Her Mafia Brothers

Chatting

Even though I was pretty sure it was Jack's desk, Damon sat behind it. Jack sat on the other side of it with me, swivelling his chair around so he faced me.

"Firstly, it breaks my heart that you have been so badly abused," Damon said softly. "But let me reassure you that you are safe here with us."

"But Logan told me Rocco will hit me for swearing!" I yelled.

"Lower your voice," Damon instructs in the strictest, coldest tone I've ever heard. He's not loud, either. He keeps his voice deep and low, but it's filled with so much authority I don't dare disobey.

"Sorry," I whisper. "But I'm frightened."

"You don't need to be frightened sweetheart," Jack tells me gently. "You're safe here."

Jack opens his arms to me and I rush into them, seeking the comfort and security he offers. He holds me tightly on his lap then turns his chair around so we're both facing Damon.

"Yelling is not tolerated here," Damon tells me sternly. "It's very important that you learn to control your anger. Because of who we are, what we do, self control is essential. We have a gym and boxing bags to work out your anger on, which you can use whenever you want. But no yelling."

"Logan yelled," I pointed out.

"And he will be dealt with." Damon clasped his hands together on the desk and leaned forward to look at me.

"Are you going to hit him?" I just couldn't let it go. I wanted to, but I couldn't.

"That is not your concern." Damon's tone was one that brooked no argument, and I shrunk back against Jack, frightened. Well not frightened frightened, but a little bit uncertain. I swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the lump in my throat.

Jack straightened me, rearranging me on his thigh so I sat up straight, looking at both him and Damon.

"Do you trust me?" he asked.

"Yes Jacky, of course I do!"

Damon smirked, which I ignored.

"Jacky, aye?" Jack said to me, grinning widely.

I giggled shyly. "Is that okay? Am I allowed to call you that?"

"Yes darling girl, it's fine. You can call me whatever you want." He kissed my hair gently, making me feel like the most important girl in the world. Then he held my chin in his hand, staring into my eyes, making sure I was looking at him.

"Listen to me," he commanded. "Respect and obedience are very important in our family. You're a Bogiatto, and because of that, because of our wealth and power, and the type of business people we associate with, being disobedient or disrespectful can cost us business dealings, or worse. There may even be times it will be a matter of life and death." He paused for a moment, probably taking in my shocked expression. "Do you understand me?"

"Not really," I admitted. I mean, I did. I understood his words. But I didn't understand why, or how they could be true.

"Which part of it don't you understand?" he asked me gently.

"I get what you're saying, I just don't understand why. Why will someone die if I'm rude? That doesn't make any sense."

"Right now, you don't need to know why. You just need to accept the rules," Damon said.

Jack squeezed my chin, regaining my full attention. "Believe me when I tell you that we will never abuse you. Arguing with Logan how you were before was unnecessary, because Logan was telling you the truth. Nobody is going to hit you. Not ever. You just said you trusted me, so believe me now, sweetheart. There will be no abuse. If you ever do need to be disciplined, there will be no whipping with belts. No anger or yelling. No burning you. No locking you away. We will never, ever do those things to you. We will be strict with you, but we will never abuse you."

"I'm confused," I said. "You said Logan was telling the truth, but Logan told me Rocco would hit me if I swore."

Jack sighed. I got the distinct impression that I was annoying him, too, just like I did to Logan. But I couldn't help it. I needed to know. And they weren't telling me.
I pressed further. "And at the airport, Alex said something about not being able to sit. What was he talking about?"

I got up off Jack's lap and went and sat on my own chair. I didn't want to be a burden, and right now, after he sighed, that's what it felt like I was.

Jack reached out for me. "I'm sorry sweetheart, you didn't need to get off. I sighed because I'm obviously not doing a very good job of explaining it to you, and I don't know how to explain it any better."

I stayed put.

"Carrie, look at me." Damon's voice was authoritative, but not stern or angry or cold.

Obediently, I met his gaze with a steady stare of my own.

"When you break the rules, there will be consequences. Punishments. You might lose privileges. You might be grounded. You might be spanked. But a few smacks on the bottom is nothing like the abuse you have endured, alright? They're completely different things. Perhaps it's something you have to experience to understand."

"Okaaaay," I said slowly, still not really believing them, but trying my best to get my head around the baffling concept. "I think I get it."

"Good." Jack stood up. "I'm glad you understand. I have more work to do, so I'll leave you to chat with Damon. See you later sweetheart."

And he strode from the room, leaving me alone with my oldest, scariest brother.

Damon leaned back in his chair for a moment, looking relaxed, then he pulled a shiny black leather wallet from his pocket and pulled a card out of it, handing it to me. I stared at it, completely lost as to what to do with it.

"It's an Amex card," he told me, sounding amused by my confusion. "It's got a limit of $500 per month."

I gasped. I've never had a credit card before. I've never had a bank account. I've never had any access to any money whatsoever, except for the times my mother gave me cash for lunch at school.

"I know the limit is low -"

"No it's not it's-" I blurted, cutting him off, before stopping myself when Damon frowned at me.

"I've warned you about interrupting," he scolded. "Don't do it again."

"I'm sorry," I whisper.

"As I was saying," he told me sternly, making me shrink down into my seat to escape his piercing gaze. "The limit is low, because I want to supervise your spending. I will pay for everything you need, and most things you want. This card is for your personal spending - lunch at school, coffee and movies out with your friends, that sort of thing. You don't need permission to buy anything with this card, it's yours to spend how you want to. Once you hit the limit, I am happy to increase it, but I will want to know what you're buying. I know you haven't had access to money before, and now you will never want for anything, but I also don't want you just spending mindlessly because you can. I want to ease you into it gently. Does that make sense?"

I nodded.

"Things like clothes, shoes, stuff like that, I will pay for. Or one of your other brothers will. You don't have to budget for any of that. Do you have any questions?"

I shook my head no, but mostly because I was in shock. $500 every single month to spend on whatever I wanted? I don't think I'd had access to that much money in total, in my whole life!

I gave Damon a big, grateful smile. "So I can buy whatever I want with this?"

Damon nodded.

"Thank you!" I got up off my chair and rushed around the desk to hug him, wrapping both my arms around his neck tightly. Damon appeared shocked for the first couple of seconds. I don't think he'd hugged anyone before. Not in a long time, anyway. But soon, he relaxed and returned my hug, guiding me to sit on my knee, holding me tight. Making me feel happy and safe.