Page 37 of Little Rabbit

“Like hell,” Nico growls, pulling her into him.

“No problem,” Sienna tells her with a smile. Then she loses it and turns toward me, her eyes flashing as she stares at me, still being held back by Massimo. But before she can say anything, her eyes widen as she takes in Massimo, and then she gets a wicked look on her face as she glances back at Gia. “I see the good genes run to the other brothers too,” she tells Gia, who looks at her in confusion and then at Massimo, before her face goes red but still ogles my brother. “Wish I had my camera. I have a friend who would love a good look at him.”

Nico and I instantly look at Massimo, who’s grinning like an idiot, and standing there stark naked because his towel has fallen to the floor. “Any time you want pictures, cara mia, you just let me know,” Massimo flirts, and then grunts in pain when I punch him in the gut and make him stumble back.

I quickly pick up the towel and toss it at him. “Put that the fuck back on, cocksucker,” I snarl at him. Nico is also glaring at him and has turned Gia into his chest, where she’s still giggling and playfully fighting against the hold he has on her head when she tries to sneak another peek. I step in front of Sienna to block her view, because like fuck am I going to stand here and let her stare at my naked brother. Massimo just laughs and puts the towel back on, tying it tightly. Once it’s secure I tell him, “Now get the fuck out of here.”

Massimo smirks and heads for the door. “Don’t be killing each other. I need to get my beauty sleep.” Then he’s gone. I know that as soon as he’s back in his room, he’ll be telling the others all about this.

“Come along, topolina,” Nico says, scooping up his wife. “We have a few things to discuss ourselves.” Without another word, he stalks out of the room, and Gia can only shrug and wave at us.

Once they’re both gone, that leaves only Sienna and I, and we both stare at each other, neither of us saying a word. Finally, sick of the silence, I cross my arms over my chest and pin her with a glare. “Overgrown neanderthal?” I repeat, my tone calm, even cool, but there’s no doubt how irritated I am with her.

“You’re the one that was acting that way by shoving me out of the way, trying to speak for me, and then getting pissed because I was beside your brother and not you,” she tells me in an equally calm and cool tone, fists on her hips as she glares at me.

“And why was that, Sienna?” I demand, my grip on my control slipping. I want to rage at her, to make her realize how much danger she was in. “Could it be because you put yourself in fucking danger again.” Alright, so much for control. The darkness that’s reared its head inside me is far too close to the surface. “Could it be because instead of letting me handle this shit, you walked around me to stand within grabbing distance of the very man that wanted to kill you? It would have been within his right as a Don, to kill you if he chose. If he was anyone else, he would have pulled a gun and killed you instantly for the disrespect you showed him. And you gave him a fucking clear shot,” I rage, my voice rising.

“Nico wouldn’t have shot me,” she snapped.

“Fucking hell, that’s not the fucking point!” I roar. Her eyes widen in response. “You don’t fucking get it, Sienna. There are no women’s rights or any of that bullshit in this world. There is no women fighting a Don, there is no women telling a Don she would have killed him. And no matter how well intentioned you were, there is no women telling a Don that he should be grateful for them protecting his wife. You insulted him and all but told him that he can’t protect her, being completely disrespectful. You have no sense of preservation. You need to learn the fucking rules, because next time I might not be able to save your ungrateful ass.”

It’s like a switch has been flipped, and the woman in front of me becomes one I haven’t seen before. The utter rage on her face is like nothing I’ve ever seen. Her entire body shakes with it, and her voice is so loud that I have no doubt that Massimo, and possibly the rest of the house, will hear her. I’m too in awe of her to do anything but watch and listen.

“And how the fuck am I supposed to know any of that? How the fuck am I supposed to know any of this, huh? You showed up and completely turned my entire world upside down, Alessio. You chased me all over the fucking place, telling me that if I didn’t come with you, didn’t marry you, that I was going to be taken, beaten, and raped by a bunch of unknown people. What, you thought I was going to stop in amongst all of that and search up fucking mafia etiquette? I don’t want to be a part of the fucking mafia in the first place!

“Did you ever stop and think about the fact that you pulled everything I am and everything I know out from under me that day? That you took away any kind of security I had? Or think about the way it was going to affect me? Affect the life I’ve worked to build, or the family I already have? No, because instead of trying to explain things in a way I could understand or offering to help me, you tell me that you’re going to take me to meet my real family, but wait, only one or two of them, because the rest are going to take me and sell me off like a fucking cow for money and power. And on top of that, you tell me you’re going to make me marry you because it’s the only way to keep me safe. You took away my choices, Alessio, and you continue to do it.

“Instead of letting me process shit, or letting me figure out how to handle it, you charge right in and act no better than the rest of them. You try to force me to go with you, scaring me with details of what could happen if I don’t. Then when you do catch up to me, you act like you own me, like you’ve bought and paid for me already and I had better fall in line. Because that’s your right, huh? All because you’re a big bad underboss with a cock. You expect me to comply and obey and to act like a good little bitch so you can go on about your business. Screw my feelings, or what I want.

“Have you ever once considered that I want time to my fucking self, Alessio, to decompress and get my head wrapped around this whole fucking mess? To figure out what I want to do? No, because all you care about is yourself, your money, your power, and making sure that the rest of us little women fall in line. You don’t give a shit if I’m happy, do you, Alessio? You don’t care if you separate me from my family, from my friends, from the only life I’ve ever known, as long as you get what you want, right? I couldn’t even have one evening with the sister I just met. Who I learned has been through some horrible shit that I couldn’t protect her from because I didn’t fucking know about her. No, because the only thing any of you were concerned about was putting us where you wanted us, right? Gia with her husband, and me with you. You never even considered that I am emotionally wrecked and exhausted with all that’s been going on, or that I just need a fucking break. One fucking night where I can be alone with my own thoughts and try to come to terms with my new reality. To accept I can’t go back to what I’ve always known. That I’m alone with a bunch of people I don’t fucking know, that I miss my fucking family, that I miss my friends. All because you all couldn’t leave me the hell alone, for one fucking night. You, my so-called father, uncle, and apparently brothers. As far as I’m concerned, right now, none of you are any better than them.” She stares at me, and her eyes are wet, tears slipping from them to trail down her cheeks, and it feels like a punch to the gut. The darkness inside me instantly recedes, and in its place is panic and guilt.

Without another word, she turns and walks out of the room. I follow, but I don’t follow her down the hall. I stand there, staring after her, unsure of what the fuck to do.

Massimo’s door opens and he steps out, fully dressed, his expression full of sympathy. “I got this, brother,” he tells me softly. “You need to leave her be for tonight. I’ll watch over her.”

I want to argue, to snap and tell him no, that I’ll watch over her myself, but I can’t, so I just nod and watch as he hurries after her. Because she’s right, and I don’t know how to fix any of it because as terrible as it is, I’ll never be able to let her go. Even if she hates me for it for the rest of her life. And what kind of man does that make me?

20

SIENNA

I don’t know where I’m going, and honestly, I don’t care right now. It’s not like I can see anything with the tears filling my eyes. Fuck, I hate crying. I never do it, but I can’t stop them. I’m just so tired; so fucking tired. I want to go home; I want to go to Rori’s and bitch and yell and cry; I want to go to my parents and have my mother cradle me close like she did when I was a kid; I want to have my father make me tea and then rock me in his lap and tell me everything will be alright.

But I can’t because I’m stuck here, in this prison with a bunch of people I don’t know, trying to figure out how I’m going to survive any of it. Fuck, I fucking hate it. The panic in my chest grows, and I have to stop and lean a hand against the wall. I have no idea where I am now, and I don’t care. I try to fight back the panic and fear growing inside me, tightening my lungs and throat, but I can’t seem to get a hold of myself. I clutch at my chest, my brain screaming at me to breathe, but my lungs don’t cooperate. Black spots fill my eyes, and I can feel myself sinking to the floor.

Suddenly, I feel two arms catch me, and I hear someone calling my name. I try to focus on it, but it’s so far away that I can’t quite grasp it. God, this is not how I want to die. Not here or like this. I see two hazel eyes staring at me, trying to reach me, and a mouth moving, but I hear nothing. I can hear a voice getting louder, but it’s immediately drowned out by the sound of my own pounding heart.

The next thing I know, I’m hauled up and I instantly know that the man holding me is Alessio. No, what is he doing here? I don’t want him here. Don’t want him seeing me like this. But at the same time, it’s like my body and brain both register that it’s him, that he’s okay, or at least safe enough, and I’m able to draw in a gasping breath. Just one, and some of the darkness recedes from the edges of my vision. The panic, and the determination in his dark eyes seems to pull at me as he says something to me. I can’t make it out, and I don’t want to. Because I don’t want to hear him anymore. I can’t. I can’t hear his demands, or whatever he’s cooking up in that pretty head of his.

My breathing picks back up, and I struggle to get air again. I need Rori. I need her to tell me what to do. How to handle this. I need my best friend. “Rori,” I gasp out, even as I try to slow my breathing. “Rori.”

Alessio looks at me like he can’t make out what I’m saying, and maybe he can’t. Even to my own ears, it sounds like gibberish. “Sienna,” he says as loudly and calmly as he can, putting his hand over mine on my chest and pulling it to his chest. “I need you to slow down, coniglietto. I need you to focus on my breathing, okay? Then you can tell me what you need.” The feel of his heart pounding under my palm gives me something else to focus on, and then I feel it. The slow, even, steady movement of his chest as he breathes.

I grab onto that like a lifeline and try to copy it. It’s hard, and I can’t seem to get myself calm, but then I feel his hand on my belly, almost like he’s guiding me, and it steadies me a bit more until I finally feel the vice in my chest loosen and I can draw in a full breath. “That’s good, Sienna. A couple more just like that. In through your nose, out through your mouth. There we are. Keep going, just a couple more.”

I focus on his voice, the only constant in this whole mess of my life. I finally feel my heart slow back to normal; my breathing evens out, and my vision clears. But then comes the tears; wracking sobs overtake my entire body, making me shudder with them. Alessio instantly scoops me up, and I feel him carrying me away, even as I hear him murmur to whoever was with him. Then I hear a door shut, and I’m being carried into another room, where I’m jostled as he moves around. I vaguely hear running water and then I’m being set on my feet.

I’m crying too hard to pay much attention as Alessio undresses me. I don’t fight him, even as he tries to soothe me with words that I can’t even make out. I jolt a little when he picks me up and sets me in the bathtub now full of hot water, but then I curl my knees up, put my head down, and let the sobs overtake me.

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