Stolen Dove: Stolen Hearts Series by Blake, Carina (novels in english .txt) 📗

us. “One of your men can go in with my driver, Julian.” Santino nods to one of them, who walks over to the other vehicle.

“Please climb in.” They do while one of their guards hops in the front seat. My phone pings, and I check it out. “It’s the wife. She’s anxious for your arrival.”

“I’m excited too. I’ve been talking Santino’s ear off. I don’t have a lot of female friends. One of them is his mother.”

“Then you have something in common with my wife. She is with my mother most days, and they spend most days cooking.”

“We have a lot more in common than that, I suppose. I was an Avanti,” she confesses, as if I’m not already aware of that.

Santino growls, holding her close. “Not anymore, my love.”

Santino looks over his wife to me and says, “My hatred for that man knows no bounds. I’ve already informed my wife that I want his head on a platter, and she has no problem with that other than she doesn’t want me to get my hands dirty.”

“So this is where I come in?” I chuckle. I suspected that was the case.

“Yes. Although I’d love to be involved as much as possible. I hate that bastard more than anyone. I’m sure there are others who’d love to see him being devoured by wild animals.”

“We can make that happen. I’m all for making a body disappear.”

“No offense, you two, but can you wait until I’m out of hearing distance? My stomach isn’t the strongest right now, and even though he’s a bastard and I hate him, he’s the reason I was born. I don’t want my baby’s ears to hear about his terrible grandfather’s demise.”

“I’m sorry, my love.”

“My apologies, Mrs. Benedetti.”

“You guys can do all that manly bonding over bodies later while us girls chit chat and eat.” She waves it off.

We both chuckle as she smiles, leaning on her husband’s shoulder.

As soon as we enter the estate, Mrs. Benedetti gasps. “This place is beautiful.”

“Thank you. It’s been in my family for centuries, and of course it has a lot of modern updates.”

The SUV comes to a stop, and Fernando and their guard get out at the same time and open the doors for us. I exit with Fernando and see my bride rushing toward me. “You’re back.”

“Be careful,” I growl, wrapping her legs around my waist and giving her a big kiss. “I told you I would be.”

“I was worried,” she confesses, squeezing me tightly before I set her back on her feet.

“I’m here, mi amor, but let me introduce you to our guests. This is Santino and Giada Benedetti.” I turn to my guests and add, “This beautiful woman is my queen, Dove Serrano.”

“It’s wonderful to have you with us. Please come in. It’s about to rain.” She brushes the hair out of her face. We lead them inside when Dove asks, “Is anyone hungry?”

“It seems I’m always hungry these days,” Giada says.

“Let’s decide what to make while the men talk shop.” Dove pulls out of my grasp, but I drag her back for one more kiss. I’m not the only one with that idea. Santino pulls his wife into his arms just as I cup my wife’s face. “God, I love you, Dove.”

The ladies walk toward the kitchen, and I tell him, “Let’s go to my office.”

He nods but doesn’t take his eyes off of his wife until they’re out of sight. “Lead the way.” Once we’re inside, I offer a chair. “Would you like something to drink?”

“No, thank you.” He adjusts his coat and sits down. “I’m ready to get this talk started.”

“Good.” I take a seat behind my desk. “So what are you thinking?”

“I want his head on a motherfucking salver. My wife suffered at the hands of my brother and his father because of Avanti. There are no words for the revenge I want to exact on them, but I’m not a mobster. I never set out to be one.”

“That’s fine, but how come you haven’t had one of your buddies do the deed? I hear you have connections with the Russians and with the new Irish mob.”

“Yeah. They would easily take out the trash, but Avanti has so many people in power around him. I thought he had you backing him, but my guy working the valet told me you might be the right person to speak with.”

“He was right. Not only did he tell her she’d be dead if she didn’t cooperate, Avanti’s the one her father owed the money to. I paid five hundred thousand for my wife, and the bastard only needed fifty thousand. It’s not that the money was spent for my wife—I would have given up everything I have for her—but not to that piece of shit.”

“I want him to be destroyed, but I’d prefer if I was out of the country when it happened. I know you don’t owe me anything, but I wanted to speak with you first about it.”

“Do you have something in mind?”

“So we won’t be taking too much of your time, my wife and I are scheduled to travel to my company’s manufacturing facilities in Africa.”

“Where? We have several from South Africa, Morocco, and Djibouti.”

“We’ll be busy, but I will say this. I’d wait before you strike on Avanti. I’ve heard some rumors, and there are other heads about to roll soon. I’d wait until next month. It’s a short window to strike, but it’s the best way to get to him.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean someone else is going to meet their fate, and you might catch yourself as a suspect if you head in too soon.”

“Understood.” We might be getting along, and I see we could be good friends, but trust takes more than one or two conversations. What happens from now until Avanti’s body is ice cold can determine our relationship. A minute later, I get a picture on my phone with Dove and a dollop of cream on her finger.

“They’re