His Caged Dove -Mafia Romance (BOOK ONE)

Six: Gedeon

"Don't say his fucking name," Nicolai growled. "I don't trust her; she could be spy for all we know. You want us to live under the same household as someone who—"

"Yes," I stated, cutting him off. Getting up, I opened the window, allowing the bristle cold air in. The winter months were finally over, but not before one grand winter storm. The coldest winter of the decade, the newscast had stated this morning. Calmly, I leaned onto the ledge with a ghost like smile. I knew they all hated Genovese's family out of all the Italian's, but to have their princess there without causing her harm was something particularly hard. I knew she could still backstab me. The first rule in this business was to trust no one, which was why her room would be right across from mine, with regular random checks to make sure she doesn't have communication of any sorts. "Do you have a problem? Do you wish to duel me to the death in the basement?"

Everyone in the room tensed for a moment at my question. No one ever questioned me, but I always allowed those who did to duel me. If they win, they will take the throne as the Russian's leader. If they lose, they die. Out of the ten duels so far, I had yet to lose, though I had suffered scars all over my body. Nicolai's jaw ticked and his shoulder slumped as seconds ticked by. Finally, he lowered his head in a sign of respect. "Is this your final decision?"

"Yes."

"Un-fucking-believable," he groaned and slammed his fist against my table once more. "This is probably the craziest plan you had come up with. Well besides sending Lizabeta on that mission."

"You could say that again," Aleksei shook his head, exhaling loudly. "I almost couldn't believe it for a moment. I thought she was just a mirage, since even our spies never laid an eye on her before now."

He could say that again. I had assumed Dove would be a sheltered and timid from her lifestyle. Turned out that was the exact opposite. Although submissive, the fire in her eyes didn't conceal what she wanted in her soul. She wanted to fight back in her own snarky remark with the way she huffed quietly and narrowed her eyes when no one was looking. She reminded me of an angry looking bird that puffed up whenever it wanted to attack. I shrugged at Aleksei's statement. "Well, there she is."

"She looked like she was beaten or a drug user from how her arms and legs were wrapped," Nicolai pointed out as he racked his hair roughly as a grin appeared on his face. "Think she into that shit? I wouldn't be surprised."

"No, it seems like her father and Robert beats her," Timor answered, flicking a lint from his suit. At that, Nicolai and Aleksei went quiet, narrowing their eyes into slits. Even as a Genovese, she was a woman. Hitting a woman was something no one tolerated, even if they were twisted. A quick death was something we believed in when it came to them. "Any other questions?"

"Just one more," Aleksei held up one finger and then tapped it under his chin. As my body guard, he was probably the most observant when it came to what I was doing. It was a double edge sword. He shot up an eyebrow as he stared at me. "Dove's father just allowed you to whisk away his only daughter without a fight?"

"I had to give up one of my Rolexes," I said smoothly.

He went quiet for a moment and then narrowed his eyes. "What else?"

"His loyalty if he wants to declare war on Gaggi to be the next heir since Robert is going to piss his pants when he comes back and realizes his fiancé was stolen under his nose," Timor replied for me.

"This is the second time you stole my thunder," I mumbled as everyone went quiet, taking in what he had said. I counted to almost ten seconds when Nicolai was the first to break the silence.