today.”

The silence in the room was deafening as I waited for their reaction.

“Holy fuck,” Luca blurted. “Can he do that? I mean, without witnesses, his lieutenants, or informing the Family this was going to happen? It shouldn’t be that easy, right? There has to be some kind of official announcement like when you took over the Caprioni Family.”

“Not necessarily,” Liu interjected. “While I’m not an expert on the Raffa Family, I know there was a process put in place for Master Caprioni to hand everything over to Astin if he became too sick. The legal part of it was already set up with his will and documentation that Astin would inherit all of it. As for the mafia side of things, there just has to be a verbal transfer of power marked with blood witnessed by one unrelated person.”