Page 44 of Little Dove

Gia shakes her head sadly, while Sienna regards me carefully. I can see the wheels in her head turning, and I also can see thequestions in her eyes. She wants to know how far that abuse went, but I’m not about to share that with her. With any of them. I told Lazaro, and that’s as far as that information is going. Thankfully, Sienna doesn’t ask those questions, and instead asks, “So after you aged out, you went to school to become a hairstylist?”

“Yes. I’ve always been good with hair, and I taught myself a lot when I was in the last home. I helped a couple of the other girls in the home with their hair, and I thought it’d be fun to do for a job, so I worked and went to school. I finally saved up for my own salon, and opened it a few months ago.” I sigh, my shoulders slumping. “But I guess that’s over now. I can’t go back there, so when this is all over, I’ll have to figure out how to start again in a new city.”

Sienna and Gia share a look, but I can’t decipher it. “We’ll help you however we can,” Gia promises firmly. “But in the meantime, I’d love it if you would help me with mine, and I’m sure there are other people in the house that would love to have theirs cut and stuff, too.”

“We could open you up a little spot right here in the house!” Sienna beams excitedly. “There has to be a perfect room in this gigantic place, right?” She looks at Gia expectantly.

“I’m sure there is,” Gia agrees with a grin. “Hell, we can build one if we have to. You heard Nico, I can do whatever the hell I want. And if it means he doesn’t have to leave to get his hair done, even better. Not that it really needs much done to it, but I think it’s starting to get long in the back.”

Somehow, I can’t see the scary Don allowing me anywhere near his head, let alone with scissors, but I’ll let her have that thought for now.

“I don’t know if your husband will be too keen for me to set up a salon in his house, Gia,” I warn her. “I mean, if they’regetting their hair cut, that would mean they’re not working, right?”

Gia waves that away. “Everyone is entitled to a break, and it’s not like we’ll be ordering them to have a haircut. And if there’s a lot of people, then we set up appointments for them, just like a regular salon.”

“I’m about ready for my hair to be touched up, so that will save me from trying to find a new stylist here,” Rori agrees with a smile. “And you were worried about not having anything to do. I think this solves that problem, right?”

“I guess, but I don’t have any tools here to do hair.” Or the money to buy the supplies, but I don’t mention that. Maybe Lazaro will let me borrow some money and I can pay him back. Or maybe I can figure out a way to sell the clothes he got me. Surely all those clothes will be worth something. The fun part will be getting out of here to meet someone.

“We’ll send someone out to get some. All you have to do is make a list,” Gia assures me. “Let me get a pen and paper and we can get started.” She hustles out of the bathroom, a pep in her step.

Sienna looks at me, her gaze intense. “If you don’t want to do any of this, Amara, you don’t have to. You’re free to tell us to fuck off.”

“I don’t want to be bored,” I admit. “If I can at least do something like hair, that might make me feel less useless.”

“You’re not useless,” Sienna says firmly. “And we don’t want you to be bored either, because right now, we’re stuck here. I’d love to say that you’re going to see Lazaro or any of the other men, but they’re all going to be busy with all the shit going down outside the walls, so that leaves us women to find stuff to do on our own. And short of convincing Gia to start redecorating this whole place, we’re running out of ideas.”

“I kind of like the house,” I admit.

Sienna blinks, then rolls her eyes. “You’re a hairstylist, doesn’t that mean you’re supposed to like color?” she asks me jokingly.

I shrug. “I do, but sometimes spaces call for dark tones, and too much color will just throw it off.”

“If you say so,” Sienna huffs. “I really hope when we find the other two girls, they’re on my side of the color wheel. I mean, you, Gia, and Rori all are on that side, while I’m over here by my lonesome. I’m not quite sure where Sofia sits, though, so maybe she’s on my side.”

“Where is Sofia anyway? I haven’t seen her since we got back,” Rori points out.

“She’s running the house,” Gia answers as she rushes back in, a notebook and pen in hand. “She was pretty pissed at Massimo and Zeno for making a mess of one of the gym spaces where they were sparring. Some things got broken, and then they made a mess of the showers or something, and I think she read them the riot act for like an hour.”

Sienna grins. “Yeah, that sounds like her. We’ll have to pull her away from all of that soon so she can get some peace.”

Gia snorts. “When her family is here, I doubt that’s possible. Especially not with them wanting to kill Dante every time they see him.”

“She’s Lazaro’s sister, right?” I ask. “She’s the one that Lazaro said is dating Nico’s guy?”

Gia and Sienna nod, both of them grinning. “And she doesn’t give a damn about their opinions on that particular subject,” Sienna explains. “I think you’ll like her. She can be a bit forceful when she needs to be, but I have a feeling that’s a family trait.”

An image of Lazaro with steely determination in his eyes comes to mind. Yeah, I can definitely see that, if she’s anything like him. Though, the prospect of meeting his sister is a wholeother hurdle I’m not sure I’m ready for. It’s one thing meeting the women of my family, and another meeting his.

“Don’t worry, Sofia is wonderful and she’ll love you,” Gia assures me with a warm smile. “But since I’m sure you’re not ready for all of that, how about we make a list of what you need so I can send someone out to get it. And be as specific as possible so they get exactly what you want.” She holds out the notebook and pen.

I hesitate. “I don’t want to put anyone out.”

Gia shakes her head. “You’re not putting anyone out, Amara, I promise. So start writing. I can’t wait to see what you can do with all of this. I want to knock Nico’s socks off.”

“Just before you start,” Rori interjects with a wicked grin, “any chance you can add some non-permanent hair dye? You know, the kind I could use in a certain someone’s hair that keeps pissing me off?”

I blink at her. “What did he do?” I ask. “No, wait, what did you do to him first that had him yelling at you earlier?”

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