Her Mafia Brothers

Welcoming

"It means you're stuck with us little girl, no matter what. We will take care of you and protect you." Damon didn't shift his dark gaze from mine as he spoke, and even though I believed his words, he still struck terror into my heart. He was, by far, the scariest, most intimidating man I had ever met. Far more terrifying than any of Mom's violent, cruel boyfriends. They had been abusive monsters, but they didn't ooze power like the man in front of me did.

"The five of us have to get back to work, we have business to attend to. So Logan will show you around, help you unpack and settle in. There will be a tray of food for you in the kitchen-"

"I'm not hun-" I started to say, but I was cut off.

"Do not interrupt me," Damon told me sternly, his dark eyes flashing again.

My hands shook and I looked down at the ground.

Damon grasped my chin and made me look at him, his face expressionless. Was he angry? It was impossible to tell, he guarded his emotions so well.

"There will be a tray of food in the kitchen for you and Logan to share once you've unpacked." He looked directly into my eyes, making me shrivel under his intense stare, before releasing my chin. "If there is anything in your room that you don't like, we can change it. The designer I hired had to guess your tastes. If there is anything else you want in your room, we will get it. You can have whatever you want in there." He paused for a moment, watching me intently, waiting for my reaction, but I was speechless. I'd never before had someone care so much about my preferences, ever. I smiled.

"We will catch up for a chat in a couple of hours."

And just like that, I was dismissed.

Logan grabbed my bags from where Alex and Nick had left them at the foot of the stairs and led the way to my bedroom. He pushed open the door and when we stepped inside, all I could do was stare. It was incredible! And big. The entire apartment I'd shared with Mom and her last boyfriend would almost have fitted inside this one room.

I stepped inside and spun around in a slow circle, taking in the beautiful room that had been done in purple and white. It had everything! Aside from the obvious things - bed, side table and dresser - there were shelves, a big purple beanbag, a round hanging chair suspended from the ceiling, LED strip lights circling the entire room, a walk-in wardrobe and a TV mounted to the wall. There was also a desk and chair, with a brand new laptop sitting on it.

"Oh my god!" I stood there open-mouthed, completely in awe. "Was this really done for me? I love it!"

Logan nodded and grinned back. "Yeah it was. You can change or add whatever you want. It's your room, and you get to make it how you want to." He pointed at the telly. "Your TV has Netflix and Disney Plus already on it, but we can add whatever streaming services you want."

He dumped my bags on the floor and walked to a closed door next to the wardrobe. "Through here is your bathroom," he said, pushing the door open, revealing a huge tub, glass walled shower, full-length mirror and marble-topped vanity.

"I have my own bathroom? Really?"

This time, Logan laughed at my excited expression. "Of course! You don't think Damon would make you share a bathroom with us boys, do you?"

I must have looked shocked or something because he laughed again and reached out and patted my shoulder. "All the bedrooms here have their own bathroom," he said. "You're not special."

I wasn't sure if that was meant to be an insult or not, but it actually made me feel slightly better. Damon had already done so much for me with taking me in and the beautiful bedroom. I didn't want to take advantage of his generosity and get special treatment just because I was a girl. I didn't want to have a private bathroom unless my brothers also had them. But I should have known, in a place this size.

Logan frowned at my few possessions from his perch on my bean bag as he watched me unpack.

"Is that all you've got?" he asked, his tone making it clear he didn't believe me. "Don't teenage girls have heaps of clothes and shoes and things?"

I felt myself blush, and I quickly stuffed my few items of clothing away in the drawers before he saw how worn and tatty my clothes were. I was embarrassed at the state of my clothing, and I knew he wouldn't understand what it was like to not have any money. I left my old, precious teddy in my bag. I didn't want my brother to see that. He already seems to think I'm an idiot for being so overwhelmed by my change in circumstances. What would he think if he knew I couldn't sleep without my squishy teddy tucked in my arms? He'd laugh at me for sure.

"Hungry?" Logan interrupted my musings and started walking out of my room. "Come and see the rest of the house and we'll grab a bite to eat."

I went to shake my head no, but he stared at me hard, the spitting image of his older brothers, almost daring me to argue with him. When Damon had mentioned food before, even though he had phrased it like an optional thing, I knew it really wasn't. I knew my brothers had seen my skinny, half-starved, malnourished body and I knew they would make me eat regularly. It wasn't that I didn't want to eat, it was that I wasn't used to eating. Food had not been regular in my life. Often my lunch at school was the only thing I ate each day, and if there was no lunch money, I sometimes went hungry for days. I was used to it. I truly didn't have much of an appetite, after eating on the plane.

I followed him back down the hallway, my head spinning from the luxury of my surroundings. I didn't even know it was possible to live like this. I didn't know anybody who lived in anything more than a modest house. And now here I was in a mansion!

Logan pointed out who each bedroom belonged to, as I followed him to the stairs. Mine was in between his and Jack's, Damons was at the end, and Alex, Rocco and Nicks rooms were opposite.

He stopped at the top of the stairs, turned and winked conspiratorially at me. "Try it!" he stage whispered. "Slide down now while nobody's watching! You don't want to let the boys catch you, but it's safe now."

There was that warning again. There had been a few of them, some subtle and others more direct. What did it mean? Was Damon strict? I got a glimpse of his strictness when I interrupted him earlier, but how strict was he? A man as generous as he was wouldn't be too strict, surely? He looked powerful, confident and scary, but he was the CEO of the family business, so of course he would be. The brother I barely remembered from my childhood was so different to the man standing in front of me earlier, that I really didn't know what to expect.

"Why? What will they do if they catch me?" I couldn't help but ask. I know the saying curiosity kills the cat and it was probably true, but I figured I had a right to know what would happen to me if I got in trouble. Would I be grounded? Lose my phone? Be sent to my room? With such a perfect bedroom, I didn't think confining me to my room would be much of a punishment.

Logan just grinned. What was it with him and grinning? Did he find everything about me amusing?

"Don't get caught and you won't find out," he said cryptically.

Helpful. Not.

But I followed his lead and hoisted myself up onto the banister, gripping it with my hands to steady myself, before letting go and sliding down.

"Whoopee!" I shrieked in delight, sliding faster and faster until I bumped into a solid mass at the end and fell down.

Laughing, Logan helped me up.

"That was so much fun!" I gasped through giggles, clinging to him as I swayed on unsteady feet. "I'm going to have to do that again."

"Go on then," Logan said. "I'll wait here."

I ended up doing it three more times, shrieking in glee each time, until Logan told me to come and eat.