His Caged Dove -Mafia Romance (BOOK ONE)

Twenty-Five: Dove

I needed them to make up, though I had no idea where to begin.

"I hope so," I murmured. "I tried talking to Gedeon about it."

At the mention of him, she snorted and rolled her eyes back. She placed one hand on her hips while the other made circular motions around. "And let me guess, he was all OTP possessive alpha on you for bringing up another man in his present? Even if that man is my brother?"

I squinted my eyes at her. I had no idea what she was going on about once again. Even when she made ship names over us, I was a bit confused. "OTP possessive...alpha?

"Over the top," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I thought you were the book nerd. What genres do you exactly read?"

"Classics," I answered.

At that, she scrunched up her nose. "Girl, when we have time, I'll lend you the books I read. You're going to love Fifty Shades. But in the meantime, I have laundry and a few chores around the house. You mind if I take Aleksei to help me reach for the hard spots?"

"Be my guest if he doesn't mind," I said, waving for Aleksei to catch his attention. His gaze fell to me and he cocked his head curiously to the side. Setting down his tablet onto the table, he jots over to where we were.

"What happened?"

"I need you to help me do my chores," Anastasia declared without a miss in beat.

"You mean cleaning the disgusting shit you don't want to?"

"Potato, patato. Come meet me in the storage room when you're ready," she replied with ease as she walked first into the estate. Both of us shared a small chuckle at her lucky-go attitude. Aleksei looked at me, placing both hands into his slacks' pocket. I could only imagine what was going through his mind after the shared kiss. I've come to a conclusion that I felt nothing towards him other than a close friend.

"So," he cleared his throat at the same time I said, "So."

Both of us chuckled awkwardly and then I shook my head. "No, you go first."

"No, have you ever heard of lady's first?"

"A gentleman, I see," I smiled, and for the first time since the incident, it felt less tense and awkward. Getting up from where I was kneeling, I brushed any soil I had on my shirt. "I'm sorry about what happened with you and Gedeon, again. I know you said I didn't need to apologize—"

"And you still didn't need to apologize," he said, cutting me off.

"But I feel guilty," I admitted lamely.

"Why? You didn't do anything," he said with a puckered up frown. "If you asked me, I'm not sorry I kissed you."

"You're not?" I widened my eyes, shocked. "But you apologized to me a few days ago."

"Yes, I did apologize and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I kissed you without permission and for causing you to flinch like that. But I'm not sorry about what followed after. If anything, I'm happy it happened because it taught me and everyone else two things," he said in amusement, glancing upwards back at the estate. His eyes narrowed to slits, filled with humor by the twitching of his lips. Out of curiosity, I followed to see Gedeon turning and walking away at that moment. I frowned, not quite understanding what was so humorous as my attention fell back to Aleksei.

"What would that be?" I asked interestedly.

"One, Gedeon finally pulled his head out of his ass about his own feelings and what we all theorized was true," he ticked off while holding up one finger. He then stuck up his second finger with a small smile. "And confirm that there would never be a chance between us."