Page 34 of Dove

“You can’t kill everyone who talks bad about me.” I sighed.

Maddox’s fingers combed through my hair as he spoke softly. “Yes, I can. And I will. You’re my weakness, little dove. What I feel for you…people will try to use that against me. They’ll hurt you to bring me down. I won’t let that happen. I can’t. So I will punish them as an example. The others need to know I won’t tolerate disrespect towards you. That to come for you will mean the end of their lives. I’ll do what I have to, to keep you safe.”

Or you could let me go.

I didn’t bother speaking the words, knowing it wouldn’t make a difference. Not now. Maybe never.

“Tristan’s an asshole.” I said instead. “But Sebastian was just looking out for you. He knows I don’t belong in this world.”

Maddox pulled me closer; I was practically lying across his chest now. “You belong wherever I am.”

I was too tired to keep arguing with him tonight. I went to close my eyes when a flash of Sebastian’s face came back to me. “You should talk to Sebastian again. I think something is bothering him.”

“Why do you say that?” He stroked my hair as I closed my eyes.

“I’m not sure, just a read I got on him. He seems…sad. He wasn’t like that before.”

“You’re very perceptive my little dove.” He kissed the top of my head. I tried not to fall into the soft gestures. Into the sweetness. It was an illusion. Maddox was pain, not sweet. “You’d do better in this world than you realize.”

If only I could believe him. Believe I could survive. If only I was sure I wanted to.

18

Maddox

Things had started to settle again. The Gallos had stopped their attacks on our clubs and shipments. They’d never admitted their part in Kincaid’s kidnapping, but apparently they wouldn’t risk any more of their men to my violence.

I didn’t believe them. They’d just crawled back into their holes to wait for the right moment. Carmine Gallo was a cockroach. He was biding his time, luring us into a false sense of security before he hit us again. That’s why I wasn’t letting my little dove return to her apartment.

In truth, I’d never let her go back. I’d moved all her things to my house. I wasn’t sure whether she’d realized that or not. But her requests to leave had become fewer. Not nonexistent unfortunately, but less frequent. At least I could fuck her again.

I was taking wins where I could get them. And today, I would use the relative calm to complete some unfinished business. Business I should’ve finished long before now. It might have saved Kincaid some pain.

I left Bash in the car as I pushed open the glass doors that led into the lobby of the skyscraper. I bypassed the guard sitting at the desk, who pretended not to see me. It was good to be me. A Vancini. As much as the Gallos despised it, we ran Sayton City. We always would.

People looked the other way when I walked by. They jumped to do what I asked, hoping it would mean I’d spare their lives. That depended more on my mood than on them.

Today I was in an excellent mood; having only an hour ago made my little dove scream as I fucked her tight cunt while biting her breasts until they bled for me. I had a full heart and empty balls as I pressed the button for the floor I wanted, and the elevator doors closed.

But that didn’t mean I’d be sparing anyone. Kincaid might be my weakness, but she didn’t make me weak. If anything, she made me more ruthless. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for her.

I glanced around at the steel and gold. At the illusion of power, the building presented. The suites housed the city’s finest as they worked. Lawyers. Politicians. Entrepreneurs. All shared the space as they claimed to work for the residents. In reality, they worked for themselves, just like everyone else.

The city lights raced by as the glass elevator shot to the top of the building. Top floor. Again displaying the illusion of power and wealth. My feet were silent on the expensive carpeting as I walked down the hall. At this time of night, almost all the offices were empty. One light was on, as I expected.

My research told me he often worked late. Worked being a relative term. But tonight, he was alone. No guards. No assistant. No young thing keeping him entertained at the cost of her innocence.

I didn’t bother knocking as I pushed open the heavy wood door. The white-blond hair on his head ruffled as he jerked up to see who had entered. His office was your typical setup. A large desk meant to impress, not unlike my father’s. Several chairs and a couch for visitors. Filing cabinets and artwork on the walls. A big screen TV across from a bank of windows that displayed the city lights below. “Can I help you?”

Brent Collins spoke with the air of a man who knew his authority. Or he thought he did. I narrowed my eyes as I noted the similarities between him and my little dove. The same hair color. The same shape of their nose. At least his eyes were brown. I wouldn’t have to look at my little dove’s eyes as I destroyed the man who’d help create her.

“Maybe.” I walked into his office as if I belonged. I casually picked up an orb-shaped paperweight on his desk. “Gift?”

He raised a brow as he looked at me. I confused him, but he sensed my dominance and deferred to it. It was smart of him not to pick a fight this early. “Yes, from my daughter.”

I smiled as I threw the orb across the room. It exploded in the wall behind him, raining glass down onto his perfectly tailored suit.

“What the fuck?” He shouted as he reached for the phone on his desk, no doubt calling for security. I ripped it from the wall and threw; it joined the shattered glass on the floor. It was symbolic since security wouldn’t have come anyways.

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