Page 81 of Declan's Dove

“I wouldn’t know. Mine’s certifiably insane.” The way Sadie says it, you’d think she just told Violet the color of her car. Expressionless face, emotionless tone. It’s just a fact.

“I thought I was the only one Matteo called Dolcezza. It doesn’t feel so special now. No offense,” she tells Sadie, who gives a half smile in response.

“I think it’s his endearment for females he cares about, but it’s a brotherly type of endearment for him. Like how the guys in the club call us all sweetheart,” Sadie explains. “They reserve their special nicknames for their ol’ ladies. The rest of us are sweetheart or babe.” She shrugs.

“Yeah, it took me a minute to get used to hearing Jake call Avery Angel,” Violet admits.

“Really? Why?” Sadie questions.

“Angel is a code name—” Violet catches herself and changes the subject. “I think those drinks are catching up to me. Do you know if there’s a sandwich or something around here I can eat?”

Sadie chuckles. “Nice save. And yeah, I’ll go see if there’s anything in the kitchen. Be right back.”

Violet finds her way to me, looking sheepish. I wrap my arms around her and plant a kiss on her pouty lips. “You almost dug a hole there, huh?”

Violet bites her bottom lip. “It’s their fault.” She points at Skyler and Avery sitting over on the couch. “They gave me some slushy thingy.”

“Taming of the Shrew?”

“That’s it,” she says, her face scrunched. “It’s really good and sneaks up on you. Holy crap.”

“Good to know,” I tease.

“I need the officers back in church,” Gabe calls out to the room. “Let’s get this shit over with.”

“Gotta go, baby.” I kiss her one more time. “I’ll come get you when we’re done. Or you can ask one of the girls to take you up to my room. We’ll be staying here tonight.”

“What about Carter?”

I look down at my watch and see it’s past dinnertime for the kid. “Liz probably already took him back up to the house to feed him and let him get ready for bed. He’ll be fine with them for one more night. We can pick him up in the morning.”

“Yeah, okay,” she says reluctantly.

Leaning close to her ear, I nip her lobe and whisper, “It also means I get you all to myself again tonight, and I have plans to strip you down and eat that pretty pussy of yours until you scream my name loud enough for the whole clubhouse to hear.” She shivers in my arms, and I smile against her neck. “See you soon, baby.”

The guys all pile back into the sanctuary. Everyone’s already taken their seats, and I’m the last one in. I close the door. When I turn to take my seat, I’m thrown back by a fist to the face.

“What the fuck?” A second punch hits me in the gut. I’m about to throw back when it becomes clear who’s doing the punching, and I don’t have a fucking death wish.

“You ever try to tell me how to run this club, I’ll put a bullet in your ass and rip that cut off your back,” Gabe growls, standing so damn close I can smell the whiskey on his breath. “I’ll be goddamned if I let anyone come up into my club, disrespect me or my men, and make fucking demands.” He turns, addressing the room. “Any of you fuckers have a problem with that then drop your cut at the door on your way out.”

“All good, Pres.”

“No issue here.”

“Agree, Pres.”

We all answer, talking over each other.

“Now that we’ve got that shit cleared up.” He moves to take his seat at the head of the table. “You’re right,” he says, looking at me. “We shouldn’t be pulling our guns on each other around the women. Now,” He raises a hand, pausing the chatter among the men. “There are stipulations in which I will say, if some fucker comes in here looking to hurt our people or fuck shit up—shoot first and apologize to the ladies later. But, if it’s a pissing contest, as Declan put it, we should be more mindful of the girls and the kids and where they are in the clubhouse.”

“No disrespect was intended, Pres. I know there could be times we won’t have a choice but to raise our weapons, but Vincenzo just likes to talk shit and get a rise out of everyone,” I state. “I don’t believe he would do anything that would harm the women or children. It goes against his personal code. Maybe we just try not to piss each other off enough to need to pull the guns, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Gabe grumbles. “My daughter said the same shit when I walked out to the bar, in not so many words.”

“I believe her words were, Are you fucking kidding me? I’ve already been shot by one mafia asshole. Let’s not make it two,” Caleb supplies, laughing. “Girl’s got a point.”

“She’s still getting used to shooting her own gun,” Jake says. “After taking a bullet, she wanted to be better prepared, but sometimes it brings the nightmares back. We’re working through it.”

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