Page 100 of Little Deer
“Well, it’s like what we figured. She hated her life with Giovanni, and he abused her all the time. He let his sons abuse her too. She found out she was pregnant with me and she was terrified of the life I was going to have.” She glances at Sofia.“And she mentions talking to Dante’s mom about it. Honestly, the way she wrote it all out, the way she planned it, it’s amazing. She was so smart.”
“Did she mention how she worked with our mother?” Sienna asks.
Amara nods. “There was a day that Giovanni brought my mother over and the two of them were left together. They had guards, because apparently Giovanni didn’t trust that she wouldn’t try to run or poison your mother against him somehow. Some kind of bullshit like that anyway. Anyway, your mother mentioned that she found out she was having a girl, she was so upset about it, and she didn’t dare tell Leonardo. Not then. My mother carefully approached her about it, unsure if she could be trusted. It took a few more meetings before she finally had your mother ask to help her get her baby out too. My mother didn’t think it was for the same reason as her, but she figured it was better for both me and Sienna to get out before it was too late. She took the things that her father and family did and taught her, and then she replicated it. When it was successful getting me and Sienna out, she immediately helped when Lucy was born.”
“And the final girl? Your sister?” I ask.
“Alessandra is what she called her. After one of her friends back home. She said that she had a hard birth with her, that she was terrified that Giovanni would come in too soon because it was taking too long, but that it actually worked in her favor. He was irritated it was taking so long and left the house with the boys and it meant she could get her out easier.”
“She must have felt so relieved.”
“Ada was right, she had Ada meet her with someone from the Russians. The warehouse Ada met them at was outside of Esposito territory technically, which is why it worked. Four girls went out and all four of them went to different people fromthere. They stuck with Italian for Amara and Sienna, but for Lucy she was taken out by someone from the Irish, and that meant the final girl was sent through the Russians.”
“How did she manage that?” Sofia wonders. “I mean, how do you make connections with each family?”
“The staff,” Amara answers. “She figured out that the staff all talk to each other, regardless of family. They all shop, they all know the ways the families operate, and they know the ways to get the babies out without anyone seeing. But she was careful to always make sure that she only picked people she trusted and told your mother to do the same. People that would never talk or even whisper amongst themselves or the others.”
“And how did she pick Ada?”
“Apparently Ada has always had a good reputation amongst every family, being kind, warm, and smart. There was also a rumor about her helping out with something else and not being caught a long time ago, but nothing specifically mentioned. Anyway, she took the chance talking to her, and she also mentioned about the fact that Ada wasn’t sure if she wanted to help, fearing for her own son. But when she gave in and agreed, my mother said she knew everything would be okay.” Amara swallows hard and her eyes go wet. “Her last entry was a few years after my sister was taken out. She didn’t write much over the years after, and when she did, it was mostly to say how much she wanted out. How much pain she was in. Giovanni was pissed at her for being sick and refusing to sleep with him that day. He beat her so much that she was sure she was going to die. I don’t know if she did, but I kind of think she probably couldn’t take it anymore.”
A heaviness settles in the air. We all glance at Gia.
“The only thing I remember is that she died, but not from what. Giovanni told us that she fell down the stairs, but eventhen I knew that was a lie, and she died when I was still very young so I don’t remember much,” Gia says sadly.
Amara nods. “It’s okay. I guess for me, I’m just glad that she isn’t suffering at his hand anymore. Maybe thinking that we were out and gone and never coming back was a comfort for her.”
I could see it. If I was in her shoes and had to get Soren out, I’d have to take comfort in that or I’d never live with myself. Even now, my gaze searches out Soren, still sleeping in Amara’s arms. The thought of being separated from him is unbearable to even consider.
“I wonder if the guys have found out anything else about her,” Sienna muses. “I mean, she’s the last of us to find. I really hope she’s alright wherever she is.”
“They said it was like she disappeared, but I’m sure if anyone can find her, it’s Zeno and Urso. Or Alessio,” Sienna adds. “I don’t know how that man gets his information, but he always knows things before other people. It’s freaky as hell.”
“He’s always been that way,” Sofia huffs. “It was fucking annoying growing up, especially if I wanted to sneak out and have a bit of fun. He always knew about it somehow, even if I never said anything to a soul. I accused him of having hidden cameras or someone following me, but nothing.”
Sienna nods. “Yeah, he always knows what I’m thinking before I do, or if I’m going to try something. Not that I’m complaining because it usually ends very well for me.” She gives a wicked grin, and I can’t help but smile. Guess we know what that means.
Suddenly, shouts sound outside the door, making all of us freeze. Then the sound of the gunshots and loud explosions boom outside the windows. I’m moving fast, grabbing Soren from Amara’s arms as Gia barks, “Upstairs to the library. There’s an entrance into the passageways."
I don’t need to be told twice as fear squeezes my heart. What the hell is going on? And where is Massimo?
47
MASSIMO
A little bit earlier
“I finally gotinto Orlando’s files,” Urso announces tiredly, exhaustion covering his face. “I was up all night since I didn’t have a lady in my bed.” He gives Zeno a pointed look. Zeno gives him an unrepentant stare back. “Anyway, what I found is exactly what we thought. Orlando has information on everyone and everything. On every family, including us and Nico. He’s got records of all routes that every family used, warehouse locations, and the names of soldiers and connections in both families. He also has records of the secret routes that Leonardo, Seamus, and Esposito have been using for years and records of the profits of what they’ve all been making.”
“And he’s been using it to play them against each other like we thought?” I ask.
He nods. “He kept copies of all emails and texts he sent. The fucker is anal as shit. He’s been the one sowing dissent between Marco and Leonardo for years. Making subtle digs about howMarco could be doing so much better, that sons overtake their fathers, all that. It looks like he tried the same thing with Lorenzo, but it didn’t work. But he certainly wasn’t all that upset that he’s now the new heir for Giovanni.”
“And any information on what Giovanni is up to with Ivan?” Papa asks, leaning forward expectantly from his seat on the sofa.
Urso nods. “It looks like Orlando figured out that the fourth girl, Alessandra, was taken to the Russians, and since that was his sister, he encouraged Giovanni to talk to Ivan. Ivan apparently played dumb, that he didn’t know, but Orlando made notes that he doesn’t believe him. The woman the baby was given to by Ada was a woman named Anya, who was a well loved staff member of Ivan and his wife. They viewed her as one of the family, so he didn’t believe that she would do this and they wouldn’t know. He actually suspects that Ivan is raising the girl as his own.”
We all share a look. “How the hell would they get away with that? Everyone would have noticed that his wife wasn’t pregnant,” Lazaro muses. “Were there any girls born around that time to the Russians that you remember?” he asks Nico.
