31. SIENNA
31
SIENNA
“Sofia!” Gia cries suddenly, making me turn to see her running toward us through a side passage, face grim and gun in hand. That’s when I realize that she’s not alone. Behind her are Rori and Hades, and Rori is wearing a look that I know all too well. She’s both pissed and excited.
“Looks like I got here just in time,” Rori remarks when she and Sofia reach us. Hades leans into my leg and then goes over to Gia, nudging at her hand in comfort. “Though that overgrown asshole out there clearly hasn’t figured out that I’m not a damsel to hide away, considering how fast he pushed me in here.”
“Darling, you might as well get used to that,” Sofia informs her with a slight smile, though I see the tension in her body. “The men do the fighting, and we’re expected to sit back and let them.”
“And you follow that?” Rori demands incredulously.
Sofia’s smile turns sharp. “What do you think?” Rori chuckles and they share a conspiratorial smile. I nearly roll my eyes but manage to stop myself. I’m trying not to freak out about what is going on just outside these walls. It’s soundproof in here so we can’t hear anything, which I suppose is a good thing, but I’m terrified that something is going to happen to Alessio.
When I saw him smiling as the passage door closed, I felt a sense of dread. What will happen if I never see that smile again? The thought makes my heart clench, and I realize just how much trouble I’m in. I should be focusing on keeping myself and Gia safe in case someone breaches the passages somehow, but here I am worrying about a man that clearly knows what he’s doing.
Probably because he does this every other week.
I smirk to myself, but then look back at the other women and say, “We need more weapons than just a couple of guns, in case they get in here. Is there somewhere we can get more weapons without anyone catching us?” I look at Sofia expectantly.
She nods. “We can try and get to the armoury, but there’s a good chance it’s been cleaned out. The other options we have are either Gia’s old room or the master bedroom. There are weapons all through there. There are some in other rooms as well, but those two are our best bet.”
“Armoury first it is,” Rori says with a nod. She looks around. “How the hell are we going to find our way through this maze? I mean, as fun as this is, I don’t relish the idea of opening up a door along the way and coming face to face with someone on the other side.”
“I mapped it out,” Sofia says briskly, jerking her head for us to follow her. “It’s going to be a bit of a hike, but at least we don’t have to worry about anyone getting in here. Nico and Dante have the passageways secured so that only those with biometric permissions can get in. Right now, that’s Nico, Dante, Gia, and myself. No one else, not even the guards, can get in here.”
“Damn, I would say that’s kind of paranoid, but considering our situation, thank fuck,” Rori remarks.
“I still need you to show me how to get to different rooms through here,” Gia tells Sofia softly. “I only know how to get from the ballroom to my old room, or my old room to Nico’s. Oh, and how to get down to the side door from Nico’s, but even that’s a bit fuzzy since I was so nervous about Nico catching me.”
“Why would you be nervous about that?” Rori asks, looking at her curiously, but her gaze is sharp. If I’m honest, I’m a bit curious myself.
Gia grins, and the worry eases. “Oh, that. See, I was playing a game of sorts with Nico. We have this thing about me trying to get away from him and him having to catch me. So I left him a note on the bathroom mirror and told him to catch me, knowing he was going to check the cameras. Sofia helped me stow away on the Caruso’s plane when they left the last time. He had to find me in Sicily, where we had our honeymoon.”
Rori grins wickedly. “Oooh, now that’s hot. When he caught up to you, did he ravish you?”
Gia blushes and Sofia gives a wicked laugh. “He didn’t let her leave the guest house for a full day, and when she did, she could barely walk. We had to tell the guards to ignore her screams, because they went on for a long time. The men were commenting on Nico’s stamina for over a week.”
Rori twists her body and leans around me, holding up her hand for a high-five. “My girl, you and I are going to be good friends. Because, shit, that’s hot as hell. What I wouldn’t give for a man to do that to me.”
I snort, and she gives me a bland look. “You left out the part where you love to be chased, but that you love to fight back when you get caught. Or have you forgotten that time in college when that quarterback you were screwing chased you down and pinned you to the ground to fuck you? I thought for sure I was going to have to distract the cops, you were screaming so loud.”
Gia stares at her incredulously, even as Rori gets a dreamy look in her eyes. “God, he was something,” she says wistfully. “It’s all consensual, and he knew that. And he definitely played his part.” She wiggles her brows suggestively.
“Sounds like you and Alonzo will get along well,” Sofia smirks as we make another turn down another passage. Maybe I should have been dropping crumbs behind us along the way, because there is no way I won’t get lost if we have to find our way back to Nico’s office.
Rori arches a brow. “Wait, as his sister, how the hell do you know that he likes the primal shit?”” she asks curiously.
Sofia sighs and leads us to a set of stairs. Wow, this place is insane. What next, an elevator? “Because I grew up in a house full of men and I know far more about my brothers than I care to. That includes the Caruso boys, who I also see as my brothers,” she explains patiently. “And this particular brother enjoys things a bit darker in his love life, if you know what I mean.” Then she grins. “It’s been far too long since a woman kept him on his toes, and I want to see just how far you can push him.”
“I have no intention of sleeping with him,” Rori tells her firmly.
Sofia shrugs. “I don’t care if you do. My brother’s a big boy and can handle himself.” Then she mutters, “If only they would recognize that about me.”
Rori arches a brow at me in question. “She’s in a relationship with Nico’s underboss and her brothers don’t like it,” I explain. “And he is fine ,” I add with a dramatic fanning of my face. “You haven’t met him yet, but you will, and you’ll see what I mean.”
Sofia grins. “He is fine, isn’t he? And the things that man can do with his mouth and hands?” She makes a sound of pleasure and we all grin. “We’ve never done the chase thing, but maybe we’ll have to try it some time.” Then she gets serious. “We’re almost there, and I think there is a way for us to see whether anyone is outside the door, but I can’t quite remember. I haven’t been down here since Dante first showed me.”
We all fall silent, and the tension between us increases. I check my gun again, just in case, and then move to the back of the group. Hades falls into step beside me, ears perked and listening intently.
When we reach the end of the passageway and I see the steel door, I remind myself that we’re going to be fine. I just have to hope shit hasn’t gone south outside the door and the assholes aren‘t waiting for us.
“We’re in luck,” Sofia says as she looks at the door. “There’s a one way peephole. I’ll have a quick look. If it’s clear, we can go out, get what we need and get back in here without anyone noticing. If someone is out there, we turn back and head up to Gia’s old room . Final stop will be the master bedroom, but I have a feeling that’s the first place they’re going to check, so we need to be careful.”
“It’s too bad Hades can’t smell through the door,” Rori remarks grimly.
“No, but we might need him to make sure that we can get away if someone spots us,” Sofia answers with a pointed look.
Rori nods. “He’ll do that. And honestly, half the time when you come up on any of these bastards, when they see a dog like him with their teeth bared, they freeze or scream, which gives you the time you need.”
“I’d be scared for sure if I saw him coming at me,” Gia agrees, but smiles at the dog. “I can only imagine what he looks like at night.”
“I was going to call him Diablo because so many perps call dogs of his breed the devil, but it never seemed to suit him.”
“Alright, the coast looks clear,” Sofia interrupts. “The main door is shut, which means that it’s been locked from the outside. But from the looks of things, there’s not much left. Be quick, grab what you can, and get back in here. Rori, you grab me another couple magazines, and a couple of blades.”
“What about cameras?” Rori asks. “If someone outside hacked in and sees us sneaking out of a hidden spot in a wall, wouldn’t that give us away?”
“They took out the systems with the second explosion,” Sofia answers grimly. “I heard Alonzo curse when he realized he couldn’t tap in to see what was happening. Knowing Dante, he’s already got his men getting them back up online, but that’s going to take a bit of time. But honestly, I’d rather them find out about it and try to get through that much steel than be left in here with barely anything to help us defend ourselves.”
Rori nods. “Alright. Let’s go then.”
Gia hesitates. “Are we sure we should do this? I mean, Nico’s going to be furious when he realizes that we left the safety of the passageway.”
“Technically, he only told you not to leave. He told me to keep you safe,” I point out. “Rori, you get my things, and I’ll stay in here with Gia.”
“Gotta love a loophole,” Rori grins. “On it. I’ll leave Hades at the doorway in case we need him either way. Hades!” She snaps her fingers and utters a command that I don’t quite hear.
“Was that Russian?” Sofia asks her curiously.
Rori nods. “I also trained him with German, Dutch, and Spanish commands just to be safe. But he won’t listen to just anyone’s orders. I have to give him permission. The only other person who can command him right now is Sienna.”
“Alright, then we have a plan. You ready?” Sofia asks briskly. Rori nods. Gia moves to stand back with me, biting her lip nervously. Sofia brings up her gun and very quietly and carefully opens the door. The door is so silent that if I wasn’t watching it, I wouldn’t have known it was opening. Sofia peers around it, and then silently motions Rori forward as they ease out. Hades follows them to the threshold, stopping and sitting in place.
Gia and I don’t move, don’t speak, and hell, almost don’t breathe, as we wait anxiously. We can’t see them, but I can hear them moving quickly, and I can see Hades’ head on a swivel, his ears twitching every so often. But the one thing we can hear now, without the safety of the soundproofing, are the screams and the bullets flying outside the armoury. I swallow down the fear and fiercely focus on the present. Worrying about Alessio isn’t going to help anything or anyone. That’s how mistakes happen.
Finally, Rori and Sofia return to the passageway, Hades jumping in last. Sofia quickly shuts and bolts the door again. We all breathe a sigh of relief, but I know we’re not out of the woods yet. Sofia and Rori quickly distribute everything, and I slip the extra magazines into my pockets, never more glad that I decided to borrow a pair of Gia’s cargo pants. They’re a bit short, and tight, but with the pockets, damn, I don’t have to worry about losing anything. I also tuck the two blades they snagged away for easy access.
Gia secures her own knives, though we don’t hand her a gun. “Do you know how to properly handle and shoot one?” I ask her when she looks at them uneasily.
“Not very well,” she admits. “Sofia’s been helping me, but I’m a slow learner.”
“She’s just not comfortable handling something with any kind of power to kill,” Sofia explains absently as she conceals a sheathed knife in her bra. “And she’s not ready to shoot to kill someone. Yet. But we’ll get her there.”
I nod. “Make sure you stick with us, and if things go south, then stick with Hades,” I tell her firmly. “He’ll protect you.”
“But won’t you need him?” Gia asks, frowning and glancing at Rori questioningly as she finishes getting herself all geared up.
“He’s trained to help, but he’s also trained to protect, and he knows that’s the priority,” Rori assures her. “But if I need him, he’ll come, so don’t worry about it. He’s been up against lots of bad guys and always come out fine.”
“Okay,” Gia says, though still looks unconvinced. “What do we do now?”
“Now we make our way back and we wait for the men to come and get us,” Sofia replies. “As much as I want to be out there helping them, distracting them is the worst thing we can do.”
“Alright then, lead us back through the crazy maze, Fearless Leader,” Rori quips. “Because I didn’t think to Hansel and Gretel this shit, and I’m not about to get myself any more lost than I already am.”
See? Glad to know I’m not the only one who’s thought of this.
Sofia snorts. “Alright, let’s go.”
We head back the way we came, and this time, I’m a bit more relaxed knowing I’m well prepared to fight. This is one of those times that I’m so fucking grateful to my mother for insisting that I take all those lessons growing up. Especially those involving weapons.
As we go, Rori looks back at Gia and asks, “So, how does it feel to find out that you have a long-lost sister? I mean, I know she’s great, but I also know how much of a pain in the ass a sister can be.” She winks at me and I roll my eyes at her, though I can’t stop from smiling.
Gia smiles but then it fades. “Honestly, I was so shocked when I found out I had a sister that Nico had to talk me down from losing my mind. I was freaking out and demanding to know where she was. He told me Alessio went to get her. Honestly, growing up, I had moments I wished for a sister to spend time with, but then I would think about all the stuff that happened to me, and I was glad I didn’t have to watch them go through the pain and misery I did.”
Rori glances at me in confusion and disbelief. “I don’t know what all that means, but how about if we run into any of them, we let Hades chew on them for a bit?” she suggests.
Gia gives a soft chuckle. “I think that sounds like a good idea,” she agrees, giving Hades a quick pat on the head.
Rori gives me a pointed look, letting me know that she expects me to fill her in, and I give a subtle nod. I don’t really know exactly what she’s been through, but she’s shared enough for me to know she suffered years of abuse because she is a girl. It’s unfathomable to me that someone could do that to their own daughter, or sister.
Something that I will never be able to understand, even if I have to be surrounded by it for the rest of my life.
We keep walking until we reach the part of the passages that splits off in different directions. “Which way?” Rori asks.
“To the?—”
“You’re not going anywhere,” a deep voice interrupts, making us freeze. Hades begins to snarl as we watch three men step in front of us. Gia gasps, and I realize that one of the men is her guard, Tommaso. The menacing look on his face, and the gun he has pointed at us mean he’s not here to save the day. I don’t recognize the other two men, though one of them certainly looks familiar. “Hello, again, Gia,” the man says, looking straight at her as I shove her behind me and glare at him. His gaze holds mine for a brief second before his lips twist into a gleeful smile. “Ah, Ms. Harris. I heard that you were much like your sister, but the stories have not done you justice. You are far more beautiful. It will be fun to break you.”
My blood runs cold at his words, but I don’t reply, instead keeping my gun up and pointed right back at him. How the hell did they get in here?
The man is about five-eleven, with black hair and a hard face. His eyes are a cold dark brown, and he’s wearing all dark clothes. He’s not a typically handsome man, and has a few different scars on his face and tattoos on his arms and hands. Speaking of hands, nearly all of his fingers on both hands are adorned by gaudy gold and silver rings. His thick Italian accent tells me that this must be Rafaele Parisi.
Fuck.
My gaze moves quickly to the third man, and the furious glare he levels Gia with tells me that she knows him. Is this Marco? Or another one of the brothers? When his gaze moves to me, I hold his stare. His eyes flash angrily, but he gives me a cool smile and remarks, “You look like your whore of a mother, dear cousin. Though it’s interesting to see a De Luca woman with a backbone. Don’t worry, you won’t have it for long. You’ll cower like the rest of them.”
“And which cousin would you be?” I ask icily.
“I see Gia hasn’t bothered to educate you on your family,” he replies unhappily. “Though what can I expect from a useless whore like her? I’m Lorenzo, Giovanni’s eldest son. Gia can explain why you don’t want to cross me.”
I don’t even look back at Gia. Instead, I reply, “I’m starting to realize it was a damn good thing I was adopted, because it sounds really fucked up. Now, how about you tell us what the hell you’re doing in here?”
Lorenzo’s face flashes with fury, and Rafaele gives a laugh that sends chills down my spine. It’s the laugh of someone plotting something dark and sinister, and anticipating it with a kind of sick malice that you know is going to be the end of you if they succeed. “Such fire,” he remarks. “I can’t wait to put it out. As for what we’re doing here, that should be obvious. I’ve come to claim what belongs to me, namely?—”
The echo of the shot Sofia fires at Tommaso reverberates through the passageways, so loud that Gia screams, ducking. Hades launches himself at Lorenzo with a sharp command from Rori.
Chaos ensues, and I grab Gia’s hand as we run back the way we came. I remember there was another turn off somewhere, and we need to get to it quickly. “Go, go, go!” I order Gia, who is running as fast as she can.
“Fuck!” I hear a man shout, followed by a canine snarl and then a man screaming. Sounds like Hades got a hold of one of them, and I internally cheer, even as I hear footsteps pursuing us. I glance behind me and feel a flare of panic when I realize that Rafaele has gotten away from Sofia and Rori and is rushing toward us.
“Gia, faster,” I bark at her. Gia glances behind her, and I see her fear instantly when she realizes just who is following us. “Find an exit. Hurry.”
Before long, we’re into a deeper part of the passages, and it splits off in two different directions. I reach out and grip Gia’s arm and pull her to the right, remembering that to the left was the armoury. The last thing I want is to be trapped in that room, even if we do have access to weapons. We need to find another way out of here, and hope that we’re not running into the middle of people firing bullets at each other. But speaking of that…
I twist myself and see that Rafaele has gained on us, and I lift my gun and fire at him, hoping to slow him down. His face twists with pain and fury as he stops and staggers back when I manage to hit him in the shoulder. “I’m going to enjoy killing you, you fucking bitch,” he roars, clutching at his shoulder.
I don’t answer, just push Gia to run faster. When we reach another fork of passageways, I pull Gia to the left. There’s a bend not too far down, and I hope it will get us out of sight before Rafaele gets to the fork, and he figures we’ve instinctually gone right.
The tunnel slopes down, and then I realize there’s a door at the bottom and it doesn’t go anywhere else. “We need to be careful,” I gasp to Gia as we reach it. “Keep down, and don’t make too much noise.” Gia just nods, her eyes wide with terror, and her chest heaving as she tries to catch her breath.
I see the peephole above, but I don’t have time to look out as I hear movement in the tunnels above. Shit, Rafaele must have hit the fork, which means we don’t have much time. I unbolt the door, silently sending up a prayer of thanks Nico has them so well maintained it doesn’t make even a hint of sound. Pushing it open, and I’m instantly hit by the scent of fresh air and flowers. I peer out, and despite the sounds of shouting and gunfire, it’s in the distance, which means whatever battle is going on is not out here.
“Clear,” I whisper to Gia, who slips past me, and I quickly shut the door behind her.
“Fuck,” Gia whispers. I look at her sharply, and she grimaces. “We’re in the middle of the maze. Nico’s father built it, and it’s super intricate and hard to get out of. If we get lost in here, we might get caught.”
“We don’t have much of a choice,” I tell her as I urge her to move away from the wall of the house and deeper into the maze. “At least out here we have more spaces to hide. And then we just have to wait until this is all over, and Nico and Alessio come looking for us.”
Gia nods, and we hurry down a path in the maze. “I’ve never been this far in, so I don’t know where we’re going to end up. I’ve been in the parts closer to the front of the house. If we can figure out how to get to the raised part where the mausoleum is, then we’ll be close to an exit.”
“There has to be another exit in here. Probably closer to the back. Most mazes have an entrance and an exit, so we just need to find the exit and then hide out until someone finds us.”
“What about Sofia and Rori?” Gia asks, worried, as we take another turn through the maze and I see the intricate rose bushes lining each side. I really hope we don’t have to go through any of those, because that’s going to hurt like hell.
“They’re both strong and can handle themselves. And they have Hades. He’s not going to let anything happen to them. But we can’t worry about them, okay? We need to focus on staying alive.”
Gia nods, silent, but I can tell she’s struggling to stay calm. I don’t blame her, and I’m sure later I’m going to lose my shit, but right now, I can’t let anything happen to Gia. If something does, and I survive this, Nico will kill me, and I really don’t want to die today if I can help it.
We hurry deeper and deeper into the maze, making random turns until I curse when I realize we’ve ended right back at the house. Just then, a bloodied Rafaele and Lorenzo emerge from the hidden door in front of us.
Fuck!