Chapter 30
FELIX
“I understand your drive,” comes Bree’s voice from behind Toph and she uses her short stature to duck under his arm. “But Dove, I implore you to wait. You’re in no condition to go after anyone right now and will do more harm than good.”
“Alex has been out there on his own for…” Dove’s expression darkens. “How long has it even been?”
“A week,” I reply quietly.
“A week! I’m not waiting a second longer!” She surges forward but Bree immediately steps into her path and stops her.
“I can’t begin to imagine what it feels like to be separated from your child.
My two are out of the country with my husband and it kills me, so I can’t imagine what this feels like for you.
But I know the state you are in Dove. You won’t get far and even if you do, once the painkillers wear off, you won’t be able to focus on Alex. ”
Dove’s jaw works back and forth as if wrestling with whichever argument she wants to give first, but she seems to find something in Bree’s eyes and her shoulders slump slightly. “So what am I supposed to do? Just leave my baby out there?”
“No. Not at all. Come with me. Have some dinner. Let my doctor take another look at you. And then let me help you.”
Dove’s jaw continues to twitch, then she glances at me as if she’s hoping I’ll have some sort of plan to get her out of this.
But I am firmly on Bree’s side.
Dove’s in no condition to go tearing through the city but it’ll take some time for her to entrust us with wherever Alex could be hiding.
He’s survived this long but there’s no telling how much longer he has in him.
“Dinner?” Dove repeats.
Bree smiles warmly. “I make a mean Katsu.”
In the kitchen, the aromatic scent of spices and plums fills the air as Bree darts between the stove, the air fryer, and her rice cooker.
My stomach flips from hunger and the loud gurgle from Dove makes everyone chuckle.
A nice break from the tension building between all of us.
I have so much to say to Dove. So much I need her to hear but she doesn’t look ready to listen to me at all.
“Why are you helping me?” Dove eases onto a bar stool at the island counter and winces slightly. “I don’t know you.”
“Not personally, sure,” Bree agrees. “But when Felix called and told me you were alive?” Her eyes sparkle slightly. “It was unbelievable.”
“You told her?” The accusation in Dove’s voice cuts like a blade.
“I had to,” I reply gently. “I knew how loyal the McCarthys were to your father and I needed help.”
“What help?”
“A bait,” Bree replies as she cooks. “Felix and I were working on setting up a family to take the fall for the Rossi deaths. There was one particular Italian thorn in my side that I was happy to be rid of, little rats they were. I couldn’t prove trafficking enough for my father to take action without starting a war with other Italian families on principle, but I knew.
So when Felix came to me needing a family to blame, I handed them up on a platter. ”
“The initial plan was to frame them and allow you and Alex to return to your life with Caterina directed elsewhere,” I explain. “I now know that even though she killed that family, Reese kept her eyes fixed on you because he was selling me out.”
Toph mutters something unpleasant under his breath from the doorway.
“When I called my father and told him you were alive, he thought I was insane,” Bree chuckles, quickly dishing up four plates of fluffy rice and Katsu curry.
“He was close with your father, do you remember? Your father threw that huge gala to commemorate my parents’ wedding anniversary.
” Affection warms her smile as she hands the plates to each of us, Toph included. “What a night that was.”
“I think I remember,” Dove replies. “It was so long ago. I honestly… I never even considered that people other than me were saddened by what happened.”
“Well, as kind as your father was to my father, I saw how he treated you. Anyone who was close enough could see him turning his daughter into this perfect little assassin while expecting you to marry and be a wife in the same breath. It was… intense. We combed your Estate for weeks searching for survivors. Never imagined that you would be here. My father is out of the country at the moment but he trusts me so anything you need, we will help.”
“Just like that?” Dove asks after shoveling a few mouthfuls past her lips. “You’d trust me just because of my name?”
“And because of how highly Felix speaks of you. And your defiance in the face of Caterina. She might be the Queen of New York but I’ve never held anything but contempt for her. She’s cold, manipulative and cruel.” Bree glances at me. “ She’s an expert at twisting things in her favor. Until you.”
“I’m not so sure,” Dove replies, her gaze down. “I… I spent years living a lie.”
“We all did,” I reply softly, staring at her as my heart aches. “We all existed in false truths for fifteen years. Each one was different, sure, but that doesn’t change the fact that we were all fooled.”
Dove lifts her gaze from her place and glances at me, her eyes slightly softer than they were before. “Doesn’t that just make us all fools?”
“Sure,” I agree. “But we know the truth now.” My breath catches in my throat. “The whole truth.”
“As for Alex…” Bree leans against the counter as she eats. “I have my people out combing the city for him. We’ll find him.”
“No, you won’t,” Dove replies. “I taught him far too well for that.”
“Taught him?” Bree asks.
“I made a game of it but I was always scared that we would be found so I taught him how to hide. Where was safe. How to survive off the radar. I taught him well and I’m praying it’s worked but I’m…
” She lowers her fork and brings her fingers to her lips as if trying to contain herself.
“I’m terrified that something’s happened.
If he panicked and got hurt or killed. If he’s been found by someone else.
I taught him but he’s only fourteen. He’s just a baby. ”
Her voice pitches as she talks and before I can fully think it through, I slide off my stool and wrap both my arms around her in a tight hug. Despite the flicker of tension that rolls through her, she sags into my hold and allows it.
“I haven’t known Alex as long as you have but from what I’ve seen? He’s resourceful. That fire for starters. Sure, it got out of hand but the intention was clever. And he’s been raised by you, the smartest person I know.”
Dove nods slightly against my shoulder, quivering in my arms so I hold her tighter. “I’m so scared,” she whispers. “It feels like something’s trying to claw out of my chest and I can’t stop it because I know Caterina’s on a rampage now and if she stumbles across him—.”
“Listen.” Bree cuts in calmly. “I want you to go and see my doctor. He wanted to know when you were awake. Take the food, eat and get treated. Then we can sit down and you can tell me the most effective use of my people in helping find your baby. How does that sound?”
Dove nods again and slowly pulls out of my embrace, then she picks up her plate but before she can carry it, Toph surges forward and takes it from her.
“Let me,” he says. “Doc is just down the hall.”
“Do you want me to come?” As much as I ache to be by her side, until we talk things through, there’s no way I can force my presence on her.
Dove shakes her head but there’s warmth in her glance when she looks at me. “I’ll be fine.”
I watch her leave, staring at the doorway until Bree pats my arms.
“So,” she says brightly. “What’s your plan now? After all, you’re not officially at war with the most powerful woman in the city.”