Her Mafia Brothers

Prank Wars

Rocco was fun to prank. He was playful and funny and didn't get upset at any of our pranks, even when they really went a bit too far. And he even pranked us back!

We put plastic cling wrap over the bowl of his toilet and hid outside his bathroom door, trying not to giggle as he swore at the mess. While his back was turned and he was cleaning his floor, we stretched more cling wrap across the door to his bathroom and sat on his bed and laughed our heads off as he got tangled in it. As revenge, he waited behind a door with two plates of whipped cream and smooshed it in our faces. He got Logan first and then me. The perfect shot. Splat! Right in the middle of my face, and cream went everywhere! I think it even splattered on the floor and wall but I don't know for sure because I licked off what cream I could and then went to wash my face and when I came back it was all cleaned up and Rocco was lounging on the couch without a care in the world, like he hadn't actually cream pied us.

To get him back, we spread cooking oil on the floor at the base of the stairs so when he came downstairs he went for a skate; of course we were hiding just around the corner, peeking around the door jamb and cracked up laughing at Rocco's windmilling arms as he tried to stay upright. He landed hard and slid several meters across the floor, falling heavily on his butt. We, of course, laughed so hard we couldn't contain ourselves and Rocco heard us and declared he was going to get us back, babies! I was half expecting him to get angry at us, but he never did. He just laughed it off with a menacing smile and glare.

And then he made us clean the floor. While we were mopping the floor, he tipped food coloring into the mop bucket and the floor ended up green. That took us ages to fix! I think Rocco got a bit nervous, actually, because the green stained the tiles and we couldn't get it off. Or at least we pretended we couldn't. I went to Rocco in tears, telling him the green wouldn't come off no matter what we did, while Logan hid around the corner pissing himself laughing.

As revenge, Rocco threw me, fully clothed, into the pool and stood on the edge telling me not to dare pretend to drown. I got out and hugged him, sopping wet, making sure I got him as much water on him as I could. I wrapped my arms around him and wouldn't let go, pressing my body and legs against him, and squirming around, rubbing my wet clothes all over him. While I was hugging him, Logan snuck up behind us and dumped an entire bucket of water over Rocco's head. His patience was endless.

And then it ran out. He got a phone call, disappeared into the left wing, then came out with Nick about fifteen minutes later and they were both grumpy and looking stressed. They didn't say anything, but Logan and I quietly went about dismantling all the pranks we had planned - neither of our big brothers looked to be in the right mood for more pranks.

And that's when it really started to suck, being stuck at home. You'd think, living in a mansion, there would be things for me to do. But nope. The library was boring. I was sick of video games and movies. The pool was too cold. I was sick of being alone with just my brothers. I wanted to see my friends, but obviously I couldn't. I couldn't even contact them, with them still being grounded.

Nick must have gotten sick of me moping around and grumping, because he told me rather firmly to get up and come with him to the gym. He wasn't giving me an option, he was giving me an order. My first reaction was to freeze. Refuse. I was afraid: he'd hurt Logan. Was he going to hurt me, too? I shook my head.

"You need to work off some steam," he insisted. "Come on. If I have to carry you, you'll be doing sit-ups before we even start."

"Please don't hurt me," I whispered, wringing my hands in front of me nervously.

"I'm not going to hurt you, sis. We'll do a training session. You're grumpy, and bored, and you're going to end up getting yourself in trouble."

So that's what we did.

Nick worked me hard. Really hard. Maybe harder than he's ever worked me before. True to his word, he didn't hurt me. He just coached me through kicks and punch combinations, let me do a bit of weight lifting, then held the boxing bag steady as I attacked it viciously. And at the end, right when I wanted to collapse from exhaustion, when my legs were shaking so hard they could barely hold me up and my lungs were burning, I started to cry. Tears blinded me, trickled down my cheeks. My shoulders shook with sobs. I fell to the floor, pounding my fists against the mats, my whole body clenched tight with despair.

Nick got down on the floor beside me. He wrapped his arms around me, lifting me up, cradling me close against his chest.

"Ssshhhh, it will be okay, sis," he crooned softly.

But I wasn't having it.

"No it won't!" I cried. "Jack is hurt! What about the others? Are they going to be hurt, too? Is someone going to shoot Damon and Alex? What if they do?" I buried my face in his shoulder. "I'm so worried, Nicky." I breathed those last words rather than actually spoke them, and I probably didn't make any sense anyway, through my sobs, but he understood. Nick cuddled me tight and rubbed my back.

"Damon and Alex have our top men with them," he assured me. "I've been working with them, hacking into stuff for them, helping them. I spoke to Damon just before. He's okay, I promise. And Jack should be coming home soon."

That news made me smile through my tears. I missed Jack.

"How soon?" I asked.

Nick shrugged. "Not sure. A few days."

He stayed sitting on the floor with me, not moving, just holding me, until my sobs subsided. Then he wiped my face with the hem of his grotty, smelly t-shirt, making me grimace, and stood up, carrying me.

"Come on sis. Let's go get cleaned up and put a movie on, yeah? Then later, we can get the mattress out and slide down the stairs. Sound good?"

I nodded, tired. "Okay. But only if you carry me."

"Sure."

Nick adjusted his grip on me and tossed me over his shoulder, holding my legs tightly so I didn't fall, and carried me back upstairs.

All was not well with my world yet, but I definitely felt better than I did before.