Page 78 of Little Dove

“What about Giovanni and Ivan’s men? Where did they go?”

“From reports and cameras, they went back to Ivan’s location, and they haven’t left since. They got back about twenty minutes ago, from the timestamps on the cameras in the area,” Aurelio finishes.

“Keep an eye on them,” Pietro orders. “We don’t know if they’re going to try a second attack when they realize none of their men have come back from here. We need constant watches, and double the guards on the women. His plan worked somewhat and he’ll be cocky enough to try again soon.”

“We need to get to that house he uses,” I remind them. “I bet any information about what he has on Ivan is there. He’s notgoing to trust it at their regular home, from the things the traitor said.”

“That’s assuming he was telling the truth,” Alonzo adds pointedly. “He could be sending us to chase our tails.”

“Already on it,” Urso calls out. “If he’s hiding shit, we’ll find it. We have a direction to look, and I’ll have our guys working round the clock. That Orlando prick is good, but he’s not as good as us,” he adds cockily.

“Alright, we know what we’re doing. Lazaro, I’ll leave it to you and Dante to schedule things with the men,” Pietro tells me with a nod. “For now, collect the women and get this place cleaned and reinforced. We don’t want any more surprises.”

“What about the passages?” I ask Nico and Dante. “Have they been changed to only allow access to you and the women?”

Dante confirms with a bob of his head. “But I only did that this morning. I don’t have Amara added yet, but we can set her up.”

“No one uses them unless absolutely necessary,” Nico adds firmly. “The biometrics may have been changed, but I don’t trust that Tommaso didn’t get in there and find the exits at some point. Any place in there could be compromised until we have time to thoroughly search them and make sure that no new ones have been created.”

“Well, there goes my plan to use them to sneak back into your bed, Boo Bear,” Alessio teases. “But that’s okay, because now we don’t have to hide our love.” He laughs like an idiot as he dodges away from the fist Nico aims at his face.

Pietro rolls his eyes. “Son, I worry about you.” He sighs. “Come, let’s get out of here. We have things to see to.” Then he looks at us and grins. “And I’m not the one who still has to deal with what I’m sure are a few very pissed off women.”

I share a look with the others, and see them all lose their smiles. Well, all but Alessio. He just grins and says, “Sienna willbe understanding. The most she’ll do is try to knife me, but that’s just foreplay. Someone needs to take a picture so we can add it to our collection.”

“You’re fucked in the head,” Massimo groans as we start to leave.

“Personally, I think it’s Sofia and Rori we need to worry about,” I remark as we head up the steps.

Massimo starts to laugh. “Oh, yeah, I fucking forgot about that.” He looks back at Dante once we’re all out of the basement and back in the hallway. “We might not have to kill you, with how pissed she was. She’ll do it herself, and we’ll just stand back and watch. Nico, I hope you have a backup ready.” Nico ignores him in favor of shutting and locking the door.

“You forgot that Rori has Hades. She’ll have him chomping on the first sucker to step through the door,” I remind them, looking at Alonzo pointedly. Alonzo just glares at me, making me grin.

Pietro shakes his head in exasperation and walks away, one of our men stepping into the hallway to follow him.

I’m anxious to get to Amara, so I head down the hall, ignoring the bickering behind me. I want to make sure she’s alright, because if not, I have a feeling that I’m going to be back at square one with her.

Or she’s going to run screaming, and I’ll have to chase her down and bring her back. Good thing I’ve studied this place so well, otherwise it’d take me days to find her.

25

AMARA

The shooting stoppeda long time ago, but no one has opened the door, and we’re all feeling the tension. I’ve curled myself up against the wall, knees to my chest, and have the blanket over my lap to keep from accidentally flashing anyone. Gia and Sienna have quietly chatted with Rori, while Sofia has remained mostly quiet and brooding sitting next to me. Every once in awhile I hear her mutter something under breath, but I can never make it out.

I watch her carefully out of the corner of my eye, wondering if I should be talking to her a little more. Getting to know her. She is Lazaro’s sister after all, and while family dynamics are foreign, I’ve heard and read plenty that you never want to be on the sister’s bad side. I really would like us to be friends, or at least friendly, but hesitation keeps me from saying anything.

Suddenly she looks at me and asks, “What do you want to know, darling? I can all but hear you biting your tongue.” Her tone is amused, not harsh or upset.

I blush. “Sorry, I just…I know you’re Lazaro’s sister, and you don’t really know me, so maybe…” I trail off, still unsure how to put my thoughts into words that won’t sound stupid or offensive.

“You’re nervous because I’m Lazaro’s sister and you’re sleeping with my brother,” she summarizes, her lips pulling up into a full-on grin now. “Darling, like I said earlier, as long as you’re both happy, and no one has done anything to force the other, I’m not going to involve myself. So don’t worry, I’m not going to come after you for anything like that.”

“Plus, she’s put up with all the crazies the lot of them have brought home over the years.” Sienna snickers. “Anything you tell her can’t be any worse than what she already knows.”

“They’ve told you the things they’ve done with other women?”

“Oh, more than that, I’ve walked in on quite a few of them,” Sofia corrects drily. “There are some things a woman can’t unsee, no matter how hard she tries to forget. To be fair, I was more traumatized with my own brothers than the Caruso brothers. They at least aren’t related to me by blood.”

---