His Caged Dove -Mafia Romance (BOOK ONE)

Twenty-Eight: Gedeon

Twenty-Eight

Gedeon

"Does love make you weak?"

I watched Mother stop painting. The tip of the brush still staining into the canvas, and an amused smile formed when she turned to face me. Her black silked hair was tied back while she was painting the greenery around us. In a pair of aprons that was now covered from head to toe in paint stains and dirt because she was gardening this morning for fresh strawberries, she looked like she just got back from running in the backwoods.

Yet, she was still beautiful in personality and looks.

Her eyes filled with curiosity as she placed the paint brush down and chuckled. "What a sophisticated and hard to answer to ask for a twelve-year-old, my little Igor. Where did you hear that?"

I hated how she used my real name instead of Gedeon, my middle name. My Father had given me my middle name after my grandfather who everyone respected for generations. He died before I was born, but I looked up to him.

Not to mention, his name meant Destroyer. Much better than Igor, meaning warrior.

Besides my Mother, everyone seemed to have accepted calling me Gedeon. It fitted me more because I looked so much like grandfather already. My anger tendency to lash out didn't help either.

I shrugged at her question, finding interest in the ants on the floor. "I overheard it from Aleksai's dedushka last weekend when I was at Father's estate and you went to the washroom. He whispered it to Father, but I heard it. It was bothering me all week."

"That grandfather of his." She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Well, what do you think?"

"That it's true."

"And why do you say that?"

"Because you hold Father's balls in your purse and you squeeze it sometimes to remind him who's wearing the pants in the relationship, according to Deda."

At that, she threw her head back and laughs, though I had no idea what was so funny about what I had just said. Her laugher always made Father happy, grinning ear to ear as if he was captivated by her sight. I liked when Mother laughed, but the way he looked at her was completely different. He was hard around others, yet completely different around us. She swiped her eyes with the back of her hand that wasn't dirty and ruffled my hair. "Don't let your father hear that one, he'll threw a hissy fit when he comes back."

"When is he coming back?" I questioned, cocking my head to the side. I've become tired of what everyone was hiding from me, even Mother. I wasn't a child anymore and was next in line with whatever Father did, which I have yet to figure out either. I huffed, annoyed. "Why are we always here and not at the estate?"

"Because there's bad people outside, Igor," she murmured lightly, still smiling as she looked at the two-story house. It was always me and Mother for as long as I remembered. My Father would visit and spend time with us when he can, but other than that, he was never around. Always on some business trip. He made sure Mother and I were happy, but I noticed how sad she gets sometimes, especially whenever Father had to leave. Mother gently ran her fingers through my hair.

"Gedeon," I tried to correct her, but she only smiled.

"My little peaceful warrior, Igor," she teased lightly, ruffling my hair. "But to answer your question, love doesn't make you weak. Not at all."

"I don't know if I agree with that one," I murmured.

"Why? You got someone in mind?" she teasingly smiles as she rubbed at the scar that finally healed over my eyebrows. "Anastasia?"