Page 51 of Dimitri

We followed Briggs out of the office and met up with Raiden on the way. He was making his way toward our office, but when he saw the three of us going in the opposite direction, he turned around without a thought and simply joined us.

“How is mated life treating you?” he asked me.

“Good. I know it is like a broken record, but I couldn’t ask for a better mate. Caspian, although we haven’t gotten to spend a whole lot of time actually together, he has been incredibly loving when he is awake.”

Raiden nodded. “I understand that. Alexander was so sick. And then during the delivery, I…” He shook his head.

“But you have Rowan, and that makes the two of you happy, no?”

Immediately, there was a smile on Raiden’s face. That was all the answer I needed.

We arrived at the conference room Briggs had mentioned, and when we entered, I was a bit surprised to see so many othersin there. Not that others weren’t supposed to have assignments as well. Not that this meeting was going to be about an assignment. One could hope, but so far, they hadn’t been more than briefings.

“Please sit down,” Master Edison said before he turned toward Master Ambrosius, who did not look happy at all.

“We’re going to get started now that Benjamin’s team is here,” Master Ambrosius said. I glanced at the others on my team, wondering if we had truly been the ones to hold up the meeting.

“We’re still waiting for Sergei and Benedict. We need the rest of Frederick’s team as well,” Master Edison said. He shook his head. But we didn’t have long to wait because Dedushka and my father-in-law entered the room in front of a few others. Immediately, I saw that the man who came in directly behind Frederick was the other tall man who had been talking to Raiden during breakfast. I leaned over, my curiosity was too much to not ask.

“Who is right behind Frederick?”

“That is Vaughn, another new enforcer. He’s a gargoyle from Washington state. He joined a few weeks ago while you were on leave. He seems nice. Ramsey and myself are trying to get to know him and make him feel welcome. He’s pushing back a bit because we’re mated, and he doesn’t want to intrude.”

“Now can we start?” Master Ambrosius asked.

“One more,” Master Edison said as he held up a hand. Seconds later, another walked in beside Atticus. There was an audible growling noise, and it put me on edge, but the others around me didn’t seem to be affected by it in the least. It took entirely too long to realize it was coming from Master Ambrosius.

“What ishedoing here?”

“Really? We can’t do this without their help. We’ve tried, and they have so graciously agreed to help us. Put your differences aside for the time being so we can find the Gallo cousins and possibly put this all behind us,” Master Edison said.

I leaned closer to Raiden again. “Who is that?”

He chuckled quietly.

“That’s Marcello. He belongs to the Vittone coven that is going to help us find the Gallo cousins. He’s Vincent Vittone’s second. For a second in a mafia family, he seems nice enough. I don’t know that I would fully trust him with my brother though. Definitely not with Alexander.”

I snorted and sat up. I could understand Raiden’s stance. Although I knew Caspian could more than handle himself because he had magical abilities, I still was protective of my mate and wouldn’t want him to be alone with the questionable vampire either.

“Knock it off,” Master Edison finally said. When he did, he put his hands on Master Ambrosius’s shoulders and moved him over to the other side of the room. That left Dedushka to move into his place and sigh.

“Meeting will start. We have news, which is why Marcello is here. He will be sharing the new information. Then we will be briefing everyone as to what assignment they will be receiving, and plans will be made for departures.”

That caught my attention. I had waited for months to be sent on assignment. Now, I was torn. Did I want to go? Caspian was carrying our child and was having sickness. Who would take care of him if not me? It was my responsibility to look after my mate.

Dedushka sighed and shook his head as Master Edison and Master Ambrosius seemed to quietly argue off to the side of the room.

“Marcello?” he said and then stepped to the side. It didn’t go unnoticed to me that Dedushka moved to where he was standing in between Marcello and the created warlock and vampire.

“Thank you, Alpha Sergei. I won’t take too much of your time. We have a confirmed sighting of the Gallo cousins. Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing if they are still in that area. They were spotted multiple times in Naples. There are a few islands just off the coast there, and it’s possible that they are using them as a base of sorts. Or they are simply popping around from place to place like always,” he told us.

I shared a look with Benjamin, who nodded. I wasn’t certain what that meant, but I would find out.

“If you don’t have them in hand, why are you even here?” someone asked from the other side of the room.

“We are working on getting men out to the islands to watch over things and to scout the areas. These take time and resources. We do not have an unlimited number of people we can send places. Despite Master Vincent’s agreement to help with your issue, we still have a family to watch over and businesses to run.”

“We appreciate everything you’ve helped with thus far,” Master Edison said, joining the meeting. Master Ambrosius was still standing against the wall, scowling. “We are ready to send teams to Italy and help look for them. Is there anything specifically you need so we can help you help us?”

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