Page 26 of Bellona

"I'm not surprised with the way she's been shoveling food in her mouth. Seriously, Bells, take a breath. You know you shouldn't starve yourself when you're raging, and dick isn't a proper meal," Set teased, waggling his brows at her.

Bellona looked at the knife in her hand, and as if he could read her thoughts, Set threw his head back and laughed. "You really have no sense of humor when you're hungry. I'm going to take a photo of Rafael's glittery arms and see if Thoth knows how to get it off. Looks like you've been wrestling someone covered in body paint."

"Why does he need to get it off? I'm sure it will go away on its own," Bellona said, shooting Set a look. Stop interfering.

Set's eyebrow cocked, and he went back to his phone, ignoring her completely. "There we go, all sent. Thoth will figure it out."

"I don't mind it," Rafael said with a slight smile. "Though if anyone can figure it out, I'm sure the god of magic and sciences can. Is he really as wise and clever as the stories claim?"

Set snorted affectionately. "He certainly thinks so."

"His consort, Kema, leads him around by his nose," Bellona said, thinking back to the party she was last at with them. "For all his so-called wisdom, Thoth is completely whipped."

"Aren't we all, Bells?" Set said, saluting her with his mug of coffee.

Bellona was saved as her phone started to ring. She answered it before realizing that it was a video call. Medusa's smiling face appeared. She had a wired look in her emerald eyes, their power deflected by the smudged glasses she wore. Her red hair was in a messy bun on the top of her head, leaving only her golden snakes free.

"Good morning! Oh, hello, Set! I didn't know you were in Rome!" Medusa shouted, all but bouncing in her chair.

"Hey, beautiful, have you been hitting those energy drinks a bit hard already this morning?" Set replied with a wide smile.

"I haven't slept yet because I went down a rabbit hole looking into Rafael's partners. Is he there too? I want to see him!" Medusa said, pulling the camera up close to her face. Bellona got out of her chair and went around to the other side of the table. She got Rafael in the frame, looking relaxed.

"Buongiorno," he said, rolling out a stunning smile. "It's an honor to meet you, Medusa. Tales of your beauty and talent clearly haven't been exaggerated."

Medusa patted her messy hair. "Oh, hello. It's... Hi."

Bellona rolled her eyes and took the phone back. "Yes, yes, we are all very charmed to meet everyone. Have you found something I can use against his partners or what?"

Medusa made sure only Bellona could see her before pretending to fan herself and mouthing 'He's so hot' at her.

"Okay, yes, sorry, my brain froze for a second there with Hot Italian Man lag," she chirped and made a few clicks on her keyboard. "Give it a second. It needs to reboot."

Rafael's laugh was male and smug, and it still made goosebumps rise on Bellona's spine. If Set hadn't been there, Bellona didn't think she would have been able to resist climbing into his lap and fucking him senseless. Maybe it was a good thing Set had come to stay with them. At least one of them would be able to think clearly.

"Tirone Taddeo's financials relating to his third of the company look sparkling on the outside," Medusa began. "I'm sending you some encrypted files for Rafael to look at later, but basically, Tirone's broke."

"What? How is that possible?" Rafael asked, burying his hands in his hair.

"He made a shipping investment about six months ago that went south, and it's all but bankrupted him," Medusa replied. "But that's not even the worst bit. The shipping company is one that is owned by Rita Costa."

Rafael got up to swear and pace angrily, calling Tirone so many names at once that Bellona was surprised, he could curse that quickly.

"Wow, Bellona, he even sounds sexy when he's getting mad in Italian. You lucky thing," Medusa said, giving her a saucy wink. "Rita has Tirone over a barrel, and I don't think she was polite enough to use lube when she fucked him. That's his pressure point. I suggest you go and lean on him and see if he crumbles."

"I had hoped that Rita would have been smart enough to drop this nonsense today, but clearly, she doesn't recognize good sense when it's standing in front of her," Bellona replied.

"I bet you were really polite when you had your girl chat with her," Set commented, trying to keep a straight face.

"Considering the mood I was in, I was sweetness and fucking light."

Rafael hummed. "Yes, I saw plenty of that sweetness and light in the Catacombs."

"Well, if you hadn't gotten yourself kidnapped, it wouldn't have happened at all."

Rafael only smiled at her because he knew she wasn't mad at him. He had no fear of her at all.

"Did you find anything on Cino?" he asked Medusa, leaning over Bellona's shoulder. She fought the urge to turn her face and bury it in his neck so she could smell him.

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