Page 70 of Little Rabbit

Rori arches a brow at me in question. “She’s in a relationship with Nico’s underboss and her brothers don’t like it,” I explain. “And he is fine,” I add with a dramatic fanning of my face. “You haven’t met him yet, but you will, and you’ll see what I mean.”

Sofia grins. “He is fine, isn’t he? And the things that man can do with his mouth and hands?” She makes a sound of pleasure and we all grin. “We’ve never done the chase thing, but maybe we’ll have to try it some time.” Then she gets serious. “We’re almost there, and I think there is a way for us to see whether anyone is outside the door, but I can’t quite remember. I haven’t been down here since Dante first showed me.”

We all fall silent, and the tension between us increases. I check my gun again, just in case, and then move to the back of the group. Hades falls into step beside me, ears perked and listening intently.

When we reach the end of the passageway and I see the steel door, I remind myself that we’re going to be fine. I just have to hope shit hasn’t gone south outside the door and the assholes aren‘t waiting for us.

“We’re in luck,” Sofia says as she looks at the door. “There’s a one way peephole. I’ll have a quick look. If it’s clear, we can go out, get what we need and get back in here without anyone noticing. If someone is out there, we turn back and head up to Gia’s old room . Final stop will be the master bedroom, but I have a feeling that’s the first place they’re going to check, so we need to be careful.”

“It’s too bad Hades can’t smell through the door,” Rori remarks grimly.

“No, but we might need him to make sure that we can get away if someone spots us,” Sofia answers with a pointed look.

Rori nods. “He’ll do that. And honestly, half the time when you come up on any of these bastards, when they see a dog like him with their teeth bared, they freeze or scream, which gives you the time you need.”

“I’d be scared for sure if I saw him coming at me,” Gia agrees, but smiles at the dog. “I can only imagine what he looks like at night.”

“I was going to call him Diablo because so many perps call dogs of his breed the devil, but it never seemed to suit him.”

“Alright, the coast looks clear,” Sofia interrupts. “The main door is shut, which means that it’s been locked from the outside. But from the looks of things, there’s not much left. Be quick, grab what you can, and get back in here. Rori, you grab me another couple magazines, and a couple of blades.”

“What about cameras?” Rori asks. “If someone outside hacked in and sees us sneaking out of a hidden spot in a wall, wouldn’t that give us away?”

“They took out the systems with the second explosion,” Sofia answers grimly. “I heard Alonzo curse when he realized he couldn’t tap in to see what was happening. Knowing Dante, he’s already got his men getting them back up online, but that’s going to take a bit of time. But honestly, I’d rather them find out about it and try to get through that much steel than be left in here with barely anything to help us defend ourselves.”

Rori nods. “Alright. Let’s go then.”

Gia hesitates. “Are we sure we should do this? I mean, Nico’s going to be furious when he realizes that we left the safety of the passageway.”

“Technically, he only told you not to leave. He told me to keep you safe,” I point out. “Rori, you get my things, and I’ll stay in here with Gia.”

“Gotta love a loophole,” Rori grins. “On it. I’ll leave Hades at the doorway in case we need him either way. Hades!” She snaps her fingers and utters a command that I don’t quite hear.

“Was that Russian?” Sofia asks her curiously.

Rori nods. “I also trained him with German, Dutch, and Spanish commands just to be safe. But he won’t listen to just anyone’s orders. I have to give him permission. The only other person who can command him right now is Sienna.”

“Alright, then we have a plan. You ready?” Sofia asks briskly. Rori nods. Gia moves to stand back with me, biting her lip nervously. Sofia brings up her gun and very quietly and carefully opens the door. The door is so silent that if I wasn’t watching it, I wouldn’t have known it was opening. Sofia peers around it, and then silently motions Rori forward as they ease out. Hades follows them to the threshold, stopping and sitting in place.

Gia and I don’t move, don’t speak, and hell, almost don’t breathe, as we wait anxiously. We can’t see them, but I can hear them moving quickly, and I can see Hades’ head on a swivel, his ears twitching every so often. But the one thing we can hear now, without the safety of the soundproofing, are the screams and the bullets flying outside the armoury. I swallow down the fear and fiercely focus on the present. Worrying about Alessio isn’t going to help anything or anyone. That’s how mistakes happen.

Finally, Rori and Sofia return to the passageway, Hades jumping in last. Sofia quickly shuts and bolts the door again. We all breathe a sigh of relief, but I know we’re not out of the woods yet. Sofia and Rori quickly distribute everything, and I slip the extra magazines into my pockets, never more glad that I decided to borrow a pair of Gia’s cargo pants. They’re a bit short, and tight, but with the pockets, damn, I don’t have to worry about losing anything. I also tuck the two blades they snagged away for easy access.

Gia secures her own knives, though we don’t hand her a gun. “Do you know how to properly handle and shoot one?” I ask her when she looks at them uneasily.

“Not very well,” she admits. “Sofia’s been helping me, but I’m a slow learner.”

“She’s just not comfortable handling something with any kind of power to kill,” Sofia explains absently as she conceals a sheathed knife in her bra. “And she’s not ready to shoot to kill someone. Yet. But we’ll get her there.”

I nod. “Make sure you stick with us, and if things go south, then stick with Hades,” I tell her firmly. “He’ll protect you.”

“But won’t you need him?” Gia asks, frowning and glancing at Rori questioningly as she finishes getting herself all geared up.

“He’s trained to help, but he’s also trained to protect, and he knows that’s the priority,” Rori assures her. “But if I need him, he’ll come, so don’t worry about it. He’s been up against lots of bad guys and always come out fine.”

“Okay,” Gia says, though still looks unconvinced. “What do we do now?”

“Now we make our way back and we wait for the men to come and get us,” Sofia replies. “As much as I want to be out there helping them, distracting them is the worst thing we can do.”

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