His Caged Dove -Mafia Romance (BOOK ONE)

Twenty-Two: Gedeon

Twenty-Two:

Gedeon

"I've declared war on Gaggi's family for who's the next capo dei capi on our behalf."

My face stayed stoic and neutral at his declaration of war. That was what he wanted, a reaction out of me to see what I truly wanted out of this agreement a month ago. I continued to cut at my A5 wagyu steak that was imported from Japan with ease. Timor, who was seated on my right, swirled his glass of wine in his hand and I nodded at Mateo. "Okay, so we will make preparations."

His shoulders sagged in relief at my words. "I've never thought Robert would have been this angered, if I'm being frank with you."

"About not being handed the hand to be the next ruler with ease but having to fight for it?" I questioned after setting my knife and fork down. The storm outside was brewing worse now and since the restaurant was seated at the edge of the pier, you could see the dark clouds as it lights up once in a while from the thunder.

A rather fitting metaphor of what was coming.

"That," he agreed with a nod as a waiter came to refill his glass. "But also Dove being gone."

The restaurant was closed to the public for the night, allowing us to speak freely in the comfort of my men and his. He brought five of his men, heavily buffed and with assault rifles. If it was meant to invoke fear, it did the total opposite. In fact, he looked scared of me.

The thought made me smile in retaliation.

Crossing my legs, I stared at him with disinterest. "Is that so?"

He nodded, chewing on his piece of cut steak. "They've been betrothed for so long, so I understand. I assumed he'd step down if I were to give him Dove back in exchange to be the next capo dei capi. Needless to say, he wanted both."

"You were going to give him Dove without confronting me?" I asked, my body on edge. The thought of someone taking Dove, my pet and my most precious chess piece, was causing an unspoken amount of rage to coarse through my body.

"No, of course not," he quickly said in an effort to defuse the situation. Little did he know it only made me angrier. He cleared his throat with a tight smile. "How is Dove? Is she pleasing your every needs?"

"More or less."

"That girl's always trying to do the right thing, so I do wish she's able to please your every needs," he nodded vigorously at his own words. Disgust filled me at the way he talked about Dove. He leaned close as if he was whispering with a sickening smile. "I've heard from Robert's constant complaint how he's never able to break her. Have you?"

I can only try to mask my utter disgust at the way he talked about his own daughter. If anything, it seemed he didn't even care about his own blood and flesh. I shrugged. I didn't like to talk about Dove anymore than I had to with him. "More or less."

Truthfully, I liked her not being obedient and being a brat more than a silent mute girl she's been trained to me. With her intelligence too, it made sense why her father and Robert couldn't stand her.

Their idiocy couldn't stand someone, much less a woman, smarter than them.

"So, I have you word and men to stand behind me against Gaggi's family?" Mateo asked warily. I could see in the corner of my eyes the men he brought tensing at his question. It didn't come to a surprise if I said no, he was going to shoot me.

"Of course, that was the agreement after all. Your daughter in marriage for our alliance," I recalled. "Though, I'm rather disappointed my father-in-law doesn't trust me. I am a man of my words."