Page 18 of Little Deer
Alonzo shrugs. “I guess, but I don’t know if she’s willing to involve them. She says her family doesn’t know she’s here, so the more people she involves the worse that it might be. She might not be part of whatever the Belovs are in, but her father and brothers are, and if the Belovs see this as a slight of some kind, then we might have issues coming from the west coast too.”
“Hmmm, yes, that’s a problem,” Papa agrees. “Alright, we’ll leave things alone for now. We send for more soldiers and dogs, and we get ready. Everyone will need to work in shifts.” He looks at me. “What about our newest guest? How is she fairing?”
“She’s freaked out, but I think she’s going to calm down once she knows her son is going to be fine. Sofia and Rori are with her and her sister now.”
“The sister isn’t pleased that she’s here,” Zeno adds, lips pinched in displeasure. “Out of the two of them, the sister is going to be the one that’ll cause problems.”
“What do you expect?” Urso argues. “Lucy was kidnapped, and her sister was brought here with her nephew, only to find out that she’s now wrapped up in a mafia mess. I mean, I’d be pretty upset too. Sofia will get them calmed down. Rori, she’s either going to stir the pot or calm them down too, but Sofia can handle that.”
“Rori isn’t going to cause problems,” Alonzo snaps. “She’s pissed about a lot of things, but she won’t risk putting Sienna in danger, and that extends to Gia and Amara too now that they’ve all become close.”
“She’s a fucking bounty hunter,” Nico snaps back at him. “And how the fuck does she know about these chameleon people? Everything is pointing to serving her own agenda.”
Alonzo’s face hardens and he takes a step forward, before I grab his arm and yank him back. A considerable feat considering the size of him. He yanks himself away from me, but he thankfully doesn’t say anything as he glares daggers at Nico.
“Everyone calm the fuck down,” Papa snaps, his face pinched in displeasure. “None of this shit is helping, and getting pissed at each other is how we fail. So all of you, get a fucking grip.” He pins every one of us with a hard glare minus Aurelio. “Now, for tonight, we have things we all need to be working on instead of this. Lazaro, you work with your father and Dante to ensuresecurity is good around the women, and everything is set with the guards and for the ones coming. And you will keep your issues about Sofia seeing him out of it,” he adds pointedly. Aurelio and Lazaro share a quick look that I know translates to not fucking likely. Papa pretends not to see it. “Nico, you, I, and Alessio are going to work on our plans to figure out our next moves. Alonzo, you and Massimo ensure that we’re locked down for the night. Massimo, I also expect you to check in on our newest guest and make sure there are no problems. The rest of you, get to work on figuring out anything in those documents and in that room that might be helpful in this fight. Nothing matters but that. I’m fucking done with it, and it’s time we end it so we can all go home and get back to our normal lives.”
Everyone moves to do as ordered. Even Nico looks subdued, but that’s the way our father is. He’s the kind of man who gives orders and you listen, no matter who you are or your rank. I glance at Alonzo as we head out.
“We should probably check on Lucy and Kida with Sofia and Rori,” I tell him calmly. “Then we’ll get to work on the rest.” He doesn’t answer me, just turns and heads for the back stairs that will lead to the upper floors.
I follow him, anxious to get back and check on Lucy. Is she settling in alright? Was this doctor better? Or is she going to try and escape? A part of me thinks she knows she’s safer here, but the logical part reminds me that this isn’t a normal situation so I can’t expect her to accept it easily.
I guess I’ll just have to add on the charm to make it more appealing for her to stay.
11
LUCY
“What the hellare we going to do?” Kida whispers as I carefully lay Soren in the bassinet Sofia had sent up and put by the bed. He’s finally asleep and I can see the exhaustion on his little face. I hope that means he’ll sleep for a few more hours. He’s normally up every four to eat, but with everything going on, I wouldn’t be surprised if he sleeps longer.
I force myself to focus back on my sister. “What can we do?” I whisper back, feeling both defeated and angry that I even have to say the words. This entire situation is just fucked up and feels like a terrible nightmare I can’t wake up from. “Short of climbing out the window and making a run for it, we’re stuck here.”
“I already checked the windows in the bathroom,” she admits. “But they’re all sealed shut. They’re just for aesthetics and not for their actual purpose.”
“It’s the mafia, so of course they are. Do you think they’re just going to let someone potentially climb in through a window somewhere?”
She glares at me. “At least I’m trying to figure a way out. Do you really want to stay here and be a pawn in whatever game this all is? Feuding families and shit? What kind of bullshit is that?”
“Apparently, the kind normal people don’t realize is going on. And it’s not like we have to deal with one person to get away from. There’s a whole crew of them here, and as nice as Sofia and Rori are, we can’t trust them.”
She nods. “I know. Shame, I like Rori, and Sofia seems cool too, but there is no way that we can just trust that they’ll be on our side if we try to go. I know Rori says we can, but she’s here, and she’s loyal to one of them for sure, so she’s off the list.”
“I think the best thing we can do is just bide our time. Eventually, we’ll figure out a way out of here, but we need to keep our eyes open.” I glance down at Soren. “But I don’t want to chance them trying to take him away from me to keep me here.” The very thought has my gut clenching with terror, along with a strong urge to claw out anyone’s eyes that steps through the door.
“I’ll never let that happen,” Kida promises me, taking my hands tightly into hers. “I promise that, Luce. I will never let them use him over you. I’d rather they use me. And if they do, don’t you ever give in, okay? I’ll be fine. Soren is your only priority.” She squeezes my hands. “Just promise me that if anything happens to me, you’ll take care of Mama and Papa.” She gives me a dry smile. “We both know you’ll never live up to me being the favorite.”
I roll my eyes, but squeeze her hands back. It’s a common joke between the two of us to say that since she’s younger than me, she’ll always be the favorite. We’re only about a year apart in age, but to her, it’s enough in her mind I guess. “I promise, but I hope it won’t come to that.”
“Hopefully not. Let’s just agree to keep our ears open and we’ll make our plans once we get the lay of the land. Also, I reallywant to meet your sisters and cousin. I mean, who just suddenly finds out they have a whole other family out there? I mean, like, you went from just us to suddenly having sisters, brothers, cousins, uncles and random people who want you because you’re some sort of mafia princess.”
I wince at that title and pull away. “Please don’t call me that. It feels terrible.”
“But it’s true.”
“I refuse to think of myself as that. I’m Lucy Taylor, and the only family I recognize is you, our parents, and Soren. No one else. All these other people, they’re strangers. Maybe I can be friends with the women, but that’s it.”
“Maybe this is a situation where they’re all trying to bide their time to get out,” she suggests. “I mean, if you have a choice, wouldn’t being out in the normal world be the one you want? But I don’t blame them either for getting some good dick while they’re here.”
