Page 60 of Poisoned Promise
She flinches as if my words have a physical impact, and the overwhelming urge to reach out to her grows so strong that I have to curl my free hand into a fist.
“Do I need to send people out to find Alex’s father?”
She slowly shakes her head. “He’s dead. I wasn’t lying.”
“Is there anyone else you care about, anyone else who might need help?”
“No… no.” Dove takes a deep breath as if steadying herself and the stiffness eases from her shoulders, almost as if she’s come to some sort of decision. “It doesn’t matter anyway.”
“It doesn’t?” I arch one brow. “Dove, Caterina is not going to let this go.”
“I know. I remember her well, but it doesn’t matter. I’m taking Alex out of State. The tickets are already booked. From there, we’ll leave the county and disappear into the world. It was risk that forced me to stay this close to home in the first place but now that risk is gone. I’m leaving.”
“No.” The word escapes me before I’ve even processed everything Dove’s saying, but he answers remains the same as it sinks in.
Her eyes flick to me and narrow ever so slightly. “No?”
“No.”
“You can’t just say no.”
“I can.” A tremor runs through my heart and I stand abruptly, stalking back toward the drinks cabinet. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“You can’tkeepme here.” Dove’s words are sharp, like blades cutting through the air toward me.
I keep my back to her as I pour another drink, but when I turn to face her, she’s on the edge of the couch with her lips set in a straight, firm line.
“I can. I lost you once, Dove, when I was a nobody. An enforcer. Losing you and Nico almost killed me and I’m not going through that again, you hear me?”
“Felix… I’m not yours to lose anymore.”
“I don’t fucking care,” I snap, unable to swallow the swell of urgency that rises inside me. “You’re not leaving me, you hear me? Not again. I’m not losing you again, not to another State and not to another fucking country.”
“Felix—!”
“No!” Raising my voice sends a pulse of alarming heat down my spine. “I’m powerful now, Dove. I’m important and I’m in charge of a lot. People are loyal tomenow, not the other way around. I’m not losing you again. You are staying right where you are.”
17
DOVE
“What?” I stare at him, utterly dumbfounded by the words spilling out of his mouth. “Are you fucking serious?”
Felix lifts the glass to his lips and drinks deeply, then he smacks his lips together and nods. “Deadly. I can keep you safe here.”
“Safe? Locked up like a fucking prisoner?” I’m on my feet instantly. “No. Not on your life. I’m not staying here like some dog locked up in a kennel.”
“I’m keeping yousafe, Dove,” Felix snaps back. “Don’t you see?”
“I’mperfectlycapable of keeping myself safe.”
“Really?” He closes the gap between us. “Because it looks to me like you’ve done a pretty piss poor job of it so far. If you really cared about keeping yourself and Alex safe, you wouldn’t have killed the Rossis!”
“I did that to protect myfamily!”
“I know you think that!” he bites back. “But the Dove I knew would have researched deeper; she would have dug until sheknew every single detail of Tee’s life before taking action. You didn’t do that because you’ve been out of the game for a long time, and that’s fine. But you’re sloppy.”
I grit my teeth, battling the anger at his proposal and the shame building deep inside me.
