Enjoy ✨

~ Daniela's POV ~

"So is this your way of kicking me out of your house?" When I turned my head to look at Carson he let out a laugh, shaking his head.

"No beautiful. You can live there, you can live here - you can alternate every day if you want. Just do what you want."

"What if I wanted to live here permanently...with you?" When I added the last part I was suddenly nervous to see his reaction. It may have only been six minutes away, but I was still asking him to leave his main home and his friends to come and live in a house he built for me and I'm guessing just for me.

As much as I didn't mind living there, just being in our own home even just for an hour when we made love and then just lay there in the bed, enjoying each other's company was so refreshing.

It was so peaceful.

It was our home, our house. It was decorated exactly how I would want it without the fancy luxuries of the penthouse in the city or just a kind of suite on the third floor in a huge mansion. We had our own space, our own backyard which I still hadn't seen entirely yet although I did see a pool through the window.

But, it was all for us, a place for just us. That's if he wanted to be there with me.

"You want me to live here too?" When he spoke he kept his voice pretty neutral, barely giving anything away. "Yes."

He took a moment to think, looking around the bedroom that was lit up by the rays of sun that were coming in through the window.

"But this is supposed to be your place."

"If I need time alone I'll ask you Carson, but I don't want that and I don't want to plan for that. Having this place on standby is like us saying we'll end up arguing so bad that I'll need to leave. I don't want to think like that, hopefully it won't happen but if it does then I'll send you on your way." When I gave him a small smile he let out a laugh, moving in closer to me.

"I won't let it happen."

"So what do you say then?" When I gave him a nervous smile he leaned in pressing a kiss to my lips. "I'd love to move in here with you. But this will always be your house, everything is yours. Don't forget that."

"I don't know what I did to deserve you Carson." When I mumbled those words I felt the emotions from earlier rise up inside me again as he pulled my body up against his in the bed. "You went through hell for years Dani. Now let me show you what heaven is like my queen, because you deserve the world."

His words caused the tears to spill over from my eyes as I kissed him before I nuzzled my face into the crook of his neck. If this is what heaven felt like - being in his arms, then I never wanted to leave.

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When I heard the doorbell ring again for the fourth time I finally let out a groan, pushing my chair back from my desk in my office. Honestly, considering the number of people in this house and how many security guards we had everywhere, they're all so freaking lazy.

Even though it was a Friday afternoon, the place was usually still full until around 6pm and it was only 4pm.

As I stepped out of my office I looked at Grey's slightly open door across from mine and then I glanced down the corridor at Carson's door.

"Don't worry, I'll get it!" When I shouted the words not bothering to hide my frustration, I heard a chuckle coming from Grey's office while Carson shouted his reply back to me. "I was wondering how long it would take you to get your ass up!"

Once again Grey laughed while I just rolled my eyes, heading down the hallway and down the stairs into the empty entry hall. Making way to the front door, I opened it revealing Carson's very irritated mother.

"I gave birth to that boy and this is how he treats me?" When she muttered those words I let out a laugh as I stepped aside allowing her to come in. She still seemed annoyed as she looked around at the empty entry hall before she turned to look at me again.

"At least you came for me Dani, my own son would sooner leave me in the cold than come and open the door for me."

"I'm so sorry about that, if I knew it was you I would have come faster. Usually whenever this happens it's just someone here for business that has nothing to do with me."

All she did was shake her head giving me a smile as she dismissed the entire thing. "My problem isn't with you my beautiful, it's with that son of mine."

Her words caused me to let out a laugh as she pulled me in for a hug. "Oh it's so good to see you. Honestly, it feels like my son only keeps you to himself."

I couldn't help but laugh as she held me in a tight embrace in the entry hall of the mafia mansion as I like to call it.

I guess I had to start coming up with names for all of Carson's homes - this guy had a house in LA and in Miami, a penthouse in New York City, the mafia mansion in Long Island and our new home also in Long Island.

I on the other hand, had my old house in Ohio that I was still trying to sell and the house Carson bought for me. I don't think I'd ever be able to match him though, unless I bought a bunch of caravans but that would be a waste of my money.

"It's good to see you too. I'm so sorry, I've just been so busy."

So busy trying having sex with your son in as many rooms in our new home as possible.

So far in the three days since Carson first showed me the house, we'd managed seven of the rooms.

Still so many more to go.

"Oh it's okay, I understand you have commitments here with work." Giving her a smile I nodded my head just as the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway caught our attention.

"Mama!" When I saw a very shirtless Fox coming towards us, I couldn't help but smile at how he called her mama. It was so cute.

Her eyes followed him as he came towards us, taking in his sweatpants that hung low on his hips and his shirtless upper body showing off his tattoos and his muscles. It wasn't unusual for him to be shirtless, especially since he spent his entire day in the gym training pretty much everyone in the mafia.

"How many times have I told you to cover yourself up?" When she gave him a frown he only grinned in response, pulling her into a hug. "I'm just letting people see what they want to see."

"No one wants to see it." When he heard my response his eyes met mine over Maya's shoulder. "You're only saying that because you already see enough of someone else in your kitchen, in the shower, in the laundry room, on the balcony..."

No we did not tell Fox where we had sex in our house, I guess he just figured it out and made some pretty good guesses - just not the balcony.

As much as I wanted to glare at him in that moment, when Maya turned to look at me with a frown I just forced a small smile onto my face trying to hide my raging blush. Taking a step closer to them, I waited until Fox let her go allowing her to turn towards the small closet in the hallway where she could hang her coat.

As soon as she turned away from us, I took the chance to close the gap between Fox and I, elbowing him in the ribs when she wasn't looking.

The curse word he let out along with his pained groan caused her to snap her head in our direction, this time narrowing her eyes at him. "What did you just say?"

Rubbing his ribs he flashed her a sheepish smile. "Puck. Anyone want to go play some hockey?"

"Don't lie to me Fox." She held her coat and a hanger in her hand as she stepped towards him with a frown. "I'm not I swear mama, I just...Dani hit me! Tell her off instead."

"Dani opened the door for me and she's my future daughter in-law. You on the other hand left me waiting outside in the cold."

"Only because I knew Dani would get up, everyone here knows that." When he glanced over at me I just shook my head at his disgraceful actions as she hit his bare arm with the plastic hanger.

"Ow!" When he let out a whine rubbing his arm, I couldn't help but laugh quietly behind Maya. "Don't lie to me again and watch your language."

"Sorry mama." When he mumbled the words she nodded her head, turning back to hang her coat up again. Turning to look at Fox, I smirked when he glared at me.

"I'll get you back for that bitch." When he whispered to words to me I just shrugged my shoulders leaning in closer to him. "Do your best, bitch."

My response caused him to chuckle, shaking his head as he pulled me into his side. "You're funny Little One, but really, I'm going to get you back."

"How?" When I gave him a cautious look he just chuckled, shaking his head without a word.

Maybe I shouldn't have messed with him.

"Get your hands off her." When I heard Carson's voice I turned my head towards the stairs where he was coming down with Grey, busy staring at something on his phone. "I don't think my Little One wants me to do that."

When I heard Fox's tone, I tried to slip out of his hold to put some distance between us but all he did was tighten his arm around my shoulders.

"I won't tell you again." This time Carson lifted his eyes away from his phone, his hard stare focusing on Fox who finally let me go, allowing me to go over to Carson.

"Hey beautiful." He gave me a smile as I reached him, taking his hand in mine as I got on my tip toes to kiss him.

"No PDA please." When Grey spoke before I could kiss him, I turned to glare at him while he just flashed me a grin walking past us and over to Maya to give her a hug.

"Hey mama." When he gave her a smile, she returned it as she hugged him back. "Grey, it's nice to see you. How is little Sara doing?"

"She's good, she's actually supposed to wake up any second from her-" The moment the cry from somewhere upstairs cut him off, Grey flashed her a smile. "I'll be back in a second."

Without wasting any time he quickly rushed upstairs to go and calm Sara down, leaving Maya to come over to Carson. "Do you love me?"

"Of course I do mama." When he gave her a cute smile she narrowed her eyes at him in return before she suddenly slapped the back of his head causing my eyes to widen. "What the fu-"

"Language!" When she hit him again he just stepped away, rubbing his head this time choosing to stay quiet although the glare on his face told us exactly how he felt. "Next time don't leave me to stand out there in the cold."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you. I did tell you to call me when you come here." This time she only smiled since he obviously did have a point. I know he loved it whenever she came over but he always asked her to call first.

Nodding her head in agreement, she pulled Carson into her arms to give him a hug now that she was done telling him off. "Hey Maya?"

When she heard my soft voice she stepped out of Carson's arms turning to look at me as I gave her a tentative look suddenly feeling extremely nervous.

"Can I call you mama too...please?" I thought it would be more polite to say please. As my words hung in the air, I felt their eyes on me as she turned to face me properly, a smile stretching across her face. "Oh Dani of course you can."

Stepping away from Carson she pulled me into her arms, holding me in her embrace before she pulled away. "I'm your mama just as much as theirs, whenever you need me I'm here."

Her words touched my heart when I felt that familiar warmth inside me from the motherly love in her eyes. With one last hug she headed towards the kitchen with Fox saying something about cooking dinner for us tonight since it was a Friday so the house would be pretty quiet.

"Come here." Turning to face Carson, I gave him a small smile as I stepped into his arms allowing him to pull me up against his chest. "You're so cute."

"Don't make fun of me." When I pouted my lips he cracked a smile, leaning down closer to me. "I'm not baby, your red cheeks are the cutest things ever."

"You are making fun."

"You're right, I am." When he flashed me a grin I just shook my head, closing the gap to kiss him.

"Don't look Sara, it's not appropriate." When we heard Grey whisper the words, Carson broke the kiss turning to look at him as he carried Sara down the stairs. "Look where Apa?"

When she started looking around the entry hall with her wide eyes, Grey just shook his head letting out a laugh. "Never mind baby."

"Dani!" When she saw me she instantly reached out for me causing me to let out a laugh. "My little Princess! How you doing?"

As I spoke I took her from Grey's arms, resting her on my hip as I held her with one arm. "Shuice."

"Shuice? Are you sure? Is that your final answer?" When I rose an eyebrow at her giving her a serious look, she nodded her head with a grin. "Well, don't tell your Apa and I'll get you some shuice."

When I whispered into her ear she nodded again as Grey chuckled next to us. I heard Carson and Grey talking in the hallway as I walked into the kitchen, putting Sara down on the counter before I went to get two juice boxes, one for myself and one for her.

"You shuice?" After I put the straw in hers, she smiled when she saw me putting the straw in my own juice box. "I love shuice."

"You're such a child Little One." When I heard Fox mumble those words to me, I turned to glare at him while he reached out to tickle Sara under her chin causing her to giggle. "Don't you own a shirt?"

"Nope, I gave my last two away to my lady friends last night as a token of my love." Of course I knew he was joking but I still couldn't help but roll my eyes at his mention of sex again. "I hope that's the only token you gave them."

When Maya muttered the words to herself from next to us in the kitchen causing me to let out a laugh. "I'll have you know, I use protection every single time."

This time Maya didn't respond, instead just shaking her head as she went back to preparing the dinner.

"Fox!" When I heard Carson call Fox from the hallway, he flashed me a grin leaning in to kiss Sara's cheek before he leaned in to kiss mine. "Ew! Don't."

When I let out a groan, rubbing my cheek with the back of my hand Sara giggled while Fox just rolled his eyes, leaving me with Maya and Sara in the kitchen where I spent the next few hours helping her to make dinner. Aviana joined us after a while but she refused to help with the cooking instead choosing to sit and entertain the cute little three year old while she spoke to us.

I found out after I got back from Ohio that I'd missed Sara's birthday, but I did get her a present to make up for it although she didn't really understand what was going on anyway.

Spending time with Maya and Avi in the kitchen really did help me to take my mind off all that was going on in my life. Just for those few hours I didn't feel like I was standing in the kitchen of the mafia base, I didn't feel like I'd been damaged beyond repair, I didn't feel like a girl who was currently in therapy.

I felt like I had a family, like I had a mama.

"Please call those boys." When Maya huffed in irritation after she'd screamed for them to come downstairs three times, I nodded my head taking of the apron I was wearing. "It's not fair, they don't even help and yet they get to come and eat."

"You didn't help either." When I gave Aviana a look as I walked out the kitchen, she just smiled pulling Sara in closer to her chest. "That's because I had a princess to take care of."

"More like a billion dollar manicure." I'm sure I saw her glare at me as I finally left the room, heading upstairs to Carson's office where the three of them went earlier. I could hear their voices as I approached the door, knocking on it.

"What?" When I heard his irritated tone I nervously opened the door, flashing him an apologetic smile when I saw that he'd just been in deep conversation with Grey and Fox who looked like he'd taken a shower and changed out of his gym clothes from earlier.

"Sorry to disturb you, dinner is ready." His eyes softened when he saw me, nodding his head as he pushed his chair back standing to his feet. Just like Carson, the other two followed suit, coming over to the door where I was standing.

"Little One." Fox nodded in my direction as he passed me with Grey while Carson lingered behind, waiting until they were further down the hallway before he spoke to me.

"Sorry about that." When he muttered his attempt at an apology I just shook my head. "It's okay, you're a mob boss, I can't expect you to be all mushy and stuff at all times during the day. Especially here."

When I nodded towards his office he just took my hand pulling me out the door and down the hallway once he'd locked his office door.

"What did you make for dinner?" As he spoke he rubbed circles into the back of my hand that he was holding. "Beef lasagne. You told me it was your favourite when we were locked in that room, so your mom taught me her secret recipe."

When I gave him a smile he came to a stop just as we reached the stairs, turning to face me. "I love you."

It was just three words and yet they still held so much emotion, that's all he needed to say.

"I love you too, especially for giving me all this." When I gestured down the stairs where the voices of Carson's friends and his mom could be heard, he gave me a smile of his own. "They're your family too now baby."

I finally had a family, again.

"You mean that?" When I whispered my response he chuckled, nodding his head as he stepped closer to me. "I love seeing you with my mom - seeing you so happy with her."

"You weren't there to help, you didn't see anything." When I gave him a teasing smile he just laughed again. "I'm sorry my queen, I had work to do and cooking with my mama isn't my idea of fun anymore."

"Anymore?" When I rose an eyebrow at him as we started heading down the stairs he nodded. "She starts off nice, but the longer you spend time with her in the kitchen the meaner she becomes. She taught Poppy, Kai and I to cook and by the end I knew how to make everything but I never wanted to set foot in the kitchen with her again."

"No way, she was so nice to me." When I shook my head he just cracked a smile. "That's because you're her future daughter in-law, she loves you."

"Are you trying to ask me something?" When I repeated that sentence from that night we spent walking on the beach, he shook his head with a laugh. "One day my queen."

As we reached the bottom of the stairs he took my hand to stop me from walking towards the kitchen, pushing me up against the end of the banister.

"Un giorno ti chiederò di sposarmi. Mi metterò in ginocchio nello stesso punto sulla spiaggia di LA dove ti ho chiesto di essere la mia ragazza e poi, dopo averti detto quanto amo tu, ti chiederò di essere mia moglie per il resto dell'eternità." (One day I'm going to ask you to marry me. I'm going to get down on one knee in the same spot on the beach in LA where I asked you to be my girlfriend and then, after telling you how much I love you, I'll ask you to be my wife for the rest of eternity.)

Despite the fact I had no clue what he just said when he spoke to me in Italian, I knew whatever he was saying held so much meaning to him. Just from the way he looked at me with love and adoration, stroking my cheek as he spoke in such a soft tone.

"What?" When I gave him my response he just cracked a smile leaning down to kiss me without another word. "What did you say to me?"

"You'll just have to wait and find out one day my baby." He flashed me one of his panty dropping winks as he stepped away leaving me a blushing mess following behind him as we walked into the dining room where all the food was laid out.

"Finally!"

The moment she saw us, Aviana gave us both an exaggerated glare as she held Sara in her arms. It's hard to imagine Aviana as a mother when she's buying you sex toys, but when she's holding Sara in her arms this motherly side just comes out in her.

Apart from the fact she always swears, of course. But then all these mafia people have swearing problems, I'm sure I'll be in for a world of hell when I have to stop Carson swearing around our babies.

"Come and sit down before it gets cold." When Maya spoke we all went over to the dining table but this time the seating was different to how it usually was with Carson at the head of the table and me next to him. Instead this time he pulled out the chair at the head of the table for his mom to sit there while he sat down across from me allowing me to sit in my usual seat.

Once we'd all sat down, Fox was the first one to reach out to take some food to put on to his plate when Maya glared at him. "No. We say grace first."

"Grace?" When Fox frowned, I gave him a weird look. "Yeah, like a prayer."

Once it clicked, he let out a loud laugh. "Oh! I get it. I thought you were talking about Grace the nice cleaner who cleans the gym everyday."

His response caused a few chuckles around the room before we finally took each other's hands much like I used to do with my family whenever we ate dinner together.

Once Carson's mom said a short prayer giving thanks for the food, we all put some of the food onto our plates. "You made this Dani?"

When Grey spoke from across the table I nodded my head glancing over at Maya. "I helped, yeah."

"Don't be silly, you did most of it." When she waved her hand dismissively, Maya gave me a smile as she took a bite to taste it now that it was all cooked and finished.

I didn't eat any straight away, instead choosing to wait and watch as everyone else took a bite first. My attention was mostly on Carson across from me since I knew this was his favourite food ever, I didn't want to mess it up.

Especially because I wanted to be able to cook it for him sometimes when we were in our new home.

It fell silent for a moment after that until Carson finally met my gaze, flashing me a grin once he'd finished chewing. "It's perfect."

Hearing his words a smile stretched across as Maya nodded in approval next to me. "It is, you did good, just next time try to chop the oregano on top a little smaller - you don't want it to get stuck in the teeth."

Now I see what he means.

"Mom." When Carson gave her a frown, she just smiled. "I'm just joking, it really is perfect."

This time I just let out a laugh nodding my head as I took a bite of my own food for the first time. I mean, not to sound like I'm tooting my own horn or anything - but it really was damn good.

For the next half an hour we all just sat there eating the dinner, talking about anything and everything that we could think of. I actually don't remember ever laughing during dinner as much as I did that evening when we were all together.

"Dani would make a great mother." It was when I gave Sara a kiss goodnight when her nanny came to take her to go and have a bath that Aviana decided to open that particular can of worms.

The moment she gave me a smirk, I knew she did it on purpose.

"So when are you giving me my grandchildren? I'm not getting any younger, you know."

"Mom." When Carson let out a sigh, I could tell he knew exactly what conversation was coming. "What? It's a perfectly normal thing to ask."

"Yeah but not like that." When Carson shook his head I just gave her a smile. "We're going to wait a while until we get to that stage."

"How long is a while?" When she gave me a look that had me squirming in my seat, I just shifted my attention towards Carson instead. "A couple of years."

As soon as he said that word Maya turned to look at him in shock. "Years? Carson I want to be a cool nana, how can I do that if I'm dead?"

"Don't say that." Even though she was clearly only joking Carson still frowned at her. "Mom you're only 49 years old."

"I have to wear reading glasses now. I'm getting old."

"We do want to have children soon, but I think I'm just a little young for that right now and Carson is busy with work." When I awkwardly tried to explain our reasoning, she just let out a sigh.

"That's a terrible excuse."

"Mom it's not an excuse, it's a reason. Anyway, you were 24 years old when you had me, Dani is only 21." This time she turned her attention towards Carson, clearly for some reason mildly offended that he'd mentioned her own experiences of having a baby.

"You do realise it takes nine months to cook one of those things? By the time she pops it out she'll be 22 years old."

When I heard Fox's flippant remark, I turned to face him with a glare while he shovelled another bite of lasagna into his mouth.

"Must you say it like that? Do you even know anything about what a pregnancy entails for a woman?"

"Entails?" When he just picked up on that word I used giving me a word look, I rolled my eyes at his cluelessness. "Maybe you should do some research on what it's like to have a baby before you say something like that again."

When I gave him a look he just cracked a grin. "No need to get upset now Little One."

"I'm not upset." When I frowned at him he just shook his head. "You don't have to pretend with me, we're friends remember - absolute freaking besties."

He's so weird.

"But I'm not upset, I was just saying that-"

"Calm down Dani, please." When Fox cut me off with a grin, it took me a second to realise he was just trying to annoy me before I just glared at him. "Ignore him Dani, he's just uneducated and irritating."

When Aviana spoke from across the table, I nodded my head in agreement while Fox just frowned with a pout. "I'm not uneducated, at least I knew it takes nine months."

When he grumbled the words I let out a laugh, patting his arm as I took another bite of my food. "Have you talked about having children? Like how many you want?"

When Maya asked the question I glanced over at Carson before I responded. "We have, I think we want at least three."

"Oh I can't wait." When Aviana smiled excitedly I let out a laugh. "It's not happening yet."

"You don't know that, it could always just happen." When Grey jumped into the conversation I just gave him a small smile although I knew it wasn't really a possibility now that I had the implant - not that I would tell everyone that.

At least if I changed my mind and wanted to have children earlier I could easily just get it taken out.

"Can we change the conversation now?" When Carson mumbled the words uncomfortably across from me, I nodded my head in agreement. "How about we talk about Ignacio."

When I turned the conversation towards Aviana her eyes instantly widened before she narrowed them in my direction. "How about we don't?"

"Why?" When I tilted my head to the side giving her an innocent look, she seemed less than impressed. "Because my sweet little Dani, it's none of your trucking business."

The fact that she used the word 'trucking' instead of the actual word caused a few chuckles around the table while I just continued to smile innocently back. "But things are going well, yes?"

"Yes." When she spoke in a much harder tone, this time unable to hide the fact that she didn't like discussing Ignacio in front everyone, I gave her a nod while Grey jumped in next to me. "I really think you could do better than him Avi."

"It's a good thing I didn't ask for your opinion then, isn't it? It's my relationship, not yours."

"Relationship? You're together?"

Ignoring the way Grey frowned at the harshness of her words, she looked at Carson who spoke before she eventually just reluctantly nodded her head. For some reason a tension settled around us while she just frowned nervously and the guys all went silent.

Suddenly I regretted bringing it up, even if I was only doing it to get back at her for bringing up the topic of children.

"What's the matter with that? You should be happy for her if she has found someone. She was happy for you Carson when you met Dani, and for you Grey when you were with Maria." Maya looked between the four of them, clearly struggling to understand why Ignacio would be a problem for them.

While I sat there, the only reason I could think of was that they were just being protective of her, but apparently it was more than just that.

"She told me it was a casual fling, not that he was her damn boyfriend." When Carson said those words in a harsh tone he turned to glare at Avi who now had a similar expression on her face. "Because I knew what you would say! Carson he's not like that and you know me, I would never-"

"Never what? Take his side against mine? Give him information on us? Let things slip by accident? You don't freaking know that, you don't how you'll feel about him in a year or two years or how much you would do for him. Eventually you'll have to make a choice, and you know you can't."

"I know I took the oath Carson, I'm not stupid enough to risk my life to tell him something about you - not that I would ever even consider doing it." Of course Carson just scoffed at this, shaking his head. "And what if you stay with him long enough to consider having a future together? You can't leave the mafia Aviana, you know that. I can't believe you were stupid enough to fall for that."

"Fall for what? The idea of love? The idea of being wanted? Cared for?" When her eyes filled with tears Carson's glare almost instantly faltered but she didn't care. "Is it really that hard to believe that I might want that? You're such a hypocrite Carson."

"How is he a hyprocrite? He's right Aviana, you should have told us if it was this serious." When Fox suddenly spoke up in a cold tone, something that I was so unused to hearing, she turned her glare towards him. "It's none of your business! And he's a hypocrite because he brought that bitch into our lives."

The moment Aviana pointed in my direction my eyes widened at her words while it fell deadly silent around us.

"I think we all need to calm down, just take a second to-" Maya's words were cut off by Carson who suddenly pushed his chair back, standing up to glare at Aviana who now had tears running down her cheeks. "Call her a bitch one more time and see what freaking happens."

"Carson stop! Don't speak to her like that." Surprisingly it was me who said those words as I stood up too, walking around the table to sit in the empty chair next to Aviana. "Don't cry, I'm so sorry for bringing it up."

I mumbled the words to her as I rubbed her back, resting my head on her shoulder. For a moment she didn't say anything, instead just holding on to my spare hand while she tried to stop the silent tears that were rolling down her cheeks.

"Apologise to her Carson, now. I didn't raise you to speak to anyone like that, especially Aviana." When Maya spoke in a hard tone a few minutes later, I lifted my head to look at my boyfriend who was looking at the floor instead of anyone else in that room.

I knew I was the one responsible for causing all of this, which only made me feel just as guilty when I realised I was also the one getting in the middle of their friendship.

"Come here." When he heard my voice he lifted his head to see me holding out my hand in his direction. Taking a moment he thought about it before he knelt down next to Aviana, a guilty frown forming on his face the longer he looked at her.

"Avi..."

"Go away." When she turned away from he glanced over at me as if to say he didn't know what to do. All I did was gesture towards her again, hinting to him to try again.

"I'm sorry Aviana." When he forced out those words clearly uncomfortable with this whole situation, she turned to look at him again. "I hate you."

"Oh come on, we both know that's not true." When he cracked a small a smile he reached out to wipe her tears away while she still just frowned. "You're only apologising because you were told to."

"Not just because I was told to. I'm doing it because I love you, I don't want you to be sad...especially because of me."

Despite the fact that he was definitely at fault for how he spoke to her, I also knew how hard it was for him to say those three words in front of so many people. If he wasn't truly sorry, he never would have said them.

"I know I should be more understanding about your relationship, but I...I can't lose you Avi. I guess I never thought about your love life and who you might end up with one day so the thought of you finding someone outside of my mafia never crossed my mind."

"I'll always put you first Carson, I would never choose anyone over you. I also know I can't leave and I would never break omertà, so you have nothing to worry about." Her tone was soft as she spoke, her tears seeming like they'd calmed down now that Carson had apologised, and now that she knew he truly meant it.

"I want you to be happy Avi. If that means you're with him then...I guess we'll just have to work around it."

"Thank you." When she gave him a soft smile, he leaned in to press a kiss to her cheek before she turned to look at me. "I'm sorry for calling you a bitch Dani."

"I kind of deserved it for bringing all of this up."

"No you didn't, of course you didn't. I should have told you about Ignacio but I just don't want to be the reason you have to keep a secret from Carson so I never did. But, you're my best friend and I'm so glad you're in my life." When she gave me a small smile I squeezed her hand that was still in mine. "Me too."

"Can we have dessert now please?" When Fox suddenly spoke up, all eyes were on him as I let out a laugh.

Thankfully while we ate the dessert things went a lot smoother, there weren't any more tears and it seemed like everyone had made up. That was mostly because Carson was now sitting next to Aviana with his arm around her shoulder.

Even though he was my boyfriend, it was still cute to see him do that just to make sure she was okay and to remind her that he loved her.

"Carson do you remember the first time you introduced us to your mom?" When Fox brought up that particular subject that just have evoked some kind of memory for all of them, Carson let out a laugh nodding his head, so did Maya.

"Damn that was funny."

"What happened?" When he heard my voice he looked at me from where he was now sitting a little further down the table, giving me a smile.

"So we met when we were all 11 years old at the start of middle school and none of these idiots were anything like they are now." When he said those words he let out a chuckle while they all glared at him.

"You can't talk, you were the little scrawny kid who loved comics and shit." When Grey fired back his comeback, Carson just laughed. "But at least I wasn't always angry for no freaking reason."

"I had a reason - you three." This time Grey gestured to his three friends while I just sat there watching on in confusion. "So you didn't like each other?"

"Hell no, we hated each other." When Fox joined the conversation, I turned to look at him as he sipped on his bourbon. "Let me explain Little One, I won't get distracted. So the four of us were all extremely different - Carson was the scrawny quiet kid, Grey was the angry kid, Avi was the cute shy girl with no friends and I was-"

"The idiot who hopelessly wanted to join the junior varsity football team." When Carson quickly jumped in, flashing Fox a smirk he just rolled his eyes at that. "Those bitches wouldn't even give me a chance. Anyway, it was your typical story - we all ended up working together on a project since no one wanted to work with us and we had no other friends. Then we ended up becoming best friends."

"Aww, that's so cute! You were all like the little nerdy rejects who got together." When I smiled excitedly, they suddenly all looked at me with their signature glares causing my smile to drop.

"What? What did I say?"

"Who said you could make fun of us?" When Grey spoke with a hard tone I gave him a frown in response. "But you were all just doing it and-"

"And we can because we were there." This time it was Fox who jumped in, unusually angry with me. "Don't forget who we are now Daniela, I could use my stiletto as a throwing knife right now if I wanted to."

When Aviana narrowed her eyes at me, I squirmed in my seat turning to look at Maya for help but instead I found her looking at me with disappointment.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to upset you."

My apology came out in a soft tone when I suddenly started feeling out of place, one again regretting the conversation that I'd just brought up.

"We're just messing with you baby." When Carson flashed me a grin picking up his glass of scotch, my sad frown morphed into a confused one as I looked around at their amused faces, including Maya.

"That's not even funny." When I pouted my lips, I received a few chuckles while Fox just leaned in to press a kiss to my temple. "Don't worry Little One, you can make fun of us all you want."

Despite his cute words I still gave him a glare, shaking my head. "Just finish your stupid story."

"Okay so when Carson introduced us to mama, we still all hated each other at that point - all we did was argue but we were forced to work on that stupid project. But we left it all to do the night before it was due in, so we had to go to Carson's house to work all night." When Fox started telling me the story again, Maya jumped in. "Carson told me not to be nice to the kids who were coming over to work with him."

Her words caused me to let out a laugh as I turned to look over at Carson who was smiling showing off his perfect dimples.

"Because I didn't like them and my mama is supposed to be on my side. Of course she just told me off for asking her that and then she forced me to be polite as hell to them."

"You didn't do a good job. When we got there mama stood there and watched Carson greet us and offer us something to eat or drink but the entire time he just glared at us with his signature glare while he forced out the words." When Aviana spoke turned to look at Carson who still had his arm around her, he just let out a laugh.

"Mama got so mad at him she made him say it all over again after she hit him over the head." When Grey added that part, I cracked a smile remembering how she did it earlier when she told him off for leaving her out in the cold.

"Once we accepted the cookies and milk she gave us, we all ended up just sitting with her in their small living room for the rest of the night. We just had these crazy deep conversations all night until we fell asleep." As he spoke I could see this faraway look in Fox's eyes as he remembered that particular night. "Mama told us about how Carson's dad left when Poppy was born and how they were poor, I ended up opening up about my screwed up childhood and so did Avi and Grey."

For those few seconds when he looked over at his friends it fell a little quiet as I slowly began to realise that it wasn't just Carson who had a hard life as a child. The rest of them never really told me much about their lives before they joined the mafia, so I had no clue what it was that they talked about that night.

I guess they wanted to keep that between them, even if it was just for now. Maybe one day they would tell me, if we ever became close enough and if they felt like delving back into the past.

"It was little Poppy who woke us up in the morning to tell us we would be late for school. That was when we realised we didn't do our work for our project." As he spoke Carson looked over at his mom with a grin. "Then she beat the crap out of all of us."

As I let out a laugh I turned to look at Maya who had been listening intently to them reliving the story, a bright smile on her face as her eyes twinkled with love and adoration. "That night when we talked, you all became my babies - that meant I had to punish you all not just Carson."

"You didn't have to hit us so hard mama." When Fox pouted his lips, he rubbed the back of his head as if he was remembering the pain he went through fourteen years ago. "Sorry baby."

When she apologised he just gave her one of his usual smiles, finishing off the rest of the story for me since they all obviously knew how it ended. "We became best friends that night, and it stayed that way for the last 14 years."

"It was only because of mama, if she hadn't forced Carson to offer the milk and cookies we never would have opened up to each other." When Aviana turned to smile at Maya, a sadness passed through her eyes and I could only imagine it was because she was thinking of what life could have been like if they didn't spend that night together.

"Fate would have brought you together another way if it wasn't me. The love you have for each other is too incredible to only be by chance."

"But it still is because of you mama, you've treated us like your own everyday since that night. You couldn't even afford food for your own children but whenever we came over you made sure there was enough for us too." This time when Aviana spoke her voice held an unusual sound of vulnerability causing Carson to tighten his arm around her shoulders, pulling her even closer to him.

"And you took me in." When Fox spoke up next to me, I turned to look at him although he was frowning at her. "When my parents died you took me in, without hesitation."

Fox's parents died?

"Because I love you like my own, all of you." Despite the fact she was smiling, tears also welled up in her eyes. "I promised them I would take care of you, even after all these years I could never bear it if broke that promise. You were only 16 years old..."

When I turned to look at Fox with a frown, he just clenched his jaw looking away from Maya probably to control his emotions. I knew it wasn't the time to ask him why he never told me that his parents died when he was the same age as me, but it did confuse me a little.

I know I can't expect him to tell me everything, but I guess it's once of those coincidences that I thought he would have told me about.

"We love you mama." When Grey filled the silence that fell around us, she nodded her head with a smile. "I love you all too, and you baby."'

When she turned to look at me, I gave her as much of a smile as I could muster. I hadn't spent much time with her since I came into Carson's life, but I knew she was special. She filled the void in my heart that was left when my parents died, she gave me this warmth whenever she was around.

She completed our family, it wasn't picture perfect or even what I imagined I would call my family at 21 years old, but it was perfect for me.

"I love you too mama."

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

"Sorry about that baby."

"It's fine." I gave Carson a smile as he helped me down off the counter in the kitchen, carefully setting me down on the floor before he picked my purse up off the floor to hand it to me.

I don't know how I lived without this man for 21 years, he was just too damn perfect.

After kissing his cheek I said 'goodnight' to Aviana who I'd been sitting with for the last half an hour waiting for Carson to finish whatever work he was doing with Fox and Grey before dinner.

After Maya had to leave to get home to Manhattan, they went back upstairs to work while Avi and I just talked downstairs. Most of that time she spent profusely apologising for calling me a bitch and for not telling me about Ignacio being her boyfriend now.

"You could have just gone home, you didn't have to wait for me." As we walked out the kitchen I shook my head holding onto his hand. "I like going with you."

My words caused him to chuckle as he pulled me to a stop, tugging on my hand to bring me in closer to him. "Is that so?"

"Mhmm." I gave him a smile as he leaned down to kiss me, still holding onto my hand. The kiss didn't last very long but it was still long enough for me to know exactly what he was doing upstairs.

"You said you were working?" When I mumbled those words against his lips he only nodded, pulling me in closer to his chest as he nuzzled his face into my neck to kiss the skin on my most sensitive spot.

"So then why do you smell of cigarettes and taste of bourbon?"
When he heard my words I felt him smile against my skin. "Sherlock Holmes better watch out."

His words caused me to laugh as I pulled away from him just as the sound of the intercom from the gate buzzed across the hall from us. Letting go of me completely, Carson walked over to it to talk to the guards at the gate.

There was a set list of who could come and go freely from this place which obviously included all of the members of the mafia and Carson's family. If anyone else approached the gate the guards would contact Grey or Carson who both had intercoms in their offices and some around the house too.

"Who is it?" When I heard Fox's voice, I turned to look at him as he came down the stairs while I shrugged my shoulders.

"It's for you." When he gave me a frown, coming back over to me while I just gripped the handles of my favourite Louis Vuitton purse in my hand. "Me?"

"Your sister."

When he said those two words to me, I felt like my entire world had stopped as I turned to look at him.

"What?" I think I just stood there staring at him in shock as he stepped closer to me, watching me carefully as if he knew how much this would screw with me. "I can send her away if you want."

"She's here?"

When he nodded his head, I just continued to stare at him completely lost for words. My sister...I hadn't seen her for three years. The last time I saw her was when I called her from the house in Ohio to tell her that I was leaving to go to the airport for my flight to New York. She was supposed to come and say goodbye to me before I left for college but she never did.

I saw her the night before I left, but I never saw her again. We texted a little here and there for the first year of my relationship with Ayden and then she left to go to France a year later to live with her...husband? I don't even know if they got married, I just know she was seeing someone who lived in France and was supposedly going to get married to him.

It didn't matter though, because once she left there was nothing to stop Ayden from abusing me and treating me exactly how he wanted to.

"I..." When I couldn't find any words to say, I stood there struggling to try and comprehend what was going on when the doorbell rang.

As my eyes snapped over to the door, I felt the panic rise up inside me when Carson stepped closer to me cupping my cheeks in his hands. "Look at me Dani, just focus on me and take a deep breath."

He kept his voice calm and soft as he looked at me with his beautiful brown eyes at that somehow managed to break me out of my shocked state. "That's it my queen, just breathe."

"But..." When I turned to look at the front door he shook his head, turning my face back so that I would be looking at him. "No baby, just look at me. Just me."

He gave me a smile as he leaned in to press a kiss to my lips before he spoke again, somehow managing to stay calm the entire time. "What would you like me to do?"

"L-let her in."

"You sure?" When he rose an eyebrow at me I nodded my head just as Aviana stepped up to us, rubbing my back soothingly. I didn't even know she was there, but I guess she was only just in the kitchen so I guess it made sense.

As Carson went to open the door with Fox following close behind him with a cold expression on his face. I heard a few voices before they finally opened the door fully, allowing the guests to enter.

"Remember, bad bitch energy." When Aviana whispered the words into my ear, I turned to give her a small smile while she just shook her head. "Bad bitches don't smile honey."

Right.

Nodding my head, I did my best to compose myself and cover my emotions like I had to do at that gala when we ran into Ayden and Atticus. Somehow Carson could do it within seconds, but it was still taking me a lot longer to learn how to do it so naturally. He did it without thinking about it whereas I had to close my eyes and take a deep breath.

Lifting my gaze, I walked with Aviana towards the front door as the three figures stepped inside. One of them was undoubtedly my sister, apart from a few changes like the length of her hair and some obvious cosmetic procedures she'd had done - physically she looked exactly the same. My sister was five years older than I was, so she didn't exactly look old but the clothes she was wearing made her look much older than she was. A luxury dress, a fancy purse and designer heels and a pearl necklace with matching earrings.

She looked like one of those upper class women, like a celebrity or at least the wife of a celebrity or someone of high importance.

The other person was a tall man, easily appearing to be at least ten years older than my sister with a neatly trimmed beard and a fancy suit and a glistening watch. Finally the last person was a young boy, maybe around the age of three holding onto my sister's hand.

So I had a nephew?

For a while it remained silent as they all entered the house allowing Carson to close the front door while they looked around at the expensive decor with blank expressions. Judging by their clothes I'm not surprised the luxury interior of the house didn't faze them.

"Eleanor."

When I said her name, attempting to keep my voice cold and hard, she finally turned her attention to me, her eyes taking me in as she looked me over from head to toe. As my older sister maybe I expected some kind of softness to come to her eyes after seeing me three years later, but all she did was look at me as if I was completely stranger.

"Daniela."

When I realised she wasn't going to say anything else, I just stepped back, gesturing towards the living room door on my right. "Why don't you take a seat."

After a moment she wordlessly entered the living room guiding the little boy inside while the man followed close behind her. As we walked in I felt Carson come up next to me, taking a seat across from them next to me while Fox and Avi remained by the door.

"Shall we go?" When she whispered the words to me I nodded my head, deciding it was better to do this alone. Fox and Avi didn't exactly come across as very friendly with the glares on their faces, if she felt intimidated my sister would only end up being more of a bitch than she was currently being.

Although Carson also looked intimidating as hell, I knew he wouldn't leave me alone with her and her apparent husband, not that I wanted him to. I needed him to be with me.

Once she and Fox left the room shutting the door behind themselves, I found myself staring at the woman - the last person left who was part of my family. At least that's what I thought, until I found out now that she had a baby - so I guess there are two people genetically related to me.

"What are you doing here?" When I finally broke the silence, I felt the eyes of the man and my sister on me while the boy was busy looking curiously around the room. "An estate agent contacted me and told me you're selling the house."

So she only just found out? I put the house up for sale weeks ago.

"It's not yours to sell Daniela."

"It's in my name just as much as yours Eleanor." My response caused her to nod as she lovingly stroked the boy's hair keeping him in close to her side on the couch. "Exactly, so you can't sell it without my permission."

"And I'm guessing you're here to tell me you won't agree to it." My words came out more like a statement than a question while she only nodded her head causing me to glare at her. "I haven't heard from you for three years and it didn't look like you'd been back to the house, so what's your problem?"

"That's the last thing we have left of them - their things are there, that was our home."

The home she left.

"Not anymore, I packed it all up." When I gave her that piece of news, trying to stop the hint of satisfaction seeping into my tone her eyes widened. "You had no right to do that without asking me."

"And how was I supposed to do that? It's not like I had your number or even your email address. You just left Eleanor, you disappeared!"

"Don't you dare raise your voice at my wife." When the man suddenly spoke up for the first time in a more than harsh tone, I somehow only found myself stuck on the fact that he spoke in an American accent.

I thought she moved to France to get married?

"Stay out of it, it's between them." When Carson spoke next to me, all eyes were on him for the moment when he spoke in a hard tone. I noticed the way Eleanor eyed him, probably taking in his intimidating and authoritative aura that surrounded him.

Or the bitch was checking him out.

No one said another word before I turned my attention back to Eleanor, breaking the silence around us. "What happened to you? Where did you go?"

"Nothing happened to me Daniela, I moved on. You held me back for years and once you went to Columbia, I was finally free."

She was free...free from me.

Yes her words hurt, to hear your own sister say that definitely hurt. But I always knew I was holding her back. When our parents died she was pretty much forced to take care of me for two years since she was 21 years old at the time and therefore my legal guardian. She spent the next two years forced to stay in Mansfield with me until I left for college.

"Well where did you go? I thought you moved to France." This time my voice was much less cold than it was before, instead I was more confused as I pressed her for answers. "I was there for a few months and then I came back. I live in Florida now."

"Florida?" When I spoke in an incredulous tone she just nodded her head as if it wasn't a big deal. "Miami."

"All this time you've been...you been here...in America?" All that time while I was being used as Ayden's punching bag, she was in the country. She could have helped me, she could have protected me.

"Where else would I be?" Somehow she didn't even seem bothered that I was pathetically heartbroken by what she was telling me. "But...we lost contact...I thought it was because you got a French number."

"I changed my number on purpose Daniela. I needed to move on."

"Move on?" When I gave her another incredulous look, tears filled my eyes as that familiar feeling of hurt filled me. "I'm your sister Eleanor! How could you just leave me? How could you just abandon me?"

When my voice broke Carson took my hand in his, resting our joined hands on his leg in an attempt to comfort me.

"You had a life Daniela, you were happy. You were in college, you had friends, a boyfriend - you had the rest of your life ahead of you. I had to leave too, I had to get away."

That's what she thought - of course she thought I was happy.

"Away from me? What did I do to you that was so bad? You used to be my friend." Even though I was so obviously upset, she didn't even seem bothered in the slightest. It was weird really, she had this motherly side to her as she held her son next to her, and yet she had no problem making her little sister cry.

"You didn't do anything. Look, I'm not here to discuss the past. You're not selling that house-"

"What do you want?" When Carson suddenly jumped in, I turned to look at him as he gave her that glare that he only ever saved for people he truly hated - Atticus McKnight being one of those people and now I guess my sister too.

"What?" When she rose an eyebrow at him, Carson didn't waste a second before he elaborated. "What do you want to just get the hell out of her life? Name your price to let her sell the house and for you to just go."

So he was offering to pay?

In that moment I had no clue how to feel about what he just said. Part of me loved him for trying to get me what I wanted, but the other part was furious that he was giving her the chance to just walk out of my life and not come back. She'd already done that once and even though she was a bitch, she was the only family I had left.

For a moment she sat and thought about what he said before she turned to look at her husband who was the next one to speak, demanding a price. "Five million."

"Okay." Without even considering the cost, Carson nodded his head accepting his offer while I just sat there in shock. "What? N-no, you can't just do that. You can't just leave again Eleanor, you're my sister, I-"

"Daniela stop - you sound pathetic. I've moved on, I don't need you anymore." If it was even possible her words just hurt me even more as I turned to look at Carson, somehow hoping he would help me to understand why she was acting like that towards me.

But all he did was shake his head, keeping his cold glare focussed on her. "You'll have your money sent to you once the sale of the house goes through. Then you stay away from her."

When I saw her satisfied nod when she heard that she'd be getting five million dollars out of this, I suddenly felt something snap inside me.

And then I just lost my temper.

"Don't you even feel anything in that cold heart of yours?"

My words broke through the silence that fell around us causing her to shift her attention towards me. "Mom and dad would be turning in their graves if they knew what you've become."

"That's enough." When her husband spoke up in her defence again, I turned to glare at him instead. "This doesn't concern you."

When I say if looks could kill...

"Don't speak to him like that Dani, he's my husband of course it concerns him."

I should have noticed it, the look on her face, the pleading in her eyes.

I should have noticed it, after everything I've been through I should have picked up on it.

"No it doesn't unless he made you leave me on my own, then it doesn't. Do you have any idea what I've been through?"

"I don't care, you're a grown woman whatever happened was your own doing. Come on honey, let's go." When she suddenly gestured for her husband to get up, the pair of them stood up prompting the kid to follow suit, holding Eleanor's hand while they began to walk towards the door.

"So you think an abusive relationship was my own doing? The fact I was raped and assaulted countless times was my own doing? Or the depression and suicidal thoughts?"

Maybe it was stupid to tell her all of my deepest darkest secrets in one go, especially when Carson tensed up next to me I knew it wasn't a good idea. But I had to do it, something told me I had to say it so I did.

Her entire body froze when she heard those words, stopping in her tracks as she reached the door. She didn't turn back to look at me for a moment while I rose up from my place on the couch, watching her every move.

For a moment I thought she would turn back, but then her husband put his hand on her shoulder.

And then she walked out.

All I could do was just stand there watching her through the door to the living room as she headed out of the front door with her family, closing it behind her.

"Carson..." When I said his name I felt him turn me to face him, moving some hair away from my face as he looked at me. "I know that's not what you wanted, but I had to do something Dani. It's my responsibility to look after you, my baby you've already been through enough. I don't want her to ruin the progress you've made."

I guess I knew where he was coming from. He was the only one before my sister who knew about the suicidal thoughts. The entire time we sat there he was probably panicking thinking this whole thing might push me over the edge again, and to be honest he wasn't wrong.

"But I don't want to lose contact with her again, she's my sister Carson." When I spoke in a soft tone he nodded his head, wiping away the few tears that had fallen from my eyes. "If that's what you want then we'll try again with her, this time we'll make sure that son of a bitch isn't with her."

"What do you mean?"

"He...there's something about him - the way he stopped her from looking at you again. I just don't believe your sister could walk out after hearing what you said."

I could tell whatever was going through his head definitely concerned him and one thing he always says to me is that his instincts are never wrong.

"You think he's abusing her?"

"Maybe not abuse, I would never accuse someone of that without proof. But I think he probably had a hand in the way she was treating you, yeah."

I guess I could see it. The man didn't even introduce himself to us to be polite, instead he just looked at us as if we weren't even worth his time. Even though she seemed to like him, I know very well from experience that you can never tell what goes on behind closed doors even if people are smiling in public.

Whenever I went out with Ayden I smiled, I made sure to never be rude or cold towards him in front of other people. To me he was a monster and we absolutely despised each other, but to the rest of the world he was my boyfriend and we were in love.

"Will you look into it?" Carson pulled me into a hug when I asked him that question, nodding his head as he did. "Of course I will my baby."

What did you guys think of this chapter?

I want to apologise again for being gone for so long, I've been trying to write but I'm currently fasting and doing uni work (sorry to bore you and say it all again 🥲)

Also, I've been writing but since I can't eat for all day light hours I barely have any energy but then I've always been an early sleeper so I basically try and write at 4am when I wake up for breakfast to start my fast again. But that's kind of hard cos I'm half asleep and I can't go on my phone too much or I won't be able to fall asleep again.

Sorry for the long rant but I been going through it over here 🤣 There's only two weeks left of Ramadan, but I'm also close to finishing the story too.

Thank you for sticking around and I hope you loved this chapter! Don't forget to vote and comment ❤️