Page 21 of Little Rabbit

“Because you probably won’t, but at least I’ll be safe until this all blows over.”

She makes a frustrated sound. “That’s just it, Sienna, it will never be over. I get that you’re running scared, and that you’re trying to keep the freedom you’ve always had, but sometimes you just have to play the cards you’re dealt and deal with it. This war might be over, but what about the next one? Because there is always some sort of scuffle going on in the criminal world. And now that people know who you are, you will always be a target. Maybe not to this family, and maybe not to your bio family, but to someone. Someone will see you as a bargaining chip and take you to hold for ransom. You said you have a sister and she’s married to another Don, right? Who’s to say they won’t figure out your connection to him, and one of his enemies comes for you and takes you to get him to pay? You will always be running, Sienna. Always.”

I stare out at the blue water, my stomach sinking as her words hit their mark. Fuck. I had to give myself one more shot at freedom. “Fuck,” I whisper. “Fuck. Fuck, Rori. What the hell am I going to do?” I don’t even bother to hide the pain and despair in my voice.

She’s silent for a moment. Finally, she sighs and says, “You need to make a choice, Sienna, and then you need to stick to it. You need to consider your future. Your family’s future. But you are going to need someone in your corner besides me. Because when it comes to this shit, I only have so many connections. You know I’ll always share them with you, but even I know it’s not enough. I’m not saying you need to align with this Alessio guy. Your sister married that other one, right? Maybe he can keep you safe, and you can meet your sister, who from what you said before has had a rough time of it too. Or, you bite the bullet and make a deal with Alessio, and find a way to be happy and make it work. Maybe that’s not marrying him, but you find a way to live near him and work for him or something. I don’t know, but if you’re going to stop running, you don’t have many other choices.”

“These are the times that I want to find the remotest place on earth and live there,” I tell her jokingly, while at the same time, completely serious. “I mean, aren’t there islands out there that people are banned from visiting? Maybe I can go there. I don’t have a lot of survival skills, but I could learn.”

Rori snorts. “Babe, we both know that if you do that shit, you’d be dead in less than a week. And you’d go nuts without technology of some kind around.”

I pout. “I could figure it out. I could always build myself a boat to come back to the mainland for a couple of hours if I need to do something technological.”

“And they’d all be waiting for you the moment you did.”

“Maybe I should move to Antarctica.”

“Good luck with that. You’d be dead for sure. You hate the cold, and you can’t get endless supplies and shit sent to you to keep you alive or they’ll find you for sure.”

“Stop finding faults with everything. Look, I know I’m fucked, but I don’t understand why I have to be a damn pawn in this game. Why can’t they all just leave me the fuck alone?”

“Because most women in that life are a commodity, not a person,” she replies bluntly. “You’re only good for what your body can do, whether it’s keeping a cock wet, or birthing a bunch of kids for some sick son of a bitch so he can build his empire. You haven’t seen some of the shit I have, Sienna, and I really do hope you never do. The women and children I’ve helped save by picking up some of these men on their warrants, their stories will keep you up at night. A lot of them are so broken they’re nothing more than a shell of their former selves, and all because a bunch of men decided what they were useful for. Being a woman in this world is dangerous, and sometimes it’s far more than that. Unfortunately, the dealer of fate has given you a card that fucking sucks.”

“You and your poker analogies. But, yes, I get your point. I’m just so angry, Rori. I’m so angry they would ruin my life this way, all because they want to grow more powerful. They don’t care that I don’t know the life, or that I don’t know them. They found me, and decided that was good enough.”

“The people that smuggled you out are going to pay dearly for helping you.” My stomach churns at the thought. I don’t know my aunt, but knowing her days might be numbered makes my hands sweat and my heart pound. All because she wanted to make some extra cash and maybe help out someone she was friends with, to give my parents a child that they desperately wanted. “You need to make sure you don’t make that sacrifice worthless, Sienna. You got out, and now you’re being pulled back in. You can fight it tooth and nail until you wear yourself out and are forced into it, or you can be smart and align yourself with people you think will treat you at least fairly. Hell, maybe that’s not any of them, but someone else. There are plenty of dangerous people out there, and you need to be ready for the price they’re going to ask you to pay.”

“If you were in my shoes, what would you choose?”

She’s silent, and I know she’s pondering my question. Out of everyone, Rori’s opinion matters the most to me. Sometimes even more than my parents; mostly because they want what’s best for me and will sugarcoat things, while Rori will be blunt and give me the nitty gritty that I might not want to hear.

Finally, after a few more moments of silence, she replies, “I think you need to talk to Alessio and figure this shit out. He’s not going to give up, and he’s a force in Europe. I’ve done my own digging on him. He’s known to be a ladies man, so I can’t say he’d be faithful, but he’s also known to be fair, as well as feared. I mean, the shit he’s accused of doing is scary as fuck, but even with all of that, and the shit you’ve pulled on him, he’s never hurt you, and you will not get the same treatment from some of the other fuckers after you. But I also think you have an ace up your sleeve if shit goes south. Approach your new brother-in-law and see if he’d be willing to take you in if you can’t take living with the Carusos, or working for them or whatever.”

She’s right and I hate it. Thinking about Alessio and the fury on his face when I left him in Spain, I wince. Yeah, he might not be so willing to work with me after that. My new brother-in-law might be my best bet. At least with him, I don’t have to worry he’s going to want marriage in return, considering he’s currently married to my sister.

“I think I need to find a way to contact my new brother-in-law,” I tell Rori with a sigh.

“You’re not going to try and work it out with this Alessio guy?”

I give a wry laugh. “Babe, he’d sooner see me tied up on a spit and roasted over an open fire after what happened in Spain. Maybe in a while, after he’s calmed down and I have everything figured out with my brother-in-law, I can talk to him again and we can get to a friendly state.”

“And how are you going to talk to your brother-in-law?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet. There has to be someone out there that can get me his number or give me a way to get in touch with him. Alessio told me the first night we met that his name is Nico Armani.”

“It’s ringing a bell. Pretty sure that’s the name of one of the other Dons in New York that I came across in my search. From what I remember, he’s one of the top ones, even above your family. So if you’re going to have another badass in your corner, I don’t think you can go wrong there.”

“Hopefully I’ll be safe with him, and I can get to know my sister. I just have to hope she’s a good person and not a total bitch, but Alessio seems to like her, and he doesn’t seem to be the type to deal with a bitch.”

Rori snickers. “Other than you, you mean?”

“Fuck off,” I huff without any heat. “And like I said, he’s probably going to just kill me instead of dealing with me anyway, if he catches me before I can contact Nico.”

“Alright, well, I’m glad you have a plan, but you need to have a back-up to that plan, babe,” she cautions. “I also think you need to consider talking to Alessio sooner than later. The last thing you need is him after you too. Now, go and relax and let me know if you need me, alright? And if you leave sooner than you plan, make sure you let me know where you end up, or I’ll be tracking your ass down, and I’ll be far scarier than any of those mafia assholes.”

I chuckle. “I believe that. I will, promise. Love you, Rori.”

“Love you too, babe. Talk soon.”

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