Page 15 of Little Dove

“I take it you didn’t find any food,” I summarize as I walk toward her.

“Nope. At least nothing that didn’t expire in the sixties. It looks like this place was used up until then, but I found a few papers from nineteen forty-nine. This was definitely a military installation, probably for the Cold War. But I found some things that suggest it might have been used during the Vietnam War, too.”

“I’m surprised there is still power and water,” I say thoughtfully.

“It probably runs on solar and rainwater, but yeah, when we get out of here, I’m gonna want the best meds you can get to make sure I’m not growing worms or some weird ancient bacteria. Even back then, the military was into some freaky shit, and they knew how to keep it hidden.”

“Yeah, we’ll do that,” I assure her.

I stop next to her and don’t bother to hide my amused smile when she tries and fails to lift the old typewriter.

“Need help?” I ask.

She looks up at me and glares. “You’re trying to piss me off, aren’t you? Yes, please pick it up, oh large one,” she mocks.

That sass of hers…

I lift the typewriter easily and watch as she inspects the underside, then the desk, but nothing appears, and she motions for me to set it back down. We repeat the same process with each of them but find nothing.

Amara scowls in frustration.

“We’ll find it,” I assure her. “But if it hasn’t been used in a few decades, it may be seized and not easily opened.”

Amara doesn’t acknowledge me; she just turns and surveys the room with critical eyes.

“They’re not going to make it obvious because that’s what anyone who broke in would be looking for,” she mutters absently. “No, they’ll need something close that they can get to quickly if there’s a breach, but also something that isn’t readily recognizable as an escape route. That eliminates that big machine because it’s too big and too damn heavy to move. The bed area is too open and close to the door, because if someone got in, they’d have a full view of the room and could see how they got out. The bathroom would solve the sightline problem, but they wouldn’t want water to splash and reveal any seams. So that leaves the kitchen, pantry, and that shelf there.”

It’s fascinating to watch her mind work. Amara is fucking smart, and pride swells in my chest. She’s had a hard life by all accounts, but clearly, that hasn’t stopped her.

Hell, when Urso and Zeno discover her analytical thinking, they’ll be trying to recruit her.

That thought has a scowl pulling at my lips.

Yeah, no, that’s not happening.

I may trust them both with my life, but until Amara is finally mine in every sense of the word, I’ll be keeping this to myself. I wouldn’t put it past either of them to fuck with me by trying to steal her away.

We spend the next hour searching the remainder of the bunker and find nothing. I can feel Amara’s frustration growing with each dead end, but her determination grows as well. I have a strong feeling she’s not going to stop until she finds it, but I don’t want her exhausting herself or getting hurt.

“Let’s take a break,” I suggest.

When she turns toward me, I assume to tell me off, I stop her with a quick, “We have a good six or seven hours left before our ride arrives, so there’s plenty of time to keep trying.”

She looks like she still wants to argue, but after a moment, she finally gives in. She turns away from the kitchen and moves to sit at the conference table, pulling her legs up under herself and resting her chin on her knees, staring straight ahead.

I move to sit at the head of the table to her right, turning my chair to face her. Her eyes move to me, watchful, before she finally says, “You said something about your father earlier. Do you have any siblings?”

I nod. “Two brothers and one sister. You’ll meet them all when we get to New York. I’m the oldest, then Alonzo, Urso, and Sofia. Alonzo is the one who is coming to get us. Urso is on his way from Sicily to New York with my father, Pietro, and the remaining Caruso brothers, and my sister is already in New York because she works for Nico Armani as his housekeeper.”

Her head lifts at that, a slight frown on her lips. “His housekeeper?”

A wry smile pulls at my mouth. “Sofia is stubborn and headstrong. She’s never had any interest in marriage or settling down, and she made that clear the minute she turned eighteen.She did a few odd jobs back home for a while, until finally, she told us she wanted to get out and explore. She found a job in New York with another Don as his head housekeeper, and she wanted to take it. She needed permission from Pietro because, technically, she worked for him in his home, but of course, he wasn’t going to deny her since she was so firm on her stance. And I think we all knew she needed a change. We just didn’t want her to be so far away. We did our homework on Nico to make sure she was going to be safe, and she was off. She’s been with him since.”

“Do you think she’ll ever move back home?”

I lose my smile. “No.” I sigh. “She’s built herself a life in New York, and it suits her.” Then I scowl. “And she’s currently… involved with Nico’s Underboss, so unless shit goes sideways with them, she won’t want to leave.”

Her brow shoots up. “I take it you don’t like him. Is he terrible to her?”

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