Page 40 of Little Dove

“I would have said not at all,” Nico answers after a moment, a deep frown pulling at his mouth. “Ivan’s a nasty fucker. The only Italian he’s ever had any kind of civility with was Leonardo, many years ago, but then that relationship went sour. Sincethen, they’ve stayed on their own sides of the territory, other than some minor skirmishes here and there.”

“Maybe that’s why Giovanni went to him. Could be that he knows Ivan isn’t a fan of Leonardo, and he’s going to use that to draw Ivan to his side of the fight,” I suggest.

Nico shrugs. “It’s possible. But what could Giovanni have to give him? Surely by now Ivan knows all about what’s happened here and with the Parisi’s. Out of everyone, he’d have been smarter to put aside his differences with Leonardo and side with him if he wants more power or control.”

“Why isn’t he coming to you?” Pietro asks curiously.

“He probably knows that Nico is the one that got the Irish started duking shit out before we got here,” Alessio smirks, earning a death glare from Nico. I’m not surprised at this information, but I see quickly the rest of the room, minus Papa, is.

“What?” Pietro demands.

“Nico here was planning to make some big moves and take over territory by having the two smaller families fight amongst themselves. They’d do all the messy work for him and weaken each other before he’d sweep in and take it all over. They’ve probably figured that all out by now,” Alessio continues. “Clever, I’ll give you that, my friend. And it all might just work out okay. By the time this is all done, you might have the entire city to yourself.”

Pietro looks at Nico. “Is this true?”

Nico shifts his gaze to Pietro. “Anything done before this situation doesn’t matter,” he replies simply.

Pietro’s face darkens, and his eyes narrow. I barely manage to bite back my grin. We’ve all been on the receiving end of that look, and now it’s Nico’s turn. “Every fucking thing that might have a bearing on how we approach this fight matters,ragazzo. Especially if it means there is another reason for themto align with others.” He curses him harshly in Italian before switching back to English to bite out, “This is why I have no time for Americans and their stupid games. You think that keeping secrets will be of some kind of benefit to you, when all you do is show your own weaknesses and egos.”

Nico holds Pietro’s gaze, seemingly unfazed. “Perhaps you would like me to give you a history lesson on everything that has happened in this city in the past hundred years?” he returns calmly. “This is nothing different than any and all of us have done at one time or another. Leonardo’s father nearly destroyed the Irish and Russians when he took over, before they finally called a truce. And when Leonardo took his place, he attempted much the same. Seamus stupidly went after Ivan as well when he took over. I have done nothing that any of them haven’t done in the past. Only, I’ve gone about it differently. If they can link anything back to me, so be it. It’s nothing in the grand scheme of things. This is far bigger than minor skirmishes, and you know it.”

“That may be, but any and all information is important in this fight,” Pietro says icily. Then he turns his eye to his son and adds, “And you never mentioned anything to me.”

“Wasn’t time, with everything going on,” Alessio answers with a shrug. “You know now, so we can take that and move on. We need to figure out our next move before we have Russians, Irish, and more Italian families at the gates trying to blow us all to hell. And with Amara here, that would mean three women they’ll try to take from us. Five, if we can find the other two before them.”

“Speaking of that, maybe that’s why Giovanni is meeting with Ivan,” Massimo suggests suddenly. I look at him sharply, already not liking the direction this conversation is heading. “I mean, Giovanni has to know by now that at least one of the girls is his daughter. Maybe he’s pre-emptively planning to marry themoff if he can get a hold of them. Another marriage alliance.” Massimo looks over at me briefly before adding, “If he knows Amara is his daughter, then it’s probably for her, considering the timing.”

I hold back my fury—barely—because no fucking way is that going to happen. The only man Amara will be marrying is me. And with how I’m feeling, I’ll drag her ass down the aisle kicking and screaming before I’ll allow her father to get his claws into her. It’s unhinged, even I know that, but I don’t give a flying fuck. Pure determination is all that keeps me from stalking out to find her and gluing her to my side.

“I don’t think so,” Alessio says after a moment of tense silence. “Think about it. He knew that Leonardo and Marco were sending men after Amara, and I’m sure he knew Lazaro was heading there too. But he didn’t send his own men after her, and there was no ambush or anything on the way to get her here. If he was planning to sell her off to the highest bidder, namely Morozov if appearances are to be believed, then wouldn’t he already be trying to grab her? I mean, he’s not going to want to leave this deal hanging too long, since he’s vulnerable without Parisi or his men.”

“You think he’s planning for Amara’s sister, when they figure out who she is?” I ask, following his train of thought.

Alessio nods. “That’s what makes the most sense right now.”

“Is there a chance that they’ve already figured out who his other daughter is?” Pietro asks with a frown.

“It’s possible,” Zeno replies grimly. “Especially if one of the sons is as tech-savvy as you’ve said. But our guys are better, and we’re not seeing anything that indicates they know who or where she is. So we have some time, but we need to amp up our efforts if we want to make sure they don’t get there first.”

“Do it,” Pietro orders. “I want both her and Gia, as well as Sienna’s other sister, found as soon as possible. We get to them,and we stop any plans of them aligning with other families through marriage and causing permanent problems once this whole situation is resolved.”

“I want to know what the hell Marco and Leonardo are up to,” I interject. “They sent men after Amara, but have they not made any other moves here?”

“Nothing obvious,” Dante answers. “Mostly, they’ve gone quiet, which is cause for concern. I would expect as much from Leonardo, but Marco has been running his mouth and trying to make big moves by joining with Seamus Gallo, and Seamus has gone quiet as well. None of them seem to be moving, and by now word has gotten back to them that Parisi is dead and his men have gone home, and Giovanni is vulnerable.”

“Leonardo is probably seething that Giovanni has gone to Ivan,” Nico agrees. “Or rather, pissed that Ivan has granted Giovanni access to him and had their meeting. Leonardo and Ivan always had an understanding that they stayed out of each other’s way and assisted each other on a rare occasion. Him agreeing to work with, or even see Giovanni, considering everything, just sent that truce up in flames.”

“You think Leonardo will go after Ivan for it?” Alonzo asks.

Nico shrugs. “Even if he does, Leonardo is larger and stronger than Ivan, unless Ivan calls in other Bratva families from outside the state, but I can’t see that happening. This isn’t big enough for them to involve themselves in. And it would also weaken Ivan’s image as the Pakhan, that he would call them in over something so small to them. Ivan will fight back, but I think it’s more likely that Leonardo will either wait until this is over to deal a blow, or he’ll make sure Ivan needs him for something and then reject him, and try to take over his territory with force.”

“It’s one more reason for him to kill Giovanni for going to his enemy, even with everything else,” Dante agrees. “He’s probably planning to do it anyway, but this will piss him off more andhe’ll make sure Giovanni suffers before he kills him. Him and his sons.”

“What about Marco aligning with the Gallos?” I ask.

Nico and Dante share a look. “Leonardo and Seamus were much like Leonardo and Ivan, where they had a truce, but they mostly stayed out of each other’s way. Gallo is bigger than Ivan though, so he knows it will be harder to go against him. It’s more likely that Leonardo is pissed that Marco is probably spilling family secrets to Seamus,” Nico explains. “Though it also could be why everyone has gone quiet. Marco has the knowledge to make trouble for Leonardo, and his father knows it. It would make sense that Leonardo is trying to make sure that all those ways his son knows of aren’t available to him, in case he gets any ideas to try and sneak in and assassinate him.”

“I thought he was marrying Seamus’s daughter so they had an alliance. Wouldn’t it make sense that he’s trying to take over Gallo’s territory?” Papa questions.

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