Page 35 of Little Rabbit

“Well hopefully you’ll be here for a few more days so we can spend some more time together,” I suggest hopefully. “That or I’ll have to follow you to New York.”

She smiles. “You’ll always be welcome, Sienna. If you really want to go back with us, you can. Nico may piss off Alessio, but something tells me with Alessio’s antics he’ll be alright with that. I know what it’s like to not have choices, and you will have them, if I have anything to say about it.”

“Thank you,” I say with a grateful smile. “I’ll see how things turn out and then let you know.” Mostly because now I want to take some time and really think about my next move. And I need to do it away from Alessio.

“Okay. So what exactly do you do for work?” Gia asks me curiously.

We spend the next hour talking and laughing, and I quickly realize that this woman is genuinely nice. She hasn’t been corrupted by her—no, our—crazy family. We eventually make our way back inside, and into the bedroom. At first I think she’s going to leave, but instead she and I make ourselves comfortable on the bed and she shows me the TV that comes down from a hidden slot in the ceiling. “And here I thought we had money growing up.”

Gia grins. “The guest house where we’re staying has one of these and I love it. I told Nico I want one but he said we already have one in our room at home. Now all we’re missing is some popcorn. Unless you’re tired, of course. You’re probably exhausted and just want to sleep.”

“I’m good with watching something. I’m a little too wired to sleep now, with everything.”

“Good. Then I’m going to go and sneak us up some, and then we can watch something. I don’t know where Sofia went, but knowing her, she’s probably pranking her brothers while they’re all distracted.” She hops off the bed and scurries out, leaving me alone.

I lay back on the bed, staring at the canopy. My mind is running a million miles a minute. Being in this place, even for only a few short hours, is a whole new culture shock. I mean, hello, my own sister was kidnapped by a mafia Don and married him. It might be Stockholm Syndrome or something, but she certainly seems to care about him. Now I’m even more determined to spend some time alone with my new brother-in-law, because I want to know what kind of man my sister has found herself with.

Sofia’s words also echo through my mind that a war is coming, and if that happens, everything is going to be turned on its head again. It’s like I barely get my head above water to get air before I’m pushed back under to face whatever new problem is arising. I long desperately for my quiet life.

I just want it to go back to normal, where there is no mafia after me, no one constantly demanding I marry them, and where I can live my life like I have been for the last twenty-six years. It’s just so fucking hard to wrap my head around all of this. To see everything I’ve done up until now go up in smoke. Maybe someday I’ll come to terms with it all, but until then, I need to figure out how I can survive and not lose any parts of myself.

Growing up, I knew about the mafia, and I knew about some of the larger families like the Carusos. Of the bloodshed, the arrests, the wars in some countries that would spill out onto the streets and end with children becoming orphans and women becoming widows. My parents did their best to shield me, but even at my young age I knew what was happening was bad. That I didn’t want to be a part of it, and avoided it at all costs. Even when some of the kids at school started disappearing because their families got tied up in things that they shouldn’t have, I didn’t stick my nose in. But now, here I am, right in the middle of it all.

There’s probably some ironic, poetic statement to be made about all of this, but all I can think is that this bites. It fucking sucks, and I want to pretend for a little while that nothing in my life has changed, other than finding my sister, and doing something simple that most sisters would do at some point in their lives.

So I push all other thoughts out of my mind and grin when Gia comes running back in with some freshly popped popcorn, more wine, and even a couple boxes of chocolate that she’s found. “Now that’s what I’m talking about. What are we going to watch?”

“I haven’t seen much, so whatever you think,” Gia says easily as she climbs back into bed.

“How about we start with something funny?” I suggest, grabbing the remote to start flipping through the channels.

“Works for me,” she beams.

I lose track of the time as we watch show after show, laughing, talking and eating. And when I’m finally too tired to keep my eyes open, I smile and curl up next to an already sleeping Gia.

Yeah, okay, I needed this. I’ll figure everything else out in the morning.

19

ALESSIO

I walk into my suite, exhausted and ready to get some much-needed sleep, but the moment I open the door, I realize that Sienna is not here. The room is completely silent, the bed still made, which means that she hasn’t been back here at all. I grind my teeth, anger and frustration building inside me as I step back out and shut the door behind me. No doubt Sofia has them all off somewhere in the house doing some sort of shit that’s going to have the rest of us irritated or laughing, depending on who she picked as a target.

I head back down the hall and towards the kitchen, since that’s the most likely place for them to be.

Our planning session was a good one, and we’ve gotten a lot of key strategies in place in case shit goes sideways. We’ve also come up with multiple contingency plans in case they manage to get past any of us to the women. I have no doubt that Sienna will put up a hell of a fight, as will Sofia, but Gia is a whole other matter, and Nico was nearly rabid at the thought of anyone daring to touch her. Before, I’d have probably made fun of him for that shit, but after being around Sienna, fucking hell do I get it.

Which is exactly why none of that will ever be allowed to happen. Not as long as I’m breathing. And if I die, my brothers or the Cattaneo boys will take over shit. Won’t happen, but nice to know that fall-back is there.

When I reach the kitchen, I frown when I see how empty it is. Other than some wine glasses sitting on the island, there is no other sign that they were in here. So where the hell did they go? I make my way out back toward the pool and see nothing there, though there are a few more mostly empty wine glasses on one of the tables. I fight down the worry that Sienna has somehow managed to convince Gia and Sofia to run off, and head back inside where I immediately come face to face with Nico and Dante, who are both scowling, clearly unhappy at not being able to find their women.

“Where the fuck are they now?” Nico snaps.

“Knowing Sofia, she’s probably got them up to something,” Dante remarks, and I hear the amusement leaking into his voice. Nico and I glare at him, but he just ignores us and leans back against the kitchen island, waiting.

I pull up the cameras on my phone, scrolling through all the hallways, but see no sign of them. Then I open up the footage outside, but still nothing. Which means that they’re probably in a room somewhere, but only a few of them have cameras, and I don’t spot them on any of them. But then I stop when I see Sofia leaving a room down near Massimo’s room, and I narrow my eyes when I see her holding some dishes in her hand. But she doesn’t make her way toward the kitchen. Instead, she moves to Massimo’s door and knocks.

“What the hell is she doing?” I mutter under my breath as I narrow my eyes at my phone. Nico and Dante move behind me and look over my shoulder as I watch my younger brother open the door in nothing but a towel. I hear Dante make a low noise behind me and I say absently, “Keep that to yourself, Esposito. I don’t need to hear that shit. Especially not about Sofia.”

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