Page 25 of Dove

“Don’t worry; I’ll take care of her.” Alessandra looped our arms together. “It’ll give us a chance to get to know each other better.”

Maddox flicked his gaze between the two of us before huffing out a sigh and kissing my forehead. It was an oddly sweet gesture from him that I relished. It was always his rare sweetness that disarmed me. “Be good,mia amata.”

A rush of wetness pooled between my legs at his words. I turned to Alessandra, pretending this whole meeting with her hadn’t been a disaster. “What doesmia amatamean?”

A bright smile broke across her face; it was the first time she seemed truly happy. I wondered if it was just this life that had broken her. That had made an eternal sadness live in her. But I quickly forgot those thoughts as my breath stalled in my lungs at her words.

“My beloved.”

13

Maddox

The warehouse smelt like piss and blood as I pushed open the door. The acrid smell assaulted my senses. Honestly, it could’ve smelt worse, considering how long we’d kept our captive here. It was clear that whoever he was working with inside our operation didn’t give a shit about him. They’d left him here to be tortured and killed by me.

It wasn’t a surprise. If they could betray us, a family they’d supposedly worked with for years, what did they care about a nobody they’d hired and made false promises to?

Our captive jerked on his chains as he heard my footsteps approaching him. His head lulled to the side slightly as he tried to lift it and look at me. Cuts in varying stages of heal covered his entire naked body. I’d long ago taken his clothes, leaving him in nothing but a dirty pair of boxers. It wasn’t for his comfort; it was difficult to enjoy torturing him while I had to stare at his worthless dick.

I didn’t waste time tonight. He was already half dead. I grabbed a knife from the table before walking over to him. I scrapped the tip along the bottom of his bare feet. He screamed as fresh drops of blood joined the pool beneath him. We should really consider renovating and adding tiles. It was so much easier to clean than concrete. I pushed the renovation plans from my mind as I stepped back to look at him.

My arms hung casually at my side, knife still in hand, as I addressed him. “I hear you’re ready to talk.”

“Fuck, yes.” He grunted.

I chuckled, enjoying his torment. “You know I’m going to kill you either way, right? Talking won’t change that.”

His muddy eyes looked at me. There was a resignation in them like he’d already accepted the end. The end had been written when he’d taken my woman. “Do I look like an idiot? Of course, I know I’m dead. I’m hoping you’ll get it over with if I spill my guts.”

Hmm… spilling his guts? Sounds like he decided how he would die. “If you tell me what you know, I’ll end your life tonight.”

“Good.” He closed his eyes for a second as relief washed through him. “I don’t know the man on the inside who betrayed you.”

“Bugiardofigliodiputtana.” Lying son of a bitch.I grumbled as I headed back to the table. My hands glanced over the weapons until I stopped at a pair of pliers. You’d be surprised how quickly people fold when you rip off their toenails.

“Wait. Wait!” He screamed as I yanked the nail from his big toe. “Oh fuck.”

He panted through the pain as I laughed. I really did enjoy my job. It was especially satisfying tonight since this was the man who’d hurt my little dove. Whatever they’d done to Kincaid had made her doubt herself. Made her crawl back inside her own mind. Made her reject what we had. My Kincaid was strong. She’d looked my demon in the eye and pushed back. I’d help her get there again.

Every time she’d rejected me these past few weeks, I came here. I tortured the person who made her want to pull away from me. It was cathartic. But I wouldn’t have this outlet much longer.

“Fuck, it was her father.” He shouted as I reached for another nail. I couldn’t have been more shocked if he’d told me the pope had hired him. But I kept the surprise from my features.

“Her father?”

“Yes, Brent Collins.” He grunted in pain as he started to sweat. “He said he had an inside man. That they were working together to bring you down, and she was the key.”

Kincaid’s father had hired the men to kidnap her. The man who’d abandoned her. Who refused to pay for her mother’s funeral when she didn’t have the money. He partnered with the Gallos and one of my men to take Kincaid to hurt me. I knew I should’ve gotten rid of thatstronzowhen she’d told me about the funeral.

“We’ll come back to who he was working with.” I pulled off another nail as I spoke. “But first, I want to know why? Why take her?”

Something about her kidnapping made me uneasy. It was a part of our world, especially common with the Russians. They were known to kidnap the daughter or wife of a high-ranking family member. Usually for ransom.

But Kincaid’s kidnappers hadn’t asked for money when they’d taken her. If it had been the Gallos, it wasn’t a smart play. They had to know I would murder hundreds of them to get her back, weakening their numbers. So the question why still lingered in my mind.

“We-we” he shook his head, trying to stay awake. “We were told to break her.”

A red haze covered my vision as he talked. “They said she started as your whore. That you paid her so you could hurt her. Except she was the perfect bitch because she liked it. That she was your one weakness.”