Page 74 of Little Dove

“It’s a lot of work to carry thoughts through the rest of his body up to that big brain of his,” Sienna protests jokingly.

I snort out a laugh, making them all grin. “I make cracks all the time about the air being thin up there,” I explain, still giggling lightly.

“See? She gets it.” Sienna beams, glancing over at Sofia. “I suppose you’re used to it, growing up with them.”

“Papa has always been large, so I suppose, yes, I always expected my brothers to be the same,” she agrees. Then she grins. “I’ve made more than one jab at their height. They need it or they get a big head.”

“So, what exactly do you know?” Sienna asks, drawing my attention back to her. I give her a quick rundown of everythingLazaro told me in the bunker, and the few things since then. “Okay, so you know the basics, but not much else yet,” she summarizes when I finish. “Well, strap in, baby, because I’m about to take you on a wild ride.”

The longer we’re talking, the further my mouth drops. Shock and horror batter me in equal measure. When Sienna finally finishes, and the others have added their input, I stare at them, letting it all sink in.

“So, let me get this straight,” I say slowly, pointing at Gia. “This entire mess started not because Nico married you, though that has a lot to do with it, but because he actually freaking kidnapped you and wouldn’t let you leave. Everything else is just a happy by-product because of that.” I point at Sienna next. “You ended up running all over the freaking globe to avoid Alessio, thinking he was going to force you into a marriage contract. He almost caught you twice, and one of those times you tied him naked to the bed, and sent pictures of him with your knife to his throat to Lazaro and his guards before you escaped again.” I point to Rori. “You showed up even though you weren’t supposed to and decided to involve yourself because you couldn’t let Sienna handle it alone, and you decided to let Hades have a few snaps at Alonzo’s balls to prove a point. Then, a traitor that worked for Nico helped my brother, and some other guy that was supposed to marry either Gia or Sienna, break into the house via a secret passage and try to kidnap all of you. You all ran away but ended up getting caught in the backyard, which is actually a giant rose maze that Nico’s mother planted. Sienna killed my brother when he tried to attack her, while Alessio killed the other guy that tried to take you, and now that family is out of the running.” I point at Sofia. “And you killed the double agent traitor guy. Do I have that all right?”

“Pretty much,” Sienna says with a shrug. “Wild, huh?”

I gawk at her. Wild?Wild?“It’s a good thing Lazaro never told me any of this, or I wouldn’t have come within a hundred miles of this place,” I cry. “What kind of stupid Hollywood B-movie bullshit is this? This does not happen in real life!”

“Maybe not to this extreme, but crazy things like this happen all the time in this world,” Gia says sympathetically, reaching out to pat my forearm. “It’s not normal, but sometimes good things come out of it. If Nico hadn’t taken me, I’d either still be in my old apartment, being constantly beaten and berated, or I’d have been married off and still dealing with the same things.”

“And I’d be dating all the wrong men and living a boring life running my parent’s graphic design company,” Sienna interjects. I blink at her. “I know that doesn’t sound bad, but you haven’t met some of the men out there on the dating scene.” She shudders. “It’s hell. With Alessio, I never have to guess what he wants or what he’s looking for. And it’s exciting all the time.”

“What’s your rationale?” I ask Rori drily. “That Hades gets an unlimited supply of free chew toys?”

“Pretty much,” Rori chirps with a grin. “I’m normally chasing after the bad guys and getting myself all gross. This is much more fun. There’s no pay, but money isn’t everything.”

Before I can ask Sofia her opinion on all of this, there’s shouting and cursing outside along with the sound of gunfire. I tense and scoot toward Sienna and Gia, while Rori is instantly on her feet, barking a command at Hades, and Sofia rises next to her, even as Hades lets out a low snarl.

Fear grips me. The guns sound far too close, the yelling too loud for this space, and I’m just praying that Lazaro is safe. Because the minute I see him again, he’s going to get a fucking earful.

24

LAZARO

I puta final bullet in the head of the man sprawled out on the floor in front of me, gripping his shoulder from where I just shot him. I don’t give a fuck about anything he has to say, and the Russian bastard knew he was dead anyway. When I turn, I see Massimo and Alonzo handling the last few who are trying to escape.

When they finish, we move to the middle of the hallway, looking around at the bodies littering the floor. “Any of them ours?” I ask.

“We lost two here,” Alonzo says grimly. “I’ll have their bodies sent back to their families. Neither of them is married or have children.”

“We’ll ensure they’re taken care of,” Massimo nods. “And I’ll let Aurelio know to send money to their families for anything they need. There will probably be more, but knowing that most of our men are fine, is a fucking relief.”

“These fuckers certainly gave it a hard try to catch us by surprise,” I agree, kicking at one of the bodies by my feet in disgust.

“None of them seemed all that trained. These were probably their new recruits or men they didn’t give a damn about,” Alonzo sneers with a shake of his head. “Waste. But what can you expect from Russians, and a man that has never run anything in his life?”

On that we’re in agreement.

Massimo’s phone rings and he quickly pulls it out. “You’re alive then?” He smirks to whoever is on the other end. He listens, agrees, hangs up, and then looks at us and says, “Nico and Dante have three hostages and have taken them to the basement. We can head there to question them while the soldiers deal with the bodies. The cops tried to involve themselves, but Dante and Aurelio handled them without too much of a fuss. We need to get down there.”

“And the women?” I ask, my mind turning to Amara, who is probably scared out of her mind.

“They’re safe in Amara’s new salon,” Massimo says as we make our way down the hallway, side-stepping or walking over the men littering the floor. “Mario, Thomas, and Nico’s man Peter are guarding the door and the hallway. They killed men that tried to get through, but no one succeeded.”

“Good,” Alonzo says with a nod. “Rori is in there with Hades, though, and no one would get past those two without a fight. And I let her keep a gun, so she isn’t without protection either.”

“Sofia’s in there too, and she’s pissed.” Massimo grins wickedly. “And this time, she’s not pissed at us, but at that slimy fucker who thinks he can touch her and live. He might not be looking so pretty when she’s done with him.”

Alonzo and I share conspiratorial smiles, but a small part of me kind of respects him for being willing to face her wrath if itmeant she was safe. Not that I’ll ever tell him that. Fucker can handle a pissed off Sofia all on his own.

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