Page 114 of Little Deer
“The Russians are very good at that kind of thing,” Tatiana explains ruefully. “I’m sure you’d have found me eventually.” She looks at Ada, who stands off to the side, still with Sofia, and now Dante. “I hear I have you to thank for getting me out of this mess in the first place.”
Ada smiles softly. “I was only a small part in the process. Your mother loved you so much. She was so determined to get you out from under your father’s hand.” She looks at the rest of us. “I never thought you would all be in the same room again, but at least now you have a chance of being family.”
Tatiana nods, but something flashes across Rori’s face, drawing my attention. Jealousy? Does she think that now that this is done, she won’t be welcome here anymore? I want to reassure her, but I can’t force myself to move or speak. I just watch her and tell myself I’ll talk to her about it later.
I watch Tatiana, still unable to believe how much she looks like Amara. Hell, they could be twins. Same height, same dark hair and eyes, and build. No wonder we were all fooled into thinking she was her sister.
Then again, I look exactly like Gia and Sienna except for my eye color, so it makes sense.
“Nico,” Urso suddenly calls out. “I’m getting an alert. It looks like Ivan Morozov is at the front gate. Said you asked him for a meeting?”
Nico frowns. “What?”
“Whoops,” Tatiana says with a sheepish smile. “I forgot all about inviting him to join the party.”
“Why the fuck would you do that?” Nico barks, eyes narrowing.
She gives him a bland stare. “Because he’s been part of all of this, right? Now’s your chance to clear the air. Also, I’m still hurt that you haven’t thanked me for helping to get the others here, you know.”
“What?” Dante asks, clearly confused.
“You mean you thought that all three just happened to attack at the same time?” Tatiana scoffs. “Please. I sent through a few messages and threats, and here we go. We got them all dealt with at once. Now we have the final piece of the puzzle, yes? There we go!” She flaps her hands with a flourish. “Voila! You’re welcome.”
Everyone stares at her, shocked.
“Fuck, she is like you,” Massimo laughs, looking at Alessio. “That’s the exact kind of shit you’d pull.”
“Fuck, I can’t wait until you’re all fucking gone,” Nico grunts. “Bring Ivan in. I want to know what the fuck he has to say. And make sure he’s alone.”
Urso nods and heads out. Lazaro quickly follows, but not before giving Amara one quick kiss.
“Damn, what do you feed these guys?” Tatiana laughs, looking up at Aurelio with laughter in her eyes.
Aurelio grins. “You can thank their mama for that. She was the one who fought them to eat anything.”
“She sounds like a formidable woman,” Tatiana beams.
“Boss, he’s refusing to come inside and says he will only speak to you outside,” Dante says to Nico.
“Who the fuck does he think he is demanding that from me?” Nico demands. He looks at Tatiana. “I’ll kill the bastard for even trying. So you’re coming outside to sort all this mess, since you’re the one who called him here.”
Tatiana shrugs. “That’s fine with me. I haven’t seen Ivan in a very long time, so it’ll be nice to catch up with him.”
Nico gives her a strange look. “This isn’t a fucking family reunion,” he snaps.
“Okay, okay. Calm down, Pookie, it’s gonna be fine. Jeez, you need to not be so uptight. Don’t you have to worry about high blood pressure at your age?”
Nico glares at her, while everyone else snickers and starts to file out. A part of me wants to stay behind, but Massimo takes my hand and pulls me along with him. He keeps Soren tight against his chest, clearly not ready to let him go just yet.
Ahead of us, I see Amara sticking close to her sister, while Rori and Hades are on her other side. Alonzo follows behind them, eyes never leaving Rori.
When we reach the foyer, Nico and Dante move to the front, but I frown when I see Tatiana fall back between Rori and Amara. I thought she knew Ivan? Why is she hiding?
Unease starts to build in my gut. “Massimo,” I whisper softly. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
“Everything will be fine, Lucy,” he murmurs, squeezing my hand reassuringly. “I promise, you’re both safe.”
What am I supposed to say to that? I just nod, but my eyes never leave the back of Tatiana’s head. There’s something off about her, but I can’t put my finger on it.
