Page 9 of Little Dove

“Amara, your family is mafia, which means they don’t give a damn about knowing you. They only want to use you for their own benefit. And in this case, there are three people in your family that want to grab you before the others so that they can get ahead first.”

“Mafia,” she repeats slowly, as if weighing the word. “You’re saying that my family is part of one of the biggest crime rings in the world? How?”

“They are. The American families aren’t as large as those in the home country, but they are far more ruthless at times, always fighting amongst each other.” I don’t hide the disdain from my voice. Sure, we have skirmishes between families back home, but there is still some honor in it. Here, greed and power rule them all.

“Okay, fine, let’s say I believe that—and trust me, I don’t—but how the hell did I end up here in Arizona, growing up in the foster care system, if I was born to a big mafia family in New York? That doesn’t track.”

“You were smuggled out by your mother when you were only minutes, maybe hours, old. We’re not sure how you ended up here, but you were found on the steps of the fire station at onlythree days old, so it wasn’t long after they got you out of the state without being caught.”

“How the hell do you know all of this?”

“It’s my job to know.” Simple as that, and I’m not quite ready to tell her yet how I got that information. Or that I know more about her than she might be comfortable with. I need to ease her into that.

Amara glares at me. “Uh-huh, what else are you not saying? You’re not giving me that cop out excuse and hoping I don’t pay attention. Tell me the rest of it. Including why there are three different family members looking for me instead of just my father.”

So much for that idea.

“Short version or long version?”

“The version where you start talking instead of stalling,” she snaps.

I narrow my eyes at her, my temper pricked. I’ll take a lot, but her sass is about to get her in trouble. The kind of trouble that’s going to have her over my knee or my cock down her throat, neither of which she’s ready for. “You can cut down on the sass,dolcezza,” I warn her. “You already racked up points with that punch.”

Her face flushes at my words, but she doesn’t lose her angry glare. Oh, someone likes that, but she’s fighting it. Good to know.

“Just tell me what’s going on please,” she grits out between clenched teeth.

It’s better, though we’ll have to work on her delivery.

“The long and short of it is that your father is the Underboss to your uncle, and he feels that position is beneath him. He wants the top seat, and your father is in the way. But to overthrow your uncle, your father is going to need backup and help. The easiest way to get that help is through an alliance withanother larger family. Namely, one that isn’t afraid to go toe-to-toe with your uncle. And while he can just ask for help, he’s not a Don, and most families wouldn’t be inclined to help him if he has nothing to offer them. The easiest way to secure any alliance is with money or marriage. And since your father is a greedy bastard, that leaves marriage. Of course, when your father started making his plans, he didn’t know he had a daughter, only a niece—your uncle’s lone daughter.

“He promised her hand in marriage to a few different people, seeing what would stick. The problem is that Gia is already married to Nico Armani, another Don in New York, and an enemy of your family for many years. That put your father’s deal with his backer in jeopardy; he’d promised something he can’t deliver. So now, your father needs to find another way to make the deal work. All while laying low so your uncle doesn’t kill him for betraying him, and avoiding your cousin, who is also trying to take the top seat because he wants him out of the way as well.”

Her scowl deepens with every word that leaves my mouth. “None of that explains what this has to do with me.”

I give her a hard look, but she just glares back at me. Sassy brat.

“How it relates to you is that the cousin I mentioned, Marco, he had much the same idea as your father. Marry off his sister to someone willing to back him and give him more power to overtake your uncle. His mistake, though, was approaching the people I work for, and trying to deceive us. He offered a marriage contract between his sister and our Don’s son, Alessio, in exchange for an alliance, all under the guise that his father knew and was in full support. Come to find out it’s all a lie; Gia was already in a relationship with Nico and set to marry him. Of course, we couldn’t leave it at that, and we started digging deeper. We made sure that your cousin was safe and happy with Nico, and then we started looking into what else was going on.We managed to dig up that not only did your mother smuggle you out, but between her and your aunt, there were four baby girls smuggled out of that life. The only one who didn’t get out is Gia, Nico’s wife, though we’re still not sure why.

“After we discovered that, we learned that your father, uncle, and cousin found out the same information. We’re unclear how, but since then we’ve been running ahead of them as much as we can to get to you all before they do. Because if they get you, you’re as good as dead. They’ll marry you off to men they think will further their cause. Men like themselves. And we’re not going to let that happen.”

She’s silent as she digests what I’ve just told her. I can practically see her mind spinning as she tries to work through it. Emotions flash through her eyes and across her face; anger, confusion, shock, denial, then just plain disbelief. “So in all of this, you’re telling me that you’re part of the mafia, but you’re one of the good guys?”

“If we’re comparing, then yes, you definitely want me in your corner, not the others.”

She doesn’t look the least bit convinced, but she asks, “Why is it that only girls were smuggled out? Is there some kind of gender preference? Which, I’m just going to point out, makes no sense if you’re going to use women for marriages and alliances. Also, that’s fucking barbaric.”

“It’s a way of life for some, but not all. This world doesn’t run on normal societal rules. Males are, and always will be, the preference. Most will love their daughters as well and ensure they are happy and married to those they think will take care of them the best, but there are still those that live by the old ways and traditions. Seen as pawns, and used for nothing more than spying and breeding. Your family falls into the latter category. They wanted sons, and to continue their lineage without sullying it with a bunch of girls. They wanted to be the ones thatcontrolled the alliances by having their pick of which poor woman would marry into their family. Your mother and aunt knew that. I can only assume they wanted to break the cycle.”

“But this Gia, she was kept. Why?” There’s no bitterness in her tone, which surprises me a little, but I can also appreciate that she probably understands that if she had stayed, her life would be much different than it is now.

“We still aren’t sure if she was kept because she couldn’t be smuggled out, or because your aunt was under suspicion from your uncle. Either way, your cousin suffered every day of her life at the hands of every man in the family, including your own father and brothers. And no one knew because they hid her away, even registering her birth in a way that couldn’t be easily discovered.”

Her mouth twists in disgust. “And you want me to go back with you to that life? Yeah, no fucking thank you. I’m not going to be anyone’s punching bag.”

“You’re not going back to them,” I remind her patiently. “Like I said, I work for another Don, one back in Italy, and this is not the way he operates. You’ll be coming back with me, along with your two cousins and any others we might find, to stay under our protection until we deal with your family. They’ve started a war in New York from all their in-fighting; players across the city have chosen sides, pitting everyone against each other. They’re all desperate to find you and any others, to use you to gain alliances for themselves in their war.”

“Wait, you said two cousins. You found two more?”

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