Page 88 of Little Dove

“She’s fine,” Massimo assures me. “All the women are fine, but she saw something strange, and well, you need to see this for yourselves. Especially Nico.”

We all look at each other, and then we’re off and running. I need to get to Amara. I need to see for myself that she’s okay. And then I want to know what the hell my brother was doing in there with them.

29

AMARA

A Little Earlier

“You can’t be serious,”Massimo sputters incredulously as he watches me grab a bunch of different things out of the cabinet and bring them over to the station that Rori is currently sitting at. “You really want to dye your hair blue or purple? Why?”

Rori gives him an amused smile from her seat in my chair. “What? Did you think this color was natural, handsome?” she teases.

“No, but I don’t understand this need to change what you have when it already works so well,” Massimo states, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I like to change things up every so often,” she replies, shrugging her shoulders. “Though you should brace yourself because I’m not only doing blue or purple, I’m thinking of havingAmara dye it black first, then add in some blue and or purple to make it really stand out.”

Massimo’s mouth drops open in shock. “Alonzo is going to lose his shit when he hears about this,” he warns her. “And,cara mia, I don’t think you want to get on his bad side.”

That is the wrong thing to say. Rori’s expression changes completely, from warm and open to cold and unfriendly. “Well, it’s a good thing that Alonzo has no say over anything I do, especially not my hair. It’s also good that I don’t give a damn what that overgrown jackass thinks or does. And if the only reason you’re here is to spy on me for him, then you can fuck off.” She turns away from him, staring straight into the mirror in front of her.

Guilt flashes over Massimo’s face, but he simply shakes his head and stalks away to sit in the wash station chair, arms crossed over his chest as he watches us. Gia and Sienna share a knowing look from their places in the seating area, while Sofia gives her brother an are-you-stupid look, which he promptly ignores.

I bite back a sigh and set my things down. “Alright, let’s talk about what you want to do before we get started,” I say brightly, pulling her attention. Her cold expression melts away into an easy smile. “As much as I would love to tell you that going black and adding in some color is going to be easy, it’s going to be a lot of work, and I’m not one hundred percent sure if it’s going to turn out as dark as you like it. The blue or purple won’t be a problem, but if we’re talking about going black, with the bleach on your hair, it might not take as well as you’re hoping. Not saying we can’t,” I rush to add when her face falls. “Just that we might have to do this in stages. We see if we can get to a dark brown today, leave it for a little while, and then we try to go as black as we can in a couple weeks once your hair has time to settle.”

Rori sighs. “I should have figured. I think a hairdresser told me that before, a long time ago. Okay, let’s scrap that idea for now. I do want to do it eventually, but I should probably wait until things are settled here first. So I guess that leaves us with a touch up on this, and maybe a style. What do you think?”

“I can still put blue or purple in this,” I assure her. “It’s much easier to do those on bleached hair and your hair is very healthy, so I think it will take nicely.”

Rori purses her lips silently and looks at herself in the mirror. “No, let’s leave it for now. If I ever have to sneak out of here or away from the bad guys, having color in my hair will make me easier to spot. But I want us to look at that option later.”

“If you’re sure…”

“I am,” Rori assures me firmly, turning her head to smile at me. “But I do want you to show me how to style my hair a little differently to make it fun. It gets boring doing the same things over and over again.”

I smile back. “Sure, I can do that. Let’s get started. Then, while you’re processing, I’ll trim Sofia’s hair.”

“Thank God,” Sofia calls in relief. “Dante’s rings get caught in it sometimes when he grabs it, and it ruins the mood.” Her lips pull up into a wicked grin, especially when Massimo makes a sound of disgust.

“I don’t need to hear that,” he tells her irritably. “And all you’re doing is making it easier for me to kill him.”

“Then you shouldn’t be in here,” Sofia tosses back. “This is girl time. But why do you think it’s okay for you all to go around sleeping with whoever you want, but I have to stay a virgin for the rest of my life? Sorry, Caruso, but I haven’t been one of those for a long time.”

He blanches. “I don’t want to hear that. As far as I’m concerned, you’re the Virgin Mary.”

Sofia scoffs. “Blasphemy, huh, Massimo? You obviously haven’t been to Church in a long time, because Mary was married and she also had children after she had Jesus Christ. You think they just fell into her lap?”

“Shut up,” he bites out. Sienna and Gia giggle, earning them a glare. Not that they care, they just grin at him. Massimo mutters something in Italian and Sofia scoffs, while Gia rolls her eyes. Sienna looks as confused as I am, but neither of us say anything. I focus on getting Rori’s hair prepped.

“Amara, do you think we could put a bit of color in my hair?” Gia asks. “I don’t know if I want anything drastic, but I would kind of like to highlight it a little.”

I glance over at her, assessing. “You’ve never had any product on it before?”

She shakes her head. “I’ve never seen a hair dresser before, and my father would never have allowed me to do anything to it.”

“Then you’ll be fine,” I assure her. “Though, if you’ve never done anything to your hair before, we should start with something easy. Nothing too shocking. Like maybe some dark caramel highlights or something. Then when you want to go lighter, you can and it won’t be so overwhelming.”

“Yes, I like that idea,” Gia beams. “Hopefully Nico won’t lose his shit.” She rolls her eyes. “I mentioned the other day that I might change things up, and he about lost his mind. It’s just hair, but try explaining that to him.”

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