Page 50 of Little Rabbit

I leave the bedroom, shutting the door behind me, and then head down the hallway, trying to recall the way that Sofia led us. It takes me a while, but I finally figure out how to get to the main staircase after getting lost a couple of times. I mean, I get the strategic value to all of this, but damn does it make it hard for someone to figure out their way around. When I descend the stairs, I head down the hallway I saw Alessio, Lazaro, and Alonzo go down.

Seriously, this place also needs a map.

I peek into a few rooms, but only find different rooms with different furniture, until finally I hear Alessio’s voice coming from a different room down the hall. The door is open, but two men stand outside, and when they see me, their eyes narrow in suspicion. Let’s just hope that this goes better than it did with that Tommaso asshole.

I approach both men and give them a polite smile. “I need to speak with Alessio and Nico,” I tell them calmly.

“And you are?” the larger of the two asks tightly, eyeing me critically.

“Sienna Harris, Nico’s sister-in-law and Alessio’s…well, I’m not sure what to call myself to him, but we’ll go with ‘general pain in the ass’ to cover all the bases.” I give him a joking smile, not that it seems to thaw him at all.

“Nico doesn’t have a sister-in-law, bitch,” the other man snaps, stepping forward menacingly, his face dark and foreboding. “So who the fuck are you?”

Great, just what I need. “Look, just ask them if you don’t believe me,” I offer as patiently as I can, even though I’m getting damn tired of being treated with suspicion. “Hell, ask Gia, or even Sofia. They’ll tell you who I am. Or better yet, just look at my face and you’ll see that I’m a dead ringer for my sister.”

Both men share a look and it’s clear they don’t believe me. The taller one turns, as if to go into the room to find out. The other one, though, decides that he’s not about to chance me leaving, and lashes out to grab my upper arm in an iron grip. “I think we have us a spy, Davide.”

“Let go of me right now,” I snarl, but refusing to give him the satisfaction of struggling. I’m almost tempted to pull the gun I have, but even I know that would be stupid. This idiot would take the opportunity to kill me and be done with it, and I don’t have dying on my bingo card today. Or any day soon.

But then I’m shoved up against the wall, face first, my arm now wrenched behind my back, his other hand frisking me. When he finds the gun, he makes a triumphant sound. “Look what we have here. Now why would a supposed sister-in-law of the boss need a gun, hmmm?” He wrenches my arm back harder, making me grunt in pain. “Answer me, whore.”

“Probably because none of you fuckers know enough that someone is supposed to be guarding me,” I grit out through the pain as he wrenches my arm again. I bite back a cry, and battle back every instinct inside me to take him down. This idiot would pull the fucking trigger without a moment’s hesitation and again, dying is not something I want to do today. Not to mention, I don’t need Nico even more pissed at me than he already is.

“Guarding you? A whore? I don’t think so. If you’re here to suck a man’s dick down, you can start with me. Then we’ll make sure you get a turn with the rest of us, huh? I mean, do you know how long it’s been since I’ve felt a cunt wrapped around my cock? Far too fucking long. The last bitch we snuck in here didn’t last long enough for me to have my turn. But you…” He trails off suddenly, and I can feel the change in the air. I carefully turn my head to see what’s going on, and that’s when I realize two things. The idiot holding me now looks terrified, and behind him is a very pissed off Alessio, with a gun to the back of his head. And behind him are equally pissed off Lazaro and Alonzo, with Dante and Nico off to the side, though I can’t quite make out their expressions from this angle.

“Release her,” Alessio says with such utter calm that even I feel a tremor in my gut. Oh shit, this is bad. The guard immediately lets go of me. I turn around, rubbing at my arm to ease some of the stinging pain from the asshole’s grip, and watch as Alessio presses the gun tighter to his head and asks in the same tone, “Would you care to explain to me why you have your hands on what belongs to me?”

The guard’s face pales. “I-I didn’t know she was with you, Signore Caruso,” the man gets out tightly, though I can hear the fearful tremor in his voice. “I thought she was a spy trying to get to you or Don Armani. She had a gun on her,” he adds quickly, holding it up to view.

Alessio looks at the gun, and then at me. His eyes are dark, angry, but I can sense the anger isn’t at me. Then he asks, “Nico, do you have any attachment to this guard?”

The guard isn’t shaking, but I can tell it’s close, as fear engulfs his face. “Not particularly. Obviously there are some things that need to be seen to among my men.” I don’t miss the cold intent that lies in that statement.

Alessio doesn’t move for another long, tense moment, until finally, he lowers the gun and orders, “Come here, coniglietto.” I don’t say anything as I move around the guard and over to Alessio. This doesn’t feel like a moment I should be arguing. He pulls me into him and lifts my arm gently to his gaze. His eyes swirl angrily as he stares at the marks on my bicep that are already starting to bruise. The violence that emanates from him is thick, and while I thought I met Alessio the Underboss before, I realize now that was a different version. This. This is the Alessio that everyone fears. And he only confirms it when he pulls me behind him, lifts his gun, and pulls the trigger, killing the guard instantly. I can’t stop the alarmed cry that jumps from me as I stare at the now dead man lying on the floor.

Oh God.

Fear holds me in its clutches as Alessio then turns to the other guard, gun raised.

“Did you touch her?” he asks calmly, as if he hasn’t just killed a man.

“No,” the man answers. “I was coming to ask if you knew who she is. We weren’t informed that there would be a third woman.”

“I gave that fucking order,” Dante butts in, his own face showing his temper. “It was sent to the communication team to inform you all.”

“We didn’t receive it,” the guard replies, his gaze never leaving Alessio.

“You mean to tell me a direct order from your Underboss wasn’t conveyed to the men, and she has been walking around alone since we got here with no protection?” Alessio hisses. “And not one of you realized that she is with us?”

“Dante,” Nico says darkly.

“I’m already on it,” Dante says, turning and stalking away, and I can tell he’s just as pissed.

“Sienna, did he touch you?” he asks, turning his head to look at me, the gun still completely steady.

“No. It’s like he said, he was turning away toward the door,” I answer instantly, because I am definitely not about to let another man die. God, this is a fucking mess. I should have stayed in my room.

Alessio stares at me, no doubt trying to guess if I’m telling the truth, but finally he lowers the gun, then turns to Alonzo and barks, “Guard. Now.” Alonzo just nods and pulls out his phone, stepping away.

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