Revenge & Truth (Caprioni Queen Book 3), page 1
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Revenge & Truth – Copyright © 2023 by Creative Wonder Publishing LLC
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. No part of this book may be used to reproduce, scan, or be distributed in any printed or electronic form in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations for articles or reviews.
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Knight, Elizabeth
Revenge & Truth
Editing: Swish Editing
Cover artist: Jodielock Designs
Formatting: Creative Wonder Publishing
ISBN: 979-8-88958-028-7 (ebook) / 979-8-88958-029-4 (paperback)
For those who have been so patient with me…
Get ready for all the steam!
Contents
1. Liu
2. Astin
3. Astin
4. Astin
5. Braxton
6. Astin
7. Astin
8. Astin
9. Astin
10. Atticus
11. Astin
12. Astin
13. Astin
14. Astin
15. Jace
16. Astin
17. Astin
18. Astin
19. Braxton
20. Astin
21. Astin
22. Astin
23. Astin
24. Hound
25. Astin
26. Astin
27. Astin
28. Astin
About Author
Also By
one
It’s been two weeks since the police came and took Luca away in cuffs from the estate. Their timing couldn’t have been more perfect to catch us when we were too vulnerable to fight. Luca knew this as well as I did, so he went without argument to protect Astin and the Caprioni Family like a good soldier. Since it was the weekend, they held him until Monday for his arraignment, then deemed him too much of a flight risk and denied bail. Luca was charged with first-degree murder for the alleged killing of Mayor Wilson.
How they came to that conclusion is still evolving, but Luca has refused to utter a word to the police, no matter what they said or threaten. They even have him kept in solitary confinement as punishment, although they say it’s for his safety after a prison fight broke out in an attempt to kill him. The attacker ended up dead instead, and even though there was clear evidence to show Luca was acting in self-defense, the opposition was using it to their benefit.
A knock sounded at my office door, pulling my attention away from the police reports I’d been pouring over for the tenth time. “Come in,” I called.
Everyone quickly learned I wasn’t to be disturbed unless they had something of value to discuss. Astin was the one to put that rule in place. This woman was clearly a force to be reckoned with, but now it was like watching a caged animal pacing back and forth. She ran the Caprioni side of things with the others while Hound and I spent every waking moment getting Luca free.
To my surprise, it was Astin who entered, not typically one to knock the past few weeks. “Hey,” she greeted with a smile.
It shouldn’t make me feel suspicious that she was smiling at me, but since her mood had been worse than foul since Luca was arrested, I couldn’t help it. All of us close to her understood why she was lashing out. Hell, if I’d had to deal with all the shit she has dealt with in the past month, I’d be a dick too. While we did our best to tread carefully, unsure what might set off a swearing or throwing rampage as her alter ego, Darkness, reared her ugly head, there was only so much we could do.
“Hi,” I answered and returned her smile as I rose, but she motioned for me to stay put.
As she made her way over to my desk, I was relieved to see she was getting better every day. We’d been worried that all the damage she’d done to her leg on the day of the coronation would be permanent, but it didn’t seem to be the case. Her resilience was one of the things that captivated me about Astin from the start. My draw to her was hard to explain without sounding completely insane. Here I was, her adopted brother she knew nothing about, working as her father’s personal assistant, leaving her with no idea what to make of me. Flipping forward a few weeks, I’d become utterly infatuated with her. Honestly, it took me knowing her for all of ten minutes to decide I needed to get to know her.
The problem was she saw me as a threat.
I was the person who took her place at her father’s side all these years while she was hidden away. Not to mention how well I got along with her father’s second wife, Casimira, and Astin’s half-brother, Jamison. Things with them weren’t bad, but they were strangers, and it was another way for her to see me with the family she always wanted. With Colmazio Caprioni gone and Astin now in charge of the Family, things had begun to get better between Astin and me, especially when I gave her my oath, something I hadn’t even given to her father.
Astin rested her cane on the corner of my desk as she hopped up to sit on it. “Do you have a minute?”
“Astin,” I started, giving her a patronizing look before she raised her hand to cut me off.
“Stop. I know what you’re going to say, and I get it… you always have time for whatever I need, no matter what you’re doing.” She huffed.
Seeing she knew what I was going to say, I leaned back in my chair, crossed my leg over the other, and waited for her to tell me what she wanted.
“First off, I’d like to apologize for being a royal cunt the last week. Being so upset about things hasn’t helped matters. I was maxed out on the stuff I could handle, so I took it out on all of you, which, I might add, is an honor,” she shared, pointing a finger at me with a grin.
I grunted as I folded my hands in my lap. “How is that exactly because it certainly hasn’t felt like an honor?”
Astin nodded, a slight drop in her normal proudly-set shoulders telling me this was weighing on her. Leaning forward, I placed a hand on her knee, looking into her stunning emerald eyes. Astin was a gorgeous woman by anyone’s standards, but the self-assurance she wore as easily as her favorite high heels was downright sexy. After her father’s passing, there was a significant chink in her armor, and we saw glimpses of a more vulnerable side of this powerful woman.
“Hey,” I urged. “Talk to me.”
She opened her mouth to speak but then closed it, actually considering my request. A few moments of silence passed before she took a deep breath and gave me a glimpse inside her wickedly beautiful mind.
“I let them take him without doing a damn thing, Liu,” she stated. “My job is to be the leader of the Caprioni Family and protect those who give me their loyalty, and I just watched as they took him, patted him down, and shoved him in the back of that fucking cop car like he was scum. Luca is worth more than all the police in this goddamn fucking city, and I stood there like a statue with his cum leaking out of me.”
While it was no secret Luca had been the first of us to be intimate with her, I’m not sure I was ready to hear her say that. After Hound had shared that we needed to stall for a few minutes to let them get dressed, I’d been excited. Her willingness to let Luca get close to her emotionally and physically was a major improvement from where we’d started. Now, I fear she might shut the door on us all, which is why her getting so angry at us concerned me.
“I’m going to ask you a question, and then you’re going to think about the answer before you say a thing. Understood?” I asked, cocking a brow. She agreed with a simple nod which had me rolling my chair over so I was boxing her in with my body, arms resting on the desk.
“How can I support you right now at this exact moment? I’m not talking about in general or later in the day but… right now, this second. How can I help lessen the burden you’re carrying about this?” I challenged as I held her gaze, refusing to let her pull away from me.
There had been a reason she came to me and not Ryker or Braxton, who would pull the moon from the fucking sky if she asked. Astin was a smart, calculating woman, and there was something she believed only I could give her right now. My hope was it was something I could actually achieve.
Adhering to my request, she didn’t give me her gut response. Instead, I could see the wheels turning in her mind. I knew the instant she decided what she wanted as determination took over her elegant features.
“I want three things. Two of them you can’t give me now but, working together, I know we can make it happen,” she announced.
Shifting my hands, I slid them to hold her hips and slid her closer to me. “Tell me.”
“The thing you can give me now is the chance to see Luca. My other guys refuse to take me to the prison because they’re worried about my safety. You’re his lawyer and get privileged visits with him in a safe, secure area. If I come with you as an assistant, then there is no danger of someone getting any bright ideas and coming after me.”
I should’ve known that was what she came here to ask me. Honestly, I’m surprised it hadn’t happened sooner. Hearing she went to the others first made sense. Astin and I didn’t have the same introduction as she did with her lieutenants. I’m fighting an uphill battle to prove that even though I was a loyal supporter of her father, it didn’t change how I felt about her.
Braxton and Jace have been right on Astin’s heels since she stepped through the fucking door. Ryker had history, even if it was bad history, and it gave him a leg up. Atticus and Astin seemed to have a strange and beautiful connection. She saw him for who he truly was, which created a tight bond. Fuck, even Hound, the newest member of our strange family, had a leg up on me. He had the privilege of knowing Astin while she was in hiding.
None of that mattered, though, because I saw the value of earning Astin’s trust, no matter how long it took. Once she gave it to a person, there were no lengths she wouldn’t go to protect them. Luca was a perfect example of this.
Getting him out of jail and his record cleared was her sole focus even as she dealt with the day-to-day things for the Family. She’d made it crystal clear to Hound and me that we were to take whatever lengths necessary to make it happen. We had to be careful with our tactics since we didn’t know who was really behind this. Hound and I agreed there was more going on than just a cop wanting to take on the Caprioni Family.
“I can do this for you, but it won’t be today.” I held up a hand to stop her from speaking before I finished explaining. “Even though I’m his lawyer, Luca is in solitary confinement. He’s under such heavy restrictions, even I’m limited to seeing him once every other day. They’re doing everything they can to break him, so he talks and admits his guilt.”
“That’s the other thing I need,” she commented.
“Getting Luca to admit guilt? Or do you mean getting him to talk?” I questioned, not following her train of thought.
“Talk,” she answered succinctly.
“I need him to tell me where he stashed Melony. Luca never planned to leave her wherever she is, and I need her alive. Well, at least alive long enough to give the cops reasonable doubt and something else to chase. She’s the one who fucking shot the mayor in the first place. So if we can prove it with the gun Luca stashed in the same place she is, everything will be put right. They’re dragging their feet because they can’t find Melony or the gun, so they’ve pinned it all on Luca,” Astin pointed out, her voice becoming increasingly heated as she spoke. “We don’t even have Gunner to give a statement. Not that it would have helped matters since he’d have then been charged as an accessory.”
I paused, hearing her mention Gunner. His name hadn’t come up much in the past two weeks, and none of us wanted to bring it up if she wasn’t going to. Now that she’d opened the door, I took the chance to check on her.
“Are you going to his funeral?” I questioned softly.
Astin chose to call what happened with Gunner what it was—a suicide. She informed his mother about the situation and took the time to answer all of her questions. The strength she displayed talking to his mother and holding her when she came to the house to pick up his personal things was awe-inspiring. If I were in her situation, having lost so much, I don’t think I could have been any help to another grieving person. Yet, there stood our Mistress and queen of the Caprioni Family caring for her people. The funeral was taken care of in full, as well as a large sum of money given to the grieving mother from a made-up life insurance policy. Somehow, Astin knew his mother wouldn’t take charity, but if she believed her son had wanted to provide for her in the event of his death, that was another story.
“No,” she whispered. Her eyes dropped to stare at her hands, where she picked at her thumb, making the skin around her nail bleed. “I don’t think I can hold it together knowing what my family did to him. It’s my fault he’s dead, so showing up would be an insult to him.”
Anger at her words flared through me. I shot to my feet and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look up at me with those stunning emerald eyes. Normally, they were unflinching, full of determination and strength, but right now, I’d never seen a more vulnerable expression on her face, and it broke my heart.
“None of what you just said is true,” I stated. “First of all, those two who claimed to be your uncles were no family of yours. The moment they betrayed your father is the second they cut themselves off from any right to claim the Caprioni name. Secondly, you had nothing to do with Gunner’s death. Yes, what happened to him was tragic and an unfortunate side effect of the world we live in. Astin, if it wasn’t you, it could have been Ryker or hell, even me, your uncles perceived as a threat to take out. This won’t be the last time good people are lost along the way toward your rise to greatness. But understand one thing...” I paused, searching her gaze to see if my words were pushing past her guilt. I knew she heard me when I saw the small glimmer of that natural stubbornness coming back.
“We knew what choosing you meant, and I bet my life on the fact every one of us by your side would make that same choice time and time again.”
Surprise made her eyes widen slightly at my words. “How do you know that?”
“Because we bare your mark,” I answered, lifting the hand I cut when giving my oath. “This is just the physical representation of your hold on all of your lieutenants. You claimed our souls, hearts, and bodies, Astin. Say the word, and we’ll do whatever it takes to keep you alive and safe, even if that means giving our lives for it.”
Understanding bloomed in her expression seconds before she snatched my face and slammed her lips to mine. I gave myself to her willingly, but I didn’t read more into this than meeting my Mistress’ needs. It would be too easy to believe this was a sign she wanted me as much as I wanted her. Better to keep up what’s left of the crumbling walls around my heart than to have it ripped to shreds at her rejection.
She nipped at my lower lip, demanding I deepen the kiss which I did eagerly, losing my resolve just as quickly as I decided on it. The slim chance I had of holding back came crashing down when she wrapped her legs around me and pulled me tight against her. This had her skirt hiking up, and only a bit of lace and my dress pants kept us from touching. My cock was hard as steel, knowing everything I ever wanted was right there for the taking if I was brave enough. She ground against me, making me moan into her mouth as she gave a breathy chuckle.
“Undo your pants,” Astin ordered.
My mind screamed at me to do as she directed, but my heart clenched with worry. I pulled back slightly to see her face, trying to get a read on this damn woman who was about to own every last bit of my being if I continued.
“Is this what you want?” I asked after clearing my throat. “More so, does this mean you want me? I’m not like the others. I can’t keep my emotions separate from sex, from you. I need to know this means something more to you than seeking comfort in the moment.”
Astin pulled back, but her hands didn’t fall from my shoulders. “That’s a fair question, but it’s not one I have an answer to.”
I nodded and kissed her sweetly on the lips. “Then I think it’s best for both of us if we know the answer before we go further.” A harsh laugh escaped me. “I must be fucking mental for saying no right now when all I want to do is flip you over, yank off those lace panties, and fuck the shit out of you.”
Astin’s breath hitched at my words, making my cock ache with the need to act on my fantasy. At this point, I think I’d come just from thrusting into her with how jacked up I was. Yet, it was clear to me it wasn’t the time for us, but there would be a right moment now that she knew how I felt.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured, reaching out to cup my face. “That was unfair of me to do to you. Daddy told me about your mother and how she used you solely to gain public favor. That’s not what I want between us, so you were right to call me on it. In fact, it might have just made you my favorite for the day.”
Snorting, I pulled back and took my seat once more. “Have the others figured out that’s what you’re doing with the seating arrangement?”
