Page 117 of Little Deer
“No,” Lazaro snarls, bristling.
“Lazaro, move,” Amara says, voice soft.
“Amara…”
“No. Move. If she were going to hurt me, she’d have done it when she locked me in the secret office.” Lazaro finally steps aside, but only enough to allow her to step forward, not in front of him. Amara’s expression is broken as she stares at Tatiana. “Why did you never come to see me? Or help me after?”
Tatiana regards her for a moment. Finally, she sighs. “Because my life isn’t one that you want to be a part of, Amara. The horrors you were put through, I see every fucking day. I tried to help you, but you went off grid and I couldn’t find you. You just disappeared. I sent people to look for you, but nothing. When you finally resurfaced, I sent through money to pay for your tuition at beauty school.”
“I got tuition assistance from the government,” Amara corrects her.
“That’s what it was framed as. Couldn’t exactly say it was from me, now could I?”
Amara stares at her. “And after? Why didn’t you show yourself to me then?”
“I have a job to do, Amara, and you’re a grown woman.” Hurt flashes across Amara’s face. “I’m your sister in blood only, Amara. This isn’t going to be a big family reunion that ends with me being in your life every day. That was never going to be our relationship. You have the rest of them for that. We’ll probably never see each other after today.” Then she pins a cold, lethal look at Lazaro. “But I’ll be keeping tabs. ”
The warning hits, and Lazaro narrows his eyes at her furiously. Amara looks like she wants to cry, but she just gives one slow nod of her head.
“And Gia?” Nico asks coldly.
Tatiana glances at him, and then Gia, who steps through. “By the time I found her, she was already out of that house and in the apartment. The abuse I didn’t know about, but since she was on her own, I felt she was safe enough. Clearly, I was wrong.”
Nico lets out a low snarl, eyes flashing in fury. “You let her suffer,” he hisses.
“Nico,” Gia says calmly, looking at Tatiana assessingly. “You wouldn’t have fared better with our parents either,” she tells her. “Whatever you suffered to get you here, it was horrible, butit wouldn’t have been easier if you had been the one to stay. Giovanni would have either killed you or married you off to the first man he could.”
Tatiana doesn’t answer that, just cocks her head slightly in acknowledgment. “I was busy, but when I came back, I was going to figure out a way to get you out. It seems your husband just beat me to it. If I didn’t see how much you loved him, I would find a way for you out of here too, but clearly he’s good in bed, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to put up with the stick up his ass.” Then, like a switch being flipped, the same warm and welcoming look slips back over her face. “I’m sure Alessio can help you out with that, right, Pookie? Or should it be Boo Bear?”
Then the mask is gone, and back is the assassin, seeing and hearing everything. The way the woman can switch is fucking messed up as shit. It’s like she’s two completely different people.
“None of this explains how you know Rori,” Alonzo snaps, drawing her attention again.
Tatiana sighs. “You’re not going to get off of that, are you?” She rolls her eyes and looks at Rori, waving her hand. “Get it out so we can get this show on the road. I’ve already wasted too much time, and the longer I’m here, the quicker news about me will spread, and I really don’t want to ruin the surprises I have waiting.”
Rori glares at her. “You’re such a pain in the ass,” she mutters.
“Not yet, but keep it up and you’ll find out,” Tatiana replies sweetly, but the look in her eyes is a warning.
Rori looks at Alonzo, and then Sienna. “I’m sorry,” she says again. “I…I haven’t been honest with either of you.” She takes a deep breath, like she’s bracing herself. “My name isn’t Aurora O’Brien. Well, it wasn’t originally. It’s the identity I’ve adopted.”
“What?” Sienna asks, her face twisting in confusion. Alonzo is silent, just watching her.
“My name is Rayea Antonova,” she says calmly.
I suck in a sharp breath, and I hear the others doing the same. The only one who doesn’t seem to react is Papa. He stares at Rori, eyes narrowed, like he’s seeing her for the first time clearly.
“What? What does that fucking mean?” Sienna demands, looking at us all in confusion and frustration.
“Because she’s the daughter of one of the most feared men in Russia,” Tatiana explains helpfully. “The kind of man that the different families hire when they want information extracted in the most brutal ways possible. He insisted that he wanted all his children to be known to be the same.” She gives Rori a pointed look.
Rori glares at her. Sienna is looking at her in horror. “When I got old enough, I told him I wouldn’t do it anymore. He nearly killed me, because daring to defy him was a death sentence. The only reason he had to stop was because I reminded him I was promised to someone, and he wouldn’t dare to ignore the Pakhan. I was shipped broken and bruised to my husband the next day to be married.”
“Husband?” Sienna repeats.
Rori nods. “I was married to a man named Mishka Belov when I was sixteen.”
“Belov. The same ones that your father, or whoever he is, works for?”
