Chapter Three - Saving Private Dove

Dimitri’s POV

The plane journey to London from New York took around 7 hours. In that time my father had found everything he could about this Judge. His wife Iliana Granger was our bitch of a mother, so we knew now that it was our little white Dove. The name white dove had come from his mother Nina. She said he coos always reminded her of a dove, and her soft white hair was as white as snow and the name White Dove had stuck. My mother was more of a mum to the five Vassilev children and it broke her when Vi was taken, she felt like her own daughter had been taken from her. Our mother didn’t give a shit about the family, she just wanted the money and the lifestyle that came with being a part of the mafia. She had never been much of a mother to her children, and she was so jealous when Vi came along that she treated her even worse than she treated the boys, all because the baby was getting more attention than she was. It was a surprise when we found out that Anastasia had taken off with Vi, but she was vindictive. I dreaded to see how Vi had been living whist in her care.

The Judge was a whole other story he was a close friend to Alfonso Ilaria, the head of the British contingent of the Italian Mafia. He did a lot of under the table dealings with the Italians and being that he was a Duke son as well, he had a lot of backing, even if a lot of it was illegal. There was little to be found about him, which means he was protected in more ways than one and meant if anyone went against him then he would have a way to hide any of it happening to cover himself.

“I think maybe we need to take the two who own the café as well.” Adrian said.

“What?” I asked looking up from the file I was reading on my laptop.

“The ones who rang us, from reading between the lines about this judge, he will know who contacted us.” He said. “They won’t be safe.”

“I agree.” I said. “They have one daughter Violet Granger.”

“Well, being that it is that bitch of a mother, I know that Violet is little Violetta. It’s too much of a coincidence that it isn’t.”

“I agree.” I repeated. “They talked like she was beaten often, but there is no hospital records for the girl. There is a report to Social Services but very little information on it. It also appears that the teacher who reported it disappeared three days later.”

“Yeah, something doesn’t sit right. We need to get this girl out even if it isn’t little Violetta.” He responded.

When the plane finally landed and the door had been let down, we walked out and met with Sergei, the second in command of the Russian mafia who resided in England.

“Dimitri.” He said holding out a hand. “How is your father?”

“As well as ever, has he told you why we are here?”

“Yes, we have some men keeping an eye on both the café she works in and the house she lives in.” He said. “There is a woman who fits the description, but we weren’t 100% sure. She has blue eyes.”

“Its contacts we think.” Adrian said.

“Would make sense.” He responded as he guided over to two black SUV’s which were waiting for us.

“Is your Grandfather aware?” I sighed and shook my head. My Grandfather was the Head of the Russian Mafia. He resided in Russia and looked after every faction through out the world. He was raging when he found out what had happened to Violetta and has helped to try and find her.

“No, I have only informed my father.” I said. “We wanted to make sure it was her first.”

“Your father was adamant it was her; his gut has never been wrong before.” Sergei said as the driver started the car and pulled out. We made our way to the café; it was now four o’clock, so we had to do this quick before she left. As we pulled up, I saw the most beautiful girl through the window. He white, blonde hair was pulled back so tightly into a bun on the back of her head, I was surprised she didn’t have a headache. She was too thin and even from where I sat in the car, I could see the shape of the bones on her face and neck. The rest of her skin was covered. I got out of the car with Adrian close behind me and we made our way into the café. When we opened the door, a bell rang alerting the staff to a newcomer. The girl looked up from where she had been cleaning a tabletop to greet us. She smiled, which faltered slightly when she saw Adrians Purple eyes and white, blonde mop of hair. She shook her head and smiled again.

“Welcome to Orlov’s, please find a seat and I will get a menu for you and take your order.” Her voice was like angels singing.

“Little Dove,” Adrien said as she started to walk away, her head snapped around to face us.”

“My father used to call me White dove, until he banished us.” She muttered.

“What?” I said. Banished? What was she talking about.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that out loud, I sometimes forget to use my inside voice, but it brought back a memory.

“What is your name?” I asked her as I saw a woman walk out. She gasped when she saw who we were.

“Violet.” She smiled at us.

“Violet my dear, why don’t we take these gentlemen to the office.”

“Oh sorry, are they here to see you, I thought they were customers. Sorry Mrs Orlov.”

“No, no darling they are here to see you. I promise you are safe.”

“What? Why would they be here to see me? Did my stepfather send you? I said I would be home for Five, I have time yet.” She said starting to panic.

“Violet, calm down. They aren’t to do with your stepfather. Please follow me gentleman, thank you for getting here so fast.” We followed them through to the back office. “Violet. This man is Dimitri Koslov.”

“I’ve heard that name before, why do I know that name?” She mumbled.

“Violetta, Vi?” I said as I sat in a chair in front of her. She looked at me with a frown.

“Sorry my name is Violet,”

“No Malishka, your name is Violetta Vassilev.” Adrien said to her. “You were taken by our mother when you were four.”

“No, I was thrown out for being a girl.” She mumbled. “My mother said that they didn’t want girls in the family, so they were either killed or banished.”

I could feel my anger beginning to surface at her words. What crap had this woman been feeding her all these years. I looked at Adrien, and you could see the fire behind his eyes. He was angry. I turned back to Vi and she was fidgeting in her seat and looking to floor. I pulled the picture out of my pocket. I had taken it from the frame at the last minute. I handed it to her. She took it and looked at it.

“That’s me.” She whispered.

“Yes, that was the day before you were taken Little dove.” I told her. She stared at the photo.

“I looked so happy, but why would I be happy if my father didn’t want me.” She asked.

“Because what ever your mother told you was a lie.” Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Sergei came in.

“Sir, you need to get the girl out of here, my men have informed me Alfonso has appeared at the Judges house, they heard him talking about buying the girl off of him.” Sergei said. “Get her in the car and we will get you in the air before they find out she is even gone.”

I heard Vi gasp and turned back to her; her face was covered in tears.

“I knew that man was up to something.” The woman said. “Vi, my sweet you must go with this man.”

“No, I can’t, he will come here.” She said. “He will hurt you if he doesn’t find you.”

“Don’t you worry your little head over us. We can look after ourselves. It is you who needs to be kept safe.”

“We want you and your husband to come with us, you helped us find the missing Princess, we want to protect you as well.”

“Oh. No, we couldn’t leave the shop.” She said.

“We will look after the shop.” Sergei said.

“You don’t know what it means to us that you got into contact with us.” Adrien said. “Please let us take you and keep you safe until we can be rid of the man.”

“We should go my love.” The large man said. He was obviously Vitaly. She nodded and stood. She handed the keys over to Sergei and we all walked out to the cars and got in.

“Vi, could you do something for me?” Adrien asked. We had positioned ourselves on either side of her to keep her safe. She nodded shyly. “Would you remove the contacts for me?”

“Mother said I shouldn’t let people see my ugly eyes as they would put a stain on the family. One fell out this morning and I am worried people saw.” She mumbled.

“Your eyes are what we were looking for Melishka.” He said. “They are from our blood line; see I have Purple eyes as well. So does our brothers and father and our Grandfather.”

She looked at him and tilted her head to the side in thought, before leaning forward and taking them out. She looked at Adrien. I heard him gasp and his eyes soften. He smiled at her, the first smile I had seen on him since Vi had first been taken.

“Beautiful.” He said. “They should never be covered sweet girl.”

She turned to look at me and I gasped. Her eyes were the deepest purple I had ever seen, and my heart melted even more.

“He is right Solnishko. They should never be hidden.” I said as I pushed some hair behind her ear. He cheeks flooded with pink.

“Sir.” Came the driver’s voice. “We are being followed.”