Page 12 of Little Deer
Kida moves beside her sister, clearly ready to help her out of bed if they have to. She adjusts a quieter Soren into the crook of her arm, her free hand going to her sister’s shoulder in silent support.
“And while I would love to be able to do that, I’m afraid it’s not possible,” I explain patiently. “Like I told your sister before we brought her and Soren here, your family are not good people. And yes, I know that in your eyes we aren’t either, but if you want to talk about the degrees of bad, they are as low as you can get. They are the kind of people that will kill you if you run out of use for them, they will kill your sister, and they will either kill or sell off your son. That is the kind of people they are.”
“And you’re saying you’re just saints,” Kida snaps sarcastically.
“We’re better than the fucking devils themselves,” Zeno replies tightly, glaring at her. He looks back at Lucy, who’s watching him distrustfully. “You don’t have to like us, and you don’t even need to trust us yet, but you need to understand that we are your better option. Here, you are safe, and no one is going to hurt you or allow someone to hurt or disrespect you. Or did you miss the part where we just kicked out a doctor who talked to you the way he did? Would your family have done that? No.They would have laughed and ignored you and never even let you see a doctor in the first place. They would have sold you off to someone they wanted an alliance with, and they’d have never let you see your son again.”
Lucy flinches when he finishes his tirade. I shoot him an annoyed look, which he ignores.
Seriously, he’s as bad as Alessio spitting shit out at the worst times or doing it so he can get a rise out of people.
“Lucy,” I say gently, hoping to salvage some of this entire disaster, but the door opens again and in walks Rori, Hades quickly moving to her side.
She walks up to stand beside Kida and says in exasperation, “Men really are pigs. Like, seriously? He thought he was gonna get away with that?” She winks at Lucy and gives her a sly smile. “Don’t worry, I let Hades take a small bite out of his ass for that one. Not enough to do more than pinch, but he was a good boy.” She rubs Hades’s head, making the dog’s tongue loll out happily. She looks around, as if suddenly noticing the tension, but the look in her eyes tells me she already knows what’s going on and is stepping in to help out. I don’t know if I’m happy about that or not. “What seems to be the problem? Did you all want a turn? Sorry, but Alonzo already drug his ass out of here so I don’t think we’ll get him back.”
Kida and Lucy look at her skeptically. “We were just being told all the reasons why we should trust you all,” Kida finally says. “A group of mafia assholes who?—”
“Hold on, I’m not mafia,” Rori interrupts firmly. “Them, yes. Me, no. I’m only here because my best friend needed me, and I’ve stayed around to help out. Well, that and to annoy the shit out of them all in one way or another. But nope, I’m a bounty hunter by trade.”
“Something tells me that they might be making you think that you can stay here but really they’re just making sure youcan’t leave,” Kida proposes suspiciously, giving me and Zeno dark looks. Lucy watches Rori carefully, even as she reaches up to take her son from Kida.
Progress. If she’s holding her son, then maybe she’s not thinking of running. She won’t want to risk him.
Rori lets out a loud snorting laugh, and Zeno and I share a look. Oh, this is going to be good. I almost want to record it to send to Alonzo, but instead I focus on Rori’s response.
“You’re joking right? They wanted to get rid of me the minute I showed up. They tried too. And while they might enjoy having me around now for Hades, I can guarantee you that more of them would shove me out the door as soon as possible. Unlucky for them, I like to stick my nose in shit, especially ones that involve my best friend, who is now in a relationship with their brother.” She waves her hand at Zeno and I. “And until this whole mess is settled with your family, I won’t be going anywhere.”
“You won’t be going anywhere after this either,” Zeno predicts with a smirk. “Alonzo doesn’t like to let his toys run away.”
Rori’s eyes narrow, but she doesn’t rise to the bait. “Look, I get it, you don’t trust anyone here, and really, you probably shouldn’t beyond the basics. But I can tell you that if you have a choice, here is the safest. Here, you have a kickass huge house, good food, and a safety you will not have on your own. Everything in you is telling you that you need to get out of here, right? Well, if you leave, you are putting yourself right back in danger. Out there, you have so many different people after you that it’s going to be hard to keep them all straight. Here, the most you’re going to get is some surly mafia men that’s like a requirement before they sign up. Well, other than that one,” she adds, jerking her chin my way. “He’s about as calm as they come.”
“Could have fooled me with how he talked to me at the apartment,” Kida mutters. Lucy narrows her eyes at me while rocking Soren.
“You were throwing things at me, and I tried to be nice and charming first,” I remind her mildly. I look at Lucy. “Rori is right. I know this is a lot, and there’s a lot more going on here than we’ve explained yet, but when we do, it’ll make a lot of sense.”
“You mean like how the man who tells me he’s my biological father was going to sell me to someone for some kind of alliance?” Lucy asks me quietly, eyes direct. “And you expect me to just believe that you don’t have some grand plan for me too?”
“We have a plan, but it’s nothing like that,” I promise. “Our plan is to keep you, your sister, your son, and your biological sisters and cousin safe from them all. What Leonardo and your brothers said to you, that’s exactly what they want. They want power, and in our world you get that through force, including a war, or through marriage. Marriage is a simpler way to gain the assistance of another powerful ally or family, and that’s all he wants. You’re the only daughter he has left that isn’t associated with one of us either by marriage or engagement. It limits his options and that makes him unpredictable.”
“They said the name Gia,” Lucy says quietly. “Who is she?”
“She’s your younger sister.” Lucy doesn’t react to that, just watches me expectantly. “Gia is the only daughter that wasn’t snuck out from under Leonardo’s nose,” I continue. “You and your older sister, Sienna, were.”
“If they were treating her so terribly, how did she get out and to you all?” Kida asks suspiciously.
Rori snorts and I shoot her an annoyed glare. She just grins and asks sweetly, “Yes, Massimo, how did that happen?”
“Someone kidnapped her I’m guessing,” Lucy says, her eyes never leaving me. There’s a quiet steadiness there, like she’sweighing everything I’m saying before making judgment. Maybe it will work in our favor.
“Kidnapping seems to be a mafia staple,” Kida gripes.
“Gia’s husband did kidnap her.” Why lie? She’ll hear about it eventually. “But it got her out of that situation. She married him, and now they’re perfectly happy. Hell, the man is crazy about her to the point of it being nauseating.”
“It really is,” Rori agrees, making a face. “All these lovey-dovey couples really are a pain in the ass.”
“Sounds more like Stockholm Syndrome to me,” Kida mutters.
“You’d think that, but nope. They just love each other. Sure, she wasn’t happy at first, and she did try to escape, but they figured their shit out.”
