Novels by White Dove

Ruby’s POVI didn’t bother knocking. The door swung open with a bang that echoed down the hall, and my voice followed right after it.“Mateo!”The office was empty. The wide desk stood immaculate, papers neatly stacked, not a single chair out of place. My pulse spiked harder.I turned, my heels clicking against the marble, my heart loud enough to drown out reason. I moved fast, past the office, past the sitting room, past the damn hallway that had always felt too long.“Mateo!” I yelled again, my voice breaking slightly this time. No answer.The door to his bedroom was ajar. I pushed it open and found, nothing. Just the faint smell of his cologne and smoke lingering in the air.Then I heard it. A low murmur, distant but clear enough to recognize his voice. I turned toward the balcony and saw him below, standing near the driveway with a few men. His hand moved as he gestured, a cigarette glowing faintly between his fingers.Relief hit me first. Then irritation.I rushed down the stairs,

Ruby’s POVI could tell that my face showed that epitome of anxiety and I could tell that easily from the look of worry that was engraved in Amelia’s face. She looked at me for a while, before glaring at Gabriel with sinister eyes, then looking at me again.People have disappeared around me before and Mateo had told me to take no mind to it, that people came and left. I wasn’t exactly sure if they were dead but I was not dumb enough to not know that something fishy was actually going on. It also wasn’t hard to put two and two together when you grew up around guns and all sorts of weapons. I could think about how easy it would be to kill someone and make sure nobody ever found them again and I could think about how much easier it would be if my dad decided to do the very same thing.I slipped my hand out of Amelia’s as she stared at Gabriel, looking as disappointed as ever. I took a few steps back and dialed the first number that came to mind.The phone kept ringing, again and again,

Amelia’s POVGabriel was still standing by the door when I finally found my voice again.“That was what I was about to ask you. What the hell was that?” I asked, dropping my pen onto the desk with a soft clatter. “You both shared a look, what was that about?”He tilted his head, pretending to think, then shrugged in that careless, infuriatingly Gabriel way. “Which glare? The one where he looked like he wanted to commit homicide or the one that said I’m constipated with power?”I groaned. “You’re impossible.”“Correction,” he said, sauntering toward the chair opposite mine. “I’m adaptable. It’s my charm.”“Gabriel.”He raised his hands in mock surrender. “Fine. You want reasons why Vasquez might hate me? Buckle up.”He leaned back, ticking them off with his fingers. “One…once upon a time, I stole his lunch. Not figuratively, literally. The old man used to eat this fancy imported salmon, and I was starving. A man’s gotta survive.”I rolled my eyes. “That has to be the most untrue shit

Amelia’s POVWhen the knock came, it sounded too polite for the storm that followed it.“Amelia,” Ruby called, poking her head in with a smile. “Mr. Vasquez is here to see you. You have a few minutes before lunch, should I let him in?”My first instinct was to tell her to send him away. My second instinct was to laugh out loud, in an ugly manner and to fling the ledger into a drawer. But the ledger was already duplicated, tucked away in three different places and burned into the hard drive of a journalist who liked drama as much as clicks, and telling Ruby to refuse Vasquez felt childish and theatrical.“Send him in,” I said instead, voice calmer than I felt. Calmness is a weapon you learn to wield when people want to see you crumble.He arrived with the inevitable hush that followed his steps. Vasquez filled the doorway first, the room narrowing around his presence. He wore control like a tailored coat, and his eyes scanned the office like a man checking the inventory of his property

Vasquez’s POVThe ledger was a thorn in my flesh.I thought I’d buried every trace of those numbers, locked them away with the years and the bodies. Yet somehow, Amelia, Adam’s daughter, had clawed her way to it. Bold little brat. Bold enough to walk into my conference room with her chin high, like she was the one holding court, when she didn’t even understand the game she was sitting in.No, I couldn’t let that stand. Not when I knew exactly what had happened the last time when we had this kind of issue on our handsI lit another cigarette, pacing my office, the curtains drawn tight. Smoke curled around me, thick and sharp, the air heavy with the smell of burning. “She thinks she’s clever,” I muttered to myself, exhaling. “But even clever women die off sometimes.”My phone buzzed. Rafael.Perfect.I flicked it on speaker and leaned back in my chair. “You’ve been waiting for me to call.”“Of course I have,” Rafael’s voice carried that restless edge of his, too eager, too hungry. “So?

Kelvin’s POVMy father didn’t flinch when I stormed into his office.He was at the window as he usually did these days, his suit jacket hanging off the chair, the smoke from the cigarette he had between his lips curling up toward the ceiling. The city stretched behind him like his own personal chessboard and it made my neck feel extremely itchy.“Was it you?” I demanded, cutting through how anxious he got me sometimes with a firm voice. There was no response and I could tell he was trying to unnerve me as much as possible. It was funny how it worked even when I knew what he was doing. “Did you put someone on Amelia’s trail?” I asked again.Vasquez didn’t even turn around. “Good morning, son.” His voice was firm too and raspy but it bounced easily over the walls, entering my ears eerily.“Don’t play games with me.” I slammed the door behind me. “Last night, Amelia was being followed and watched. I know for a fact that you are behind this. Only you would pull something this stupid aft