Page 42 of Little Rabbit

Waking up and realizing Sienna wasn’t in the bed with me sent me into a brief panic, but when I saw that her bag was still by the door, and the steam on the bathroom mirror, I knew she hadn’t run out, and calmed myself. I also manage to keep myself from storming around trying to find her. Mostly because I need a moment to get my head clear and figure out what the fuck I’m going to do, and I know no one is going to let anything happen to her.

So I climb into the shower and stand under the spray, and take a moment to let the hot water melt away some of the stress. But, of course, my mind immediately turns to the woman slowly driving me insane. Not only because of who she is, but also because she’s making me question far too many things about myself to feel comfortable. Last night, it was like a punch in the gut to see her suffer the way she did. Holding her in my arms while she sobbed for almost an hour was like taking a flaming knife to my heart. It cut deep and burned with each tear she shed, and each sob that tore from her throat. To see her in the middle of a panic attack nearly gutted me. I’m still shocked I was able to calm her down. Massimo tried, but she just kept curling away from him, and it made something in me snap.

I don’t think I’ve ever been as scared as I was, seeing her in that moment, struggling to breathe. Guilt assaulted me, knowing I caused that. I was so focused on finding her, bringing her here to keep her safe, and making her mine, I forgot how that would look to her. And the fucked up part is I wouldn’t change a fucking thing. I would still have chased her all over this fucking planet to bring her back here, to have her with me. Maybe I would have been a bit more up front, but for the most part I would repeat the past week and a half.

Maybe I have fully become the monster I told her I was.

As I wash myself, I think about her reaction to my words about how I’m not as nice as everyone thinks. She wasn’t as shocked or horrified as I figured she would be. I was taking a chance by telling her, and I’m an asshole for using her emotional state against her to do it, but now that it’s out there, it’s like a weight off my shoulders. Now, there is nothing holding me back from being myself, especially with her, and moving this relationship of ours forward.

Because we are definitely having one, even if she thinks it’s easily ignored.

I finish my shower, dry off quickly, and head into my walk-in closet to get dressed for the day. Well, what’s left of it. I need to find my stubborn little rabbit and make sure she’s not getting herself into any more trouble.

When I leave my bedroom, I shoot a text to Massimo to ask him if he’s seen Sienna. He calls me. “I haven’t. Is she alright?” Concern etches his voice.

I don’t answer right away, not sure how much I want to reveal. Not only because I don’t want to embarrass Sienna any further, but also because that moment was for us, and I don’t want to share anything we talked about. “She was fine when she finally fell asleep,” I reply briskly. “You’re sure you haven’t seen her?”

“I just finished in the gym, so I haven’t been around to see her. I think Lazaro was up your way though, so check with him.” Then he hangs up and I dial Lazaro’s number.

The first thing I hear is Sofia snapping, “I will kill you where you stand, brother, if you even think about it. Fuck off.”

I arch a brow and ask, “What did you do now?”

“I merely said that I wanted to have a word with my sister’s man,” he says in a deceptively calm voice. “After all, the man should know better than to let me catch him with his hands on my sister or any parts of her body.”

“A simple request. Though you should wait until I can help.”

“I don’t need your help, Caruso. And since I’m sure you’re looking for Sienna, she’s not with me. I’ve been a bit preoccupied.”

“Preoccupied?” Sofia yells loudly enough for me to hear clearly. “You walked around the corner and saw me taking advantage of a quiet fucking moment with Dante and decided to be a giant dick about it. Alessio, if you don’t get him out of here right now, you’re not going to have a bodyguard or best friend left.”

“Lupina,” I hear a voice scold lightly.

I curl my lip at the cute little nickname. A man does not need to hear that about his sister. Ever. “Nevermind, you can kill him where he stands. And if he’s going to call her some stupid nickname, at least pick one that’s accurate. Diavola would be more appropriate. But first, ask Sofia if she knows where Sienna is.”

Lazaro poses the question and I roll my eyes when I hear a scuffle on the other end until I hear him groan, “Fuck, woman, what the fuck?”

“If you’d have handed me the phone we could have avoided that,” Sofia snips. “And lucky us, I saved you from the ability to procreate, so I think all is well. Now, Alessio, what do you want?”

“I want you to stop injuring my men. Really, Sofia, you couldn’t have just knocked him on his ass or something?”

“What do you think? Besides, it’s good practice. Sienna and I are going to work with Gia today on her self-defence. So once you find her, let me know so I can grab her. Nico is being an absolute bear today; I think Gia could use the break. And I really need to high-five Sienna for giving Nico that bruise.”

I don’t make a remark about that, though I don’t bother to hide my smirk or the pride that I feel for my woman and her obvious ability to handle herself. “I’ll let you know. Now stop beating up on my men, or I’m going to beat up on yours.”

“My man could wipe the floor with you, but whatever.” Then she’s gone and I can only shake my head. Time to find my woman and make sure she’s alright.

I walk around for another half hour trying to find her, and my frustration rises. No one seems to have seen her, and the cameras only seem to have picked up small glances of her. Finally, I see her heading down the hallway toward my father’s wing. I make my way there, figuring that he’s probably seen her. I walk into my father’s office and feel a quick sense of relief seeing her there with him, though her face looks confused and uncertain. Still, knowing that she’s clearly fine and hasn’t found herself in trouble eases something inside of me.

“Is everything alright?” I ask as I approach her, careful to keep my steps cautious, in case she’s upset. “I woke up and you were gone.”

“I wanted something to eat but ended up here when I got lost. Your father was kind enough to feed me and keep me company,” she says before she looks at Papa. “Thank you.” There’s a wealth of meaning in those two words, and I wonder what the hell they talked about. I’ll be pulling that from my father first chance I get.

I tug her into me and press a kiss to her forehead, wanting that connection. She stiffens but I ignore it. She better get used to it, because I’m not going to stop. So I tell her, “Sofia was looking for you. She was saying something about doing some training with Gia.” I give her a questioning look to make sure that’s going to be okay with her. I don’t want her to overexert herself.

“Gia wants to learn some self-defence so I agreed to help her,” she answers as she pulls away from me. I want to yank her back, but I let her go. Why is she pushing me away? Does she really think that after last night, we’re going to go back to her trying to stay away from me? Fuck that. “I guess I should go and find her,” she continues.

I pull out my phone. “I’ll text her so she can come and collect you. Better than you getting lost again and missing each other.”

---