Page 61 of Little Rabbit

“Maybe it’s just a distraction to give the extraction team time to get into the grounds,” Dante proposes.

“Could be,” I agree absently. “It also could have been his way of forcing us to bring both women here. He would know that we wouldn’t dare leave them vulnerable there. And Marco’s little stunt gave him the perfect excuse to set his plan in motion because he would know that you both would come right back to see to it.” The more I think about it, the more it makes sense, and the more I don’t like what it implies.

“You think he’s going to try and take both of them, and he wanted them both here to make it easier for himself,” Nico says tightly.

“It makes sense,” Dante agrees. “Shit. Which could mean the team heading for Sicily wasn’t going there after all, but possibly coming here. Fuck.” He pulls out his phone and is already barking orders into it, even as I shoot Alonzo a quick message. Alonzo gets back to me quickly and lets me know he’ll update the men and make sure they’re ready for anything. Then I send Lazaro a text to let him know the same thing. He’s already landed and is making his way by car toward the small town Aurelio was able to locate Amara in. Finally, I send a message through to Aurelio and Papa to let them know what we might have discovered.

Of course, within minutes, my father is on the line, with Aurelio tapping in. “These fucking Parisi’s never can do anything normally, can they?” he gripes. “But until we see if they do try to attack us just because they can, we’ll stay put here. How are things there?”

“So far we’ve been able to hit them all successfully, but we fully expect that they’ll be retaliating soon,” I explain. “We’ve tripled the guards, and we’ve got the best of them on patrol in case this extraction team shows up here instead of there.”

“Good. And I hear Lazaro is after the second found daughter?”

I give him a run down. “We can’t be sure, but it sounds like this one is a cousin to Sienna and Gia, which would make her Giovanni’s daughter.”

“What did you say Giovanni’s wife’s name was?” he asks curiously.

“Bianca Conti.”

He’s quiet for a moment and I can all but hear the name spinning around in his head. “I’ll call you back. I need to look into something.” Then he’s gone.

“Keep me updated,” Aurelio orders. “We can send another plane to bring the women back here if we have to. Or, if Rafaele doesn’t make a move here, we can send more men over there.”

“Thanks, Aurelio,” I say before disconnecting the call. “I guess now all we can do is wait and see what happens.”

“We need to put more men on the women,” Nico says tightly. “Two to three guards each. If the team they are sending to take them succeeds, I want to make it as difficult as possible.”

“We also need to get Sienna set up to access the passageways,” Dante adds with a pointed look. Nico scowls. “You know it’s the best way, and it will also ensure that they are safe because only we can access them.”

Nico huffs but nods. “Fine.” Then he looks at me and pins me with a hard glare. “I’ll give you, Lazaro, and Alonzo access as well, but this shit stays quiet, and you’re careful of when and where you use it. Most of my men don’t know they exist and I want it kept that way. Make certain your woman understands that.” I nod. That’s easy enough.

“I’ll get on that now. The sooner we’re ready for all of this, the better,” Dante replies. He moves around and sits down at his desk, tapping away quickly on the keyboard.

“I’ll contact Alonzo to get two more of our men on Sienna,” I tell Nico.

“I’ve already called up a couple trusted men for Gia,” Dante tells Nico absently, not even glancing our way. “They should already be on their way to wherever the women are.”

I pull out my phone, calling Alonzo, and frown when he doesn’t answer. I try again, but nothing. My gut instantly tells me something is wrong. He never doesn’t answer. “Alonzo isn’t answering,” I say tightly. “Dante, I need you to check and see if you can find him on the cameras.”

“You think they already tried to breach?” Dante asks, pulling things up on his computer. I round the desk to look over his shoulder, and I hear Nico moving to do the same. Dante moves through the security screens, but we don’t see Alonzo at all. We also don’t see anything that would suggest anyone trying to get on the grounds, or looking suspicious. “Maybe he went back to his room,” Dante suggests.

“No,” I reply instantly. “Alonzo takes his job seriously, and without Lazaro here, he knows he’s in charge.” Everything inside me is telling me that something is up, but I don’t know what the hell it is. I stare at the cameras, scouring the screen to catch a glimpse of him, but nothing. I see plenty of other guards and staff, but where the fuck is he?

Before I can leave the room to figure out what the hell is going on, my phone rings, and I relax slightly when I see Alonzo’s name. “Care to explain to me why you were ignoring my calls?” I bark into the phone.

“Probably because I have a fucking dog about to bite my balls off and a gun pointed at my head,” Alonzo bites out, making me still.

“Pardon me?” I’m sure I haven’t heard that right. Dante and Nico both stare at me, clearly having heard it too. All of us are tense. If the team made it onto the grounds, we need to get to the women. Fast.

Suddenly, a feminine voice says into the phone, “It’s his own fault. Instead of talking to me like a normal human, he didn’t want to listen. And before you send your forces out here, my name is Rori O’Brien. I’m here to see Sienna, and I’m not leaving until I’ve seen for myself that she’s alive and unharmed.”

I know immediately who she is, and while I’m pissed that she was able to sneak in here and get to one of my men, I can’t help but admire her. The woman has balls of steel to even attempt such a thing. “Ms. O’Brien,” I reply calmly. “I now know who to thank for all the sass that Sienna constantly throws my way, and her love of weapons to use against me. I assume that Sienna didn’t know you were coming?”

“Of course not. If I had told her anything, she’d have argued with me, and I didn’t have time for that. Now, are you going to come and get me and your man, or do I need to walk him back in there like this and embarrass him in front of all his friends?”

“I’m going to enjoy taking you down, woman,” Alonzo grits out.

“Oh, bless your heart,” she drawls at him, adding an exaggerated southern twang to her voice that has my lips quirking, despite the seriousness of the situation. “Now, Mr. Caruso, what would you like to do?”

---