Page 1 of Little Rabbit

1

ALESSIO

Everyone who looks at me sees the easygoing Caruso heir. The one who will take over one day when my father either retires or isn’t with us anymore. Our soldiers don’t realize I already know they’re preparing for that, despite the fact that my father is only seventy and in the best of health. It helps when you don’t have a bitch of a wife holding you down and fucking your enemy. Or spilling family secrets, trying to help out her lover.

Still, few know who I really am.

I may be the Caruso heir, but I am also a man that will take lives with a smile on his face. A man who will luxuriate in the feeling of your blood running over my hands, over my skin. Because that’s who I’ve become, even if I don’t allow it to show. Most would consider me a monster, but I consider myself effective. Effective enough to know that when I take over the empire my father and grandfather built, it won’t fall because I’m afraid to take chances.

Despite all of that, I am good at hiding that side of me. Most will see me as a jokester, the one who will make you laugh when you’re having a hard time. The one to charm a woman with a mere smile and a wink. Still, there are times when even I forget what I am; what I’m capable of.

Currently, I’m sitting on a plane heading back to the United States, to find a woman who has no idea who she really is. Or, at least by all accounts, it looks that way. I learned a long time ago to never take anything at face value. Hell, a few weeks ago when we were approached by Marco De Luca with a proposition to marry his sister to gain an alliance, I started digging into what he wanted right away. What kind of man he is. It didn’t take me long to take his measure, and when we got the call from Nico Armani, the final pieces clicked into place.

Had I wanted to enforce the contract, there was nothing Nico could have done, but it’s clear that Giulia De Luca is right where she needs to be. As dark and dangerous as Nico appears, the man is nothing like me. He has blood on his hands, sure, but to him, it’s a job. To me, it’s life. A life that I’ve fully embraced.

Watching him marry Gia, and her ensuing escape to Sicily the night we left, I knew she and I would never fit. She’s too innocent, too sheltered. Sure, she’s beautiful, and I would make it work, but something tells me things have worked out for the better. After all, it’s brought us here.

Right into the middle of a battle about to grip New York, and could possibly spread back to Italy and Sicily depending on how things shake down. Hell, the Irish and the Russians could even be involved. Just thinking about it makes my blood burn with excitement. There’s nothing I love more than a good bloody war, though, of course, we’ll have to be careful. We want to be part of the winning team, the way we have always been. So far, it appears that aligning with Nico Armani has been a damn good choice.

At least for now. I have no qualms about switching alliances should we need to pivot, but considering Sofia Cattaneo is employed by Nico, it’s highly unlikely. Sofia is the youngest child of our head of security. His only daughter, the woman is like a little sister to us. I would kill anyone who hurt her, including Nico, and the man Sofia is currently wrapped up in, Dante Esposito. A man who is known to be dangerous as hell, and just as vicious when the situation calls for it, but would be no match for me, my brothers, or hers. So for now, I’m going to see how things play out.

“What are you thinking about?” Lazaro, my personal security guard and one of our best soldiers, asks as he folds himself into the seat across from me. I take in the lipstick on his collar and the satisfied look in his dark brown eyes, and nearly roll my own. The fucker is a giant, topping out at six-seven, with hard muscle to match. I have no idea how he managed to hook up with the only female on this flight, our stewardess, but it’s clear he’s managed it.

“The fact that you somehow avoided getting a crick in your neck, with your size and the size of that bathroom or wherever you were fucking in,” I say drily. I don’t give a shit what he does. If there is anyone that I trust my life with outside of my father or brothers, it’s the Cattaneo brothers, but especially Lazaro. Maybe it’s because we’re so close in age, or how darkness can sniff out darkness, but the two of us are far more alike than most would think. If he wants to fuck a woman on an airplane, I’m not about to stop him. Because the moment we land, he’ll be all business, and nothing and no one will distract him from his duties.

Lazaro smirks and replies, “When you’re having a good time, one doesn’t notice such trivial things. Now, what’s got you looking all dark and brooding? Or are you jealous I got to her first?”

I snort. “Fucking stewardesses is a you thing; who am I to rain on your party?” Lazaro shrugs, uncaring, but continues to look at me expectantly. I bite back a sigh. The man knows me far too well. He’s so damn nosy he’s not going to give it up, and we have a long fucking flight. “Just thinking how long it’s been since our last battle. I’m hoping this one will be good and bloody.”

Lazaro’s face breaks out into a knowing grin, the darkness lurking behind his gaze deepening even further. Lazaro is well known for his extraction skills. Information, product, people; you name it, he’ll get it. And if he has to do it in the bloodiest way possible, all the more fun for him. Like the rest of us, he won’t hurt innocent women or children, but that’s his only rule. For any other target, all bets are off. We have both killed women that deserved it, however. They were as dark and depraved as the men around them and needed to be put down like the rabid dogs they were.

“Oh, I have a feeling it’s going to be far bloodier than we can imagine,” Lazaro says anticipatorily. “The war in New York is going to be interesting. I’ve never seen one family so fractured.”

“I’m surprised they’ve lasted this long,” I agree. “Hell, it’s unheard of for a son and brother to both break away from a Don.” To do that back home would result in instant death.

“Americans, they are weak, getting distracted by things that don’t matter,” Lazaro sneers. On that I can agree. This is why a lot of the families in the home country don’t deal with the American factions. They are focused on money and being bigger and better than anyone else, always trying to one up the other. Back home, there are constant skirmishes and power plays for the upper hand, but those are expected. We don’t have the police constantly breathing down our necks trying to break us apart. There is no backstabbing and breaking ranks. If I or one of my brothers tried to do to our father what the De Luca’s have done to theirs, even with as much as he loves us, he wouldn’t permit us one more breath.

“And all over women,” I say with a roll of my eyes. “I mean, as lovely as Gia is, all of this over trying to marry her off to outdo the other.” Gia was secreted away by her family, all because they wanted to use her. Of course, she was the key to her father, uncle, and brother gaining the upper hand they crave. But fortunately for her, she caught the attention of Nico Armani, who took her before realizing just who she was. Now, she’s an Armani, and her own family secrets have come to light – including that there are possibly four other girls who were smuggled out and didn’t have to suffer like Gia did.

Gia is a wonderful woman. When I first saw her, my first thought was how beautiful she is, and how I wouldn’t hate to be married to her. Seeing her grow and show her true self over the last few days, I can see why Nico is so taken with her. At first, I was sure she was suffering some kind of delusion, wanting to stay with Nico, but then I saw the truth in her eyes. I knew she is where she needed to be, even if she did fight it. However, I also realize that the more she comes out of her shell, the more she’s going to keep Nico on his toes. Hell, she snuck out of their home and stowed away on our plane to have him chase her clear across the Atlantic to our home in Sicily. The woman has some serious stones, and they’re only going to grow now that she can test limits without fear of being tortured or executed for it.

“I don’t understand their obsession with only having men in their family by birth,” Lazaro agrees, frowning. “The Italians have always been big on family, on the women helping them gain the favor of other families.”

He’s right. “There’s a reason there, and I want to know what it is. Perhaps when we come face to face with the fuckers again, we’ll be able to ask.” I give him a cool smile. “And if they won’t share, I’m sure between the two of us, we can convince them.”

Lazaro’s matching smile tells me he’s in full agreement. “Could be sooner than later if any of them are trying to find our target. Papa said that by the time we land, he’ll have the info on who searched her name.”

If anyone can find out that information, it’s Aurelio’s informant. We’ve never been introduced to said informant, but it doesn’t matter. The information is always good, always accurate, and has helped save our asses on more than one occasion, so who cares if we never put a face or name to them?

“Speaking of our target…” I pull out the file on Sienna Harris and hand it to him. “I was studying this while you were getting your dick wet.”

Lazaro ignores my jab, and opens the file. I’ve been reading it nonstop for the last couple of hours, memorizing everything there is to know about the woman. The details are surprisingly thorough, despite her connection only just being discovered. “She really does look like Gia,” Lazaro remarks, glancing at me.

I nod. “She’s a few inches taller, and has a fuller figure. And her eyes are more hazel.”

“She doesn’t have that innocent air about her that Gia does. Says here she’s trained in boxing and some martial arts; worked her way up to a black belt.” He makes a sound of amusement. “And that she’s highly proficient with a gun and knives. Are we sure she doesn’t know who she is? Why would she be so well versed in all of that if she doesn’t?”

“Second page,” I reply.

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