⚠️ Warning - This chapter contains descriptions of anxiety. ⚠️

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~ Daniela's POV ~

1 Week Later

"Carson."

"Carson wake up."

"Carson baby it's okay just wake up."

This time when I shook him speaking to get through to him a whimper escaped my lips when he let out another moan in his sleep, moving around the bed as if he was in absolute agony.

"Carson please wake up." I continued to shake him, trying to get through to him but it didn't seem like it was doing much to help until he suddenly sat up, a violent gasp escaping his lips as he did.

It took him a second before he began to look around the dimly lit room with frantic eyes taking in his surroundings.

"Baby it's okay, it was just a dream Carson, you're safe." When he heard my voice he turned to look at me, taking me in before he looked away to look at the room again.

"B-but we were there again...in that room..." His voice came out hoarse and thick as he looked around with wide eyes full of panic.

"We're not there Carson, we're safe." I tried to keep my voice a soft as I reached out to stroke his cheek, frowning when I felt how hot and clammy his skin was.

"Baby do you want some water?" Without a word he nodded his head before I shuffled across the bed to grab my water bottle bringing it back to him. After I opened it, with shaking hands he took it from me taking a few gulps before he handed it back to me.

"Did I wake you up?" 

Tightening the cap on the bottle I put it down next to me before I moved in closer to him. "You were moving a lot, like you were in pain."

The sight scared the hell out of me.

"It was those games. The way he used to tie me up...how he made you watch..."

Nodding my head, I chose to pull him into a hug instead of saying anything stupid while he continued to take some time to calm down. "It felt so freaking real Dani."

"I know baby." As I pulled away I continued to rub his back as he let out a breath clearly still shaken up from whatever images were just going through his head as he slept. "He got his wish, he said he wanted to make me suffer and he is."

"It won't last forever Carson, it'll take some time for the nightmares to stop, but they will."

"No, you don't know that." When he shook his head I gave him a small smile, placing my hand on his cheek causing him to lean into my touch for the comfort.

"I think they will, but even if they don't, I'll always be here Carson. I'll be here to keep reminding you that it's not real, that it's a dream. I'll be here when you wake up to comfort you and give you a hug when you need it."

"I love you Dani." Leaning I pressed my lips to his before I lay down again, pulling him down with me. "I love you too. Are you ready to sleep again or you want to talk for a bit?"

As I spoke I ran a hand through his hair as he moved in closer to me, nuzzling his face into my neck.

"Let's go to sleep baby."

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

"Dallas."

When my eyes finally landed on the one person I'd been looking for, I let out a sigh of relief rushing over to him in the entry hall as I clutched the file in my hand.

"I know we haven't met properly yet and we'll do the introductions later, but right now I need your help with something." When he heard my desperation he gave me smile, excusing himself from the conversation he was just having with one of the security guards.

"What's up?"

"Carson has this deal with this guy...Luciano Scavo, I think he said he was going to sign it today but I need to speak to him about it and he's not in his office."

Dallas nodded his head, glancing in the direction of the basement before he gave me a friendly smile. I didn't know the story, but I knew Carson and Grey trusted Dallas with a lot of information which is why I knew I could go to him to find Carson.

"I know where he is, I'll take you to him, it's a bit of a maze down there." When I gave him a nod, he gestured for me to follow him down the hallway and towards the stairs.

Believe it or not I still hadn't been shown around this whole house. This last week had been anything but peaceful. Carson was busy with work but he still found time every single day to sit with me and help me learn everything after I asked him to.

I hadn't seen Grey since that day I looked after his daughter although I was sure he was around. I think he was avoiding me which is why Carson was making extra effort to help me. We'd also spent every single day of the last week sleeping at the house in Long Island.

The last time we were in Manhattan was the day Carson and I went home and I surprised him with the candles in our room.
I still hadn't forgiven him if you were wondering, although I now had a brand new watch, a bracelet, a necklace and two pairs of new heels. So now I'm thinking, is it more economically efficient for me to keep being 'mad' at him?

"So, you're the boss's girlfriend, right?" When he struck up a conversation, I turned my head to look at Dallas nodding my head. "I am, I'm Dani by the way, although I'm sure you knew that since you-"

"Know everything?" When he finished my sentence I let out a laugh, nodding my head. "I did, but I still like it when people introduce themselves to me."

"Well, it's nice to meet you." When I gave him another smile he nodded his head. "You too Miss Daniela O'Brien from Mansfield, Ohio. You know, when I first read your file I was surprised to see you were only 21, that's pretty young for an accountant in the mafia."

When he turned his head flashing me a smirk, I couldn't stop the laugh escaping my lips even though I was marginally creeped out that he knew everything. I guess it was his job, Carson did tell me he had Dallas conduct a background check on me before I started working for him.

"Well now that you know everything about me, what about you?" As we walked down the stairs into the basement, I held the file in my hand as I turned to look at him. "Me?"

When I nodded my head he let out a laugh before he spoke.

"I'm 19 years old, from New Jersey and I'm...well I guess I don't really have a title here. I kind of just do everything."

"So you do whatever you're asked to do?" Nodding his head, he guided me down one of the hallways I'd never been down before. "Pretty much yeah."

"You're close to Carson right? I've noticed you're really calm and relaxed around him, but a lot of the other men here aren't."

"Yeah, he...he helped me out of something, we've been kind of close ever since. I mean, not close enough that I'd invite him to my birthday party but close enough."

When he flashed me another smile I let out a laugh as we walked, an image of Carson in a party hat weirdly popping into my head. I think he'd kick my ass if he ever knew I thought about that - he was too macho for that kind of stuff.

"I'm sure he'll be disappointed to hear that." When I gave him a smile he nodded his head. "Oh you have no idea, those parties are wild Dani. I'm telling you, the cheers when I blow those candles out..."

When he shook his head in amazement, another left escaped my lips as we walked. "How are you finding your job?"

"It's been okay, I don't know enough yet to be doing anything too crazy on my own but when Carson's busy I've learned how to do some of the basic things and I guess I just use my own knowledge to get on with it."

"What's it like working with your boyfriend?" When I turned my head to look at him, shrugging my shoulders. "It's been good so far, we get to spend more time together even if we're working but we haven't argued about anything yet."

"Yet?" When he flashed me a grin, opening a door for me, I gave him one back. "You know him, he's got a short temper."

At this he nodded his head letting out a laugh as we walked into a huge gym. On one side was the weight lifting and strength training section, on another side were some cardio machines and then in the centre at the back were some punching bags and a boxing ring in the centre.

Once I was done looking around, my eyes finally landed on my boyfriend who seemed to be training with Fox. He was only wearing a pair of sweatpants with his upper body glistening with sweat as he focused on the punching pads on Fox's hands.

Honestly he was mesmerising, the way he moved so quickly, following Fox around the ring swiftly punching the pads so accurately every time. It sounded like Fox was telling him which combinations to do as they moved, sometimes doing three or four different moves and other times Carson did his own thing.

Apart from the sounds of Carson smacking the punching pads with his gloved hands, I could hear some faint music in the background accompanied by the sounds of some men talking in the background and the sounds of the weight machines.

"Is it just me or are people staring at you?" When I heard Dallas speak as he leaned in closer to me, I looked around for the first time noticing a few random stares in my direction or, more particularly in the direction of my feet. "I think it's because I'm wearing heels in a gym."

When I whispered my response to him he looked down at my feet before he let out a laugh as if he'd only just realised. With that we made our way towards the ring where I saw Grey standing, looking at his phone as we approached.

"Grey." At the sound of Dalla's greeting, he suddenly looked up from his phone and at Dallas before his eyes shifted to me.

Like I said, I hadn't seen him for a week, after that day he told me I was making Carson suffer by making him listen to me when I talked. I was actually pretty happy not seeing him, but unfortunately that didn't last forever.

First he nodded in Dallas's direction before he turned to look at me. "Dani."

I gave him a very forced tight lipped smile before I turned my attention towards the ring where Carson was still training.

"You hit like a girl." Of course we all knew he didn't, but Fox for some reason loved to wind Carson up. "Put the pads down and let's go then."

As he spoke, Carson dropped his gloved hands, taking a step away from Fox catching his breath as they both came to a stop.

"Are you sure about that? You look kinda tired."

"Oh don't you worry, I can take you." Carson sent him a glare while Fox just smirked, nodding his head, taking the pads off his hands. "Fine."

"Before you kick Fox's ass, can I talk to you?" When they heard my voice, they both turned to look at me while my boyfriend smiled and his friend sent me a glare.

"Sure beautiful." I watched as he came towards the edge of the ring taking off his gloves revealing some tape on his hands which he also took off. Jumping out of the ring he came over to me, leaning into press a kiss to my lips when I suddenly stepped back.

"Ew no."

My rejection caused Dallas to laugh next to me while Grey went over to talk to Fox, probably to get away from me. "What the hell? Why?"

"You're all sweaty." Raising an eyebrow at my response, a smirk tugged at his lips. "You don't complain about that when I-"

"Carson!"
"I'm leaving now."

Carson let out a laugh at my horrified reaction while Dallas quickly scurried away across the gym before he heard anything that could possibly make things even more awkward than they already were.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" When I glared at him all he did was laugh again this time leaning in to press a quick kiss to my cheek before I could move away. "What do you want to talk to me about?"

"Did you sign that deal yet? With  Luciano?"

"No, I was going to do it now when I finish my workout, why?" As he spoke to me, he took a bottle of water that was handed to him by Fox who came over to us with Grey in tow.

"I was reading it and I think there's something you need to check before you sign it. He kind of buried it in the fine print, I missed it the first time but I saw it now and-"

"Show me." When he cut me off, I opened the file I was holding finding one of the last pages where he'd included a clause in the fine print. Handing it to Carson, I watched as he read over the extremely long clause, a frown forming on his face after a few moments.

"He's sneaky, I'll give him that."

"What is it?" When Grey questioned him, Carson handed the file to Grey taking another gulp of his water before he tossed the bottle on the floor. "In a very long winded way, he basically stated that if we buy from him we're not permitted to sell any product on for a profit unless we give him 35% of the profits made on every 50kg of product."

Surprisingly Grey let out a laugh as he read the document before his eyes met mine. "How did you understand this? He might as well have written it in freaking Latin, it doesn't make any sense."

"I don't know, I just read it." When he heard my awful explanation he just cracked a smile nodding his head as he handed it back to me. "You're going to tell him to go to hell right?"

"No I'm signing the deal." When I heard Carson's response to my question I gave him a confused look. "What? Why?"

"It's not the first time someone has done something like this and I'd like to see that fool tell me I owe him my profit. I'll put a damn bullet in his head if he tries."

"Carson, that's a stupid reason to sign it." When I gave him my opinion he just gave me a smirk nodding his head. "I know, but who's going to stop me?"

"Well technically, as your accountant I-"

"You can't do jack and you know it." He let out a laugh while I just narrowed my eyes at him, unfortunately without a comeback since he was absolutely right. "Well, if you're just going to ignore my advice that you're paying me for, I have work to do so I guess I'll see you for dinner then?"

Dinner with his family.

Carson let out a laugh at my words nodding his head as I began to turn away but before I could leave Fox grabbed my hand.

"Hold on, you're not leaving that fast." Turning back to face him, I watched as he let go of my hand giving me a glare. "He's not going to kick my ass."

When I realised why he stopped me, a laugh escaped my lips as I glanced over at my boyfriend who in my opinion looked the strongest out of the three of them.

I wasn't biased or anything, I promise.

"Of course he will."

"How do you know?" Shrugging my shoulders I just gave him a smile. "I just know."

He just continued to glare at me, clearly unhappy with my response, before his eyes suddenly lit up and smirk tugged his lips.

"You think Carson could kick my ass, but what about you?"

"Me?" Nodding his head, he stepped towards the ring with a challenging smirk. "Or are you scared?"

"I'm not scared, I know self defence."

"Oh really? Because Grey said you wanted me to teach you self defence." When I didn't respond since what he said was kind of true, Carson suddenly took my hand guiding me towards the ring. "Show him what you can do baby."

At first I was confused when he encouraged me to get in the ring with his trainer, but when I saw the amused smile on his face I knew what he was doing. Nodding my head, I placed my hand on his arm to balance myself as I slipped off my heels, thankful that I decided to wear jeans today instead of a dress.

Once I was finally in the ring across from Fox, I could feel the eyes of most of the men in the gym on us as he bounced on his feet in front of me. It must have looked so odd with a muscular 6ft something guy standing across from a barefoot 5'3 little thing like me.

"Are you sure about this Fox?" When he heard my concerned tone, he let out a laugh nodding his head. "Show me what you can do little girl."

This time I narrowed my eyes at his words which were meant to make me feel inferior at least, taking a step towards him to show him I wasn't going to back down. My actions caused Carson to let out a laugh from outside the ring where he tapped Grey on the shoulder excitedly. "Watch this."

I heard him say the words before I turned my attention back to Fox glaring at him.

"Attack me then." Once again he just laughed, nodding his head before he suddenly came towards me with the aim of grabbing me by my waist I think. Before he could, I placed my hand on his shoulder, bringing my knee hard into his area.

The moment I made contact with him he let out a groan dropping to his knees as a few chuckles sounded around the room, especially from right beside the ring. "That's not self defence."

He said the words through his coughs as he tried to work through the pain on the floor in front of me.

"Funny, that's exactly what Carson said when he challenged me to the same thing." With a satisfied smile I stepped over him heading out of the ring well aware of the fact my boyfriend was now glaring at me while Grey was struggling to control his laughter even more now.

Even though he was clearly annoyed  that I just told everyone I'd once kicked him in the balls, he was still sweet enough to let me hold onto his hand while I put my shoes back on.

That's how you know you found the right one.

When I was done, I gave him a smile leaning up to press my lips to his only to make him feel better since he was now pouting.

"I'll see you later baby." Giving him one last smile I left the gym with Dallas next to me again, still hearing Grey laughing in the background.

"Bro she kicked you in the balls?"

I didn't need to turn around to know his groan that cut off his laughter was because Carson hit him, like I said, he has a short temper.

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

"Hurry the hell up, we're going to be late."

"Has anyone ever told you to have some more patience?" When I called out from the walk in closet where I was currently adding the finishing touches to my make up, Carson didn't bother to respond to me from the bedroom.

I really needed to teach him to have more patience, even when he woke me up he'd try nicely once and then each time get progressively more irate.

By the end he'd be saying 'wake the hell up' which was actually the second thing he ever said to me after telling me to 'wake up'.

Finally, I put down my lipstick happy with how my simple yet sophisticated look turned out. I'd chosen to keep my make up light and neutral, my brown hair in it's loose natural wavy state and I opted for a fitted nude knee length dress and heels.

"Can I come in now? I have a present for you." When I heard Carson's irritated tone from outside the door, I told him that he could without looking up as I shuffled through my purse making sure I had everything.

"Damn." When I heard his voice I turned my head to look at him, smiling when I saw his eyes focused on my behind. "Wow you really know how to make a girl feel beautiful."

When he heard my teasing tone, his eyes shifted away from my body that if I do say so myself, looked pretty good in my figure hugging dress, his gaze instead meeting mine.

"You look better than beautiful." He gave me a smile as he stepped into the closet, coming over to where I was standing by the vanity. "Here."

When he lifted his hand up I looked at the shopping bag he was holding, frowning when I saw the logo written on the front.

"What's that?"

"A present. I'm still making up those two weeks to you, since you know, you still haven't forgiven me." His smile faltered a little when he mentioned those two weeks that almost ended our relationship as soon as we got back to New York.

I was definitely still upset with him, I hadn't forgiven him yet either but I also loved him too much to let a grudge ruin what we had. It wasn't worth it.

And I was enjoying all my new gifts even if I wasn't showing him just how happy I was. It was so different to how Ayden used to buy me things. Carson actually went and chose everything himself and he put thought into everything he bought.

Taking the bag from him, I put it down before taking out the box inside. I could tell he was nervous while I got through the different  layers of packaging and tissue paper to get through before I finally found the designer purse inside.

"I chose the bigger one since you always carry around so much crap." When I heard his choice of words a laugh escaped my lips as I ran my hand over the leather purse. "I love it."

When I lifted my eyes to look at him I could see the relief on his face as he nodded while I smiled. I didn't blame him for being nervous, I wasn't exactly the easiest person for him to buy things for after our argument over the money a few weeks ago. 

But that was different, I wanted to pay for my own things but this was a gift and I loved it just like everything else.

"Thank you baby." When I reached out to take his hand he gave me a smile, leaning in to kiss me when I suddenly stepped away. I'm sure you can imagine he wasn't very happy to be rejected twice in one day - first in the gym and now here.

"You're stopping me again?" When he said the words dangerously low as he came in closer to me, I nodded my head giving him my reason. "You'll smudge my make up."

"Your make up?" He rose an eyebrow at me, murmuring his words as he looked me in the eye. This time I couldn't bring myself to respond instead I was too focused on how good he smelled. His cologne somehow matched the aura he had with its dark and woody fragrance and just a hint of freshness which made you want to do things - things that he apparently wanted to do too judging by the looks he was giving me and his next sentence.

"Close the door."

"But aren't we going to be late? You were rushing me to get ready."

"No, my mom texted to move the time forward an hour, she's running late. I only rushed you because you're slow as hell."

This time I just narrowed my eyes at him, shaking my head at the way he was smiling clearly finding this whole thing funny before I went to close the door.

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<<

"Don't look so nervous."

"Is it that obvious?" When I gave him a frown Carson just let out a laugh, shaking his head next to me. "You want me to buy you a drink? It might help to calm you down a little."

"I only liked the one you made for me."

"The peach Schnapps?" When I nodded my head Carson gave me a soft smile before he called a waiter, ordering the same drink he made for me with cranberry juice along with another glass of scotch for himself.

We'd already been sitting at the restaurant at a private table in the back, waiting for his mother and his siblings for ten minutes and the waiting was just making me feel even more nervous.

"You think they'll like me?" That was the same question I'd been asking him all evening since the moment we left the house in Long Island to come to a restaurant in Manhattan. I knew inside I was probably irritating him but he didn't show it once, instead just giving me a smile each time I asked him.

"Of course they will beautiful."

"I'm so nervous Carson. What if I throw up? I'll have to throw up in my new purse and then you'll be mad and your family will think I'm gross and-"

"Your drink ma'am." When the waiter from earlier suddenly cut my rant off placing my drink in front of me, I gave him a grateful smile while he only gave me a weird look. The little interaction caused Carson to laugh next to me as I sipped on my drink hoping the alcohol would help to steady my nerves.

"If you throw up, don't you dare throw up on me. This suit cost me 14,000 dollars."

"14,000?" When I turned to give him an incredulous look with wide eyes he nodded his head proudly, glancing down at the navy blue fabric of his luxury suit. "Yeah, it's a Brioni."

Even though he said it like I should have known what that meant, I had no clue as I sat there sipping my drink now all of a sudden terrified to spill a drop on his suit by accident.

"What's a Brioni?" My clueless question caused his lips to twitch up into a smile as he took a sip of his scotch. "It's an Italian suit brand, they're know as the best in the world - for their quality and their service."

"That's why it's so expensive?"

"Yeah, that and I had it custom made like all of my suits which adds to the price. I chose the fabric, the lining, the measurements of everything from the lapel to the pockets."

Nodding my head, I brought my hand up feeling the fabric of his suit with my fingers while he watched me.

"It feels like normal freaking fabric to me. You wasted your money."

My blunt response caused him to chuckle, shaking his head as he took another sip of his drink.

"I think I'm a bad influence on you. You're getting meaner by the day."

So I wasn't the only one who noticed it.

"I did tell you that you words were too mean, but according to you it 'adds emphasis'." When I repeated his words in a mocking tone he just smiled at me. "Well, you need to control yourself otherwise we're going to have to have a talk."

"A talk? What kind of talk?" When I rose an eyebrow at him, his smile morphed into a wordless smirk.

Instead of continuing the conversation, I turned away from him as I finished off the last bit of my drink while he laughed next to me. Before either of us could say another word, movement around our table caught my attention especially since we were in a more private corner of the restaurant.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry we're late! Everything was just going wrong and then the traffic was horrendous."

As she spoke, the lady who I'm assuming was Carson's mom stopped across from us at the circular table, putting her purse down and taking off her coat while the man and the woman she was with also did the same.

If I had it right in my head, he told me his mother's name was Maya, and his sister who was 21 years old was called Poppy and his brother was called Kai and he was 23 years old.

Once they were finally done, they all turned to face us, their eyes almost instantly landing on me as Carson and I stood up. Unsure of who exactly to look at, I decided to focus on his mother to be polite.

"You must be Dani, oh it's so nice to finally meet you." I gave her a smile as she took me in for a moment before she suddenly came around to our side of the table. Before I could process it, she wrapped her arms around me pulling me in for a hug.

"Oh you're so beautiful, my grandchildren are going to be heartbreakers, I can already see it."

Despite the blush that rose up on my cheeks, I let out a laugh taking a step back when she let go of me.

"Thank you Mrs..." When my sentence trailed off I awkwardly looked to Carson who just smiled placing his hand on the small of my back. "Ms Chase."

The last thing I wanted to do was call her Mrs Agnello and have her hate me forever because I reminded her of Carson's father who disappeared.

"Oh no! Don't be silly, call me Maya please." When she gave me a smile, she then turned her attention to Carson's brother and sister who came and stood next to her.

"This is my daughter Poppy and my other son Kai."

When I finally turned my attention towards his siblings, I noticed just how similar they all looked to one another. They had the same olive toned skin, brown hair and the same brown eyes that I so often find myself lost in.

"It's nice to meet you." I gave them both a shy smile which they both returned although they didn't say anything in response. "Well, you all sit down I just need to run to the washroom. Carson please order my usual for me."

As Maya flashed Carson a smile, she placed her hand on my arm giving me a smile also before she rushed away to the bathroom. In silence, the four of us sat back down picking up the menus to decide what to order.

As my eyes were busy scanning the items on the menu of the Italian restaurant we were in, I felt Carson lean in close to me before he whispered in my ear.

"Did it work?"

"Did what work?" When I turned my head to look at him responding in a quiet tone, he gave me a small smile. "My distraction, are you still nervous baby?"

When I saw the look of genuine care and concern in his eyes, it suddenly dawned on me that the whole conversation we just had about his suit was his way of distracting me from my nerves.

Giving him a smile of my own I nodded my head placing my hand on his leg under the table.

"It did, thank you."

"You two are so cute." When I heard her words I turned my head to look at Poppy who was watching us from across the table with narrowed eyes. "We always thought Carson would end up single and alone, especially with the way he treats people."

When Poppy suddenly shifted her gaze towards Carson sending him a cold look, I looked awkwardly between the two of them as he clenched his jaw glaring back at her.

"You know what happened, you're just acting like a child."

"Am I? Then explain to me why you've been back for three weeks and this is the first time Kai and I are seeing you."

Instead of responding to her Carson chose to stay quiet, still glaring at his younger sister.

"Poppy don't." When Kai suddenly spoke for the first time after watching the two of them have their stare down, he turned to face his sister. "Let's just have a nice dinner, tonight is about Dani getting to know us. Don't spoil it."

A few moments passed before she suddenly broke eye contact with Carson instead turning her attention back towards the menu in front of her. After that an awkward silence fell around us as we all read the menu to pass the time.

"What's good on the menu here?" When I mumbled the words to Carson, he turned to look at me his eyes softening a little although I could tell he was still pissed. "Everything."

"Well I can't exactly order everything so that's not very helpful, is it?" When I gave him my response, my voice dripping with irritation, he let out a laugh next to me. "I never said you couldn't and anyway, I'm sure you'd be able to finish it with the way you eat."

"What's that supposed to mean?" When I suddenly turned to look at him with wide eyes he shook his head turning his attention back to his menu.

"Nothing."

"Are you trying to say that I eat a lot?"

"Nope." When his lips curled up into an amused smile I put my menu down turning in my chair to face him properly with a glare.

"Do I need to remind you that I was the one who used to give you my food in that stupid place just to be nice to you?" This time he turned to look at me clearly trying to hold back his laughter.

"No, you don't I remember that very well. I'm sorry for what I said."

This bitch wasn't sorry in the slightest.

"Well it's good you remember because it was sure as hell the last time I ever give you my food again and to make it up to me you have buy me an extra dessert to take home later today."

This time he did laugh nodding his head as he took my hand in his bringing it up to his lips to kiss the back of it.

"Okay beautiful." Giving him one last glare I went to turn my attention back towards the menu when I saw three amused faces staring back at me from across the table.

So his mom came back during that little fight?

Great first impression idiot, now we're not going to get invited over to finish the leftovers the day after Christmas Day.

When I saw them all staring at us instantly a blush rose up on my cheeks when she let out a laugh, keeping her eyes focused on the two of us.

"Oh you two are my favourite couple ever." Of course Carson only laughed next to me while I kept my eyes focused on the menu, not even daring to look up at them again. A few moments passed before that same waiter who heard me ranting about throwing up in my purse came back to take our orders.

It's not exactly what you would expect to hear in such a high-end, expensive restaurant.

Anyway, the fact that he came to take our orders for our food meant that the menu was taken away from me and I no longer had something to hide behind at the table.

"So, Dani how old are you?" When Kai turned the attention towards me, I gave him a nervous smile.

And so the interrogation begins.

"I'm 21."

"Oh you're the same age as Poppy." When he mentioned his sister I shifted my eyes across to her giving her a smile as I nodded my head. "So you guys can go skirt shopping and shi-"

"Kai." When his mother said his name cutting him off, he let out a laugh. "Sorry excuse my table manners, I meant to say you guys can go skirt shopping and stuff."

I cracked a small smile at that as I nodded my head trying to push down the nerves that were rising up inside me again from being the centre of attention.

"I could always use some more skirts." When I met her gaze I saw her lips twitch up into a smile as she nodded her head but she didn't say anything.

I could tell she was upset, and I guess she had a right to be. Like she said Carson had been back for three weeks and the only contact he had with her was that argument on the phone. I understood he was busy but he could have made time for her, she was his little sister after all.

I just hoped she didn't take her anger out on me, or think I was the reason behind his actions.

"So what do you do?" This time when Maya spoke I turned to look at her, suddenly unsure of what to say. I probably should have checked with Carson if he wanted them to know that I worked with him.

"Well...I'm an accountant, I graduated from Columbia University this summer and I took my CPA exam too."

When I gave her a proud smile she nodded her head, an impressed expression crossing her face.

"So you have a job then?"

"She works for me, she's my accountant." When Carson suddenly spoke up, I just stayed quiet when I noticed the way they all fell quiet taking a second to process that.

I guess I didn't look like the type to work in the mafia.

"Oh."

When his mother only nodded her head, my mind suddenly drifted back to that time when Carson told me that she didn't like the mafia which is why Giana meant so much to him, since she filled the void left by his mother when he was at work.

"That's a pretty new arrangement then, right? I mean, you guys only met a few weeks ago."

Nodding in respond to Kai's question, I tried to shake the thought of them all knowing we only met because we were kidnapped together.

"Yeah, it's only my second week. I was planning on getting a job at an accountancy firm in Manhattan when we got back but then Carson asked me to work for him instead."

The entire time I spoke I became more and more aware of the way my heart began to pound in my chest from being the centre of attention. After I finished my sentence, I let out a nervous breath trying to find something to focus my attention on to avoid their judgmental stares.

Why did you think they would like you? Look at you, you have no one. Your own boyfriend is only with you because...well, you're a whore. Why do you think it took him three whole weeks to introduce you to his family? Now you're telling them that you, a naive little girl, is the accountant for the mafia? Please, they think you're a joke.

When my mind suddenly began to fill with those thoughts, I felt my anxiety bubble up again inside me as my palms became sweaty from the nerves. Reaching out my hand, I picked up my glass taking a sip of my the water holding onto the pendant of my necklace to try and calm myself down.

I had no clue why it was happening and so suddenly too.

When I suddenly felt Carson's warm hand on my bare thigh under the table I turned my head to look at him although he was busy looking at his mother nodding his head in response to something she said before he spoke.

"Yeah she is, she's great at her job but she's taking some time to learn everything but I know she's going to be the best yet."

When I heard his words I turned my head to look at her noticing the soft smile on her face making me suddenly feel like I was missing something. I thought she wouldn't be happy with me working in the mafia.

Did I just zone out?

When he began rubbing circles on my leg with his thumb, I tried to focus on the movements to calm myself down.

"Have you met the rest of Carson's friends yet Dani?" When I heard my name I lifted my head, meeting Kai's eyes as I nodded my head. "Y-yeah I have, they're nice."

Two of them are anyway, the third one is a jerk.

"When did Carson introduce you to them?"

"The night we..." My sentence suddenly trailed off when I realised what I was about to say, but it didn't matter that I didn't finish it - she figured it out.

"The night you got back?" When Carson heard the anger in Poppy's tone the movements of this thumb on my leg stopped. "I had some work to deal with and she was with me. Poppy, I know you're upset but-"

"We're all upset Carson, I'm just the only who's not fake as hell here."

My eyes widened at her blunt words while Maya looked at her daughter in horror. "Poppy!"

"No mom, it's true. You were crying your eyes out when he didn't call us and Kai was just totally lost without his older brother. Now you're both just pretending like he didn't ignore us for almost two months straight."

So I know I said she had a right to be upset, but now I'm just starting to think everyone in Carson's life is just freaking selfish. Maybe it was my mood that had gone to crap after that mild anxiety attack or whatever the hell it was, but that's what I was thinking.

That day we got back it was like he had to justify himself to his friends for every decision he made. Now he's having to explain again not just that he'd been kidnapped and freaking tortured, but that he'd been busy just trying to keep the mafia afloat for the last three weeks that we'd been back.

He even left me for two weeks and I wasn't giving him hell for being busy because I understood that part. Our argument only happened because he ignored me, not because he was busy.

"Poppy you know the story, you know what happened. I've been so damn busy, I know I should have called you sooner but-"

"But nothing, I'm your sister and-"

"You're not really acting like his sister right now Poppy."

The moment those words left my mouth she turned to look at me, her eyes hardening as she took me in. Even Carson was looking at me in surprise although I didn't move my gaze away from his sister.

"He went through hell. Actually no, he's been going through hell for the last two months or so. He took three days for himself in LA to be at home and process everything somewhere where he felt safe before we came back here. I understand you're upset that he's been busy, but he hasn't exactly been off partying."

I'll be waiting in the queue for my Oscar thank you.

"Your food ma'am." When I heard that same waiter come up next to me, he gave me another weird look after he'd heard my second rant of the evening.

He must think I'm freaking psychotic or something.

The table fell silent for a moment as everyone processed what I said as our food was being delivered while I took that time to have a drink of water.

I didn't regret what I said, even if it was my first time meeting his family, I didn't regret it. I was sick of everyone giving him shit for being kidnapped - his friends, his clients, his rivals and his allies and now his family.

"Poppy I'm sorry for not calling you sooner and for not coming to see you, but I really have had a lot going on. Maybe if you stop being so angry I can actually talk to you about it."

Keeping my eyes focused on the food on my plate, I just listened to the conversation around me as Carson took her silence as a chance to tell her what actually happened.

Since I was the only other person who knew exactly what happened, I knew the story he was giving them was pretty vague. For one he didn't tell them about how cold that room was or how they controlled the lights, he didn't tell them about the beatings he took during George's games and he didn't tell them about what happened to me.

I guess, all he did say was that we were locked in a room for three weeks by George. Then he explained a quick version of how we escaped and walked through the woods back to civilisation.

When I finally looked up to gauge their reactions, it wasn't hard to tell that they all knew more happened. I mean, they could have guessed that just from my words a few minutes ago when I tried to tell Poppy how much Carson had suffered over the last few weeks.

When he finally finished telling the story, my mind was suddenly full of the all the images he'd left out. Every time he left something out of the story it was like my mind just purposely replayed that particular event in my head again; the games George played, me taking care of Carson while he was passed out, the cold dark nights, the poker game, the day he hurt me and then took my necklace, Carson's final beating, the day I killed him.

Everything I'd tried to forget came flooding back to me in one go.

"I'll be back in a second." When I pushed my chair back shakily putting my napkin on the table, I felt the eyes of everyone on me as I stood up, walking away from the table out to the front of the restaurant.

"Ma'am? Are you okay?" When I saw that same young waiter who had caught me having all my bad moments that evening, my steps slowed as I nodded trying to control my breathing. "I just need some air."

"Oh, well if you want to go somewhere quiet we have a terrace back there. It's out of use right now, so it's quiet and private."

He gave me a small smile as he pointed down a corridor to a glass door before he continued to shine some glasses. I forced a 'thank you' out as I walked in that direction, sliding open the doors to the terrace before I stepped out into the cool September air. I stepped towards the centre, overlooking the New York night sky line as I struggled to catch my breath.

At one point I thought we would never get out, that we would never be free again. Yet, now we were and I didn't feel free. I felt haunted by everything, no matter how hard I tried to forget there was always these nightmares or just random thoughts that came back into my mind.

I felt my chest tighten as I lifted my hand pressing it against my chest as I struggled to catch my breath. Just as a strangled sob left my mouth I felt an arm wrap around my waist turning me around.

"It's okay baby, it's okay." He pulled me into his arms as I tried to control myself to suppress the floods emotions that were trying to come out. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry Carson, I ruined your dinner. I didn't mean to react like that..."

"Shh, my beautiful nothing is ruined. Look at me." When I shook my head, he used his hands to gently turn my face to look at him giving me a soft smile. "You don't have to be sorry, nothing is ruined. Just take as long as you need to calm down and then we'll go and finish our food, okay? Don't forget I still owe you two desserts."

His words caused me a crack smile as I nodded although I was still fighting the urge to cry. The moment my eyes filled with tears Carson shook his head lowering his face to bring it closer to mine.

"Don't cry baby." I nodded my head to show him I was trying not to cry only because we were in public and I knew once I started it would take me a long time to stop.

"If you cry you'll ruin your make up and I know how much you wanted to protect it earlier." When he flashed me a grin I let out a laugh moving in close to him so that I could hug him.

"I'm trying not to get any make up on your suit too, I may work for you but I don't think I can afford the dry cleaning just yet." My words caused him to let out a laugh as he rubbed my back resting his chin on my head.

"Don't worry about the suit baby, I don't give a damn if you get make up on it."

"But it's a Brioni." When he heard my response he laughed again nodding his head as he pushed me away a little so that he could look at me. "I'd sacrifice every single one of my suits if it meant I could hug you."

"Carson?" Before I could respond to his cute remark, at the sound of a voice we both turned to see his mother in the doorway of the terrace.

I'm guessing that waiter is just directing everyone from our table to the terrace. He probably has a freaking sign with an arrow on it or something.

"Sorry mom, we were just coming back." Carson took my hand in his as he turned to face his mom who just smiled at the two of us stepping closer to us.

"Only come back when you're ready sweetheart, there's no rush." When she turned her attention to me she stepped even closer giving me a kind smile. "I'm sorry for ruining your dinner, I didn't mean to react like that with Poppy and then with the story I just-"

"Dani it's okay. Actually it's refreshing to find someone who isn't scared to tell us how she feels. As for this, you don't have to pretend around me, I know my son and I know when he's not telling me the whole truth. I'm just glad that whatever it was, you have each other to get yourselves through it."

Without another word she pulled me into her arms, giving me a hug that somehow felt so much more than just a hug. I don't know how to explain it, but it just felt like I finally had everything I'd been missing for the last five years.

A mother's love.

Letting go of Carson's hand I wrapped my arms around her as she rubbed my back soothingly taking a moment before she finally pulled away, surprising me when I saw the tears in her eyes.

"Mom..." When she heard Carson's concerned tone she quickly shook her head at him giving him a smile as she blinked back the tears. "I'm okay, really, I'm fine. She's just smells really nice."

Her words caused me to let out a laugh while Carson just shook his head wrapping one arm around me and one around his mom pulling us in closer to him.

"I'll never understand the female mind."

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

So the next day after my dinner with Carson's family was finally the day of my initiation into the mafia when I would finally take omertà, the code of silence.

"I'm scared."

"Don't be scared, we've all done it Dani." Aviana gave me a smile as she stroked my arm trying to help calm my nerves while we waited outside the living room where it was taking place.

I knew Carson was in there with his top men including Fox and Grey, but Aviana decided to stay with me until I had to go inside. He was briefing his men on who I was and why I was being inducted to the mafia which would be as their accountant - although that was mostly just a title. I kind of did anything related to their finances.

Finally after waiting for ten minutes the door was opened by that young man Dallas who gave me a nod, allowing me to walk into the dimly lit room with Aviana by my side. As instructed everyone was wearing black while I wore red.

I'm not sure why I had to wear red, maybe it was just to make this whole thing more dramatic I don't really know.

Letting go of my hand Aviana went and stood next to Grey and Fox who were among the thirty people in the room with us as I walked over to Carson. Carson was standing by the burning fireplace while everyone stood around the edges of the room facing him.

He looked so much more different than he usually did. His expression and his eyes were cold and totally void of any emotion. Even when he looked at me I didn't see the softness that usually did.

It was like he was a totally different person.

Taking his hand in mine I stopped next to him noticing the table in front of us. On the table was a knife, a piece of paper with all the signatures of the top members and officials of the mafia and a gun.

I honestly thought he'd start by giving some long ass speech about why we were all gathered in that room but instead he just turned to face me. The fire place was the only thing giving off light, the soft yellow glow allowing me to see his face clearly.

"Daniela O'Brien, from this day forward for the rest of your life you are being sworn into the mafia - more particularly the Agnello family. Do you consent to this ritual being performed?"

When he asked the question in a cold, hard tone, I nodded my head causing him to shake his head. "Words."

"Yes."

My own soft voice contrasted to his strong and powerful voice as he continued with what he was saying.

"Following this ceremony you will abide by every one of the rules laid out to you today, if you don't then then you will pay with your life."

Swallowing nervously I nodded my head as he began to outline the rules to me from memory.

"You will remain loyal to the members of your family from this day forward. Every action you take is in the interests of your family, you will protect the interests of the family to the best of your ability - if you do not you will pay with your life. You will do as you are instructed, no questions asked and every task you carry out will be done to the best of your ability. This goes without saying but you will not complain, whine or question those above you in rank. If you do, you will pay with your life."

The longer I heard him speak the more nervous I became under his cold eyes especially when he told me I would pay with my life should I break any of the rules. I knew that he was going to say something like that, but I guess hearing Carson say that to me in front of so many people made it feel worse than I thought it would. Especially since I barely even recognised him now that he was in full mafia mode. But, knowing everyone in the room was watching me I did my best to keep my emotions in control, to hide the fear I was feeling.

"Every disagreement, problem or worry you have will be settled within the family, you do not consult outside council for anything. You will uphold the values of the family to the best of your ability, you will sacrifice yourself for the family without fear or hesitation should it come to it, if you do not you will pay with your life."

As he spoke he picked up the sharp knife holding it in his hand as the metal glinted in the soft light coming from the fireplace. It was like that action was just another way for him to emphasise how close I could come to losing my life if I broke the rules.

It was a threat.

"You will, without fail, keep the secrets of the family to yourself until your last breath. Under duress or interrogation you do not give up the secrets of the family, you do not offer them up to anyone in exchange for anything - not to rivals, allies or authorities. If you break omertà you will pay with your life in the most painful way possible."

The look on his face and the way he said those words with the knife in his hand sent chills down my spine as he stretched his hand out.

"Give me your hand."

Taking a moment, I willed myself to stay calm as I gave him my shaking hand causing him to tug on it pulling me in closer to him. His grip on my finger was gentle, the only sign that it was still him - my boyfriend, as he brought the knife up pricking the tip of my finger causing a pained wince to leave my mouth. The depth of the cut was enough to get the blood to pour out generously.

He held my hand as he let the blood pour onto the piece of paper on the table with all the signatures on before he finally let go, handing me a pen.

"Sign it."

Ignoring the pain in my finger I shakily took the pen from him, signing the only blank spot on the paper with my name. Once I was done I put the pen down watching as he cleaned the knife before he pricked his own finger without even flinching before allowing the blood to mix with mine on the paper.

Once he was done he turned to look at me again, his cold eyes boring into me as he did.

"For the rest of eternity we are now one as a family, you will follow these rules or you will pay with your life. You will live by the knife and the gun and should you have to, you will die by the knife and the gun to protect your family."

Without another word he picked up the paper throwing it into the fireplace next to us. In silence I watched through the flames as it burned, the edges slowly curling and becoming black up as they burned until the entire piece of paper was on fire. The air around the fireplace was blurry from the heat coming from the place, but also from the tears that he'd welled up in my eyes.

I guess I was just overwhelmed.

"Welcome to the Agnello family."

As soon as those words left his mouth, the rest of the people around us filed out of the room leaving Carson and I alone in the room.

The moment the doors shut he instantly tugged on my hand, pulling me into his arms as I let out a shaky breath, closing my eyes trying to stop the tears from falling. "It's okay, it's finished baby."

"I didn't like that, all that talk about death and..." When I forced out the words he nodded his head holding me tight against him. "I know beautiful, I'm so sorry if it scared you."

For a while I didn't say anything as I just stood there in his arms turning my head to look at the charred remnants of the paper in the fireplace that had just sealed my fate for eternity.

I guess it was official, I was now part of the mafia for life.

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

"Can I talk to you about something?" Lifting my gaze away from my laptop I looked over at Carson as he came into the bedroom with a frown on his face. "Sure."

As he came to sit next to me I closed my laptop putting it to the side to give him my full attention. I'd been working in our bedroom for the rest of the afternoon after my initiation, I guess I just didn't feel like seeing anyone after that.

I just needed some time to myself.

"Grey just told me that he's going to be taking Sara full time."

"What do you mean? What about her mother?" At the mention of Sara's mother Carson shook his head. "She's a complete witch, she told Grey she doesn't want Sara because she's in a relationship with the man she cheated on him with."

"Wait, she cheated on him?" This time when I interrupted him he let out a frustrated sigh, deciding to give me a quick explanation of their past. He didn't tell me a lot which is probably because he hasn't asked for Grey's permission which I totally respected. All he did say was that they were together, she cheated on him and then refused to let him see their daughter.

"So now she's saying the reason she didn't let him see Sara was to get back at him for not taking her completely. It's screwed up. Anyway, he said he's going to ask his mom to look after her most days since she can't exactly live here. But he also wanted to know if you'd be willing to babysit her sometimes if he's desperate."

Okay so the turn of the conversation definitely surprised me. "He wants me to do it?"

"He's going to ask Avi too since Fox is always almost busy training our men in the gym or the firing range but yeah, he trusts you around her."

Nodding my head I leaned back into the headboard as I gave him a smile. "Tell him I don't mind. Even if he's a jerk, she's cute."

My words caused him to crack a smile as he nodded his head, coming in closer to me. "You know, you looked pretty good in that red dress earlier today."

"Oh?" When I rose an eyebrow at him he smirked at me, leaning in to press a kiss to my neck. "You smell good too."

"That's cute and everything babe, but I'm actually busy right now." As I spoke I placed my hand on his chest to push him away causing him to frown at the rejection.

"Close the door on your way out."

When I gave him a sweet smile opening my laptop again he only glared at me before he finally got up off the bed grumbling something to himself as he left the bedroom causing me to laugh.

What did you guys think of this chapter? I tried to make her initiation into the mafia as realistic as possible so I did a tonne of research into how it all happens.

Also, if you have comment on this story a lot, you'll probably receive a million notifications from me soon since I have at least ten chapters to go through and reply to all the comments🥰

Thank you for reading and commenting ❤️