Page 95 of Little Dove

“Yes, but you would think that if the others were full and she was just moving things to the others, then they would also show wear and tear,” Rori agrees, moving to kneel next to Amara. “The other thing that you’re not noticing is that the other trunk and the suitcase have the Armani symbol on them. This one, it has the Esposito one.”

“How the fuck do you know about those?” Nico demands.

“I did my fucking homework,” Rori snaps at him. “It’s public record that your mother was Esposito’s sister. His only sister, at that. That means this trunk is one she had when she was living at home and brought with her. If she ever had anything that she wanted to keep safe, it’s going to be in here.” We hear a snick and I start, realizing that she’s already picked the lock. “There,” she announces triumphantly.

Everyone gathers around as Amara and Rori both open the trunk. It’s musty smelling, and full of dust, but it’s full of an assortment of things. Notebooks, spare papers, trinkets and jewellery. We start emptying the case.

Nothing really sticks out, but it definitely all feels personal. “Love letters and notes from Seamus,” I say as I look at the stack of old, yellowed letters. I read a couple of them. “Nothing of substance though. Most of it is Seamus telling her that he can’t wait to see her soon, and some explicit things he plans to do when he does.” I shoot Nico a wry smile. “Seems your mother and that Irish fucker were into some kinky shit.”

Nico doesn’t react to that. Instead, he says, “She must have loved him somewhat if she kept all this.”

“The letters date over many years, so I would say that this went on for a very long time,” I agree, quickly going through the stack before setting them aside. “We’ll add this to the stack to be scanned. Maybe they shared some things in there that can help us.”

A loud click sounds, and I look down to see Amara pulling up on the side of the trunk, and a hidden drawer slides out with a plain, black leather notebook sitting inside.

“Little sister, you need to come and work for me,” Urso exclaims excitedly. “Holy shit, you have a magic mind. How did you find that?”

“I just went to push up away from the trunk and I felt a slight depression in the wood,” Amara says in embarrassment. “When I looked at it, I could see the outline of a circle, and I just pushed down on it. That was completely an accident, I swear.”

She grabs the diary and hands it to Nico when I help her to her feet. He takes it and opens it, scanning the first page. He stills. “It’s a diary,” he finally says carefully.

Before he can say anything else, the door opens again, and Sienna announces excitedly, “Amara, you were right. They were pinholes.”

“I can’t figure out what they’re for,” Alessio says with an annoyed sigh. “Massimo either. We don’t know the city well enough.”

“I’ll have a look,” Dante says. “Did you get pictures of the holes with the areas behind them?”

Massimo hands his phone to him. He narrows his eyes as he looks at the pictures. “They look like they’re right over the houses of each family, but not quite. They’re just off, and just enough that at a glance, you might think they are, but if you look at them straight on, they definitely aren’t.”

“Meet up spots?” I suggest.

Dante nods. “That would make sense. Or they’re hideouts. And one of those just might be where Giovanni, Leonardo, and Seamus are now hiding. I don’t have any of these as known hideout locations for any of them.”

“We need to check them out,” Pietro says briskly. “Massimo, take some of our men. They’ll see Nico’s men coming and know instantly, and could go further into hiding. We need stealth.”

“I’ll need Lazaro or Alonzo with me if we want that level of stealth,” Massimo states.

“I’ll go,” I offer, anxious to see what we’ll find. I look at Amara. “You’ll be alright?”

She nods quickly. “I’ll be fine, and I’ll stay with my guards, but please be careful.”

“Always,colombina,” I promise. I lift her up to kiss her hard, before I set her on her feet. “Let us know of any new developments,” I order before we turn to leave.

Excitement hums through my blood. We might just get lucky, and we can finally make some moves in this bloody war.

31

AMARA

The room feelsempty to me without Lazaro, despite all the people around, but I throw myself into going through all the documents I can with the other girls while the men talk around us. Most of it is discussing next steps if they find any of the men they’re looking for are at those locations.

I force myself to tune it out as I go through things. I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for, but I’m hoping it will stand out so I don’t miss it.

“Damn, Nico’s mother was shrewd,” Rori mutters. She turns the papers in her hand to show us. “See these? These are profits and losses and suggestions on ways to make things faster and more efficient. There is no way that Seamus or anyone else was running this with all of this. She was in full control.”

“It’s hard to picture her as being a drunk or on pills with all this,” Sienna asserts thoughtfully. “I mean, you’d need to have your full faculties with this much detail.” She holds up another sheet that looks like an accounting record of some kind. “Thisis only a few months before she died, and it was still super detailed.”

“Maybe she was the one running it but it wasn’t her idea and she felt guilty?” Gia suggests. “So she drank and did the pills after she finished whatever she was doing that day so she could do it right, but then blank it out after?”

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