Page 22 of Little Dove

Smug bastard.

“Yeah, okay, whatever. Still not happening. Now, I’m done with this; I’m going exploring.”

I force myself to pull away from him.

I need to put some space between us before I forget my vow.

8

LAZARO

She’s far toocute for my peace of mind. Amara is studiously avoiding looking at me, and it only amuses me further. I should be helping her search, but I far more enjoy watching her. The woman moves quickly, but with a surety that many of our own trained soldiers don’t possess. Or maybe she just doesn’t want to face me, but either way, it’s working for her.

She moves her hands along the lower part of the wall, shifting upwards when she reaches the end and starts over, heading in the other direction. She’s so certain that there’s something here, and I hope she’s right, mostly so I can see her eyes light up again. It’s my new favorite expression.

Well, second favorite. The top spot belongs to a look I haven’t seen yet: one of rapturous ecstasy as I prove to her that I can fit.

I bite back another laugh. I’m surprised she didn’t notice anything when she punched me in the balls earlier. Still, I wasn’t kidding; it will take some work before she’s able to take every fucking inch of me. In my bed. Against the wall. Anywhere she’lllet me. I make a mental note to pick up some supplies when we get to New York.

Something tells me she’s not very experienced, though I can also understand that. After reading her background in the file, I’m surprised she’s adjusted so well. There is definitely information missing, particularly about the father and son in her past that the fucker in her salon mentioned, but I want her to tell me. Then I’ll know who to kill, slowly and painfully. Anyone else who’s ever dared to harm her will meet the same fate.

Watching her, I feel a surge of protectiveness. This woman will never want for anything again, including her safety, for the rest of her life; not if I have anything to say about it. I just need to convince her of that, and hope she’ll come to realize that the best place for her to be is with me.

“Aha!” Amara proclaims triumphantly, and I watch as she teases at another tiny notch in the wall and pulls it. There’s a low, mechanical groaning sound before, slowly, the wall starts to crack apart to reveal the outline of a door. Damn, these guys were clever. Amara steps back and gives me an expectant look.

I push open the door, shining my light inside to find that it’s another exit with a ladder leading up to a grate. This time, though, there’s no outside light. I wonder briefly if something has collapsed over the top of it, but I can still smell and feel a breeze coming through. “Stay here,” I order before I cautiously climb the ladder. When I reach the top, I peer out, but it’s too dark to see anything. It’s a risk to use my light in case anyone is lying in wait, but if no one has found the other exit or entrance yet, it’s unlikely they’ve found this one. Deciding to take the risk, I turn my light on and quickly realize we’re in a cave of sorts.

“What is it?” Amara calls up.

“It’s a cave. I’m going to check it out.” I push off the grate and hoist myself out, looking and listening. The cave is silent other than the soft sound of the breeze floating through. Followingthat breeze should lead to the exit, so I head in that direction, keeping my steps light. When I finally reach the end I stay tucked into the shadows along the wall, out of view, realizing that the mouth of the cave is halfway up the rock face, just above a short ledge. I carefully poke my head out, but I see nothing and no one. The sun is setting behind the cave, casting long shadows across the desert in front of me. The heat has lessened, but it’s still dry and heavy. I don’t want to stay out here too long. I glance around and spot what might have been a trail, though most of it has long since eroded. I follow it with my eyes but can’t see where it ends.

I make my way back down into the bunker and let Amara know what I’ve found. “Makes sense. They probably had another way down, but yeah, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to check the other rooms to see if there are any more doors. You coming?”

“Is that a hint for me to leave you alone so you can add more punishments to your tally by doing something dangerous?” I ask her dryly as we leave the bunker and make our way through to the next one.

Her answer is a glare up at me. Yeah, that’s what I thought.

We search the third bunker with no success, but we find another hidden door in the fourth. On the far wall, to the left of one of the big shelves, she finds a passage that leads to the same exit that sits at the end of the hall. And thank fuck I decided we should stay together, because the daft woman wanted to climb each shelf to see if anything was at the back of them.

Yeah, she and I are going to be having a long chat about her putting herself in danger. Something tells me that she’s going to try the same shit at Nico’s. And if she manages to get into his passageways, I don’t even want to think about what she’ll do. Probably map it all out so she can avoid me forever.

That’s not happening. I make a mental note to talk to Nico and Alessio; they need to keep their women from telling Amara about them.

Amara and I make our way back into the main bunker, and as we go, I turn everything off and shut out the lights. There’s no point in using up all our power. It’s been fine so far, but who knows how long it will last. No sense in courting disaster.

I shut the hidden door and turn back to find Amara yawning. Tenderness fills me. Of course, she’s tired. “You should rest, dolcezza,” I encourage her, stepping forward.

She gives me a sleepy look. “It’s too early to sleep,” she argues. “Besides, we’ll have to leave soon.”

“Not for another three or four hours, depending on how fast Alonzo rallied everyone to get here. You have time to rest. You’ve worked all day, run from Marco’s men, fought with me, and spent hours searching this place top to bottom. Anyone would be exhausted. Go and lie down on the bunk and rest. I’ll wake you when we’re ready to leave.”

She frowns. “Aren’t you tired?”

“Is that an invitation, dolcezza?” I tease lightly. I want nothing more than to hold her close as she dreams, but that will have to wait. I won’t be sleeping until we’re free of this bunker and in the air, on our way to New York.

Her face flames, even as she scowls. “No. I was just trying to be considerate. You might be tired too.”

I smile at her. She’s fighting this, but her feelings are already beginning to change. “I am, but I’m used to long days like this,” I assure her. “Go ahead and rest. I’ll watch over things.”

---