Page 55 of Dove

Matteo ran a hand through his hair. One side of his mouth pulled into a grim line; the other turned down from nerve damage. “The war has already started.”

“Because of you!” I roared. I was so sick of the politics. I knew Leif had brought me to scare them, but I didn’t do well with deals. I was meant to make people bleed. The demon inside me rattled his cage wanting to be set free.

Matteo’s fists clenched like he wanted to hit me for my outburst. Good. I hope he took the first strike; it would make it easier to explain his death. “Because of you. You killed half my men in an attempt to find a woman who, as far as I can tell, didn’t want anything to do with you.” He turned to address Leif again. “Carmine won’t deal. Bring the war.” He shoved a finger in my direction. “He came for us; we’re coming for you.”

I reached for the gun at my back but managed to resist the urge to see what his brain looked like. I watched as he gave us his back and walked down the dock again. My fingers glossed over the smooth metal picturing blood pooling on his fancy suit and tie.

“Let’s go.” Leif grunted once Matteo and his men were out of sight. “Rincoglionito.” Are you out of your mind?

I didn’t bother to respond as we walked down the docks.

“You couldn’t have kept your fucking mouth shut.” He continued in English, clearly pissed that things hadn’t gone the way he wanted.

I shrugged. I wanted the war to end to keep Kincaid safe, but I didn’t mind bloodshed. I preferred to end it that way. “It wouldn’t have mattered. He was only a messenger for Carmine. That’s our real problem.”

“Start the car.” Leif snapped at his driver as we approached. He turned the full weight of his glare on me. “The problem is no one in this family can see past the red haze. We need to make deals with the other families. What happens if Carmine partners with them first? Matteo and Mila are both unmarried. They could form alliances with the other families through marriage. We need to do something before they do.”

“Fuck deals. They deserve death!” I shouted. “They took her from me. There’s no mercy for them.”

Silence fell after our outbursts. Neither of us wanting to acknowledge that the other was right. A deal would end the war quicker without the loss of life. But we also couldn’t show weakness. We couldn’t let the Gallos or any of the other families believe it was okay to hurt women or children. Especially our women.

It wasn’t just Kincaid I worried about; there was Alessandra too. Her innocence that Leif had protected even as our father counted down the days until he could marry her off to gain more power.

“Mad look—“ but whatever he was about to say was last to the night as an explosion sounded behind him.

We dropped to the ground as flames and heat engulfed the darkness around us. I could feel the burn of it on my skin as our car jumped several feet into the air and landed with a sickening crunch on the pavement. Bits of metal flew from the wreckage; I flinched as a shard cut into my forearm, where I shielded my face. The smell of burnt flesh and rubber permeating the air. I could hear the sound of sirens in the distance.

Once the metal stopped flying, I pulled the gun from my back and rose. I didn’t bother raising it, but the weight of it comforted me as it rested in my palm. Bash and Owen were already standing beside the car. There wasn’t anything to be done for the driver, who was a barely recognizable charred body in the front seat. Blood dripped from my arm onto the concrete where we stood.

We stared at the burning metal in silence. I wondered who the target had been. Him. Me. Both of us. Or if it was just another message. Another distraction.

I pressed my hand to my side as a sharp stinging pain ripped through me. I grunted as I felt the chunk of metal embedded into my skin. I drew my hand back, staring at the sticky red liquid. Leif’s eyes rounded as I slumped, clinging to his shoulder. I chuckled just before the world went black. “Still think it’s time for deals?”

28

Kincaid

“Ican’t believe you read this stuff.” Alessandra laughed as she flipped through one of my romance novels. Her feet were tucked under her small frame as she curled up in an armchair. “It’s so unrealistic.”

I tossed a piece of popcorn at her from my spot on the couch in the library. I’d come to know her well since our first meeting. She was sweet in a way I thought impossible for someone who’d been born into the mafia. But a sadness still seemed to linger with her. It became impossible for me not to notice it the more time we spent together. It was strange to think I had more friends in this mafia world than I had in my life before. “Sorry, not all of us get off on true crime. Let me live in my fictional world where men will give up everything for their woman.”

Tessa smirked at me from where she lounged on the window seat. “Is it fiction, though? It seems like Maddox would fit right into one of your books.”

I laughed. “Maybe a dark romance where she falls in love with a serial killer.”

“Did you?” Tessa asked as she gave me another smirk.

“Did I what?” I swallowed as I crossed my legs beneath me, pretending not to understand her question.

Alessandra rolled her eyes. “Fall in love with him?”

“I—. Yes.” What else could I say?

Of course, I loved him. I wouldn’t have stayed for any other reason. Before Maddox, I hid myself. I hid from myself. I could barely make it through each day without wanting to end my life. But those feelings stopped when he found me.

He might be a demon. Might be dark, but he’d changed something in me. He saw who I really was. He showed me how hiding my true nature was killing me. How it was the cause of my darkness. I was drowning. He’d pulled me out of the stifling water and into the air again. Air he controlled, but I didn’t mind.

He forced me to embrace who I was and what I wanted. It might be dirty or bad. Depraved and twisted. But it wasn’t wrong. With him, I could truly be. I was free.

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