I think this is the longest chapter I've ever written 😭 I hope you enjoy!✨

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~ Daniela's POV ~

Christmas Day passed in a blur, we didn't actually end up celebrating or doing anything with Grey, Fox and Aviana at all, which is what they would have usually done. Instead Carson and I just stayed home in our bed for the entire day. We even ate in bed, which was always a big no from me.

Too many crumbs.

After that, the next day Carson and I went to the funeral home to plan the funeral although I did most of the talking since Carson would either just keep swearing at the poor guy or he just chose to stay silent so that he could keep control of his emotions as best as he could.

Apparently in the mafia funerals were encouraged to happen as quickly as possible after someone died. Carson said it was a sign of respect - the person, or in this case people, died for the mafia or because of the mafia and so they deserved to be put to rest as soon as possible.

So that meant the day of the funeral came around much faster than I expected. We went on the 26th of December to organise it and then we had one day in between which I spent mostly alone unsuccessfully trying to plan how I was going to take the Irish Mob down. I did come up some ideas but I guess they weren't that good.

Carson's idea of blowing all of their warehouses and businesses up at the same time to weaken them beyond repair, and then killing Atticus and Ayden was better than my best idea of hiring a hit man to kill them.

When I suggested that idea to Grey he told me the mafia didn't hire hitmen because they were already the hitmen. He wasn't very impressed with my suggestion to say the least.

The following day - the 27th of December was the day of the funeral where Carson's closest family and friends would be in attendance along with some of the top mafia officials.

"Are you ready?" When I stepped into the closet, my eyes landed on Carson who was staring at himself in the mirror dressed in a black suit. "No."

When he responded to me, his words coming out barely above a whisper, I stepped towards him coming into view in the reflection of the mirror. "It's two hours my baby, just two. Just be strong, hold my hand and we'll get through it - together."

Placing my hand on his arm I rubbed it soothingly through the expensive material of his suit and then he finally turned to look at me allowing me to see his tired, red eyes. I knew he barely slept and he'd also been crying a lot too, but unfortunately this was probably the hardest part of the whole grief process - the funeral.

"I don't know how I could ever get through this without you."

"You don't have to think about that, I'm never going to leave you." As I spoke I pulled him in for a hug, holding him in my arms for a moment before I finally let go. Taking a step away from him I went over to the drawer in the dressing room where he kept all his sunglasses, taking out my favourite black pair to give them to him as I grabbed my purse.

"Do you need anything else?" At this he only shook his head, putting the sunglasses on to cover his eyes from everyone else at the funeral. Once we grabbed our coats since it was freezing outside, we headed downstairs and out to his car.

The six minute drive felt like it went by faster than ever before as we pulled up to the gated house where I could already see both hearses in front of the house along with numerous black cars and security dotted around pretty much everywhere.

After we drove down to the long drive where Carson parked the car, we sat in the car where he just kept his eyes on the coffins in the back of the hearses. Through the window from what we could see both the coffins were covered in flowers one of them with a wreath saying 'Mama' and the other saying 'Poppy'.

"Here." When Carson spoke I turned my head to see him holding a tissue in my direction as he looked at me, making me aware of the few tears that had fallen down my cheeks.

"Sorry, I haven't been to a funeral since my parents..." When I whispered the words to him, he only nodded his head as he leaned over to kiss my cheek. The longer I kept my eyes on the coffins, it hit me even harder that they were actually in there...that they were actually gone.

I had the same feeling when I first saw my parents' coffins, but that time I broke down crying like crazy. This time I did my best to control my emotions for him.

"Shall we go inside? They'll be waiting for you." Wiping my eyes thankful that I smartly chose not to wear any make up so that it didn't smudge, I sniffled as I turned to look at Carson. When he nodded his head we both got out the car while he came around to my side, taking my hand in his.

Before we headed inside though, we went over to where the coffins were since I'm guessing Carson wanted a moment alone with them before everyone else was there too. He actually stayed pretty calm until he saw the words on the other side of Poppy's coffin, the wreath spelling out 'Little Flower' in her favourite colour.

"I can't do this Dani." When he spoke, his voice broke as he continued to stare at the nickname he'd called her ever since she was born. He told me it was because he didn't understand why she was called Poppy until his mother told him a Poppy was a flower, so he started calling her Little Flower from the age of four when she was born.

Through my own tears I turned to look at him, turning his face so that he was looking at me as I used the tissue to dab away the tears that were on his cheeks.

"Yes you can, they deserve you to be there Carson." As I spoke he just kept his attention on the coffin in the hearse next to us.

"My baby sister is dead."

I think it was that moment that he finally really realised that she was dead and that she wasn't coming back. Even after seeing her body when he had to identify her for the death certificate, I don't think it hit him as much as seeing her coffin with her nickname there.

It just made it so much more real.

"It hurts Dani." He whispered the words as he visibly struggled to keep ahold of his emotions while I pulled him into a hug, wishing I could do something to take away his pain. "I miss them so much."

"I know my baby." As I spoke I closed my eyes causing the tears to leak out of my eyes as I buried my face into his shoulder. A minute or two passed before he finally let me go, clearing his throat as he looked away from the coffins.

"Let's go."

"Are you sure?" This time when I reached out to dry his cheeks, he took the tissue from me to do it himself before he handed it back to me. "I'm sure."

Nodding my head I took his hand in mine again, walking into the silent house with him. Despite the fact that I knew so many people were in the building, it really was dead silent. When we walked past the living room I saw some of the other guests in there although Carson continued walking, heading down to the basement where I'm assuming his friends were.

When we walked into the silent room, my eyes landed on Grey and Eleanor who were sitting on one couch and Fox and Aviana who were sitting on the other. All the guys as expected were wearing sunglasses again, along with black suits while Aviana and Eleanor wore dresses like me.

As soon as we walked in they all stood up but Grey and Eleanor came over to us first while Fox and Aviana lingered in the background. No words were exchanged between Carson and Grey when they hugged, but just from the way they held onto each other so tightly and for such a long time, there really wasn't anything they needed to say.

Once he pulled away from Carson, I gave Grey a hug too after hugging my sister who only gave Carson a small smile. I guess she didn't know him very well, but she was just here out of respect and maybe for Grey since she told me they'd spent a lot of time together over the last few days. They even spent Christmas Day together with their children.

Finally Carson turned his attention to Fox who came over to give him a hug, followed by Aviana. I hadn't seen either of them since that whole thing happened in the gym. I also didn't tell Carson either, I would eventually but now just wasn't the time and I really didn't care enough to tell him yet.

After the way Fox treated me and the way Aviana refused to even look at me, I didn't want to waste any of my time with Carson talking about it and I didn't want to hurt him even more. He was already so broken, adding this to the mix would only make it harder on him if he hated Fox too.

No matter what Fox said to me, I didn't want Carson to hate him. They were too close and too important to each other, I didn't want to come between them.

I'm sure it didn't go unnoticed by anyone in the room when I completely ignored the two of them, instead going over to one of the couches to sit down. But, apart from the few words they exchanged no one spoke as they all sat back down, this time Carson coming to sit down next to me.

"How long until we leave?" When Carson whispered the words to me, I checked the time on my phone before I turned to look at him. I was the one who planned his entire thing with him after all. "Five minutes? If everything goes to plan."

"I don't think it will be five, one of the hearses had a flat tyre earlier when they got here." When Grey spoke from his place across from us, I couldn't help but frown. "Doesn't he have a spare?"

"There's no trunk Dani." When Carson muttered the words to me, realisation dawned on me before I just nodded my head, wishing I just kept my mouth shut. "So how long?"

"Thirty minutes I think, the tyre guy is almost here." When Grey responded to Carson's question, my boyfriend nodded his head as he stood up, heading over to the bar. My eyes followed him as he grabbed a bottle of scotch and a glass, coming back over to the couch.

For the next half an hour we just sat in silence while Carson downed one glass of scotch and then sipped on a second for the rest of the time. It was only when Grey got a text to tell us they were ready that we headed back upstairs.

We separated into different cars for the twenty minute drive to the cemetery where Carson's father, grandfather and some of his other relatives were also buried. As expected we were silent for the entire drive, all the way up until we got to the site where the burial was taking place.

Once we took a seat, we watched as the minister officiated the service for both Maya and Poppy who were being buried next to each other. Each of them said a few words about Maya and Poppy and although Carson did speak, he kept his speech pretty short, sticking to the basics of thanking everyone for coming, saying a little bit about his mother and his sister and then saying goodbye to them.

I knew it was hard for him, but I was glad he at least said something, he would have regretted it if he didn't.

Once the ceremony finished, pretty much everyone else left to go home apart from Carson and I, Kai, Aviana, Grey, Fox and Eleanor. We just carried on sitting there in silence staring at the two coffins for at least another half an hour before Grey and Eleanor finally stood up.

"We're going to go, Giana is looking after the kids on her own." When Grey broke the silence, we all turned to look at him although his attention was focused on Carson who only nodded. Placing a hand on his shoulder, Grey gave him one last look before the two of them left.

"Shall we go too?" When Aviana whispered the words to Fox, I resisted the urge to glare at her for disturbing the peace when the two of them stood up. "Carson it's cold, are you sure you don't want to-"

"I'm fine." When he cut Fox off, the two of them walked away after saying something about seeing Carson later. I don't know how long passed before I finally turned to look at Carson, reaching out to place my hand on his arm.

"We should go Carson, they're waiting to finish..." When I spoke I gestured to the few men who were waiting to finish the burial. Without a word he stood up, walking towards the coffins where he bent down, placing a hand on each of them saying something quietly to them so that no one else could here. He took a few moments to talk to them, not bothering to hold back his tears any longer.

Once he was done he gestured for Kai to come over to him where they spoke for a moment before Carson left his little brother to have a moment alone with the coffins.

After that we left in silence, heading back to pick up the car before we drove back home.

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

"What are you working on?" His voice came out thick with sleep as he spoke next to me, causing me to turn to look at his figure next to me in the bed. "Um...you're awake?"

When I gave him a nervous smile trying to change the conversation, he gave me a frown shuffling closer to me so that he could see the laptop screen. I didn't really know how to tell him it was my list of ways to take down the Irish Mob, but since I titled the document 'Ways To Take Down The Irish Mob', I think he figured it out.

"That's not your job Dani." As he sat up in the bed, he seemed like he was still half asleep from his nap after the funeral, but he still managed to give me a disapproving look. "I've taken it on as my job and nothing you can say is going to change that."

When I narrowed my eyes at him speaking in a forceful tone, he only gave me a weird look in response to my determination before he turned his attention to my list.

1. Hire a hit man to shoot them while they're at the grocery store - note: Grey said we are the hitmen and they don't do their own grocery shopping.

2. Send bombs to their houses in the mail to blow them up - note: Grey said these will explode while they're being sorted at the mailing centre and will kill a lot of innocent people.

3. Throw a bomb through their window - note: Grey reminded me that Ayden lives on the 30th floor in an apartment building so a crane would be needed.

4. Blow up their cars while they're inside.

5. Kidnap them and hold them hostage - kill them by stabbing them, shooting them, draining them of their blood, tickling them until they burst.

6. Poison them.

"You came up with these?" When Carson turned to look at me I could see the amusement in his eyes while I nodded my head. "Yeah, they're good right?"

"No." When he shook his head, I gave him a frown while he reached out to take the laptop from me. "The only one I like is kidnapping them. The rest have too many problems."

"Yes, but, they're problems we can work around." When I tried to defend my ideas, he turned to look at me with a small smile. "Baby how are you going to get a crane?"

"I could hire one." I mumbled my response as I rested my head on his shoulder, watching him delete my entire list. "It took ages to write that Carson."

Of course he just ignored that.

"I don't want you doing this Dani. We had a plan and we're going to stick to it. You're not-"

"Okay, no offence boss, but screw your stupid plan. It's terrible and anyway it's going to take months and I promised Mama and Poppy I wouldn't let them live past New Year's Eve and that I would be the one to kill them. Not to mention the fact that we've let them live way too freaking long...sir."

I had to be a little respectful at least.

When I accidentally cut him off and snapped at him, he just stared at me for a moment doing his best to hide what he was thinking before eventually nodding his head.

"Okay."

"Okay?" When I gave him a confused frown, he nodded his head. "Yeah."

"You're not mad that I just snapped at you?" Once again he only shook his head, keeping his eyes on my laptop screen while I still just sat there in shock. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure." Still keeping his attention on my laptop, he started typing as I spoke, testing to see if he was losing his mind. "What would you say if I told you I wanted your job?"

"I'd give you five seconds to take it back otherwise I'd throw you out the window."

"Okay good." When he heard the relief in my tone he cracked a smile as he continued typing. For the next few minutes we sat there as he rewrote my list, but instead of focussing on how we're going to actually get to them, he was just listing all the torture methods he could think of.

"You're sick." When I muttered the words, cringing at the way he described cutting Ayden opening and feeding him his own organs, Carson only shrugged. "I'm trying to be creative."

"That's not creative, that's just screwed up." At this he only laughed as he added another suggestion of spooning out Atticus's eyeballs and then feeding them to him. "So how are we going to kidnap them?"

"Well, I think we should take a leaf out of George's book, what do you say Trouble?" When he turned to look at me, I saw a glimpse of his old self when his eyes dazzled as he smirked.

"So what's your plan?"

Although I asked him a question, instead of responding to me Carson flashed me a grin, reaching out to grab his phone. For the next few minutes I had to listen to him on the phone to Grey, telling him to come over with Fox and Aviana so that he could tell them about his idea.

Yes, the very two people I really didn't want in my house.

"Why do they have to come here?" When I asked him the question as he got out of the bed after hanging up the phone, he turned to give me a frown. "Why not?"

How was I supposed to tell him what Fox said now? He'd been an emotional mess for the last few days and he seemed like he finally found the energy to go after the Irish Mob, I didn't want him to displace his anger towards Fox. There were two reasons for that. One, because I knew he had a lot of rage inside of him, that much was clear, and it was best he used it all when torturing the McKnight brothers. Two, as much as I hated Fox, I didn't want to be the reason he and Carson stopped speaking.

They'd been best friends for 11 years, there was no way I was coming between that.

"Look, I know things have been kind of weird between all of us lately, but everyone is just upset. Trust me, this is exactly what we need." This time I only nodded my head as he went into the bathroom, letting out a breath when he closed the door.

Great.

Taking that as my hint to get up and get changed into something more presentable than just Carson's T-shirt, I pushed the covers away from my body closing my laptop as I got out of the bed.

Only twenty minutes passed before the three of them turned up at the front door that Carson went to open while I purposely stayed in the kitchen. It wasn't the first time that they'd come over to our new house, but it was definitely the first time that I wasn't going to be giving them drinks or food.

I did like Grey, which is something I never thought I'd say, but I didn't want to give Fox or Aviana any of my refreshments.

So maybe I didn't hate Avi as much as Fox, but she was also avoiding me and she could have done or said a lot more to defend me in the gym. Her actions made me think she agreed with him, which may or maybe not be true, but the fact I even thought that is something that should have never happened between best friends.

Or so called best friends.

"Dani!" When I heard Carson call my name I let out a sigh, taking one moment to calm my inner bitch before I headed into the living room where they were all sitting. "Yeah?"

When I stepped into the living room, I lingered by the door keeping my eyes only focused on him. Instantly I could tell he was confused by my standoffishness when he gestured for me to come and sit down next to him.

"So why did you call?" When Grey broke the silence around us, Carson turned to face his friends very quickly going into business mode. "We came up with a plan to get McKnight and his brother."

"The other McKnight." When I added that part in, Carson turned to look at me while Grey cracked a smile, nodding his head. "I think we all got that part, but thank you."

All I did was shrug as I leaned back into the couch, waiting for Carson to elaborate on the plan after my interruption.

"Anyway, the plan is simple. We kidnap them and kill them." Although it sounded so simple and the way he said it made it sound so easy, anyone could tell it wasn't. "What are you talking about?"

"We do exactly what George did to me. We watch them, learn their behaviour and then we ambush them killing off their security before we kidnap the bastards. Then we're free to torture them and kill them however we want."

Once Carson finished explaining the summary of his plan the others took a moment to process it before Grey finally spoke. So far he was the only one who had done any talking.

"So we're not going with the original plan?"

"No." When Carson shook his head, Grey looked between the two of us almost mildly amused at this whole thing. "And who's idea was it?"

"It was a joint effort. I came up with the initial idea in my list and since he didn't like the rest of my suggestions, he picked this one and added his own input." As I spoke a gave Carson a 'look' causing him to crack a smile that vanished as quickly as it came. "Okay, so now we just need to plan it properly."

That's how we spent the next hour sitting in my living room planning how we were going to kidnap two of the most evil bastards I'd ever come across. Everything was going to be exactly how George did it, our only concern was figuring out where they would be and how to get to them quickly and easily before they could call for back up.

We have no idea how long George was watching Carson, we only had a day or two to plan ours, his might have taken months.

"Isn't there anything you know about them? Like patterns or routines?" When Carson turned to look at me, I thought for a moment before I gave him the only answer I could think of. "On Sunday nights Ayden and Atticus used to have meetings together at Ayden's apartment. After that it wasn't unusual for them to go to one of the clubs that they owned."

"You think they'll still be doing that?" When Grey directed his question towards me, I shrugged my shoulders as I stood up from my place on the couch to go and get a drink. "Maybe? It's been a long time since I was there and sometimes they were really unpredictable. You never really knew what was going to happen next."

As I muttered the words I felt their eyes on me as I stepped towards the door. "Do any of you want a drink?"

When I begrudgingly offered them a drink since I was too polite to only go and get one for myself, only Carson and Grey accepted one. Once I left the living room, heading into the kitchen, I took my sweet time grabbing myself a bottle of water and the bottle of scotch and two glasses that they'd requested.

I even started clearing up some dishes from breakfast just to take more time, keeping myself busy in the kitchen.

Honestly I just didn't want to go back in there with all the tension. I'm sure Carson could sense it, even though I hadn't told him what happened between Fox and I. But these mafia men were too observant.

"Dani?" The sound of her voice broke me out of my thoughts when she spoke from behind me closing the kitchen door as she came in. For a moment my movements faltered before I decided to just continue with the dishes, refusing to look at her.

"Dani please talk to me."

"I have nothing to say Aviana." When I muttered my response, I kept my eyes on the dish that I was washing by hand only to make it last longer, although I would usually just put it in the dishwasher. "You have every right to be upset with Fox, but I never did anything to you."

"No, you just stood there and let him tell me I was the reason my boyfriend's mother and sister died."

My words hung in the air as I finally turned off the sink, grabbing a towel to dry my hands as I turned to look at her. For a moment she just stood there staring at me, returning the hard look I was giving her.

"What was I supposed to say? I tried to stop him but you saw how angry he was."

"And we both know you're not afraid of any of them when they're angry. So either you just didn't care or you agreed with what he said." The tone I used was almost questioning, which was my way of asking her if she agreed with him or not. From the way she could barely look at me when I walked past her, it seemed like she did agree.

"Of course I don't and Fox doesn't think that either. He was just angry Dani."

"Oh that's fine then." When she heard my sarcastic tone she let out a sigh, stepping towards me.

"Dani we're all going through hell right now. Being angry isn't an excuse, I know that but...I don't want to be caught in the middle. I love you and I love-" When she quickly cut herself off, she shook her head as if she was trying to rid herself of whatever thoughts were in her head. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry for what he said to you and I'm sorry for not doing more to stop him."

"You're supposed to be my friend and you let me think that you agreed with him." When the previous hardness in my tone softened, she closed the gap between us stopping in front of me. "I'm so sorry Dani. I am you're friend, I'm your best friend and I know I haven't been acting like one recently but-"

"Neither have I. I know what you've been going through Avi, I should have been there for you too but Carson needed me." Surprisingly she instantly nodded her head in understanding at that. "I know and I'm glad he has you. I don't know what would have happened if he didn't."

When it fell quiet between us, she came even closer leaning against the counter next to me. "If you forgive me I'll give you a hug."

When I saw her give me a small smile, I had to bite back my own as I shook my head stepping away from her. "I expect more than a hug."

"A kiss?" When she rose an eyebrow at me, I shook my head again. "No, I have a boyfriend. I was thinking of something that I can eat."

"Fine, I'll buy you some donuts, now can I have my hug please." As she pushed herself up off the counter, she stretched her arms out waiting for me to hug her. Once I finally gave her a hug, she decided to help herself to a bottle of water from the fridge while I got everything else that I originally came for.

"Get a glass for Fox too." When I mumbled the words to her, she turned to look at me with a frown holding the two glasses meant for Grey and Carson. "Are you sure?"

"He may be a bitch but I'm not, I'm not going to get everyone else a drink and not him." For some reason my words caused her to frown, an unknown emotion passing through her eyes before she grabbed the third glass, helping to carry them back to the living room.

"Did you go and distill the alcohol yourself or something?" When Carson muttered the words to me as I sat down next to him while Avi took her place next to Fox on the couch, I just shook my head. "We were just talking, sorry it took so long."

All he did was nod leaning in to press a kiss to my cheek before he went back to planning the kidnapping with Grey and Fox for the next few hours. They really took this whole thing seriously, once they'd called their contact who knew a lot about the Irish Mob, they confirmed that the two of them would be going to a club on Sunday night.

Just two days.

Once they were sure, they planned everything to the minute, mapping out the routes and positions of every single car. Since we were aiming to kidnap two people who would be in separate cars, it required a hell of a lot more planning.

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

"Are you sure I can't come with you?"

When I asked him the same question I'd been asking for the last two days since we planned this whole thing out in the living room, he turned his attention away from the gun he was loading, turning to look at me.

Ever since we had confirmation ten minutes ago that Ayden and Atticus both entered the club we thought they would, Carson had been on edge.

"Why do you keep asking me that? It's safer for you to stay here with Fox, just wait and we'll be back soon." When Carson responded to me, I glanced over at Fox who refused to look at me, instead messing with some of the equipment he was setting up for when Carson, Grey and their team of men brought the McKnight brothers back here.

Even though I'd spent a lot of time around him over the last two days while we'd been planning this, we didn't say a word to each other. Not a single word.

"But I-"

"Just take her with you. She deserves to be there when you take them."

Bitch you just don't want to be alone with me.

When Fox jumped in to the conversation from where he was across the room, Carson glanced over at him before letting out a sigh. "Fine but you're staying in the car. I'm not letting you get hurt."

"Thank you." When I gave him a smile, it instantly faltered when I saw the glare he gave me. He could be really moody when he's in business mode.

"Come on." Once he was done gathering all the weapons he needed, also giving me a gun for my own protection in case I needed it, he took my hand leading me out of the basement.

While he went outside, I quickly ran to get a bag of supplies since I didn't know how long we would be sitting in the car for. From what I remember, the McKnight brothers could stay for hours and hours in a club.

Once I'd gathered all my supplies also putting my gun in my bag, I went outside to find Carson on the driveway among a billion black cars. The cars were exactly the same as what George used to run Carson off the road when he kidnapped us - huge black SUVs that would do a lot of damage to the sports cars that the McKnight brothers usually drove.

It felt like there were at least fifty men out there all with black clothes and bullet proof vests on, being briefed one last time on what they had to do. I also couldn't take my eyes off all the guns they were holding.

So I guess this is what a mafia mission looks like.

"Why is she here?" When I heard Grey's irritated tone, I stuck my tongue out at him causing him to narrow his eyes at me. "She's coming with me."

When Carson spoke, Grey glanced over at him before shaking his head. He knew how much I wanted to go with them, but just like Carson for the last two days he'd been saying no to me.

I even tried to bribe him with chocolate, but all he did was take it from me and then he said no again. Bitch.

"Fine, but she better not get in the damn way."

"She better not get in the damn way." When I mocked his response, Grey took a threatening step towards me while Carson just stepped between us to stop him. I'm sure I saw a smile on his face, but if it really was there, it was very fleeting.

"She's staying in my car, don't worry." From behind Carson I flashed Grey another smile causing him to glare at me. "How old are you again?"

"Five." When I shrugged my shoulders, this time he was the one who smiled but also only for a second. I guess they were trying to stay in character as mafia men who were about to go on a very important mission, especially in front of all their soldiers.

Are they even called soldiers?

"That's enough, we need to go." Without another word Carson pretty much dragged me over to his car. He was taking one of his cars since he wasn't going to be involved with all the crashing and stuff. He was going to wait until his men had successfully caught Atticus before he went to speak to him while Grey would be going to speak to Ayden.

Assuming it all goes well.

"What kind of music do you usually listen to on the way to one of these missions?" When I broke the silence around us in the car, I turned away from my Spotify playlist on my phone to look at Carson instead. "What makes you think it would be something in particular?"

"I don't know, maybe you listen to some Eminem to get yourself angry." When I shrugged my shoulders he let out a laugh from his place in the drivers seat. "You can just put anything on beautiful."

Nodding my head, I chose a song before I put my phone down turning to face him. "So...how are you doing?"

Over the last two days he seemed like his mind was focused on the plan we had, but I knew he was still hurting - obviously. He was just blocking it out.

"I'm fine Daniela."

He brought the full name out bitch, no more questions.

Of course I didn't listen to the warning, because when do I ever?

"Are you sure? You know we're alone right? You can talk to me." I spoke in a soft tone, watching him while he kept his eyes firmly focused on the road. "What do you want me to talk to you about?"

Surprisingly he didn't sound irritated or annoyed with me, but I guess he was confused since I didn't ask a specific question. So I guess he's leaving it to me.

"I don't know...how have you been sleeping?" My random question caused him to glance in my direction with look that instantly told me he thought my question was weird as hell. "Um...fine?"

"That's not an answer. Okay, on a scale of one to ten, how would you rate the quality of your sleep last night? One is 'absolutely awful' and ten is 'so freaking good I could die'."

"What the hell kind of survey is that?" When he cracked a smile glancing in my direction, I shrugged my shoulders leaning back into the leather seat of his black Range Rover. Apparently that's the car he uses whenever he has to go on missions.

"Answer the question." Letting out a sigh, he kept his eyes on the road, changing the lane we were driving in before he finally answered. "I don't know...maybe five?"

"Five? That's it?" At this he nodded his head, picking up the speed of the car. "I have a lot on my mind at night."

His mom and his sister.

"How long has it been taking you to fall asleep?" It had already been an entire week since they died, which meant his sleep had been messed up for seven nights now. I guess I was always so tired that I fell asleep quite fast although I did try to stay awake with him.

"A couple of hours after you fall asleep." This time I only nodded my head, suddenly unsure of what I was hoping to get out of this conversation.

"I just want you to know that I'm here always here for you Carson." When he heard those words he reached out to take my hand, bringing it up to his lips to kiss the back of it. "I know."

"Don't forget, when the time comes I'm the one who is going to kill both of them." Deciding it was the smart thing to do, I chose to change the conversation when he rested our joined hands on his leg as he drove, but my topic of choice probably wasn't the best. "No way."

"Carson-"

"I know why you want to baby and trust me, I get it - I really do. But it's not going to help." As he spoke I snatched my hand out of his turning in my seat to look at him again. "I don't care, they ruined my life Carson, I'm going to be the one to end theirs."

"It won't help you Daniela. You won't feel any better afterwards, all it will do is take away your innocence." At this I let out a scoff, shaking my head. "What innocence? I work for the damn mafia, I'm carrying a gun, I've already killed a man before."

"You didn't do it voluntarily, you didn't kill him in cold blood Dani. It was an accident. If you do this, it won't be and you'll be forced to have it on your conscience for the rest of your life."

For a moment it fell silent as he glanced over at me occasionally, continuing the drive from Long Island to New York City that we could see coming up in the distance.

"I don't care what you say Carson, I'm doing it. You told me almost five months ago that you would kill Ayden for me, and you haven't." When I spoke in a hard tone, he clenched his jaw as his grip on the steering wheel tightened. "I've been a little freaking busy Dani, but fine if you want to do it, then do it. But don't ignore my warning - I promise you, you won't be the same person afterwards."

"I'll feel better." It was obvious to both of us that I wouldn't, but I guess I was trying to convince myself that I would.

"No you won't. You'll feel empty, it won't change the past and it won't bring my mama or Poppy back. You'll feel nothing because all that anger inside you will still be there but they'll be dead."

Deep down I knew he was right, even if I was stubborn as hell, I knew he was right.

"You have time, just think about it. Whatever you choose I'll stand by your side because you're my girl and I love you, but just trust what I'm telling you Dani. I've got five years worth of experience in the mafia, I know what I'm talking about." When his voice softened, I turned to look at him as we finally passed the sign telling us we were entering New York City.

Nodding my head I took his hand again, leaning back in my seat as a comfortable silence fell around us. I didn't actually talk until Carson parked up on the deserted street where he was supposed to wait. I had no clue how long we would be sitting here for, first we had to wait for Ayden and Atticus to leave the club that we had confirmation they were in, then Carson's men had to ambush each of them and then they would call so that Carson could give his little speech telling them that they were screwed.

"I recognise this street." Looking around at the dimly lit street, something about it was really familiar to me although I couldn't quite place it.

"This is where you tried to fight a group of masked men." When he spoke I turned to look at him noticing the amusement in his tone as he watched me for my reaction. "This is the same place?"

"Yep." When he nodded his head I turned my attention back to the road, finally placing it in my memory. "Hey that's where I threw up!"

When I saw the corner of the street, the excitement in my voice caused him to chuckle next to me as he took his phone out to check his messages.

"You hungry?" When I broke the silence lifting up my bag to put it on my lap, Carson turned his head to give me a frown. "You brought food?"

"Yeah, I brought food, water bottles and juice boxes, a blind fold, a blanket, my laptop with some movies downloaded on Netflix and tissues - in case we watch a sad movie." As I spoke I was busy digging through my bag listing it all to him before I turned to look at him when he didn't respond.

"What?" Even when I questioned him he just sat there giving me a look I couldn't quite decipher, until he finally spoke. "Have I told you today how much I love you Daniela O'Brien?"

"I think so." When I gave him a shy smile, he leaned over to press a soft kiss to my lips before he spoke against them. "Well I love you to the moon and back."

"I love you too, forever." Reaching out to stroke his cheek, I smiled at how cute his words were as he nodded. "Forever."

I guess that was our thing now.

Closing the gap, I kissed him again placing one hand on the back of his head to pull him in closer to me. I savoured every second of his lips being against mine, especially since it was the first time in a week that our kiss lasted longer than half a second.

As soon as the kiss became much more heated, he pulled away from me, speaking in a husky tone. "Come here."

"How?" When I gave him a frown as he patted his lap, he pushed his chair back a little to make more space before helping me as I very reluctantly climbed over the console and onto his lap facing him.

I'm sure they do this kind of thing in the movies and they make it look so smooth, but when I did it I ended up hitting my head on the ceiling and then beeping the horn of the car too.

The sound of his laughter echoed in the small space around us and as much as I was irritated that he was laughing at me, I couldn't help but smile. I really missed his laugh over the last week, so much that I didn't say a word until he stopped laughing just so that I could enjoy all of it.

"Crap, Dani we're supposed to be hiding." He forced the words out through his laughter as it finally started to calm down while I just pouted my lips, keeping my hands on his shoulders. "It's not my fault, I just wanted to kiss you, you're the one who wanted me to sit on your lap."

Finally his laughter died down although his eyes were still lit up in amusement and there was a beautiful smile playing on his lips. "I didn't think you'd find it so hard."

"Just shut up and kiss me please."

After a while we decided to stop before it went too far, so we just sat there while I hugged him, keeping my head resting on his shoulder. A few minutes passed by in silence before he broke it, speaking in a quiet whisper.

"I feel guilty when I'm happy...I shouldn't be allowed to laugh or smile when they're dead." When he spoke he said those words so quietly, keeping his arms tight around me. "How can I be happy when they're dead Dani?"

"I know what you mean, but baby they wouldn't want you to be sad forever. If you laugh it doesn't mean you've forgotten or that it hurts any less, it just means you're still living Carson." As I spoke I lifted my head to look at him, the close proximity allowing me to see those beautiful gold flecks in his eyes. "I know it's hard, but you have to keep living Carson."

"How?"

"With me. Just take every second, every moment as it comes, we'll do it all together - we'll keep living together." Giving him a soft smile, I stroked his cheek with my hand before I leaned in to press a kiss to his lips. Although I only meant for the kiss to be short, when I went to pull away he tightened his grip on me pulling against his chest so that he could continue the kiss.

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

"Why the hell are you crying?" When I heard his irritated voice, I turned my attention away from the movie playing on my laptop to look at him. "It's sad Carson."

"Nothing even happened, so they kissed? So what?" This time I just shook my head, sniffling into my tissue. "You need to learn to appreciate romance better."

"What the hell? I'm romantic." The offence was clear to hear in his tone as I paused the movie turning to look at him. "When was the last time you did anything romantic for me?"

"What the hell do you think this is?" Gesturing to the way we were lying on the backseat of his car with the blanket, snacks and the laptop, he gave me a glare as I sat up. "We're hiding out on a deserted street in the dark, waiting for someone to tell you that they've kidnapped Atticus. That's not romantic Carson."

"But we're watching a soppy movie."

"I could do that on my own." When I shrugged my shoulders, his glare slowly morphed into a frown as he averted his gaze, taking a moment to think. "I do nice things for you though, right?"

Why did he look so sad all of a sudden?

"Of course you do baby. I guess it has been a while though and anyway, it's not like we've had the easiest time together so far in our relationship. We don't exactly have time for candle lit dinners or romantic strolls in the garden."

I mean, as soon as things finally started to settle down and we got into a good place working together and living in our new home, his mom and his sister died.

"Once all this is over, I promise I'll do better for you - I'll do more for you."

"Don't say that Carson, you're already so perfect, you even built a house for me, remember?" When I gave him a smile moving in closer to him on the back seat, he just let out a sigh shaking his head. "You deserve the freaking world Dani."

"And I have that when you're with me because you are my world." When I whispered the words to him, he took my hand in his pressing a kiss to my cheek. "Can I press play now? He was just about tell her that he loved her."

Just as Carson nodded his head, the sound of his phone buzzing stopped me from starting the movie again as he read the messages he received.

"Grey just texted - they got Ayden."

So it worked, they attacked and kidnapped Ayden.

"What about Atticus?" Shaking his head, Carson kept his eyes on his phone as he typed a message to someone. "My guy on the inside said Ayden left first, Atticus is still there. They're just waiting for him to leave."

"How long do you think it will be?"

"I have no clue baby." Another ten minutes passed by after that while we continued with our movie although we were both on edge waiting for that text to come through telling us Carson was needed now.

Honestly while we sat there all I kept worrying about was whether something bad had happened. The longer time went on the more anxious I became, until the text finally came.

"It's time." As he spoke Carson gently pushed me up so that he could get up. Quickly folding the blanket up, I closed my laptop as we got out of the car through the back door with Carson getting in the drivers seat while I got in the passenger's seat. While he started the car driving down the last two roads to where his men were with Atticus, I was busy putting all our supplies back into my bag.

"Are you sure I have to stay in the car?" When I saw Atticus's destroyed sports car along with the four black SUV's, I was desperate to see his stupid smug face when he realised he was absolutely screwed.

"Yes." He didn't even bother looking at me as he parked the car, undoing his seatbelt. "But-"

"But nothing."

"Can I at least open the window to hear what you're saying? I don't want to miss it all." When I pouted my lips as he took out his gun, pulling back the hammer, he eventually turned to look at me letting out a sigh. "Fine, but just a little bit. I don't want anyone to see you."

As he spoke he started getting out of the car while I sat there glaring at him. "I'm not Repunzle, you can't keep me hidden away in this car and stop me from missing all the - hey!"

I'm sure I heard him laugh when he slammed the door cutting me off like the bitch he was. Through the window I watched as he headed around the front of the car and towards the group of men who parted when they saw him coming, revealing Atticus who was being held down on the floor. Before he got there, I reached over to the drivers side, opening both the driver's window and mine too so that I could have surround sound.

Yes, it's pathetic, but it was the only way to improve the quality of the audio since I wasn't allowed to go outside courtesy of my boyfriend. I had to admit though, even though I was annoyed that he made me stay in the car, he definitely looked good.

Actually he looked very good, especially when he held the gun in his hand taunting Atticus with it as he smirked down at him.

That smirk made him look so perfect.

"You thought I wouldn't come for you?" Carson's deep voice came out eerily calm as he spoke, keeping his eyes on the black gun in his hand instead of looking at Atticus. For a while it fell quiet before Carson shifted his gaze away from the black gun in his hand and towards Atticus instead.

"I'm going to make you suffer McKnight."

"You think you're so tough? Why don't you tell your bitches to get off me and we can go right now - just the two of us." It was obvious that this was his attempt at goading Carson into letting him up, which would give him a chance to try and escape.

"I don't need to do that." When Carson shook his head, he squatted down next to Atticus, still holding the gun in his hand. "You see this isn't me trying to prove I'm better than you which we both know I am. No this is me punishing you, this is me getting revenge for my mother and sister that you killed. This is me getting revenge for what you did to my girl."

As he spoke in a cold, menacing tone, Carson lifted the tip of his gun holding it to Atticus's temple. "I promise you, when I'm done with you Atticus McKnight - you're going to be wishing I just killed you now."

As he spoke he pressed the tip of the gun harder into his temple for emphasis before he pulled away, standing to his feet. "You know what to do."

Carson directed those words to his men who roughly pulled Atticus up to his feet getting ready to knock him out with the sedative in the needle.

We really did just copy George's entire plan.

"My brother is going to come for you and for that little bitch of yours. Just like he's always talked about, he's going to make you watch while he sleeps with her before he kills you. Maybe he'll keep her alive, I mean we all know she has the best body underneath those clothes, right Carson?"

I'm absolutely sure that Atticus's words had the desired effect on Carson, there's no doubt he would have been itching to pull the trigger there and then as he glared at the man across from him.

But it seemed like all the work he'd put into controlling his anger had really paid off when he instead let out a laugh, taking a step towards Atticus.

"I don't doubt that you both fantasised about that, but the problem with that is - I have your brother too." When Carson flashed him a sadistic smirk, it seemed like the reality of the situation only then dawned on Atticus. I guess he probably thought he was the only one being kidnapped that night.

See we were more sophisticated than George, we could pull two off in one go.

"You son of a bitch, I swear-" Before Atticus could finish his sentence Carson nodded towards the guy holding the needle prompting him to insert it into Atticus's neck, injecting him with the sedative. "Sleep tight McKnight, you're going to need your rest for what I have planned for you."

With those final words Carson walked away, heading back over to the car where I was waiting for him. I watched him carefully as he got in the car next to me, clicking the safety on the gun before he put it on my lap, turning the car back on.

As he started driving, I picked up the gun taking out the clip so that I didn't somehow accidentally shoot it while he was driving while I held it. Even with the safety on, I'm sure I'd find a way to shoot a hole through the windscreen by accident.

"Are you okay?" When I broke the silence I kept my eyes on the black gun I was fiddling with instead of looking at him. "I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine." When I muttered the words, I could almost feel the irritation radiating off him even though I still didn't look at him. "If you're not going to say anything useful just be quiet."

Bitch.

Letting out an exaggerated sigh, I leaned back into the leather seat holding the gun on my lap deciding to keep myself busy by changing the song. The next few minutes passed by in silence as Carson drove, until we pulled up to a set of traffic lights in the city when he spoke. "Are you hungry?"

"If you're not going to say anything useful just be quiet."

Yes I was waiting to say that to him and yes I'm that petty.

Surprisingly instead of getting annoyed which was my desired intention he laughed. He freaking laughed.

"You're cute. So are you hungry or not? We can pick up some food on the way back." This time I finally turned to give him a glare, my grip tightening on the gun when I saw the amusement in his eyes and the smile playing on his lips. "I don't want your food."

"I won't be the one making it."

"I don't care." Nodding his head he glanced over at the red lights before he leaned in to press a kiss to my lips. Unfortunately for him I moved away so he only managed to kiss my cheek instead.

"I'm sorry Dani." Staying close to me he spoke the words in a pleading tone while I just kept my eyes focused forward. "The light is green."

When he heard my words he turned his head, looking at the green light and the empty intersection before he turned back to look at me. "I don't care, I'm not moving until you kiss me."

"Carson, just go." This time when I turned to look at him he shook his head with a smile which only widened when people started horning behind us. "They're getting angry at us."

"So?" He rose an eyebrow at me clearly unbothered by all the angry drivers behind us since we were the first ones at the light, and therefore holding up the entire line. "Hurry up and drive! You're holding up the whole road."

"Kiss me."

"This isn't a game Carson." When I glared at him, he just shrugged his shoulders waiting for me to kiss him. Finally when the pressure from the car horns in the background got too much for me, I leaned in and pecked his cheek.

"Ah ah, on the lips." His smile morphed into a smirk as he leaned across the console between us, waiting for me to give in and kiss him. "You're starting a traffic jam."

When I averted my gaze out the back window, I saw the long line of cars piling up behind us, along with all the pedestrians who were watching our car in confusion. Even the cars at the red light on the intersection were watching us, probably wondering why no one had driven across the intersection yet.

I could even hear people shouting at us to move. All because of my boyfriend.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, I leaned in and kissed his lips feeling him smile against my lips into the kiss before he pulled away.

"Oh would you look at that? The light is red again." Somehow he was still unbothered by the whole thing as he leaned back in his seat with a smile on his face watching all the cars cross the intersection in front of us while the angry horning continued behind us.

Now that we couldn't go anywhere it was clear they were only horning because they were mad.

"You're such a jerk." When I shook my head he turned to look at me with a grin. "I know, and you love it."

Even though I was so annoyed at him I still couldn't stop the smile that tugged at my lips while I shook my head, turning away from him.

"So are you hungry?" This time when he asked me, I just nodded my head as the light turned green again. "What do you think will happen if I don't move again?"

"I think they'll come and move the car for us, so drive." When I glared at him he chuckled just as the horns started up again, finally pressing down on the gas.

It didn't take long for us to pick up some food from a drive thru before we headed back to Long Island with me feeding Carson between each of my bites as he drove. By the time we got back to Long Island, we'd both finished eating and I decided to carry on with our movie from earlier while he drove.

Once we got back to the house, we threw the trash away in the kitchen before I followed Carson down to the basement where they were holding Ayden and Atticus in the same room.

"Just leave if you want to baby." When Carson whispered the words to me as we approached the door, I gripped his hand tight in my mine as I nodded. "Also, I'm sorry if I scare you."

"It's okay." He glanced in my direction giving me one last look as we entered the room where my eyes instantly landed on Ayden and Atticus who were both unconscious, tied up with their hands above their heads and their feet barely touching the floor.

As we stepped inside, my eyes landed on Grey and Fox who were already there with the main torturer of the mafia, Xander.

"Finally, we've been waiting for you. Why did it take you so long?"

"We stopped for some food and there was a traffic jam." When Carson shrugged his shoulders, I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the fact he failed to mention that he was the one who caused the traffic jam. "Whatever, can we just get on with this please."

When Fox muttered the words, my attention shifted over to him as his cold eyes met mine for a split second. I watched as Xander and Fox headed over to where the two McKnight brothers were suspended from the ceiling, the two of them suddenly throwing a few punches probably to wake them up.

"Ah there we go." As soon as they began to open their eyes, a sadistic grin stretched across Fox's face, something I'd never seen on him before.

He honestly seemed like a completely different person.

"Wakey wakey." When they were finally awake enough to take in their surroundings, Fox and Xander stepped back allowing them to process what was going on.

"What..." When Ayden spoke in a thick voice, he looked around the room at everyone until his eyes landed on me. When recognition flashed in his eyes, he held my stare for a moment giving me a frown as if I was supposed to care for him.

Maybe I did care about him once, and maybe for that reason I wouldn't have agreed to what we were going to do to them now. Maybe what he did to me wasn't enough to earn him this particular fate, but then he helped to kill Maya and Poppy, and now I don't give a damn what happens to him.

"Don't look at her, look at me." When Carson's cold voice broke through the silence around us, both Atticus and Ayden turned to look at him instead. "Oh I'm going to enjoy this."

A smile fleetingly crossed his lips as Carson stepped closer to the two of them where he analysed them for a moment before he finally spoke again.

"I'm not going to stand here and give you some long ass speech, I have better things to do. You know what you did to deserve this. Once upon a time I was going to make your deaths quick and easy, but then I found out what you did to Daniela. I thought that was enough to make me ready to make you suffer as much as humanly possible, and then you go after my family."

Despite the fact it was no doubt hard for him to speak about it, he still kept his voice low, cold and emotionless as he spoke. Carson has this insane ability to control his emotions whenever he was in business mode. No matter the situation, he was able to do that terrifying eery calm thing.

"By the time we're done with you, if anyone ever found your bodies they would never be able to determine a cause of death - there will be way too many. You deserve every single thing that's coming your way and I promise you, it will hurt like hell."

Flashing them a grin, Carson turned to look at Fox and Xander, gesturing for one of them to take over the speech.

"This is what we're going to do." As he spoke, Fox stepped up next to Carson flashing the two of them the same smirk from earlier.

"We're going to have fun with you, play around a little - make you scream, cry, beg for your mama. Then we're going to leave you to heal and rest and then, just when you think you might have the energy to pee standing up, we're going to do it all again. Eventually when we get bored of having you here, we're going to send you to our guy in Arizona who will keep doing it until Carson decides it's time to finish you off."

The two of them remained silent the entire time, listening to what Fox said before their eyes shifted over to Grey who spoke from his place leaning against the wall at the back of the room.

"As for the Irish Mob, from tonight that no longer exists. In fact, every single one of your warehouses are being raided by our men as we speak." In response to his words a frown formed on my face as I turned to look at Carson who had a cold glare on his face directed at the McKnight brothers.

I didn't know that, they never told me that they had other missions going on at the same time as ours.

So I guess they stuck to their original plan then. Kill Ayden and Atticus, but instead of blowing up their warehouses they just took them.

That's much smarter.

"And your businesses..." Pushing himself off the wall, Grey took a few steps towards me placing a hand on my shoulder. "Well, Dani here owns every single one of them. Every casino, strip club, bar, restaurant - every single business that brought in the money that allowed you to last this long is hers."

When all eyes were suddenly on me, all I could do was stare at Grey in shock. "What?"

"It's nothing compared to what you truly deserve for what you've been through Dani." When Carson spoke I shifted my gaze over to him instead. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"It was a surprise."

And this man was questioning earlier whether he does nice things for me.

"You're really stupid enough to give them to her?" When Atticus forced out the words along with a cold laugh, I found myself stepping closer to him before anyone else could respond.

"Screw you Atticus."

Yes I'd been waiting all this time to say that to him, and yes it felt so good.

Surprisingly he didn't say a word which gave Ayden a chance to speak up. "This isn't you Dani, you're not this kind of person."

"And how would you know that?"

"I know you, remember? We were together for three years." It was so clear to hear the pleading tone in his voice, as if he thought I would help him. I definitely wasn't a heartless bitch so agreeing to two men being tortured wasn't easy, but they deserved it.

"No, we were together for one year and then you spent the next two years using me as your personal punching bag."

"I'm sorry Dani." He looked so desperate hanging there, hoping I would do something to save him. "You're sorry?"

"I am, I'm so sorry. I was wrong but I only did it because of Atticus. He's the one who taught me all that stuff."

The reaction to his words around the room was instant. While I frowned at him, Atticus turned his head to glare at his brother while a few chuckles sounded out from behind me. Clearly some of the guys thought it was amusing that Ayden was willing to throw his brother under the bus to save his own life.

"Atticus didn't force you to cheat on me, to hit me, to rape me. Atticus wasn't the one who cut me with the knife. You were." I didn't stop the hatred from seeping into my tone as I glared at him, taking another step towards him. "Maybe if I was the only one you ever hurt I wouldn't let them do this to you, but I wasn't. Poppy was innocent, Carson's mother was innocent. They didn't deserve what you did so for that you both deserve this."

Shifted my eyes away from Ayden's, I looked over at Atticus making sure to emphasise the fact I was directing everything at him too. "You tried to ruin me but it didn't work, then you tried to ruin Carson and it didn't work. You didn't win, we did."

For a moment I stood there staring at the two men who pretty much destroyed me before I ever met Carson, my mind going back to the conversation I had earlier with Carson. I knew he was right, but now just standing in front of them I knew just how wrong I was too.

He was right that killing them would change me, but I was wrong to ever think I needed to do it in the first place.

They didn't win. They didn't break me, I'm healing.

Killing them would only bring me back to square one - when I was terrified of them, when I was devastated about what happened to me, when I would cry at the thought of ever being near Ayden again. I wasn't in that place anymore so there was no need for me to do it.

It just wasn't worth it, it wasn't worth having it on my conscience when I didn't need to do it. I was better now, I was stronger - I didn't need to do it anymore.

"Good luck in hell."

Those were the last words I ever said to them before I stepped back, allowing Carson, Fox and Grey to come forwards while I watched from the shadows in the back of the room.

"I told you that you would need the rest, didn't I?" Flashing Atticus one last grin, Carson took off his jacket as he picked up a metal baseball bat stepping closer to them.

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

"I'm going to take a shower."

When Carson muttered the words to me, I only nodded my head as I stepped into our bedroom letting out a breath.

I knew it was going to be bad, I knew I was probably going to feel sick and seriously disgusted.

But I didn't think it would be that bad.

It was like they were...possessed.

They enjoyed every second of beating and torturing Ayden and Atticus - so much that they even forgot I was still standing there behind them.

I just stood in the back of the room unable to get myself to speak, but also unable to bring myself to leave the room. Even with the smell of blood and vomit mixed with their cries and screams, I couldn't bring myself to leave.

I knew they all had this kind of side to them, the moment I found out about the mafia from George, Carson's violent behaviour and violent thoughts all made sense to me. Once I met Fox, it didn't concern me how much he loved guns or training men to fight. It didn't concern me when Grey and Carson trained with him everyday.

I didn't think anything of the fact I knew they had torture chambers in the basement because, well it's the mafia so what would you expect.

The thing is, I knew all of this and I knew they all had a side I'd never seen before, but knowing it and witnessing it firsthand are two completely different things.

It was like a game to them, like a sport. They took turns inflicting pain on the two of them, using different tools and instruments. They even had a game going on between them to see who could make them scream the loudest...

...Carson won that when he shattered Ayden's kneecaps with the bat.

They were relentless, they just kept going and going until they decided both the McKnight brothers were too out of it when they stopped screaming and crying.

I know I agreed to it and I'm not stupid, I knew this would happen, but it still didn't make it any easier to stomach the fact my boyfriend was the one who did it. That he could do it so easily, even after what we went through with George and his games.

He knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of this kind of thing and he didn't even seem bothered.

The only time he seemed mildly concerned was when they finished and he turned around to see me still standing there. That's when he realised I witnessed the entire thing, but he didn't say a word. The first time he actually spoke was just now when he told me he was going to take a shower, probably to wash away all their blood.

The sound of the bathroom door opening brought me out of my thoughts causing me to turn around to see Carson standing there with a towel wrapped around his waist.

I guess I zoned out.

For those few seconds he held my stare before he suddenly walked away, heading into the walk in closet. Standing there, I just waited for him to come back out once he was dressed in his boxers and a fresh T-shirt.

"Do you want me to give you some space?"

At least he wasn't pretending that nothing happened - he knew exactly what I was thinking about and how I was feeling.

"I don't know what I want right now Carson. I think I'm just going to get changed." When I walked past him I felt his eyes on me as I headed into the dressing room to change into one of his T-shirts for bed.

I don't know why I had a whole wardrobe full of pyjamas when I always ended up in one of his T-shirts anyway. I even had my own collection which was still growing. Whenever I was doing the laundry and I found one of his T-shirts that I liked, I would add it to my collection.

Thankfully Carson didn't mind since he was rich enough to just keep buying more.

By the time I came back into the bedroom he was sitting on the bed looking at something on his phone when I walked over to him. It was only when I came into his view that he looked away from his phone and up at me.

"Can I have a hug?"

When I gave him a small smile, he was obviously confused by my request for a moment before he eventually put his phone and down and stood up, taking my hand to pull me into his arms.

"I thought you were upset with me." Resting my head against his chest, I let out a sigh as I tightened my arms around his waist. "I'm not upset with you, I guess I was just in shock. Seeing you like that was just a reminder."

"A reminder of what?"

"That this is all so real. Sometimes it's easy to watch you train and fight in the gym when it's all just for practice. But when I saw you actually use all that training on real people, and how much you loved it, it reminded me that this was reality."

Honestly I was surprised at how well I managed to explain the whole thing to him. The entire drive back to the house I was thinking of asking him to go and stay at the mafia mansion for a few nights so that I could process it all and he even offered to do that too to give me some space. But I didn't want that, I wanted for us to be able to talk through our problems and deal with them.

This was a part of him after all, whether I liked it or not.

"You should have left Dani."

"I know." Leaving really would have saved us all this trouble. Finally after a few moments Carson let go of me, taking a step away so that he could see me. "I'm sorry for scaring you."

All I could manage was a smile in response to his words as he tucked some hair behind my ear. "You know they deserved it though, right?"

"I know Carson and I get that part about why you did it. I just..."

"Dani this is who I am. I know it's the first time you've seen this side of me, but it's always been there. I'm not always like that, but if I had to choose two people I hate the most on this planet it would be them. They deserved everything after what they did to you and to my family."

I know he had a point. I couldn't exactly figure out what I was feeling about this whole thing which frustrated me. I wasn't mad at him, I guess I was just a little shocked and disturbed.

But I still loved him, nothing could ever change that.

"I know, it's okay. I still love you and I would never try to change you, I just need some time to let it sink in, that's all." When I gave him a smile, he leaned in close to me to press a kiss to my lips. "I love you too and I'm sorry you saw that Dani. I never wanted you to, but I got so caught up in it and-"

Shaking my head I cut him off, placing my hand on his cheek. "None of that matters anymore. They've ruined our lives enough as it is, let's just start moving on. After all that's happened, that's going to take us a long time."

Nodding his head in agreement, Carson pulled me into his arms again this time kissing my cheek before he gave me a hug. "Let's go to bed baby."

With that Carson got into bed while I went to wash off my make up and brush my teeth before I eventually got into our bed next to him.

"Before we move on from all of this, I have to ask you something." I could feel Carson's eyes on me as I scrolled through my notifications on my lock screen before I eventually turned to see him staring at me. "Okay, what is it?"

"Do you keep secrets from me?"

"Secrets?" When I gave him a confused frown I put my phone down, turning to face him in the bed properly. "Yeah, things that you're not telling me."

"I wouldn't keep anything from you Carson."

"So why aren't you talking to Fox then?" I guess I should have known he was going to ask me that at some point. "Carson..."

"So you do keep secrets from me."

"It's not a secret, I just-" Before I could try to defend myself, he quickly cut me off flashing me a glare. "What happened? And don't make me repeat myself Daniela."

For a moment I just held his stare, but when his glare never wavered, I eventually started telling him what he wanted to know.

"The day after Poppy and Mama died, I tried to talk to Fox in the gym just to see how he was getting on. He said a lot, but to sum it up; he told me I was the reason they died, that my life was worth nothing compared to theirs and that he would have driven me back to Ayden himself if he knew it was either me or them."

Deciding to give him a moment, I just sat there trying to gauge his reaction. As expected, he stayed quiet for a long while clenching his jaw out of anger. "Was that all?"

"When I told him I thought he was my friend, he told me to get out before he killed me himself. Also, Aviana saw the whole thing."

"Why didn't you freaking tell me? We don't keep secrets Dani." It wasn't hard to miss the hint of betrayal in his voice as he looked at me. "I didn't want to hurt you even more than you already were Carson. I know I should have told you, but I could never find the right time and it just wasn't important enough."

"You let me hug that son of a bitch after what he said to you!"

"Because he's your best friend Carson, how could I come between that?" I tried to soften my tone as I shuffled closer to him, wishing I could diffuse the situation and calm him down.

Of course that didn't work.

"You think I give a damn about that? You're my girl! Do you know how much I love you Dani?"

"To the moon and back?" Although his question was obviously rhetorical, I gave him a shy smile as I spoke, hoping to soften him up a little. Thankfully, this time it seemed to work when his eyes softened but he didn't smile.

"I'm so sorry that I hurt you Carson but I was only doing it for you and I would it again if I had the choice. You were grieving and absolutely heartbroken. How was I supposed to tell you?"

Now that he seemed like he'd calmed down just a little, he took a second to process what I was saying before he eventually let out a sigh. "I've been trying so freaking hard to treat you like my queen and my equal Dani. I try not to keep secrets from you, even about work which aren't things I should tell you but I do anyway."

"I know, and I appreciate that Carson but I couldn't have told you this. It would have pushed you over the edge when you were at your lowest point and then when you were finally starting to get better I couldn't just knock you down again."

When Carson started to shake his head in disagreement, I reached out to take his hand in mine. "What happened between Fox and I was exactly that - between us. He's still your friend Carson."

"No he's not because-"

"Because nothing. He was hurting too, don't forget that." This time Carson only gave me an incredulous look, clearly shocked at how I almost sounded like I was defending Fox.

Bitch it does sound like you're defending Fox and I'm totally on Carson's side right now.

"You're defending him?"

"No, I'm not. I haven't said a word to him and I'm not planning to, I don't ever want to speak to him again. But you shouldn't let it get between you."

"Do me a favour Daniela, don't keep things about my friends from me and then tell me how to deal with it."

Sometimes it's so hard to win with this guy.

"Do what you want then, but I'm not sorry for keeping it from you so carry on throwing your hissy fit because I swear, I don't give a damn. Actually, I couldn't care less even if I wanted to because you're grown ass men and you can't deal with this maturely. I'm not being stuck in the middle any longer so-"

Before I could finish my little rant which sounded more like I was throwing a hissy fit than he was, Carson closed the gap between us crashing his lips to mine. His intention was only to cut me off though, because as soon as he kissed me very quickly pulled away. Without saying a word he just hugged me, burying his face into my shoulder for quite a while, probably to control his anger and to process all of this.

It was kind of a bomb to drop on him.

"I'm sorry, I don't want to fight with you. I'm just so angry at him and it's so much worse knowing it's been an entire damn week and I've been treating him like my friend and you didn't tell me."

"You know I would tell you everything else though, right? This is such a unique situation Carson, I was so stressed and sad and I just-" When he cut me off this time he nodded his head, pulling me in closer to him. "I know, I get it. I'm sorry Dani for how I reacted."

"Me too, I guess." When I added the second part, he cracked a smile nodding his head, choosing to change the subject. "You didn't want to kill them in the end?"

"No. I thought about what you said and you were right. Plus, I didn't feel the need to when I was finally standing in front of them. All this time I've thought about what it would be like to be in front of them and have the opportunity to kill them - but I didn't feel like I needed to do it. They're not that important to me."

"I'm so proud of you Dani."

His words caused a smile to tug at me lips as I leaned in to press a kiss to his lips. "I love you Carson."

"I love you too my queen. Now let's go to sleep, maybe I can finally get a good nights sleep for once."

~ Grey's POV ~

"You need to get cleaned up before Sara sees." Turning to look at Fox I let out laugh looking down at the McKnight blood on my clothes. "Is it bad that I want to keep this shirt? Maybe we can frame it and put up in the basement."

"My brother it is not bad, in fact, it is an idea that I can definitely get behind." When he flashed me a grin I let out a laugh nodding my head as we reached the stairs on the ground floor.

It was probably a sick idea to keep the shirt with their blood on, but they cost us a lot over the years and then they went and took the two most precious people away from us.

I'd happily mount their heads on the wall instead of the shirt with their blood on, but unfortunately I don't think Carson would approve of that.

"Take it then, get Dallas to frame it." As I spoke I took off my shirt, handing it to him while he admired it with a smile.

Not a smirk, or a grin - a genuine smile.

This guy was more screwed up than I was.

"Bro you still need to shower though, you're covered in blood and-" Before Fox could finish his sentence as he eyed the blood staining my hands, arms and probably my face, the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs followed by someone calling my name cut him off.

"Grey?"

Shifting my attention away from Fox who was just like me, covered in blood, I turned to look at Eleanor who was staring at me with wide eyes.

Oh crap.

"El...just let me ex-"

"Is that blood?" I could instantly see her grip on the banister tighten as she watched me walk towards the stairs from where she was standing. "It is but I can explain, just come down and-"

"Why are you both covered in blood? Who's is it?" I couldn't exactly tell if she was about to lose it all together, but from the way she stepped backwards when I stepped towards the stairs, I could tell it wasn't a good sign.

"El please just calm down and let me tell you properly." My words hung in the air as she stared at me before her eyes shifted over to Fox who was watching the encounter with a concerned frown on his face.

At least since I had my shirt off so I didn't look as bad with a few splatters on my face and my arms, but Fox...he looked worse than I did since he was still fully dressed.

"Who the hell are you people?" Her words came out barely above a whisper as she stared at us in shock, before she shook her head. "Oh my...I let you be around my son...I've been staying in your house...Dani...does Dani know?"

"Eleanor." When I said her name in a warning tone attempting to keep her calm before she lost her mind, her eyes snapped to mine. "Does my sister know you're murderers?"

This time the shock was replaced with anger as she glared at me, taking another step away from me which meant she was now going up the stairs while I was still standing at the bottom.

"How do you know we're murderers? We could be butchers." The moment Fox said that, I turned to send him a glare along with an incredulous look.

I know he's suddenly stopped caring about absolutely everything and everyone after Mama and Poppy died, but that didn't mean he had the right to make this worse for me.

"Get the hell out of here."

"My room is upstairs, tell your girlfriend to move then." As soon as he fired that sentence back at me, I let out a sigh turning back to look at Eleanor. "Can we go upstairs please? I'll tell you everything in your room."

"No, the children are sleeping upstairs. We'll go in the living room." With that she finally came down the stairs, cautiously passing by me and Fox as she made her way into the living room.

The moment I stepped away from the stairs following behind her, Fox continued on his way, heading upstairs to take a shower. Following Eleanor into the living room, I closed the door behind myself before I turned to look at her while she stood with her back to me.

"You killed someone, didn't you?" Her words lingered in the silence around us before she eventually turned to look at me, a cold expression on her face. "No, I didn't."

"Don't lie to me Grey."

"It's not a lie, they're still alive."

For now.

For a moment she held my stare before she glanced down at the blood on my hands and my arms where it had splattered onto my skin.

"Who are you?"

I knew she'd find out eventually, or she would start asking questions the longer she was staying in the mafia base. But I didn't think she'd find out like this - by seeing me at my worst.

There was no way to soften the blow now, there was no way I could lie or try to tell her a slight truth so that I could ease her into it. She wouldn't be satisfied with anything but the full, honest truth.

And honestly, after the things that had gone down recently, I didn't want to tell her anything but the truth. Ever since Mama and Poppy died, she'd been here with me. She took care of Sara, she helped me through some of the lowest moments I'd had and she spent Christmas Day with us.

She deserved the truth.

"I'm the underboss in the mafia."

My words lingered in the air while she digested the news, before she eventually dropped down on the couch a few moments later. For a while she just sat there processing what I told her, probably piecing it all together in her head - the guards at the gate, the number of men always walking around in the house, the secrecy, the meeting rooms all over the house, the blood.

"The mafia?" I couldn't tell if she was upset or angry by the way she said it, but when I took a seat on the couch near to her, she didn't make an attempt to move away from me. "Carson's the boss, it runs in his family."

"Wait...my sister is in a relationship with the boss of the mafia?"

Here comes the anger.

"Daniela knows what she's gotten herself into, she's known from the start."

"She's 21 years old! She doesn't know anything." As soon a she raised her voice, I let out a frustrated sigh knowing this was only going to get worse before it got better. "This isn't about Carson and Dani, this is about us."

"Oh trust me Grey, there is no us and there never will be. How can you live with yourself?"

"What do you mean?" In hindsight, I definitely shouldn't have asked her that question, only for my own sanity if for nothing else. "I mean, you let your daughter live in this place! She's three years old Grey, she needs a stable home and a father who isn't a damn murderer!"

Thankfully over the years my job has taught me how to control my emotions when I suddenly get this urge to lose my temper, so when she decided to comment on my choices as a parent, I looked away from her taking a second to control my temper.

It was one thing commenting on me, but to bring up my situation as a single father trying to do his best was kind of a low blow.

"My daughter is safe with me, trust me when I tell you that, but I appreciate your concern."

Of course the anger seeping into my tone didn't help the tension already surrounding us.

"She deserves better."

Turning to look at her, I held her stare for a moment before I eventually nodded my head.

"She deserves the best, but I'm giving her what I can, just like you're trying to give Noah the best life that you can. I just hope you don't get someone giving you hell because of your situation as a single mother, even when you're just doing your best."

It definitely wasn't hard to miss the surprise on her face when my words came out in such a cold tone.

Standing to my feet, I took a step towards the door with the intention of leaving before this whole thing became anymore heated. I guess it was clear to see this thing between us was done before it even got started - there was no need to say anything else that would hurt her.

"You're welcome to stay here as long as you need Eleanor and I thank you for taking care of my daughter but I'll take care of her from now on. I'll come and get her from your room after I take a shower." I barely gave her another glance as I headed towards the door, only stopping in my tracks when I heard her speak again, this time in a softer tone contrasting with her previous angry one.

"Grey wait." For a second I stopped facing the door before eventually turning back to face her. I watched as she stood up from her place on the couch, taking a few tentative steps towards me. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't Eleanor, it's fine."

"But you don't have to take Sara back, I can watch her while I'm here." When she attempted to give me a small smile, I shook my head declining her offer. "I'd rather not, she doesn't need to get attached to someone who won't be in her life anymore."

My words definitely came out a little harsher than I intended them to, something that she definitely felt when she frowned at me with hurt flashing in her eyes.

"I'm sorry."

Nodding my head, I went to open the door when she closed the gap between us, grabbing my hand before I could.

"Grey please, I didn't mean what I said. I was just shocked and...I..." For a moment her sentence trailed off, before she finally found the words to say. "I just escaped with my son from an abusive marriage. Getting us involved with the mafia wasn't part of my plan, I just want to be safe with my son, Grey. That's all."

"This is the safest place you can be Eleanor, you don't have to worry about anything happening here." My voice softened when I spoke to her, but then her eyes shifted towards the blood on my hands again. "But you're not the person I thought you were."

"You've only known me for a week Eleanor, you can't possibly have formed an opinion on me already." When I cracked a small smile attempting to lighten the mood, she shook her head letting out a sigh. "I don't know, maybe I did have an opinion."

"What was it?" When I asked her that question, a look of apprehension crossed her face before she nervously fiddled with a ring on her finger, averting her gaze away from me. "Um...well I...I thought you were nice."

"Just nice?" Despite the fact the air around us remained tense after our altercation, I had to resist the urge to smile at how cute she was when she was nervous.

Just because she annoyed with her words, that didn't change how I felt about her.

"You want the truth?"

"I wouldn't be asking if I didn't El." This time I did smile when she took a step away from me, letting out a nervous breath as she put some distance between us.

"I know it's only been a week, but when I saw how well our children got on and how well we got on, I wasn't totally against something happening between us...if you felt it too. Maybe we could have been together, and given them a family that they haven't had before."

"You're talking in the past tense Eleanor." As I spoke I lowered the volume of my voice, stepping closer to her as all traces of the previous amusement left my features.

"You're in the mafia." She said that as if it was the reason she was speaking in the past tense.

"I'm not just in the mafia sweetheart, I'm the underboss." Part of me only said that to see if it would scare her away, to test her to see her reaction. But she didn't run away, instead she held her ground, keeping her eyes locked on mine. "You kill people."

"They deserve it."

"It's dangerous."

"I can handle myself and my family El." Once again when I fired back my response, she was quick to give me her reply. "I want safety and security."

"I can give you that, this is the safest place for you to be."

"You're covered in blood." As she pointed out the blood on my skin the tension between us finally seemed to be getting to her when she took a step away from me, watching me with her beautiful eyes when I quickly closed the gap between us again. "You didn't let me leave when I tried to."

"I didn't want us to end on a bad note after what I said." Once again she took another step back, watching me as I closed the gap again. Like a predator, every time she stepped back I stepped forward.

"So there is an us?"

"There's no us." Those words left her mouth in a whisper as she finally made contact with the wall behind her, letting out a soft gasp.

Taking the chance, I took another step closing the last inches of the gap between us.

"Not yet." Those were the last words that I said to her before I crashed my lips to hers causing her to place her hands on my bare chest when my arms caged her in against the wall.

A soft moan escaped her lips when I placed my hand on her hip, pulling her body tighter against mine as I kissed her. What followed was a few moments of pure bliss until she pulled away for air and I dipped my head kissing her neck instead.

"C-can we just take this slow Grey?"

"Of course sweatheart." Cracking a smile, I pressed a kiss to her cheek before I stepped away from her, putting some much needed distance between us. "So, as soon as I get us a babysitter, we'll take this slow."

"Grey." When she gave me a warning look at the way I said the word 'slow', I couldn't help but laugh at where her mind went.

Of course my mind went to the same place, but she didn't need to know that.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to take you on a date and just for your information, I don't kiss until the third date so keep your claws to yourself."

This time it was her chance to smile as she nodded her head, taking my hand in hers.

"Okay. But, just let me get my claws into you one more time." Her words caused me to smirk as he stood up on her tip toes, pressing a kiss to my lips which unfortunately only lasted a few seconds before she pulled away.

Just as she was about to pull away from me completely, she moved her lips along my jaw and to my ear while she trailed her hand down my bare chest.

"You should put a shirt on, I don't like to share what's mine Grey."

Oh dear Lord.

"Okay." I managed to force that word out in a strained tone causing her to smirk before she finally stepped away, patting my chest as she walked past me leaving me standing there alone in the living room.

So if it wasn't already obvious, I'm most definitely and royally screwed.

Grey and Eleanor 😍 And Ayden and Atticus are finally getting what they deserve!

Also the traffic light scene got me 🤣

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