Page 33 of Little Deer
Kida’s frown deepens, but she doesn’t argue. Instead, she looks at me. “I need a rundown of the players, dude. I don’t like going into anything unknowing.”
“I’ll tell you on the way,” I promise as I usher them all to the door.
Lucy falls into step beside me as we walk down the hall. I give Kida a brief rundown of everyone she’ll meet, and I can see her digesting the information with a thoughtful gaze. I am also keenly aware of how close Lucy is to me. Is she doing it on purpose? Is it because she feels safer with me?
A small frisson of pleasure skates down my spine.
When we finally reach Nico’s office, I open the door and gesture for them all to walk in. Lucy looks apprehensive, letting Amara and Kida go first. I gently put a hand on her lower back and murmur, “Everything will be okay,cerbiatta.” The term little deer fits her as she stares up at me with big, doe eyes, unsure of whether to run or not.
Finally, she gives me a small nod and walks inside.
18
LUCY
I feela lot more nervous than I did at breakfast. My heart pounds as I take in the room full of men, all with varying expressions. Some smile, others have no expression at all, and Nico Armani looks downright pissed off. Uh oh. That’s not good. My hand goes instinctively to the back of Soren’s head, protectively, and I move just to the side of the door. Massimo stops beside me, and I find myself moving a little closer to him, needing a bit of reassurance.
For whatever reason, I feel this pull to him. Like, he’s the only one that I can trust. Or like he can protect me if this all goes badly. I should be running the other way, staying so far away from him, from them, that they never touch or talk to me until we can get out of here.
Still, I find myself leaning into him even more as all eyes turn to me. Intimidating? That’s an understatement. There are so many powerful, big, men in this room. Kida moves swiftly tomy other side, a silent support, even as she looks around with suspicion. At least she’s not being openly hostile.
I can feel eyes on me, and I glance quickly to see Nico watching me closely. He doesn’t look as angry and hostile as at breakfast, but that distrust is still there. I doubt that will ever go away. The only person that Nico seems to trust is Gia.
“Ah, Ms. Delgado, welcome,” Pietro says as he smiles warmly at Kida. Kida inclines her head, but doesn’t smile. Thankfully, the Don doesn’t take offence. Instead, he looks at me, his eyes softening when he takes in Soren. “How is thebambino, Lucy?”
“He’s a bit upset to be in the sling again so soon, but he should go to sleep soon,” I reply with a shy smile. I still don’t know how to take any of this. To take him.Them.
Pietro lets out a low chuckle. “Sounds much like my boys that didn’t want to be away from the action, even when they were that small.” He gives Massimo a pointed look. Massimo rolls his eyes, but I see his lips twitching out of the corner of my eye.
“Enough chit chat,” Nico growls impatiently. “We don’t have time to waste.” I wince at his words, and I see Gia glare at him. He ignores her, but I do notice that he no longer glares at me and instead focuses his glare on Pietro.
Pietro gives him a look I can’t quite decipher, but must decide that there isn’t much point in arguing, so he looks back at me and gives me a gentle smile. “Lucy, we’re hoping that you can help us by telling us what you remember when Leonardo had you. Anything is helpful, no matter how small.”
I glance around and see everyone watching me expectantly. I swallow hard. Shit. Nothing like being put on the spot. “Ah, well, they kept me drugged a lot of the time, but I’ll tell you what I can remember.” I start talking, trying to fill in the blanks in my memory, but most of it is so fuzzy other than that one last conversation. That one is far more fresh in my mind. I trip over a few of my words nervously, and I feel Massimo splay his handon my lower back rubbing with small circles of his fingers, trying to soothe me.
And I lean into it, needing it. It grounds me enough to continue.
When I finally finish, I say, “I’m sorry, that’s all I can remember.”
“That is far more than we had before,cara mia,” Pietro assures me. “I am sorry to make you relive it.”
“And you heard nothing else about the buyer? Anything that might give us a clue on who he is?” Nico asks bluntly, watching me with eyes so dark I’m not sure he has a soul.
I tremble. “They only said the buyer and I would be useful. Nothing else. I’m sorry.”
“She already told you she was drugged,” Kida reminds him sharply. “Do you really think she was paying attention so she could tell you more?” She’s watching Nico with a cold expression, but I feel the slight tremble in her hand when I snatch it and give it a warning squeeze. Not that she listens. Kida has never been one to play it safe.
Nico’s eyes narrow at her in warning. I shift slightly, putting myself just in front of my sister enough that I draw his gaze to me. I lift my chin, pulling on every ounce of courage I have to hold his stare and let him know that if he tries to hurt her, he’ll have to go through me and Soren. And I have to hope that he won’t hurt my son. Nico’s eyes flash with irritation, and then he glances at Gia, who also gives him a warning look. “Fine,” he huffs, going silent once more.
“When they took you, Lucy, did you notice anyone following you at the time? Or did they come out of nowhere?” Aurelio asks me.
Happy to focus on someone else, I shake my head. “No, they just appeared out of nowhere. They came from the other side of the street and just zoomed across the lanes. I thought someonelost control of their car and tried to jump back and out of the way, but then the men rushed out of the SUV and rushed at me. I honestly had no idea what the hell was going on. They waited until later in the day to do it too, so there wasn’t as many people out.”
“Were you planning on going out that night?” Alessio asks me.
I shake my head. “I actually was supposed to go earlier in the day, but Soren was so fussy I couldn’t leave.”
“It’s possible they were watching the apartment and saw it as an opportunity to grab you,” Lazaro muses. “It was a rushed event. Either that was at Leonardo’s direction to make sure he got to you first before the others, or they had only just figured out who you were and they were sent to grab you and since you left the apartment, it meant they were able to grab you without having to try and break in.”
