Raw Bloody Power

Chapter 42

42

THE PLAN

Ivory

“I’ll get you a burner today,” Rio says from the edge of my bed as I scramble around my room to get ready.

Lucia’s going to be here in less than half an hour to go wedding dress shopping— yay, said no forced bride ever —and aside from what’s hanging in the closet, I don’t know where anything is. I’d blame Rio for not getting a single box unpacked, but last night was all me. I started it, continued it, ended it…

He was not complaining.

Plucking my trusty little black dress off a hanger, I pad out of the closet and shimmy it up my thighs. “Doesn’t need to be fancy. Doesn’t even need to be new.”

“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that, okay?” he chuckles. “I’m putting cameras outside, too, by the way.”

“Cameras? For what?” I grunt, spinning toward the full size mirror by the door. The zipper won’t budge past the lower swell of my waist and I can’t reach it overhead.

I swear to God if I gained any more weight…

Wouldn’t surprise me, honestly. When I’m stressed, my already ginormous sweet tooth multiplies.

Through the glass, I catch Rio watching both struggles, internal and external, and when our eyes meet, he pats his lap. I hesitate for a moment, slightly embarrassed, making one of his brows lurch upward in a daring arch. He’s never given me anything but green flags regarding my weight. Why would something not fitting suddenly change the script? With a resigned sigh, I take the proffered seat and pull my hair to one side.

“Safety precaution,” he answers my question, easily encasing me in the fabric with a kiss to the nape of my neck. “I don’t trust him not to try breaking in here.”

I mentally breathe a sigh of relief at the fact he didn’t have to battle with the zipper and push off his lap for the pair of strappy, silver heels in one of the open boxes not far away. “Or I can just stay at your place. I think I was fine last night ’cause you were here, and I’ll be fine during the day, but I don’t know how I’m going to feel sleeping alone. I usually have the pups taking up half the bed.”

“You should’ve just moved in with me,” he grumbles.

“Yeah, and how would I have explained that, not only to my parents, but Benedikt?”

“By telling them the truth. While doing that, I could’ve taken care of the snake. Boom, problem solved, no need to go through all of this.” He motions around us, less than enthused .

“Well, we’re already here. We just have to ride it out now,” I counter, jutting a heeled foot into his chest.

Smirking, Rio deftly buckles the strap and bites at my leg, promptly doing up the other upon switching. “Burner phone and a copy of my key. Got it. What are we doing about Koshka, though? We’re already down a week. The next five are going to fly by.”

They are. I’ve known as much since my dad dropped the bomb, and it’s still throwing me, taunting me, reminding me that the clock is ticking and if we don’t make the right moves, all of this will have been for nothing. The stakes are too high for us to lose at this point in the game.

We either go big or go home.

“I don’t know. The only plan I’ve come up with could fail disastrously, and it…” I don’t even want to say it because I know he’ll agree.

He’ll agree without a second thought, and I don’t like this option. Don’t want it to be an option.

“And it what?” he hedges, easing off the bed.

“Puts you in the direct line of fire, which I said was not an option,” I remind him.

I’m talking about front, right, left, and center—directly beneath the spotlight.

“I’d front line for you all day, Ivory. You know this. Tell me the plan.” A few steps and he backs me into the wall, arms caging me in to the cloudy gray painted surface.

“You know how you said both of our parents are still very much married and value the whole institution of marriage? ”

Rio nods and inches closer, ducking his head to my level.

“Well, and see, this is also where it only solves half the problem because your family won’t be there, but… A genuine, grand declaration always moves people, right? When the reverend asks if there’s anyone who objects to this union…”

“I object,” he purrs.

My head bobs, but only half-way certain. “Benedikt will have his men there, though. My dad will, too. It’s a bloodbath waiting to happen.”

“I’m not worried about telling my parents, so remove that off the cons list. Personally, I like this idea. I’m not gonna storm in there without manpower of my own, Petal, and if you think about it—three different armies surrounded by a sea of innocent lives? In a church, no less? No one is pulling a trigger, trust me.”

“How are you so sure?” I stress. “Casualties are part of war. Why would they suddenly matter now? “

“Because your father values public appearance too much to allow it.”

“But Benedikt doesn’t?—”

“Benedikt is currently kissing your dad’s ass.” Taking my face in his hands, he gives me a little shake for added emphasis. “Even provoked, he’ll fall in line beside your father’s lead and your father would never knowingly put you in harm’s way. This can work, baby girl. You just have to let me do it. You have to trust me.”

I do trust him. It’s Benedikt I don’t have a shred of faith in. My father, too. He might prefer the Beluccis appear a certain type of way, but his daughter caught in the arms of a Guerra is a no. With Benedikt adding to the numbers, who knows what my dad might do if Rio interrupted the wedding and avowed to everyone in congregation that he loves me.

That I love him.

Still, what choice do we really have? It’s either this or… I let Rio out of his cage like a rabid wolf on a full moon before I even make it down the aisle. Neither is preferably to the other, but the latter is a hard no.

“You better write up the speech of a lifetime, baby.” Clasping his wrists, I force a smile and brush our lips together.

“I’ll make sure they’re crying by the time I’m done, don’t worry,” he assures me.

Unbeknownst to him, that speech will never come to be. I won’t even slip into whatever wedding dress I mindlessly buy today if my real plan goes through smoothly. It should, because baking is one of the things I do best, and the art of seduction is simple when a man is already fawning over you. But a single inclination I’m going rogue and handling this on my own, and Rio will spiral. I have to stay calm, cool, allow him to believe our plan is real rather than a distraction.

A way to keep him busy.

A way to keep him safe.

Because he might frontline for me all day, but a queen always protects her king.