Page 22 of Little Deer
I blink up at him. “That might be a bit excessive.”
“You haven’t tasted it, but once you do, you will. Knowing her, she’s hiding them all away to torture us.” We make it to the stairs, and I slip behind Massimo to hold on to the railing, still pressing my hand against Soren protectively. I’m feeling strong, but I won’t chance falling. Massimo must realize what I’m doing because he angles himself so that if I fall, I’ll fall into him and not down the stairs.
When we reach the bottom, I give him a small, grateful smile and follow him down a side hall. Jeez, how many halls and rooms does this place have?
I hear voices as we make our way further down, and then I hear shouting and nearly stop. Wait, is that Rori’s voice?
“I’m going to kill you and do it with a smile on my face, you fucking bastard,” the woman yells furiously.
“Go ahead and try it,” a deep voice booms back.
“I’m putting bets on her,” another voice calls out, laughter tinging it. “She’s got the dog, he’s fucked.”
Okay, so yeah, Rori.
Massimo lets out a low groan and I stop. “What is going on?” I ask carefully.
“Just another lover’s spat I assume,” Massimo replies with a shake of his head. “Don’t worry,dolcezza, you’re safe. Rori and Alonzo are working a few things out, nothing to fret over.”
I stare up at him. “She threatened to kill him.”
“To be fair, she threatens that at least once a day.” Does he really think that’s helping? I stare up at him, unmoving and ready to turn and walk away. Finally he says, “Don’t worry, Lucy, everything is fine. I’ll go in first, you’ll see. And I’ll tell them to keep it quiet so they don’t wake the ometto, yes?” Then he throws open the double doors.
He stops, and I peer around him, my mouth falling open when I watch as a knife goes flying across the room, narrowly missing who I have to assume is Alonzo, and lodging in the wall by his head. “Next time, it’ll be between your fucking eyes,” I hear Rori hiss, even as Alonzo lets out a low snarling sound. A deep warning canine growl fills the room right behind it.
What the fuck have we just walked into?
13
MASSIMO
Well,this is a great first impression. I bite back a snarl of annoyance myself. I glance down to see Lucy staring at the room in shock, her mouth hanging open, and both hands covering the baby now. Shock and a bit of fear fill her eyes. Shit.
“Enough!” I bellow sharply, pissed. The last thing I want is Lucy scared. The sound of my voice seems to startle Soren as well, who lets out a startled cry of his own. Lucy quickly shushes him, before glaring up at me. I give her an apologetic look before looking back at the room.
The room has gone quiet, but Hades comes rushing over. He stops in front of Lucy, his butt wiggling with excitement, and a pleading look on his face as he gently sniffs at Soren in the sling. I look back at the others and pin them with a warning look, and they at least have the decency to look apologetic and ashamed. Well, other than Rori, who takes the opportunity to glare daggers at Alonzo before focusing back on Lucy.
Pretty much everyone is here, minus Nico and Gia, Papa, Aurelio, and Zeno. Though Zeno should be down any minute since I was only just ahead of him.
The only sound is Soren’s soft, angry cries, and I hear Lucy trying to soothe him. Sofia is the first to recover and says warmly, “Good morning, darling. Come in and have a seat so you can get something to eat. You must be starving.” Then she pins the room as a whole with a hard, warning glare. “Everyone will behave themselves, I promise.” Her eyes linger briefly on Rori and Alonzo, who both refuse to look at each other, but dip their heads in acknowledgment.
Lucy doesn’t look convinced, and instead looks down at Hades, who is gently nudging Soren with his nose as if to comfort him. She bends down slightly to pet his head, but Hades mostly ignores her to nuzzle at the small part of Soren’s head that’s now exposed. Soren stops crying, and his head turns slightly to look at the dog. The two of them stare at each other, and a small smile pulls at my lips. Clearly the two are enamored with each other.
Now to try and calm down his mother.
“Hades,” Rori says gently, making the dog look back at her with an expression I can only call annoyance. “Come on, let them in.” Hade’s chuff is loud, but he moves his big body to Lucy’s side, looking up at her with a hopeful expression.
Lucy smiles at him and gives him a quick pat. “You’re the welcome committee, huh?”
“He adores children and he’s always gentle despite his size,” Rori assures her, moving around the table toward us. “He’s probably going to sit beside or behind you to make sure Soren’s good the entire time.”
“Is that his name? Soren?” Sienna suddenly asks as she carefully moves forward, watching Lucy with a curious expression. Lucy blinks at her. “Like looking in a mirror isn’tit?” Sienna grins. “Don’t worry, it was a shock for me too when I met Gia. We could be triplets. Add in Amara, who looks a little different but close enough, and people might not be able to tell us apart.” Amara moves to stand next to Sienna, and Lucy’s eyes widen.
Amara gives her a warm smile. “Hi.”
“Gia and Nico will be down soon enough,” I tell Lucy gently. She doesn’t look at me, too enthralled with her sister and cousin.
“I say we put them in matching shirts with numbers on them so we can tell them apart,” Urso jokes. “Make sure no one messes them up.”
