Page 30 of Little Deer
I shrug. “We all took the same sex-ed classes, they should have known from that alone I was being sarcastic. Not my fault that half of them actually believed me. Blame the education system.”
“I blame you for being an idiot.” I flip her off, which she returns, and we grin at each other.
“You guys are close,” Amara remarks, an almost wistful sound to her voice. I glance at her and then Gia, who has a similar look in her eyes.
“It was just us two growing up. Our parents wanted more kids, but Kida was their only biological one, and they adopted me after becoming my foster parents. Mama told me that they tried for years for a child before I came into their lives. Kida came along two years later, but that was it.” My grin widens further. “And I still say that they found her on the side of the road in a box and took pity on how ugly she looked.” Kida rolls her eyes. “But growing up we fought a lot. It’s only now that we’re older that we’ve found our rhythm.”
“Joey helped a lot with that,” Kida adds with a sad glint in her eyes.
“Joey was your husband?” Gia asks gently.
I nod, looking down at Soren who is looking around, his feet kicking and arms moving jerkily. It’s been not quite a year since Joey died, and while the grief still lingers, it’s not as fresh. More of a shadow in the dark that’s right outside of your view. Present, but not constantly with you. “Yes. We met back home, but he got a job here and I packed up everything to move with him. He was a construction worker for a big company, and he fell off the ladder at one of his jobs. It was a forty-five foot drop, so he died instantly.”
“Oh my God!” Gia gasps. Amara looks stricken.
“It was hard. At first I was sure it was a cruel joke, that they were lying, but I had to go to the coroners to identify him and it really hit. They said that his safety line broke and when he was moving around he lost his balance and just fell. The company was fined severely, but I’m still waiting on the insurance company to deal with everything. They haven’t given me any of his life insurance yet because there is still some sort of open court case and possibly legal charges pending against the owner of the company. It’s all a big mess.”
“I can’t even imagine,” Amara whispers, shaking her head. “That’s horrible.” She looks at Kida. “Did you move up here then?”
She shakes her head. “She wouldn’t let me. We all came up, but she insisted that she’d be fine. I finally forced my way up when she was about seven months pregnant. I wasn’t about to let her live here and try to handle a baby on her own.”
“And you didn’t want to go back home?” Gia asks gently.
A common question. “We built a life here, and I like my job. Also, without the money from the insurance, we can’t afford to move right now. The hospital bills are insane, so until I can pay those off, we stay here.” And I don’t know that I can stand to go back now. I miss my family, but I’ve always been independent.
There’s a quick knock on the door before it opens and in walks Sienna, Rori, and Hades. Rori’s expression is blank, but her eyes are detached. Sienna looks subdued as well, but when she sees us, she smiles and stops by the bed. She looks down at Soren. “How’s the little guy?” she asks.
“He’s good now but dear God can he stink up the place and ruin clothes,” Amara snickers. “I almost had the guard get Lazaro so he could bust open the windows.”
Sienna laughs. “I bet you feel much better now, don’t you?” she coos at Soren, reaching her hand down to let him grip her finger. He lets out a soft cooing sound, watching her.
Hades lets out a soft whine as he inches closer to the bed, his head coming up to rest on it and stare longingly at my son.
I glance at Rori, but she just moves over toward the window, glancing out. I glance at Sienna and then the others, and see a silent communication pass between her, Gia, and Amara. A small pang hits me in the chest. Will I ever be part of that group?
No one says anything to Rori, just talking amongst themselves, and Amara continues giving hair advice to Kida and eventually Gia. Soren starts to fuss, hungry again, and I pick him up, looking around to find a spot to feed him. I don’t see one private enough—because I’m not comfortable enough yet to feed him in front of everyone—so I get up and carry him into the walk-in closet, sitting on the ottoman to get comfortable.
I can hear their muted voices outside the room, but the silence in here is calming. Soothing almost. As Soren feeds, I try to process everything Gia told me, blending it in with what Massimo, Rori, and Sofia all told me.
A family struggling for power.
A family that only values a set of cock and balls.
Abuse. Deceit. Maliciousness.
I’ve never been so grateful to be away free. Who knows what would have happened if I grew up there. Would I have been in the same boat as Gia? Probably.
On the other hand, I’m facing the opposite here.
A group of people that care about each other and enjoy being around each other.
Powerful men that aren’t battling it out to be top dog.
Or is that what they want me to believe? Is all this a ruse to make me relax and let down my guard?
Whatever it is, I’m not going to let them get the better of me. Of us. I just need to bide my time, keep my eyes open, and get ready to run the minute I can.
17
