Page 36 of Little Rabbit

“Fuck off, Caruso,” Dante growls back at me. I’m starting to think Dante is a bit more smitten with Sofia than we originally thought. I’ve always figured he never had any intention of marrying her, but maybe I’m mistaken. But that’s a problem to puzzle over another day.

I watch as Massimo glances at the room next to his, and then nods at Sofia. Sofia turns away, and I can see her laugh when Massimo waves a hand at himself. Sofia smacks him in the bare stomach and then turns and walks away, down the hall toward the back steps leading down to her own room. Dante says nothing, but I hear him stalking away and share a knowing look with Nico. I put my phone away and head out of the kitchen, Nico keeping in step with me.

“Dante is hard to put down, but it would be interesting to see you try,” Nico says drily.

There will be no try, but I leave that unsaid. Dante stands no chance against myself, my brothers, or the Cattaneo brothers, and he knows it. Not to mention, if he hurt her, Sofia would take care of him long before the rest of us even had a chance. But that’s a problem for another day. Right now I need to find Sienna and haul her stubborn ass to bed. Because she’s not spending the night away from me, even if I have to drag her back to my room kicking and screaming.

When we get to Massimo’s door, I pound on it twice and wait. We’ve always agreed we would never enter each other’s rooms outside of an emergency, but if he keeps me waiting too long I’ll gladly handle his wrath. I’m tired, and I want to get to bed before I lose my shit completely. Thankfully, Massimo answers the door, though he’s still in his towel. “Brother,” he says with a smirk, then looks at Nico. “Looking for your women, are you?”

“I don’t have the patience for any of your bullshit,” Nico snaps at him. “Where are they?”

“Sofia said they’re next door, asleep,” Massimo answers with a shrug. “Told me to make sure you two don’t disturb them or some shit. Said I’d do my best but no promises, knowing how growly you are over your women. Well, how Nico is, anyway. But I got the feeling you’re going to be the same where Sienna is concerned, right, ‘Lessio?”

I narrow my eyes at him in warning at the use of the shortened version of my name. No one calls me that, and hasn’t since we were kids. Massimo is clearly trying to get under my skin and I hate that it’s working. “Fuck off,” I growl at him. Then I turn and stalk toward the bedroom door next to his. I open the door and move inside, but stop when I see that Sienna and Gia are indeed in the big bed, curled around each other, and holding each other tightly.

I hear footsteps behind me, and I glance over to see that Nico and Massimo are both there. Massimo is smiling like an idiot, while Nico is staring at the bed with an expression I can’t quite make out. Like he’s not sure if he wants to pull them apart or leave them be. I know the feeling because I’m feeling it myself, while at the same time being stupidly jealous that Sienna is holding on to Gia the way I want her to hold on to me. Like I’m her lifeline, the only one she needs.

Nico moves toward Gia’s side of the bed, and Massimo gives a low chuckle. “Wanna bet he’s about to get his ass handed to him?” he whispers to me. I arch a brow at him in confusion. We both know Gia’s not strong enough to hurt him. He nods towards Sienna, who I’m quickly realizing is starting to rouse, and give a low curse when I see her body going tense. Shit. I’m moving toward the bed, but I’m not quite fast enough.

The moment Nico pulls back the covers and reaches for Gia, Sienna’s eyes burst open and she launches herself at him, clearly not quite awake but acting on instinct. “Shit,” I hiss as I rush forward, and I hear Massimo laughing like the crazy bastard he is behind me. Sienna rolls herself over Gia, startling her awake with a squeak, her legs coming up and her foot connecting with Nico’s jaw hard enough to send his head snapping back, making him stagger back a couple steps. Sienna keeps moving, rolling from the bed to her feet, bringing her foot out and tripping the already unsteady Nico and sending him sprawling to the floor.

I get to her just before she can do any more damage and say loudly, “Sienna, stop. You’re safe. It’s just Nico and I.” Sienna struggles for another few seconds, and I hold her tight to me until she finally seems to come back to herself and fully wake up, going still. “That’s it, coniglietto, you’re safe. I got you,” I soothe, as I look and see a horrified Gia finally coming fully awake behind her. I look over my shoulder and see Nico getting to his feet, his face murderous, and his mouth bleeding. “Nico,” I warn tightly as he stalks forward.

“It was an accident, Nico,” Gia gasps, scrambling out of bed and staggering forward toward him. “Are you alright?” she asks when she gets to him, cupping his face in her hand, and then dabbing at the blood coming from the corner of his mouth.

“Oh fuck,” Sienna gasps, shoving away from me, her own expression turning horrified.

“It’s alright, Sienna,” I try to calm her, though I know shit could go south real quick if we don’t get this under control. “It was an accident.”

“No it wasn’t,” Sienna says tightly, before deliberately stepping around me, even when I try to grab her arm to stop her. Damn stubborn woman. Like the badass that she is, she faces Nico, her shoulders back, though her face is pale. “I’m sorry, Nico. I was caught in a nightmare, and when you went to grab Gia… I just woke up and didn’t realize it was you when I reacted. I promise I only did that because I thought someone was trying to take her or harm her.”

Nico says nothing, just stares at her, fuming. Gia is standing next to him, wringing her hands and looking terrified, like she’s not sure what Nico is going to do. “Nico,” Gia whispers, her tone desperate as she gently touches his chest, like he’s going to fly off the handle. “It was an accident,” she tries to tell him.

“You are lucky you are a woman or you would be dead now,” Nico grits out, staring at Sienna.

Oh fuck no. I pull Sienna behind me, blocking her from Nico’s view, and pin him with a dark look of my own. One that I rarely let come to the surface. “Today is the day you make your wife a widow if you so much as speak another threatening word to Sienna,” I tell him icily as we stare at each other. Neither of us is willing to back down, and I can see him struggling to control his anger.

Gia’s face goes ashen. “Nico, please, calm down,” she begs.

“Stop it, Alessio,” Sienna orders me sharply. I don’t even glance back at her, staring at the man who dares to threaten my woman. Ally or not, I will follow through with my words, consequences be damned.

Nico’s face darkens even further as he shoves Gia behind him, and the tension in the room rises. It has nothing to do with the women anymore, and everything to do with us. Massimo comes over, any laughter gone from his face as he barks, “That’s enough, both of you. You’re acting like idiots. Nico, you shouldn’t have tried to grab Gia.” Nico lets out a snarl at that, and pins Massimo with a furious look. Massimo doesn’t back down.

“No one comes between me and Gia, ever,” Nico hisses. “Not even her fucking sister.”

“Oh for fucks sake.” I hear Sienna huff. Before I can tell her to be quiet, I grunt in pain at the feel of her elbow getting me hard in the kidney and sending me curling forward. She steps around me, out of grabbing range and moves to stand next to Massimo. It’s my turn to snarl at the sight of her beside my half-naked brother. “Shut up, you overgrown neanderthal,” Sienna snaps at me. Massimo chokes back a laugh, and then lets it full out when she looks at Nico and snaps, “And that goes for you too.” Nico doesn’t say anything, but the way his fists clench has me quickly straightening. “God, and you wonder why I didn’t want to come here. Listen to yourselves. I don’t give a flying fuck right now that you’re a Don. For all I care, you could be Toucan Sam, because it doesn’t fucking matter. Considering your position, you’d think that you would have enough brains to know not to grab someone when someone else is sleeping, especially when that other person has already been through one kidnapping only a number of hours ago. If I’d had a gun or a knife, you’d probably be dead.”

“Sienna,” I warn her, because she’s already on thin ice and I can hear it cracking with each word, and the disrespect she’s showing Nico.

“Shut up, Alessio,” she snaps at me. “I’m getting to you.” She looks back at Nico and pins him with a look that is almost scolding. Any other time I would be amused as shit, but I can’t manage it. “I’ve already apologized, but I’ll do it again. I’m sorry that I kicked you and then knocked you on your ass. You got me in the middle of a nightmare. Next time, at least fucking wake me up first. But I will not apologize for protecting Gia. I would think that you would be grateful I was taking care of her and not just letting someone try to take her. If you had been anyone else with nefarious purposes, she’d have had the chance to get away.” Those words seem to do the trick as Nico’s eyes start to clear and he unclenches his fists. But I don’t dare relax yet. “You want to still be pissed at me, fine. You want to take your pound of flesh, we’ll do that later. I have other issues to handle first.”

“Like fuck,” I bark.

She ignores me, as does Nico. He stares her down for another couple of seconds and then gives her a curt nod. “Fine,” he says stiffly. “And no, if I’m going to take my anger out on anyone, it’s going to be this stupid fucker.” He jerks his head at me and I scoff. As if he can take me. He looks back at Sienna. “That was your one and done. You ever try to get between Gia and I again, sister-in-law or not, you and I are going to have problems.” It’s a clear warning and threat all rolled together, and Massimo stops me before I can launch myself at Nico, furious that he would dare even say those words.

“She’s my sister, and you are not going to keep her from me,” Sienna tells him coldly. “Especially not when I’ve only just met her. And I wasn’t getting between you, I was protecting her. I’m going to give your adrenaline-addled brain a chance to calm down and I’m sure you’ll see the difference.” I hear Gia giggle behind Nico, and Nico rounds and glares down at her.

Gia steps around her husband and says simply, “I think we all need to just go our separate ways for now. Clearly we’re all tired and irritable. Sienna apologized, you accepted, honey, and it’s done. Right?” Then she looks at Sienna and adds with a quick smile, “I really need you to show me how to do that.”

---