Page 76 of Little Dove

“I don’t know anything else,” he sobs, tears streaming down his face. Looking at him, he’s much younger than the other man, barely in his early twenties, if that. I don’t have an ounce of sympathy for him. He is nothing more than a tool that Ivan and Giovanni used to try and take my woman and kill my family. For that alone, he’ll die. Though it remains to be seen whether he’ll hold out longer than his friend.

“I think we’re going to have to get creative,” I reply, my lips pulling up into a rictus grin. I scan around the room until I spot the propane and torch in the corner. I pick it up and carry it back toward the absolutely horrified kid. “You will tell us everything, or I start burning.”

The kid’s mouth opens, but no sound comes out. He struggles, trying to curl his body away from me. Like that’s going to save him. “Please no,” he begs. “Please. No. I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

“Where is Giovanni De Luca?” Pietro demands.

“W-we don’t know. He never told Ivan where to find him, he just calls him or shows up when he needs him,” he gasps out.“He sends one of his sons to deliver messages. Ivan was getting pissed about the disrespect of it and put a beating on the son.”

“Which son?” Nico asks.

“It’s a different one than the one he came with initially,” he finally answers after a moment. “He back-talked Ivan and Ivan taught him a lesson.”

I glance at Pietro and then Alessio, who both look thoughtful at that. Clearly the alliance between Giovanni and Ivan is off to a rocky start. Not that it surprises me. Italians and Russians have never gotten along.

“What else?” Pietro demands, and the kid jumps, crying out in pain at the sudden movement.

“I-I d-don’t know,” the kid sobs. “That’s all we were told.”

Pietro nods at Alonzo, who yanks out the knife and fires a bullet between the kid’s eyes. We all turn to look at the final man, who has remained quiet with his head down. I grab a fistful of hair and yank his head back. He doesn’t utter a sound as his dark eyes stare up at me. They show acceptance and intelligence, which tells me he knows exactly how this will end, and he doesn’t care. Perhaps he won’t be so hard to get information from after all.

“Talk,” I order.

He’s quiet for a moment, watching me before he glances at Pietro and Alonzo. Then he looks back at me and asks, “If I tell you what I know, you’ll kill me quickly?” I look over at Pietro and then Nico, who both nod sharply. When I release his hair and step back, his head drops forward before he lifts it again and starts talking.

“Giovanni lost a lot of men in the last fight here, and when he found out he lost his son and Parisi, he was pissed. His force is only a quarter of the size from when he split off from Don De Luca. Lorenzo was helping him run things, but now that he’s dead, Orlando has stepped up, and that crazy motherfucker isthe one who came up with the idea of joining with Morozov. They’re keeping a lot of things close to their chest, but some of the men have heard them talking about something that Ivan is hiding. Something that might turn the tide for them and give them a leg up, but no one, not even Orlando, has been able to figure it out, and it’s pissing him off. They’re trying to get dirt on Morozov through his sons, but that’s not working either, and Orlando took the brunt of that beating, and it’s pissed him off even more. We all thought that was the end of the alliance, but Giovanni has nothing, and he refuses to bow out, so he apologized to Ivan and told him he’ll handle Orlando.”

“And did he?” Dante asks.

The guy shakes his head. “He mostly told him to watch his mouth around Ivan until they were in place to take over, and then he could get his revenge. Orlando was pissed about it, and I was sure he was going to kill Giovanni for suggesting such a thing, but the other brother calmed him down. They started planning to speed things up. Orlando wanted to take the new girl from you at the airport as soon as you landed, but Ivan refused to send men to make it happen, so they had to sit and wait. Ivan said he didn’t want Armani’s men coming down on him before they were ready. He wanted to bring in more men from other areas and build some alliances in case things went to shit.

“After that, Giovanni and Orlando cooked up the idea that they needed to get things moving, because neither Leonardo or Marco were making any moves other than aligning themselves with others. Giovanni was especially pissed that Marco aligned with Gallo, because Giovanni had been planning to approach him himself with the idea that he would offer up one of his sons for a marriage alliance with one of Gallo’s daughters. When that fell through, Orlando convinced him to go to Ivan, but Ivan refused. Doesn’t want Italian blood polluting his Russian lines.”

“So what did Giovanni offer him instead? Help him win, and he’d let him keep his territory?” Nico scoffs.

“No. Ivan told him that he would take fifty percent of the territory, while Giovanni could have the other half, but Giovanni would have no claim on the ports. That will remain with Ivan. Giovanni was pissed, but it’s not like he has much of a choice. Word is that he doesn’t want to approach any other Italian families because of how badly things worked out with Parisi. He also doesn’t want to bring any wrath from other families in the country he’s already burned bridges with, when he was Underboss for Leonardo.”

“None of that answers what Giovanni offered him if the marriage pact didn’t work out,” Nico snaps.

“None of us know. Giovanni and Orlando have kept it to themselves, and their head of security in the room hasn’t said or even hinted at anything. One stupid fucker tried to pry, and died instantly for it. No one has asked since, but it has to be something good for Ivan to agree.”

That doesn’t sit right with me. What the hell would Giovanni have to offer, if not marriage? And no one, not even this Ivan fucker, is going to trust a known traitor to keep his word on a fifty-fifty partnership. “You’re fucking lying,” I hiss, punching him in the stomach and making him grunt. “Lie again, and I’ll start burning,” I threaten.

He coughs, gasping for a moment before he composes himself enough to look at me. “Not a fucking lie,” he tells me seriously. “Giovanni and Orlando have been having private meetings, ones that his other sons aren’t even invited to, and it’s possible they don’t know about them either, from the way things have been rumored. A few days ago, one of the men heard Giovanni ask Orlando about the other girl, but didn’t hear anything more before the door shut. They talk in hushed tones, and sweep every room they go into for any kind ofbugs immediately. Whatever they’re working on, it must be big enough that they don’t want anyone to leak it.”

I glance over at Alessio and I can see the same thought in his eyes. We need to find out what the hell they’re up to.

“What’s their plan for the girls?” Pietro demands. “All of them.”

“Giovanni hasn’t said much, only that he wants them back under his thumb. They’re the key to getting all the power. Armani will make mistakes to get his wife back, and the other one that’s his niece, he just wants to pay her back for helping kill his son. His daughter, he hasn’t said much about, only that he wants her put somewhere she can’t cause any more trouble, and will be kept in hand while he deals with finding the last one.”

My blood runs cold at his words, then burns with fury and determination. There is no fucking way any of that is going to happen. I’ll die first, and even if I do, my family will ensure that nothing happens no matter what. I manage to keep my expression blank, but from the looks Massimo and Alessio shoot me, they understand. I glance at Nico, and his eyes are burning with pure rage.

“What is Giovanni planning for tonight while you and your men were here?” Dante demands. “And leave nothing fucking out or I’ll help them roast you, then finish you off myself.”

I glance at Alonzo, who’s scowling. Fucker thinks he can step in on our interrogation techniques? Like fuck.

“Giovanni and Ivan gave the orders for two teams, but the majority of us were to come here. They want the girls, and we’re not to return without them. The other team was to watch Marco and Leonardo, but then just before we left, I overheard the head of their security team pull a couple of them away to talk quietly. I maneuvered myself into place to listen and I heard him say that there was a secret mission for them, and to make sure it got handled. Giovanni found out that a call went from Galloto Leonardo and they have plans to meet at Esposito’s tonight. Guess he took that to mean it was the perfect time to strike them both out.”

---