Page 16 of Dove

“Highly unlikely, given the display, Mad put on last week.” Dante smiled, his bloodlust almost as strong as mine. He could be the rat. He lived for violence and chaos. Still, I didn’t see him leaving the bed of his latest toy to plan the attacks. “He wiped out a good portion of their men.”

“Yet they still attack our shipments.” Constantine said. I had thoroughly investigated all his men and hadn’t found a traitor among them. But I still couldn’t rule Constantine himself out. He held secrets. Would he kill to keep them hidden? Did my relationship with Kincaid put his secrets at risk? I’d need to ask Bash to follow him closely.

Leif raised his hand to stop their squabbling. “I have a meeting with Matteo soon. Lines will be drawn.”

I cracked my neck to relieve what little tension I could. I didn’t want to be in this meeting. I didn’t want to hear about who we were going to torture. Or what meetings were happening. It was unusual for me. I loved to torture, but right now, there was only one person I wanted to unleash my pain on. I wanted to be home. I wanted to be with my little dove. Feel her touch. Hear her cries.

“Maddox will accompany me.” Leif continued. My fingers bit into the glass I was holding. It took everything in me not to crush it in my palm. I would need to hold that back while I met with the person I believed was responsible for harming my woman. “If we can’t settle their attempts for a power grab, we shall remind them who we are.”

The men rose as final orders were given. I fought to open the door with ease, to not yank it from its hinges in my desire to get back to Kincaid. Tristan and Bash flanked me as we walked through the club. I saw Kincaid’s friend Tessa dancing on the pole as we went. I ignored her as we cleared the main area, and the night waited for us.

As soon as we were outside, I turned to Bash. “Stay here. Follow Tessa. Make sure the Gallos aren’t targeting her to get to Kincaid. If it’s safe, bring her to the house tomorrow.”

I hated taking unnecessary risks with Kincaid’s safety, but she would need the comfort of her friend. I was holding her against her will. And tonight, I would take her. She could deny she wanted it, but her body spoke the truth her mind wouldn’t admit.

Bash nodded as he turned to head inside the club. I ran my fingers along the knife in my pocket as I waited for Tristan to bring the car around. The cool night air did nothing to calm my agitation. Before the hand even landed on my shoulder, I had the blade held to his neck.

Constantine raised his palms in a show of innocence as I reluctantly lowered the knife. Men in our position should know better than to approach without a warning. A monster is always on alert.

“Didn’t mean to surprise you.” He smiled as he placed his hands in his pockets casually. He nodded to his guard, who left to grab his own vehicle.

“What do you need, Constantine?” I asked as I let out a controlled breath, hiding my annoyance at being unable to kill someone.

“I only wanted to ask how your woman is doing.” My head snapped up, and my eyes narrowed.

Kincaid’s existence in my life was no longer a secret if it ever had been. But I still questioned Constantine’s motivates and his knowledge.

“Well. Safe at my estate.” I answered. I needed to get the word out that she was no longer an easy target. That she was secure in my home. She wouldn’t step a foot outside until this war was over. Even then, she would have guards with her. My little dove would fight, but her life was no longer her own. She was bound to me forever. She had been since the day I fucked her for the first time. Since I realized she was made for me.

“That’s good to hear.” His smile was kind, almost grandfatherly, but I knew it hid the monster inside. Men like us were always monsters. We didn’t get to our position without a certain disregard for life. “Being tortured can take a toll on a person. Even if the physical injuries are repaired, the mind is not so easily healed.”

The demon inside me rattled its cage. Clawing at the reminder of what had been done to her. I needed to fill in the blank spaces. I had no chance of getting her back if I didn’t know what I was fighting.

“Who said she was tortured?” I said with a level of control I didn’t feel. But something must have given away my anger because Constantine took a step back.

He cleared his throat as if he realized he’d made a mistake mentioning it. “Our enemies do not take a woman without the intention of hurting her.” He shook his head. “Woman and children should be protected from our world, but when you love men like us, there is no stopping the pain that comes with it.”

His words echoed in my mind as he headed towards the curb where his car was waiting. An observer of our conversation might have thought he showed genuine concern for his friend’s woman, but I knew Constantine. He didn’t care for other people. He had no reason to hope Kincaid was recovering. I had to wonder again if I had underestimated the threat he posed.

Maybe we didn’t have a rat. Maybe we had a cunning fox. One who would go to the extreme to keep his secrets buried. Protected.

10

Maddox

Iclosed the bedroom quietly behind me. I watched the rise and fall of Kincaid’s back as she pretended to be asleep. I knew she was awake. Just like I knew she was listening to my every move. I lost myself in the smooth curve of her neck. In the way her white blonde hair fell on the pillow around her. I wanted to run my fingers along her slightly blushed cheek. I wanted to kiss her again.

My little dove was the only person I had ever wanted to kiss. I loved the moans and whimpers she made when our lips touched. I was obsessed with swallowing them all. When she made those sounds, I lost control. No one else could do that to me.

But what I felt when she tried to leave was worse than a loss of control. It was a raging inferno that threatened to consume her. It was my obsession telling me to hurt her. Kill her. Anything to keep her from leaving me.

It’s why I’d left earlier. I didn’t trust myself. I needed to release some of the tension gripping my chest. So after my meeting, I paid a visit to my captive. I took some of my aggression out on the man who had pushed my little dove away from me. It was his fault I had to fight for her again.

And I would fight for her. I would do anything for Kincaid. There were no bounds, no restraint when it came to her. But I resented that someone had put me in this position. I resented that I was a pawn in a larger scheme. That they’d used her as one.

They’d done something to her. Convinced her what we had was wrong. I’d spent so long breaking down her walls. Showing her that it was okay to want the depravity. To be a little sick and twisted. To find her pleasure in pain. And all that work had been stripped away.

When she begged to leave, I’d been tempted to tie her to my bed and show her how much she liked the pain. The demon inside me relished the idea of seeing her withering and bleeding beneath me.