Chapter 29
29
AMARA
A Little Earlier
“You can’t be serious,” Massimo sputters incredulously as he watches me grab a bunch of different things out of the cabinet and bring them over to the station that Rori is currently sitting at. “You really want to dye your hair blue or purple? Why?”
Rori gives him an amused smile from her seat in my chair. “What? Did you think this color was natural, handsome?” she teases.
“No, but I don’t understand this need to change what you have when it already works so well,” Massimo states, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I like to change things up every so often,” she replies, shrugging her shoulders. “Though you should brace yourself because I’m not only doing blue or purple, I’m thinking of having Amara dye it black first, then add in some blue and or purple to make it really stand out.”
Massimo’s mouth drops open in shock. “Alonzo is going to lose his shit when he hears about this,” he warns her. “And, cara mia , I don’t think you want to get on his bad side.”
That is the wrong thing to say. Rori’s expression changes completely, from warm and open to cold and unfriendly. “Well, it’s a good thing that Alonzo has no say over anything I do, especially not my hair. It’s also good that I don’t give a damn what that overgrown jackass thinks or does. And if the only reason you’re here is to spy on me for him, then you can fuck off.” She turns away from him, staring straight into the mirror in front of her.
Guilt flashes over Massimo’s face, but he simply shakes his head and stalks away to sit in the wash station chair, arms crossed over his chest as he watches us. Gia and Sienna share a knowing look from their places in the seating area, while Sofia gives her brother an are-you-stupid look, which he promptly ignores.
I bite back a sigh and set my things down. “Alright, let’s talk about what you want to do before we get started,” I say brightly, pulling her attention. Her cold expression melts away into an easy smile. “As much as I would love to tell you that going black and adding in some color is going to be easy, it’s going to be a lot of work, and I’m not one hundred percent sure if it’s going to turn out as dark as you like it. The blue or purple won’t be a problem, but if we’re talking about going black, with the bleach on your hair, it might not take as well as you’re hoping. Not saying we can’t,” I rush to add when her face falls. “Just that we might have to do this in stages. We see if we can get to a dark brown today, leave it for a little while, and then we try to go as black as we can in a couple weeks once your hair has time to settle.”
Rori sighs. “I should have figured. I think a hairdresser told me that before, a long time ago. Okay, let’s scrap that idea for now. I do want to do it eventually, but I should probably wait until things are settled here first. So I guess that leaves us with a touch up on this, and maybe a style. What do you think?”
“I can still put blue or purple in this,” I assure her. “It’s much easier to do those on bleached hair and your hair is very healthy, so I think it will take nicely.”
Rori purses her lips silently and looks at herself in the mirror. “No, let’s leave it for now. If I ever have to sneak out of here or away from the bad guys, having color in my hair will make me easier to spot. But I want us to look at that option later.”
“If you’re sure…”
“I am,” Rori assures me firmly, turning her head to smile at me. “But I do want you to show me how to style my hair a little differently to make it fun. It gets boring doing the same things over and over again.”
I smile back. “Sure, I can do that. Let’s get started. Then, while you’re processing, I’ll trim Sofia’s hair.”
“Thank God,” Sofia calls in relief. “Dante’s rings get caught in it sometimes when he grabs it, and it ruins the mood.” Her lips pull up into a wicked grin, especially when Massimo makes a sound of disgust.
“I don’t need to hear that,” he tells her irritably. “And all you’re doing is making it easier for me to kill him.”
“Then you shouldn’t be in here,” Sofia tosses back. “This is girl time. But why do you think it’s okay for you all to go around sleeping with whoever you want, but I have to stay a virgin for the rest of my life? Sorry, Caruso, but I haven’t been one of those for a long time.”
He blanches. “I don’t want to hear that. As far as I’m concerned, you’re the Virgin Mary.”
Sofia scoffs. “Blasphemy, huh, Massimo? You obviously haven’t been to Church in a long time, because Mary was married and she also had children after she had Jesus Christ. You think they just fell into her lap?”
“Shut up,” he bites out. Sienna and Gia giggle, earning them a glare. Not that they care, they just grin at him. Massimo mutters something in Italian and Sofia scoffs, while Gia rolls her eyes. Sienna looks as confused as I am, but neither of us say anything. I focus on getting Rori’s hair prepped.
“Amara, do you think we could put a bit of color in my hair?” Gia asks. “I don’t know if I want anything drastic, but I would kind of like to highlight it a little.”
I glance over at her, assessing. “You’ve never had any product on it before?”
She shakes her head. “I’ve never seen a hair dresser before, and my father would never have allowed me to do anything to it.”
“Then you’ll be fine,” I assure her. “Though, if you’ve never done anything to your hair before, we should start with something easy. Nothing too shocking. Like maybe some dark caramel highlights or something. Then when you want to go lighter, you can and it won’t be so overwhelming.”
“Yes, I like that idea,” Gia beams. “Hopefully Nico won’t lose his shit.” She rolls her eyes. “I mentioned the other day that I might change things up, and he about lost his mind. It’s just hair, but try explaining that to him.”
“He’s used to you the exact way you are, and he probably thinks that you changing it will change you in some way,” Sienna suggests. “Or some other stupid bullshit that swirls around in the male mind.” She looks at Massimo pointedly.
Massimo ignores her and says, “He probably just likes your hair as it is, Gia. No need to overthink it.” Gia doesn’t look convinced but she lets it drop.
“Alessio doesn’t care,” Sienna says with a shrug. “The only thing he cared about was that I don’t chop it all off.” Her lips pull up into a wicked grin as she winks at Sofia. “He likes something to hold on to, is how he put it.”
“There really is nothing better than a man grabbing you by the hair to either hold you in place, or pull you back,” Rori nods with a wistful sigh. “But trust me, even with short hair, that’s not a problem. They just need to grab in the right spots so they don’t yank your hair out.”
I listen in fascination as they start talking about the best positions for a man to grab their hair, and when I look over at Massimo, he looks disgusted, intrigued, and horrified all at the same time. The wicked gleam in Sofia’s eyes tells me she knows exactly what she’s doing as she encourages the conversation. I’m just soaking all the information in. I don’t know if I’m ready for anything like that yet, but the idea of Lazaro gripping me by the hair while we’re having sex certainly has my stomach jumping in excitement.
“Fucking hell, enough,” Massimo groans, slumping back into the chair and covering his face with his hands. “I don’t want to hear this shit, and I certainly don’t need the images in my head.”
“He’s just jealous that he doesn’t have someone’s hair to grab,” Sofia taunts. “Poor Massimo. You haven’t found one of the maids or cooks to occupy your bed while you’re here?”
He lowers his hands to glare at her. “I’ve been a bit busy with people attacking the house and trying to kidnap you all,” he tells her sarcastically.
Sofia waves that away. “When has that ever stopped any of you before? Just remember, if you upset any of my staff enough to make them quit, I’ll not only kick your ass, but you’ll be finding me a replacement and paying their first year’s wages instead of Nico.”
Massimo rolls his eyes. “That only happened once, and it wasn’t just me. Alonzo was in on it too.”
I glance at Rori out of the corner of my eye, and see her eyes flash with jealousy before they go blank. Poor girl, she really needs to figure things out with the man or this isn’t going to end well. “What did you do?” I ask, too curious to keep the question to myself as I continue to work. Thank God I learned to multitask when I was training because this is too good to miss.
“What did he do?” Sofia huffs angrily. “I was helping the housekeeper back home when I was twenty, and I was put in charge of overseeing the maids.” She jerks her thumb at Massimo and scowls. “This one decides that the newest one would make the perfect addition to his harem. So he seduced her, and then she decided that she couldn’t just have one, she wanted two, so they invited Alonzo into the mix for some fun. They were going at it hot and heavy for a few weeks, until the girl started thinking it was going to be a permanent arrangement, and the two of them decided they’d had enough. Massimo dumped her, and Alonzo ignored her when she tried to go to him. She was so upset that she left. Unfortunately for me, she left when we had a very large number of guests, and we were so short-staffed already that I had to work so much overtime to keep up that I was run ragged. I tore a strip off them, and then I told Papa so he could deal with them or I would have stabbed them both.”
“We already apologized,” Massimo reminds her in exasperation. “We were young and horny, what did you expect?”
“You weren’t that young,” she snaps. “After that, I wasn’t allowed to hire anyone young and pretty. Do you know how hard that was? Every girl in the fucking town wanted to catch your attention and they were all applying. I ended up having to hire an old woman that could barely see, and moved about as fast as a glacier. I had to do just as much work as before for almost six months until we could find anyone else.”
Massimo has the decency to look repentant. “I’m sorry, dolcezza ,” he tells her. “I didn’t realize the stress we put you under.”
Sofia sighs, her anger instantly deflating. “No, I know you didn’t. Which is why you’re still alive, but now you do, and I’ve warned you.” She gives him a hard look and he nods in understanding and agreement.
“Alright, Massimo and his man-whorish ways aside, I need some dirt on Alessio,” Sienna says excitedly, moving to sit cross-legged on the sofa, grinning at Sofia. “I need something to really throw at him when he’s being an absolute ass. Something to shock him enough to make sure that I win, and he has to grovel.”
Massimo chuckles. “Oh, is that all? Between Sofia and me, we have plenty.” He rubs his hands together excitedly. “Where to start?”
While I finish Rori’s hair, I listen in shock and awe as Massimo and Sofia tell story after story about Alessio, with a few tidbits of the others thrown in there as well. Thankfully, I finish with Rori’s hair just in time for Sofia to drop the bomb about her walking in on Lazaro, Alessio, and Alonzo all in some kind of orgy with a bunch of women in the guest house at the house in Sicily while their fathers were out.
“When you say orgy, do you mean they were like, all going with different people, or were they with one while the others waited their turns?” Sienna asks, also fascinated. “I know I should be pissed, but I’m too curious.” I’m with her on this one. Jealousy is simmering, but at the same time, I’m far too curious to know what the hell happened.
“They were all with different girls, but the girls were touching each other too,” Sofia answers after a second of thought.
“And where were you?” Sienna asks Massimo.
Massimo looks uncomfortable. “I was with Zeno and Urso. We had our own guests.”
“Wait a minute, you were having dual orgies in different parts of the house?” Sienna demands, eyes wide. Sofia looks like she’s not sure if she should be annoyed or exasperated. Rori and I look at each other and grin. “Is that what you Italians do? The boss is away so everyone gathers together to fuck?”
Massimo sighs. “We were young, and it was one of the few times that we didn’t have anything to see to while Papa and Aurelio were gone. We also thought Sofia was gone at a friend’s place.”
“By that, he means he told me to leave to go to a friend’s house,” Sofia supplies drily. “You know, so I didn’t cramp their style. But none of that is the best part.” Then she grins. “When I walked in, well, Alessio was in the middle of, you know, and he jerked back a little too fast, and kind of got things everywhere. Including on Alonzo, who was the closest to him. It was disgusting, but hilarious as shit to watch the two of them freak the hell out while Lazaro was trying to order me out and get himself covered up.”
“Oh, this is too good,” Sienna says gleefully. “Gross, but good.”
“Sofia, your turn,” I call to her. “Rori, I have to let you sit for half an hour, then I’ll rinse you.” Rori gets up out of the chair after I take her cape off. Sofia moves to take her seat, and we get to work.
Over the next half hour, there are more stories from Massimo, though none of them are as good as Sofia’s. I’ll have to keep in mind that she’s the one I need to talk to if I need to know something about Lazaro. She seems to have all the dirt.
When I finally finish with Sofia, I direct Rori over to the washing station, kicking Massimo out of the chair. “Mm, this feels so nice.” Rori sighs, closing her eyes. “I love having my hair done. There is nothing more relaxing.”
I smile down at her. “It’s kind of soothing for me too. A lot of girls at the salon I trained at hated it, but I never did so I took them without complaint.”
“You’re good at it,” she praises drowsily. “If you’re not careful I’ll be coming to you every day to have you wash my hair instead of doing it myself.” I laugh, but honestly, I wouldn’t care if she did. I hum a little to myself as I wash her hair, and look around the room with far more contentment than I’ve felt in a long time. Well, outside of last night with Lazaro, but that’s different. This is work. This is my career and what I’m working hard to build. Who knew I would have this in a giant mansion of a mafia Don? I still can’t get over that.
I take in all the equipment, the shelves, and the products. It’s everything I could dream of. The only thing I don’t know is how I’m ever going to afford to do this again, but that’s a problem for another day. When I finish with Rori’s wash, I realize I forgot a larger towel. “I just need to grab something. Be right back.” Rori gives a lazy wave of her hand, sighing contentedly as I turn away. I grin and rush over to the cabinet. I grab the towel, ready to turn away, when something catches my attention.
I stare at the wall next to the cabinet for a minute, trying to understand what I’m looking at. The wall looks…wrong. Like it’s one giant wave, which doesn’t make any sense considering how straight all the other walls are. I look at where the cabinet sits, and then along the rest of the wall to the back of the room near the wash station. It’s immaculately straight. So why is this one wonky? I can’t see someone like Nico’s parents being happy with a weird wall in a place like this that’s all clean, straight lines.
“What’s wrong, little sister?” Massimo asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Ah, nothing,” I say with a wry smile. “Just thinking about something.” I hurry back to Rori, but I see Massimo staring at the wall curiously before he finally turns away and tunes back into the other women talking. I get Rori wrapped up and back over to my chair, but my mind isn’t fully on what I’m doing. Instead, I can’t stop thinking of the wall. Or why it’s bothering me.
When I finish Rori, I smile at her and ask, “What do you think?”
“I love it,” Rori beams, fluffing at her loosely curled hair that frames her face even better than her last cut. “You’re a genius, Amara.” She turns to give me a quick hug and I grin at her.
“I’m glad you like it.”
“You look stunning, darling,” Sofia agrees.
“I can’t wait for my turn if you’re still up for it, Amara.” Sienna beams.
“Just let me clean up a little bit and then I can start on yours,” I agree with a nod. I put the towels and cape in the laundry bin, before I start to put away the products in the cabinet. Which, of course, puts me right in line with the wall again. Damn it, I can’t figure it out and it’s bothering me. Why would that wall be sunk in? And it’s not like it’s a lot, but to me it’s super noticeable now that I see it.
Unable to help myself, I shut the cabinet door and step to the wall, carefully putting my hand on it. It’s smooth, the paint still smooth even after all this time. “Alright, little sister, what’s going on?” Massimo suddenly asks, making me jump and pull my hand away. “Is there a problem with the wall? Did the men damage it when they were working?”
“No,” I say quickly, shaking my head. “But there’s something wrong with it, and I can’t figure out what.”
Instead of looking at me like I’m crazy, he asks, “How so? Perhaps we can figure it out.”
“I’m sorry, it’s probably nothing,” I sigh in embarrassment. “It’s just that the wall seems almost wavy, when every other wall in here is perfectly straight and even. All of the other walls are perfect. It feels out of place.”
Massimo narrows his eyes and moves to stand on my left, looking at the wall carefully. “I can kind of see it,” he finally says. “Though, it’s slight to me. Does it seem bigger to you?”
“Let me look,” Sofia says, nudging him out of the way. She cranes her head and then nods. “You’re right, it’s a bit slanted. This was a storage room, though, so it could be that the contractors hoped no one would notice if they were getting lazy.”
“Why is the wall being slightly wavy or whatever a big deal?” Sienna asks. “Not saying it’s not annoying, but why did it catch your attention, Amara?”
I flush. “Oh, ah, well, my brain likes to focus on things and figure out a puzzle, even if there isn’t necessarily one there. When we were trapped in the bunker, that’s how I figured out a lot of the hidden doors and hallways.” I stop, my mind going into overdrive. I spin around and look around the room again. Almost every wall in this place has been touched with remodeling, other than this one to put the shelf in place, and the one near the door.
I narrow my eyes as I take it in, feeling like I’m missing something. I walk away from them, and move to stand by the door, looking at the room again. And that’s when I see it. It’s small, barely there, but it’s enough. “That wall isn’t wavy,” I say as I stare at it. “It’s angled, if you look at it from here. Like it’s larger at the front and then shallow at the back. Why would they do that? If you look at it quickly, it looks straight, but if you turn ever so slightly, and look down, you’ll see that it’s not even.”
The women look confused, but I see Massimo’s expression turn calculating. “You think there’s a reason it’s like this?” he asks.
I turn again, and then I see where the two walls meet at the front of the room, and look at the small shelf that’s angled between the two of them. The one supporting a fire extinguisher that wasn’t secured to the wall. Just sitting there on the shelf like it’s always been there with how old it looks. “This was here when they moved everything out to start renovating right?” I ask.
“Yes. We figured we’d leave it there since it’s out of the way and a good place to have the extinguisher,” Sofia answers, and I can hear the confusion in her voice. “What is going on?”
I look at her. “You said before you know every way out of the passageways in this place. Is there one that comes out in here?” I ask her.
She blinks and then shakes her head slowly. “No. The closest one at this end is a couple of doors down. Dante mentioned once that Nico’s father didn’t want his soldiers knowing or coming across one this close to their quarters.”
“You think there’s something behind this wall,” Massimo says.
I move over to the shelf and crouch down. “Why else would this room be so off? I know it doesn’t make sense, and whoever put it in here probably figured no one would notice, or, because it was a storage room, they would just assume they did this because of the room on the other side or the kitchen at the far end.” I’m getting excited now. I just know I’m right.
There’s something here. Now I have to figure out how to open it.
I move my hands carefully around the wall with the shelf, silence thick around me. Massimo steps behind me, ready to step in, I’m sure, if something bad happens, but the others stay where they are and whisper quietly. I probably sound like a nut, but I don’t care.
The wall gives nothing away so I pull the fire extinguisher off and start moving my hand over the shelf. The top is smooth, not a single blemish or mark on it, but the minute I move my hand underneath, I feel it. A slant, and then a small hole, barely big enough for a finger, but that’s all it takes. I press my finger inside, and I feel a tiny little lever. I freeze and look up at Massimo. He narrows his eyes, but gives me a nod to go ahead.
I take a shallow breath, and I pull.
At first, nothing happens, but then a soft click sounds, followed by shocked gasps. Massimo and I whirl around and watch in awe as my cabinet moves just ever so much. The girls jump back, while Massimo moves quickly, shoving the cabinet away. It’s not bolted to the wall so he moves it with only a little bit of difficulty, and then he looks at the crack in the wall. One that would have been a bit more obvious if the shelf wasn’t in the way. “Stay here,” he orders, pulling his gun. I move to stand with the other women as he carefully opens the door, gun raised as he steps inside.
We wait, gripped by tension, until finally he comes back out, his expression unreadable. “I need to get the others. All of you stay here and stay out of there,” he orders.
“Is it dangerous?” Gia asks, sounding frightened.
“No, it’s not dangerous, but this is something that the others need to see.” Then he hurries out, barking orders at the guards.
“He’s crazy if he thinks we’re not going in there.” Sofia scoffs. “Come on.” We all approach the door, our curiosity too high to just stay out here.
Sofia eases in first, and I follow her, anxious to see what’s inside. The room is lit by a simple lamp on the desk, and the shadows have me swallowing hard. I really wish we had a better light, but I’ll be fine. The room isn’t large, about a quarter of the size of the salon, but enough that a desk sits in here, covered in papers and what looks like maps and journals.
It smells musty, and there’s a stale scent of perfume. Something trapped in here for a very long time. Sofia and Rori pull out their phones and shine lights around the shadowy parts of the room, showing small trunks and even one old suitcase. On the opposite side is a larger chair and what looks like an end table with an old lamp. And on the wall, a huge mural of the city with lines drawn all across it. I stare at them, trying to understand what they mean.
“Woah,” Sienna gasps.
Gia peers around slowly. “Everything is covered in dust, so no one has been in here in a long time.”
“Years, for sure,” Sofia agrees as she walks toward the desk. “But the dust isn’t enough for me to think that it’s been as long as decades.” She peers down at the table and then stills. “Shit,” she whispers.
“What is it?” I ask.
Sofia lifts her eyes and looks at us with a grim set to her face. “This room used to belong to Nico’s mother.”
“Was this some kind of hideout for her, maybe?” Gia suggests.
“No,” Sofia says with a shake of her head. Rori moves to stand next to her, frowning as she picks up one of the papers. “We need to wait for Nico and the others,” she says firmly. She and Rori share a look, and whatever they say to each other wordlessly, the two of them don’t appear to be happy about the secret.
Whatever they’ve found, it’s something bad. Now to see how Nico and the others are going to react. Thankfully we don’t have long to wait before Lazaro and the others burst into the room.