Page 45 of Little Dove

She laughs outright. “I took apart his gun completely and scattered the parts and ammunition around his bedroom. It was fun, but he clearly doesn’t appreciate my sense of humor.” Then she scowls. “But as for what he did to get back at me, he tied me to the bed, took off my favorite boots, and stuck them up on top of a shelf in his room. I basically had to scale the walls to reach them when I managed to get free.”

I gape at her. “Why didn’t you yell for help?” I demand.

Rori rolls her eyes. “Because that is far from challenging. Who do you think taught this one to get out of any kind of knot?” She jerks her thumb at Sienna. “The annoying part was scaling the wall, but thankfully whoever decorated that room kept some of the furniture together. And I managed not to break or topple anything, so that’s a plus.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask, but did you do anything to get back at him for that?” Sienna asks, though her lips are pulled up into a pleased smile. Evidently, she’s alright with the back and forth between Rori and Alonzo.

Rori gives her a droll look. “What do you think?” Sienna snickers. “But I’m not going to tell you. I’m sure you’ll hear all about it when he finds out what it is.” Her smile pulls into a wicked grin, then she looks back at me. “But I’m sure he’s going to get back at me for that, so I’m just being proactive.”

I can’t help but smile. Okay, so maybe this will be a little fun. “I’ll put something down. I assume you want something that’s going to stand out?”

“I’m thinking pumpkin orange, or bright fiery red. Oh, or bright blue. Anything that’s going to stick out. I want to make sure that everyone sees it.” Rori grins.

“He’s going to kill you, you know,” Sienna warns, though she’s still grinning. “But it’s going to be funny to watch.”

“I look at it like we’re spicing things up a bit around here.” Rori shrugs. “Who needs all the doom of gloom of all your family drama, right? And some of us aren’t getting all sexed up, so we have to get our jollies another way.”

Sienna and Gia exchange a knowing grin. Then Sienna looks back at me and says, “Alright, let’s get going on this list. I want to get this all set up as soon as possible. Oh, and if Alessio pisses me off, I might need some of that dye myself.”

I’m not sure whether to be excited or scared about this whole situation, but as I start to write, I realize that maybe, just maybe, things will be okay.

15

LAZARO

I lookat the men in front of me in disgust. They’ve grown lazy and complacent, and it shows in their lackluster skills. That they think to call themselves soldiers is abhorrent. Even Dante looks furious as he sends another man to the ground with barely any work. I do the same with the man in front of me, both of them lying in the dirt, panting to get their breaths back, only infuriating me further.

“This? This is who you expect to defend us and our women?” I bark at Dante. “Pathetic.” I lash my foot out, kicking the one closest to me hard in the stomach, making him groan, gag, and then puke in the dirt.

Dante looks over at me, the same anger in his eyes as mine. “Kill them.”

I don’t need to be told twice. I pull my gun, putting them both out of their misery before any pleas for mercy can even pass their lips. The remaining men are silent as I take them in, noting the ones that don’t give any emotion, and the ones who look eitherfurious or fearful. I can take the anger, but fear is enough to make me want to kill a few more.

The way they are, they’ll die before the fight even begins. I’m shocked that Giovanni and Rafaele’s men didn’t kill them the first time, though the cowards probably hid at the first shot. If I can prove it, I’ll kill them myself. They knew what they were signing up for, and cowardice has no place in this life.

“Davide, Peter,” Dante barks, calling the two men to step forward. I recognize one of them as the man Nico and Dante left in charge while they were in Sicily. The one who let things happen on his watch that should have resulted in him being demoted, or dead. It takes all my self-control not to order Dante to do us a favor and kill him, but even I know that’s not my place.

And it pisses me the hell off.

“What the fuck kind of bullshit training have you been doing?” Dante demands. He gets right in their faces, pulling his own gun and pressing it to Peter’s temple. “Give me one good reason that I shouldn’t kill you now and put someone in your place that actually gives a fuck?”

“It-It-It wasn’t our fault,” Peter stammers out, fear leaching into his voice. “We tried, but without you, we didn’t know what to do other than to protect the gates. You left us alone with a bunch of newbies that don’t know nothin’ about working or guarding.”

“You’re blaming me for you not knowing how to do your job?” Dante asks, tone icy cold.

Peter swallows hard. “No, no, I’m not doing that,” he rushes out. “But none of the men respect me, so?—”

“Then you make them fucking respect you,” Dante hisses, and then pistol whips the asshole, sending him sprawling and clutching the side of his head as blood pours from the gash. “Clearly I made a mistake in promoting your lazy fucking ass.”

I look around the group. Most of them are stunned, and the air still reeks of fear, but one face in the crowd gives me pause. He’s watching the scene almost dispassionately, standing near the back of the group. “You,” I bark, holding his gaze. No one moves, including him, but then he steps forward until he’s in front of the men. He comes to a stop at parade rest, hands clasped behind his back. “Your background,” I order.

“Former military. Got tired of all the bureaucracy,” he finally says.

“Experience in training soldiers?”

“Yes.”

“How long have you worked for Don Armani?”

---