His Caged Dove -Mafia Romance (BOOK ONE)

Eleven: Dove

I trailed behind him, taking in the room at an alarming rate. I had never seen so many weapons and ammunition in one room. My Father's is just a small fraction compared to his. I couldn't help but admire just how much power and respect Gedeon had to be able to have so many.

"I usually do a count to make sure everything is in place, and have some quick ammo load up back in the estate in case things go South," he said, heading over to the table to grab a tablet and handing it to me after pulling up a spreadsheet for me. He walks back to the endless amount of lined up guns of all sorts and turns to me. "Jolt down everything I'm saying and if you need me to slow down, tell me. Do you think you can do something simple like that, bird?"

I nodded, seeming how easy it was. "Yes."

"Good girl."

I stilled at his appraisal for a second, the two words foreign and yet made my heart thump rather erratically in my chest and my core tingle. Without much of a thought, I pressed my legs together, swallowing nervously at my own reaction that was strange to me.

He turned to me at my silence and I quickly stared down at the tablet in my hands. When he doesn't say anything and the silence became too overbearing, I gently lift my head in time to see a slow and confident smile appear, a gleam of deviltry and humor. "You like being called that."

"No," I denied, shaking my head almost immediately, ducking my head down. "I had never been called anything before in that appraisal, so I was taken by surprise."

"No, you liked it," he said confident, taking long strides till he was in front of me. He takes of my wrist, the other grabbing my chin and making me look at him. His gaze dipped for a fraction on my lips before it went back onto me, burning with anger. "Don't lie to me, sweetheart. I hate liars, the least my wife can do for me is be honest."

"I liked it," I whispered, holding my gaze with him since he was still holding my chin in place. At my confession, he lets go of my wrist and releases my chin to turn back to where he was before. As I rubbed at my wrist out of habit to help with the pain, realized that this was the second time he had grabbed me today; but both times never hurt. It stung with the way he placed a bit of pressure, but not enough in the way I was used to.

"There, that wasn't hard, was it my little bird?" he asked, his back turned to me. Before I could even reply, he took out his phone and glanced at me. "You ready to get to work, or do you need me to praise you again?"

"No, I'm good, thank you," I muttered, gritting my teeth as I stared at the tablet. He really was the worse in his own way. Drawing in a deep breath, I gave him a tight smile. "I'll do my best."

After two hours of helping him jot down and calculate for him to take two guns and gun cartridges and placing them into his pocket, he grabbed the tablet from my hands. Running his eyes straight down to do a quick check, he nodded and placed it onto the table. "Alright, I think we're done for the day. With half an hour left to spare before my meeting too."

"Meeting?" I parroted curiously. I had known there was a lot of aspects involved with their works, but usually, these were held in person since there was a chance of it being hacked or recorded, according to Father. "Like through a computer screen?"

He snorted, rolling his eyes. "Do you think the don, the leader of the families and other businesses, just sits around and waits for his opponent all day?"

"If were playing chess, yes."

"Chess requires patience and reading your opponent's move. When you persuade them into thinking they made the choice themselves when you were the one enforcing the idea, that's how you stay ahead," he explained, his eyes rolling skyward like he was talking to a child while shaking his head before his brows puckered together. "Why were surprised I take my meetings through a computer screen?"