Page 185 of Only Fools Rush

LEONA

After a lovely little nap and a shower to wash everything from my body, I asked the guys to meet me in the kitchen. The VCI board meeting was less than a week away, and we needed a plan for how I was going to show up, get a spot on the board,andget out without getting killed.

On top of that, we still had tons of loose ends we needed to get a handle on.

When I walked into the kitchen, Obi was dishing out a spicy meat stew that had been cooking on the stove all day. My mouth watered at the smell. The rest of the guys were waiting in line to get their portions, but Obi handed me the first bowl with a wink.

“Oh, come on,” Ryuji whined. “I’m starving.”

I stuck out my tongue as I took the first bite and then moaned. “Obi. This is so good.”

Cas raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you can handle the spice?”

I blinked, offended he’d even ask such a thing. “I can handleanything, Caspian Di Salvo.”

Ciel and Ryuji snorted while Wynn sat next to me at the table. “Here,” he said as he placed a giant serving bowl of fried plantains in the middle. “The plantains are a good pairing.”

The rest of the guys got their bowls and sat down. My eyes widened at how quickly the enormous amount of food began to disappear. Once we were fully into the meal, I cleared my throat.

“So, the board meeting,” I started. “We need to talk about what we’re going to do to prepare.”

“It’s at Trattoria Luminosa,” Obi said with ahmm. “Should we lay a trap?”

“Sort of,” I said as I set my spoon in the bowl. “I want to go. By myself.”

“Nope,” Ryuji said, shaking his head. “Definitely not.”

“We agree on that,” Cas added. “You’re not going alone. That’s ridiculous.”

The two of them nodded to one another and I narrowed my eyes at their united front. “You know, I’m not really sure getting you two on the same side was a good idea.”

They both grinned.

“That sounds like ayouproblem, princess,” Cas said, earning a snicker from Ryuji.

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t meanalone-alone. I just mean, I need to go in there by myself or else Max will end the meeting. If one of you were with me, he’d never let me speak to the board. If he feels threatened in any way, he’ll torch it.”

Max was dangerous the same way a cornered, injured animal was dangerous. We already knew the gun trade loss was hurting him, and he was furious at Giulio’s meeting. He’d probably been fuming ever since the loss of those men—not a huge dent, to be sure, but a dent nonetheless. This meeting was about me getting a place in my father’s company, not about him, so we couldn’t let him get in the way of that.

They all chewed, considering.

“Tell us what you mean, then,” Ciel said. He had more dark circles under his eyes, like he’d been up late again. We alsoneeded to circle back around to the information Fallon had given him about Max’s hacker.

“I want to go in there and convince the board to give me a spot,” I explained. “And I want all of you surrounding the building. But I have to be inside by myself. For this to work, it has to be fully above board. Fully legitimate. If he tries to do anything to me, you’ll be right there.”

“Maybe not fast enough,” Wynn said. “I don’t like it.”

“You are more than capable of defending yourself,” Obi said, leaning over his forearms on the table. “However, we know from experience that Volpe is unpredictable. This is not a lack of belief in you. This is risk management.”

“Okay, then,” I said with an exhale. Itdidmean something to know they still thought I could handle it. Maybe they were right. “What ifoneof you comes inside with me? We want to throw Max off his game, but not make him run.”

“I should,” Cas said after a pause. “Especially if you’re wearing the ring.”

I glanced down at my hand. Max’s reaction to the engagement news earlier had been scathing, at best. But there had been another emotion that passed over his face. I’d barely had time to process it with everything else going on. Had it been confusion? Anger? Regret?

“It will probably piss him off,” Ryuji said. “If I were him, I’d be a jealous fucker.”

“Youarea jealous fucker,” Cas snorted, and Ryuji shoved him, but it lacked force or aggression. Again, I found myself raising an eyebrow at their antics. They were definitely changing.