Page 65 of Little Rabbit

“Because he looks at you the way Nico looks at me, even when I’m doing something to annoy him. Like you are his whole world, and no one else matters. And when he thought Hades was going to hurt you, he was panicked. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Alessio that way before. Not even with the whole wedding fiasco and people shooting everywhere. Oh! That reminds me, we need to talk to Nico and Dante about getting you access to stuff. That’s going to be important. Come on, we should do that right away, just in case.”

“What kind of stuff?” I ask curiously as we head toward Nico’s office.

“Oh, you know, certain rooms like the pool and all that,” she says absently, but my gut tells me that there is definitely more to it. Color me curious. “Oh, and we need to give you access to the gym and stuff too. You know, so you can keep teaching me to kick some ass.”

I laugh. “With Rori here, you’ll be even better off. She’s the one who really worked to train me the last few years. She has tricks that I still haven’t quite learned.”

“Do you think she’d be willing to show me?” Gia asks hopefully.

“Of course she will.” I loop my arm through hers. “Rori’s a bit like a rabid squirrel sometimes, and she can be intense, but since you’re family, and important to me, you’ll be important to her. Just be aware though, that if you want her to work with you, she is not going to go easy on you. It’s the best way for you to learn.”

“Honestly, I’m excited to learn. I hate feeling powerless, and I’ve been powerless far too long in my life.” She grins at me. “That means soon enough it’ll be me kicking your ass.”

“You’re a quick study, but I fight dirty,” I tell her with a wink.

We reach the office, pausing at the door when we hear what sounds like Pietro’s voice. But then we step into the room when we hear what he says next. “I called up an old contact of mine, and I’ve got some information that might be important. The Conti’s are always wanting to make connections, and it seems they were hoping that when Bianca married Giovanni, they would get access to his connections and power. But Giovanni completely cut her off from them and went back on any agreements, stating that he didn’t deal with small-time. Even then, he thought himself the Don and not the underboss. This branch of the Conti’s were from California, but Bianca’s grandfather was a major player on this coast at one time, and the consensus is Giovanni was hoping to deal with him, not her part of the family. It burned the bridge, but the Conti’s don’t involve themselves with their daughters much either, so they left it be. But my contact told me that there was also another discussion about ten years ago between Conti and another family, the Valentinos, and eventually Leonardo and Giovanni De Luca.”

“They made a deal with Aldo Valentino?” Alessio asks, surprised. “That bastard doesn’t do shit with anyone. What could there be to gain from him partnering with someone in the States?”

“But why were the Conti’s there?” Nico interrupts. “What would that accomplish? One would think they wouldn’t want anything to do with Giovanni if he killed their daughter, or granddaughter, depending on who was at that meeting.”

“Because they wanted to have a connection to our family so they could launder their money through Father’s company and also have a way to get their supplies into the States,” Gia says, drawing their attention. I look at her in surprise. Her face has a grim set to her expression.

“Gia,” Nico says calmly, gesturing her forward. She unhooks her arm from mine and moves toward him; Dante moves over, letting the guards know to wait outside, and shuts the door. That’s when I realize they’re talking to Nico’s computer screen, which means that this must be a video call. I step further into the room, and Alessio motions for me to come to him where he’s standing slightly behind Nico. He wraps his arm around my waist and presses a kiss to the top of my head before turning back to Gia and Nico.

“And how do you know this, cara?” Pietro asks Gia gently.

“Because I would sit in the passageways in my father’s house and listen when they were talking, or if I was close enough, I’d sit in a chair nearby and pretend to read. No one paid any attention to me, and my father and brothers figured I was too stupid to understand what they were talking about,” Gia replies with a bitter smile. “Carmen’s maiden name was Valentino. She was part of the agreement to keep an eye on my father, which is why he didn’t ever hurt her, and never allowed my brothers to go against her.”

No one says anything for a long moment, but the tension is palpable. “And Carmen was the youngest daughter to Aldo, was she not, Gia?” Pietro asks finally.

Gia nods. “I didn’t deal with her much, and tried to stay out of her way as much as possible. She hated me because I was another woman in what was now her house; I reminded her of my mother, and whenever she saw me, she often would tell me how worthless I was or slap me. After about a year, she told Father she didn’t want me in the house anymore, and he got me the apartment. But sometimes I wondered if she figured out that I was listening, because every so often I would catch her watching me with this suspicious expression on her face.”

“And was another deal struck with Giovanni?” Nico asks her.

“Not that I heard. Giovanni was only there because he was the underboss. The Conti’s, I’m not sure what was up with them, but it could be that the Valentino’s worked out the deal that the Conti’s wouldn’t go after Giovanni for my aunt if Father agreed to the terms. I think Giovanni was pissed he didn’t get to marry Carmen or another one of the daughters, and he screwed that up by what he did to my aunt.”

“Do you know if it was your aunt’s father or grandfather at the meeting?” Pietro questions.

“I think it was the Grandfather, because I remember Father saying the Conti guy was old and had been friends with this Aldo guy for a long time.”

“Giovanni is lucky he didn’t die that day,” Pietro remarks thoughtfully. “Luigi Conti is not a man to cross, especially because of his strong alliance to the Valentino’s. I think they have a marriage pact in there somewhere, but I didn’t look into it that much. Either way, Leonardo would know the danger of not agreeing. Not only would they have killed Giovanni and his sons, but they would have killed Leonardo and his entire family for the insult.”

“Do the Valentino’s know that Carmen is dead?” Alessio asks.

“My contact said all is quiet there. But it won’t be long before they take notice. Word is going to get around, and when that happens, we will be the least of Leonardo’s worries,” Pietro answers grimly.

“Which is exactly why he’s staying so close to home, and probably trying to wait this out,” Dante suggests. “He needs everything to look normal until shit can get sorted.”

“I still don’t understand why Carmen was with Marco,” Gia states with a frown.

“What do you mean, she was with Marco, topolina?” Nico asks, eyes going sharp. “She followed you through the passageway to the room, but Marco certainly didn’t.”

“No, she didn’t,” Gia says with a shake of her head. “When we got to my room through the passageway, she showed up in the doorway of the closet and called out to Marco, Sebastian, and Matteo in the bedroom. I’m not sure how she figured out where to find me, though.”

Nico and Dante share a tight look, and I get the sense they might know, but instead of answering that, Nico asks, “What did she say to you?”

Gia goes quiet as she thinks. Finally, she frowns and says, “She said she hoped I enjoy being your whore because I was about to learn what really happened to whores like me. And that they were going to have to fix the epic fuck-up I created. Though I mostly think that was more about me marrying you and not getting the deal done with Alessio as my new husband.”

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