Little Deer (The Lost DeLuca Sisters #4)

Chapter 1

LUCY

Where the hell am I? Who the hell are they? What do they want?

The questions just keep repeating over and over in my head, on some kind of sick and twisted loop that makes me want to scream and cry but everything is stuck inside. My tongue doesn’t want to work, and my eyes are heavy. So heavy.

I try to lift my head only for it to fall back heavily, like it’s too big for my neck. Wait, is that a possibility? Can that happen? Did whatever they drug me with swell my head up so much that it’s finally just going to roll off my shoulders? Won’t I die from that? Or will it just hang there?

No, no, stop it, Lucy. Stop being stupid. That can’t happen. And if it did, you’d be dead instantly.

The thought of dying gives me enough pause to really try and push past the fog in my brain. Something urges me to push through. No, someone.

Baby. My baby. Where is he? Do they have him? What are they doing to him?

Panic fills me. Urging me to push that fog out of the way so I can think and escape. I struggle against whatever’s holding me in place, my body shuddering and straining, panic taking over any common sense with each unsuccessful attempt.

Suddenly a loud sound fills my ears, but I’m too consumed by it to really pay attention.

There’s loud voices, angry and impatient, but I don’t care.

I don’t want to listen to them. I don’t want to hear them.

I’m too wrapped up in trying to escape them.

Them who are nameless, faceless, and the cause of all this pain. All this confusion.

The prick of something in my neck has me letting out a grunt of surprise, and it’s just enough to slow me down, but not enough to make me stop. I try, I try so hard, but the darkness quickly pulls me under again, and I can’t keep fighting.

“Just like Gia. A complete waste of space. Look at her. A fucking mess from a small amount of sedative,” a dark voice sneers contemptuously.

Wait, who is that? Who’s Gia?

I can only hear him, my eyes too heavy to lift.

“She’s a fucking mess too,” another voice sneers, and I feel something hit my foot. I try to force my eyes open so I can glare at them, but nothing. Fuck. “Look at her. The front of her shirt’s soaked, and I’m pretty sure she’s covered the fucking chair in blood. Disgusting.”

A small part of me feels shame for how disgusting I must be, but another part realizes that I really should be paying more attention. I need all the clues I can get for when I get out of here.

“Do you think that Esposito is going to come through? We need that fucking buyer if we’re going to take down Armani and those Caruso fuckers.”

“He better or Father is going to lose his shit. After what Marco did, he’s not trusting either of us with the information.” There’s an acidic tone to his voice now.

“Fucking Marco,” the other one agrees, spitting the name out like it’s poisonous. “I can’t wait until we kill him too. He’s a fucking fool for going against Father that way. And to convince Sebastian and Matteo to join his side? He signed his own death warrant with that.”

“Matteo’s out of the way so we don’t have to worry about him. Fuck, I don’t think we need to worry about Marco at all. He’s fucking that psycho bitch that is going to fuck him over as soon as they get Seamus out of the way.”

“Wait, how do you know that?”

“Because I have my own connections, idiot.”

Who’s Marco? Who is this Esposito guy? Who are the Carusos?

It’s a jumbled mess as I try to push through the darkness and fog, but it’s slow going.

I can feel the exhaustion trying to pull me back into the darkness again, but I use all the willpower I can drum up to fight it and listen for as long as I can.

“We need to handle Giovanni. Fucking Orlando is running the show now that the other bitch of a sister of ours killed Lorenzo. And Orlando’s fucking insane.

I don’t want to even try and figure out what he’s doing over there.

If we don’t take him out, then we’re going to be in shit.

Father isn’t listening to my warnings though. ”

The other one makes a humming sound of agreement, but he doesn’t delve much more into it.

Instead he says, “Well, we have the one thing that they don’t.

We have our dear sister here while they all chase their tails looking for her.

” There’s a cruel laugh as he slaps my face.

I’m still numb enough that it only stings but the drugs make it so that I don’t even react.

Then the word that he said finally seems to hit me. Sister. Wait. Did he say I’m his sister?

No, that’s impossible. I have a sister already. No brothers. So why are they saying something like that? I want to scream at them to tell me what the hell is going on, but even with the drugs a smarter part of my brain takes over and keeps me quiet. To listen and try to remember.

“What the fuck are you two doing?” a furious voice suddenly demands. This one is new, older sounding.

“We came to check and see if she was awake. She caused such a nuisance earlier that they had to drug her again. Fucking doctor gave her too much though since she’s still out of it.” I get slapped again, but I make no sound, my head just hanging limply, chin touching my chest.

“Fucking useless,” the other one agrees. “If the buyer is going to be here soon we better fucking get her cleaned up or they’re going to run the other way when they get a look and smell of her.”

“What do you expect from someone like her?” the older voice demands, sounding cold and bored.

“The buyer will be here tomorrow night. Leave her be for now, and we’ll get someone to clean her up once she’s awake.

The quieter she is the better. If she’s anything like her sisters then the last thing we need is her opening that stupid mouth of hers. ”

“When she wakes up we’ll gag her,” one of them laughs. “Make sure it’s in there good and tight so that she chokes if she tries to talk.” The other one snickers. Fuckers. Are these guys somehow related to me? Fuck that. No fucking way will I ever accept that.

“Get out there and make sure that the shipment is ready to go tonight. We’re behind what I wanted to be thanks to the fucking shit show that happened at Esposito’s. And make sure that the footage of her being taken is gone. I don’t want those fucking Caruso bastards to find out about her.”

“So, what, you’re not worried about Marco or Giovanni?”

There’s a sound of someone being slapped hard. “Don’t fucking question me,” the older voice practically hisses, fury making it harsh and grating. The tension in the room grows. “Get the fuck out of here and get back to fucking work.”

“Yes, Father,” one of them says, clearly subdued. Wait, Father? This is their father? And if they’re somehow related to me, then this guy is too. It’s too exhausting to think about the possibilities of what that might mean.

I hear footsteps leave the room, but I don’t move, something cautioning me.

Telling me to be still. Suddenly, I feel my head being lifted, and while I can see the brightness through my closed lids, I can’t make them open.

I can’t utter a sound. A small blessing.

Who knew I would be glad to be drugged enough to be this way, but still awake enough to listen and retain.

“Another version of my fucking ex-wife,” the man mutters, sounding disappointed and almost angry.

“It’s as if she’s trying to punish me by having to stare at her face every time one of you shows up.

The only smart thing she did was make it so my sons only resemble me.

Otherwise I might have killed one of them too so I didn’t have to look at her every day.

And just like her, you’re only useful for a few things.

And while your sisters are currently spreading their legs like the whores they are, you are going to be what finally fixes this entire fucking mess.

” He makes a sound of disgust as he releases my head, my chin hitting my chest. Then he’s gone, and I’m once again left in the dark.

All I can do is pray that the drugs wear off soon so I can get out of here. I need to get back to my son. They clearly don’t realize I’ve had him, or that the only reason they haven’t touched me is thanks to him only being six weeks old.

I have to be strong. I have to get out of here and get home to him. I picture his small face as the darkness finally pulls me under again.