Page 2 of Dove

Kincaid had been missing for over twenty-four hours, and I wasn’t any closer to finding her. Every minute that passed was a minute she could be hurt.

Tortured.

Dead.

Images threatened my mind; flashed behind my eyes. This is what I did every day. My imagination wasn’t short on ways a person could be harmed. Used.

I kept seeing her bleeding, blood coating her porcelain skin. Her white blonde hair matted with it. I saw her body broken and bruised. Her insides spilling on the floor.

The gun shook in my hand as I blinked back the images. “Let’s hope you’re smarter than the last four guys. Where is my little dove?”

“I-I.” He stammered as a tremor of terror ran through his body. Reaching back, I smacked him across the face with the butt of the gun. I heard the crunch of bones breaking, but there was none of the usual satisfaction. No relief at seeing the pain I caused. I would never be satisfied again. Not until she was back in my arms. “I—“

“Mad.” My head whipped around at the sound of my name. Leif stood in the open doorway, the setting sun highlighting him from behind. My chest constricted as I waited for him to say something. Had he found her?

The beat of his steps bounced off the walls as he came to stand beside me. He took in the scene in front of him. Four bodies lay on the floor while six more men knelt on the hard concrete. Pools of their friend’s blood inching closer to them. The scent of death hung in the air. I didn’t register any of it.

“Mad. You need to stop.” My hope deflated as his hand came to rest on my shoulder. “Father said—“

I shoved him off as I pointed the gun toward him. My woman was missing, and he came here to give me a bullshit order from our father. I didn’t fucking care that he was the boss. I’d already proven that.

Tension rippled through the air as Tristan appeared at my side. His eyes flicked between me, Leif, and the gun. He was my guard, but he was also a part of the family. Protecting the family came before anything else, and right now I had a gun pointed at the second in charge, the underboss, my half-brother. None of that would save him.

My fingers tightened around the trigger. I preferred a knife. Preferred a close and personal death. But guns were faster. My little dove didn’t have time to waste. I didn’t have time to savor their deaths. There was no enjoyment in it while she was missing. That would come later.

“I don’t give a fuck. No one else in this world exists until I find her. There’s no job. No family. Nothing without her.” My voice was calm.

I didn’t show emotions. Until Kincaid was taken, I didn’t think I had any. But I was quickly being proven wrong. The physical reaction to missing her. Afraid of what was being done to her made my body shake. My heart pounded my ribs as I tried to relieve the tension gripping my limbs.

Fear flooded my veins; trapped my mind. It commanded everything I did. My thoughts were consumed with how to find her. How to save her. I’d brought her into this world. I’d forced her. Coerced her. Fallen for her, and now she might die because of me.

I’d killed more people than I could remember. I enjoyed it. Relished it. I was a psychopath.

A murderer.

A demon.

I had a disregard for life. Except for hers. And I would kill anyone who stopped me from finding her. Even if it was my own brother who died at my hand.

“You’re starting a war.” Leif said as he held his palms up, trying to keep me calm as if he had any chance of talking me off the edge. If I decided he was getting in my way, there was nothing that would stop me from taking his life.

“They started this when they infiltrated our clubs. When they stole our shipments. But they escalated it when they took her.” I turned back towards the Gallos’ men. One of them whimpered. The noise grated on my frayed nerves. Working its way under my skin until I felt itchy. I fired, cutting off his pathetic whines. I had a moment of reprieve in the silence that followed. “I didn’t start it, but I will end it.”

“I spoke to Matteo.” The Gallos’ second in charge. Supposedly he was reasonable, not insane like me. He was like my brother. Treating this life as normal. Acting like he was a businessman instead of a ruthless killer. Making deals and creating peace among the families. The time had passed for that. It had passed when they ripped Kincaid from my grasp. “He denies any involvement. He’d never hurt one of our women. There’s a code.”

“You’re stupid if you believe him.” I moved down the line and crouched to look the next man in the face. He glanced away as if not facing death in the eyes would make it easier. My hands hung loosely between my thighs, the gun an afterthought. “Your boss has a code? He doesn’t hurt women?”

The man’s eyes flicked to mine before he jerked away again. He nodded his head once. I spoke through a clenched jaw. “And what about Carmine?”

Everyone had a limit; even I avoided hurting women and children. But I’d reached mine. I would destroy anyone who got in the way of finding my little dove. Carmine Gallo included. He was the kind of mafia boss others feared. I knew what few did. Exactly how Carmine had gotten his power. His nephew and underboss, Matteo, might be oblivious. He might have a code, but Carmine had no such principles.

The man glanced away from me, confirming what I already knew of Carmine. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for more power. I blew his brains out without a second thought. The hot spray hit my face, mixing with the rest. I addressed my brother without looking at him; my eyes focused on where the brain matter covered the concrete.

“We’re monsters, Leif. Every one of us. We don’t have codes. We don’t have souls. We do whatever it takes to be on top. And I’ll do whatever it takes to get her back. I suggest you leave before you join the mess on the floor.”

There was a pause while I listened to the sound of his fingers tapping his leg, a nervous habit. Every moment I waited for him to leave was a moment I didn’t have. I would rather avoid killing my brother. Not because I felt anything for him. Because I couldn’t. I didn’t have the capacity.

But I would find no peace in his death. And it wouldn’t be easy to explain. I’d bring a whole different kind of war onto myself. It would only delay me from my goal. But I would do it if he made it necessary. Leif knew that.

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