Page 42 of Little Deer
“Yes, sir,” she replies, giving me her full attention, her eyes never leaving mine until I nod, and then lowering to the floor. Almost submissively.
No, not the time to notice that.
“Good girl,” I murmur. I reach out and cup her cheek. “You both are safe, Lucy. I promise.” Then I put my hand on Soren’s head, cutting off his sobs. “Take care of your mama,ometto.” I look at Lucy one more time, then look at the other women.
Sofia gives me a knowing look. “Go,” she urges. “They’re safe here.”
I shut the door and go to the other wall of the closet. I grab my spare gun, all the ammunition I can carry, and head for the door.
22
LUCY
Soren’s criespick back up the moment the door shuts, and I bounce him, trying to quiet him. He is not having it. The loud noises, and my own fear, making it worse. “Shhhhh, Soren,” I try to soothe.
“Let’s get further into the passages,” Sofia says loudly over the crying. “Rori will probably be coming soon.”
“I’m already here,” she says, coming up behind us, her face tight, Hades right at her side. Hades whines, staring at Soren. “Go ahead,” Rori tells him, and Hades rushes over to me, nudging at Soren’s foot with his big nose to try and comfort him. Soren ignores him and continues to cry.
“I want to know what the hell is going on,” Amara says worriedly. “Is this Leonardo or Giovanni? Or could it be Marco?”
“It could be any of them at this point,” Sienna sighs tiredly. “And I hate that they’re sticking us in here.”
“I’m not,” Amara scoffs. “I don’t want to be shot at, thank you very much. And I probably can’t run fast after last nightanyway.” We all look at her, and I momentarily tune out Soren’s cries as she blushes. “Shut up,” she groans. “Lazaro and I haven’t done anything in a couple of days to give me time to recover and?—”
“Recover?” Kida interrupts incredulously.
“You’ve seen her man, right?” Sienna snickers. “And her?”
Kida blinks, realization dawning. “I’m surprised you can walk, let alone try to run,” Kida agrees. “Girl, are your insides okay?”
“Trust me, she thought the same thing after their first encounter,” Sienna snickers. She tells us quickly about how they found Amara after her first night with Lazaro, and I laugh, even as I bounce Soren more; his cries are slowly starting to come down now that there are no terrifying sounds.
I look at Amara. “You’re living a romance lover’s dream, you know that, right? There is a whole trope around size difference. You should write a book. You’d make bank.”
Amara waves that off. “I prefer hairdressing, and no fictional couple can compare to Lazaro, I’m certain.” She gets a dreamy look on her face. The same one I remember having when Joey and I were first together. A small sense of melancholy hits me. I miss that. That love and joy from the early days of us getting to know each other.
I look down at Soren, his cries lowering to whimpers. Some of the dark thoughts ease staring at him. I’ll always have love and joy with him, and that’s alright.
Well, as long as we survive whatever the hell is going on out there.
We’re walking down the long passageway, the others at the front, with me, Kida, and Hades trailing behind. Everyone else is talking, but Kida whispers, “He has freaking passageways. Passageways, Luce. Fucking secret doors and shit everywhere.”
Yeah, that’s not lost on me. Again, another fantasy come to life, but I would much rather find out about this under better circumstances.
When we finally reach the end of this passageway, it’s to a fork that leads in two different directions. “Ah, which way do we go?” I ask, looking around.
“We don’t go anywhere just yet,” Rori says firmly. “Until we know what’s going on, we stay right here. If someone gets in here again, then we need to be able to run.”
“What do you meanagain?” Kida demands, pouncing on that phrase. “They made it sound like we’re safe in here.”
“We are, but nothing is impenetrable,” Rori replies calmly. “At one point, one of Nico’s men turned traitor and gave the bad guys access to this. However, since then, everything’s been changed to the system, so the only ones who can get in here are the men, and us, other than you, Amara, and Lucy. And that’s only because they haven’t had time to add any of you to it. So we’re safe in here, but I never take anything for granted when shit is going down.”
Kida looks like she wants to argue, but I give her a hard look. Now is not the time. Rori, Sienna, and Sofia all have guns, so at least we have some protection. Well, and Hades. Something tells me that if anyone gets past them, he’s going to be the final barrier.
“Want me to take him?” Kida asks, thankfully letting the conversation go.
I hand her Soren, and she puts him up to her shoulder, patting his back as he nuzzles into her neck. Hades whines, but he quiets when I pat his head.
