Her Mafia Brothers

Relief

"What did you tell for?" Logan blurted angrily beside me. "We were getting away with it!"

I wanted to sink through the floor. You know how sometimes you just want the floor to open up and swallow you whole and then close back up again so you disappear completely and no one knows where you are? Yeah. That. Logan and I had only just become friends again, and now he was mad at me again.

"You were not getting away with it," Paul growled, glaring at Logan with such ferocity that a tremble went down my spine. "I was going to find out exactly where you were, and you were both going to be nursing sore asses and scrubbing floorboards with your toothbrushes. Don't you dare have a go at your sister for rescuing you from that."

Logan didn't answer, but glared furiously at me. Righteous anger welled up within me - didn't he understand I'd been trying to protect him, too?

"I didn't want to stress Damon out any more," I told him quietly, my voice shaking. "He has enough to deal with. I didn't want to make it worse." Then I swallowed and glared back. "And you were scared of getting in trouble with Paul anyway, I could tell. I did the right thing, Logan." It felt good, standing up to my brother. One of my brothers, anyway. The least-scary one. I doubted I'd have the courage to face down my bigger, scarier, more intimidating brothers, but Logan was different. Especially with Paul right there.

"Why were you spying?" Paul growled, his voice still gruff. His stance had relaxed a bit, but he was still far too close, far too big, and far too scary to cross.

I was silent for a moment, silently pleading with Logan to help me out here. He didn't.

"Whose idea was it?" Paul growled again, obviously determined to get some kind of answer from us.

"It was mine," I said quickly, not wanting Logan to get in trouble, and also kinda hoping that me taking responsibility so quickly would redeem me slightly in his eyes. I didn't want my youngest big brother mad at me. Not when it was just me and him, alone. I needed him as my ally, my friend.

"I needed to know that the boys were getting in trouble," I admitted quietly, not feeling anywhere near as ashamed as I knew I should. "I needed to know if Damon was busting their asses or not."

Maybe it was wishful thinking, but I swore Paul hid a grin.

"And you're satisfied that he is?" He paused for a moment, staring at me hard. I nodded. It had certainly sounded like Damon was pissed at them, when we'd been listening through the wall.

"Damon has it all under control, Carrie. You don't need to worry. Damon will discipline your brothers appropriately. Why didn't you trust him to do that?"

I shrugged. Paul's tone was a lot gentler now, and I was pretty sure we weren't actually getting in trouble with him, but I was still scared, and struggling to speak.

"Trust is hard for me," I whispered. "Everyone I've trusted before has let me down."

Instinctively, I stepped closer to Logan. I needed his comfort, his reassurance. He touched my arm. Not a hug, but just his hand on my arm was enough.

"I understand that, but what happens to your brothers isn't something you need to worry about. You're a kid, Carrie. Enjoy your childhood and let Damon take care of all that stuff."

Then Paul looked at Logan. Glared at him, more like. Fiercely.

"You should know better," he growled, his voice deep, stern. "You know how dangerous spying can be. I'm going to padlock that door and you'll need to go through Damon to get the key. Stay out of there."

Logan swallowed. And his hand on my arm shook. He was clearly still afraid, even though Paul didn't seem mad any more.

"Do Rocco and Nick know?" he asked, rubbing his hand over his torso, probably trying to ease the pain of his broken ribs.

Paul shook his head. "No. Only me. But you stay out of there, alright? I won't tell your brothers, but you make sure it doesn't happen again."

Logan's exhalation of relief was audible, and his body relaxed. I felt it, and I'm sure Paul saw it. He reached out and ruffled Logan's hair, like our big brothers sometimes did, and smiled.

"You kids have been through a lot, and you're doing well. Just stay out of business that doesn't concern you, right? Now go and get your nuggets or whatever shit you're wanting to eat. I've got work to do."

And then he was gone.

Logan was far more adept in the kitchen than I'd expected him to be. With having so much staff, I'd kinda assumed my brothers didn't know how to do anything for themselves, but that clearly wasn't the case. Before I even really knew what was happening, he had frozen chicken nuggets and fries in the air cooker, poured us both sprite, and got two plates out of the cupboard.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "Please don't be mad at me. I had to - Paul was terrifying me!"

Logan gave me a little half-smile. "I'm not mad, sis. He was scaring the shit out of me, too."

He looked at the screen on the air fryer. "Another thirteen minutes to go."

I swallowed, uncertain whether to ask or not. But Paul had terrified me, and I had to know.

"Would Paul really have punished us?" My voice was a bit squeaky and high-pitched from worry. Hopefully Logan didn't notice.

"Yeah probably," he said. "He would have asked Damon first I think, but Nick and Rocco are out of action right now, so yeah, he would have probably have done it. He's been here for so long he's like family."

I exhaled loudly. "So you forgive me for caving, then?"

Logan grinned. "Yes Carrie, I forgive you. Happy now?"

I nodded stupidly, my worries melting away. Well, some of them, anyway. Jack was still shot. Alex and Damon were still away at war. Nick and Rocco were both in the left wing. But at least me and Logan were okay.

"Harry Potter marathon?" I suggested, and Logan nodded.

So that's what we did.

We ate on the couch in the lounge, watching Harry Potter movies until well past midnight, cuddled up together under blankets where I eventually fell asleep, only waking briefly when Rocco carried me upstairs and tucked me into bed.