Just as a side note, I'm already prepared for all the usual kind of toxic relationship comments (somehow I still get these even when I make sure characters have the best relationship ever 😭) but please try to keep and open mind and understand that they're being thrown into a crazy life in the mafia when they get back to NYC.

I think wattpad romantices the mafia a little too much, that shit is scary asf, which is why for my next book I'm definitely going to try and write one which is a little more authentic on how the mafia actually is.

This is another side note but for my final year at university next year I get to write my own history paper on any topic so I chose the history of the mafia - somehow I managed to intertwine my writing on wattpad with my degree 😭 I think I'm obsessed.

Anywayyyyy,

Enjoy! Don't forget to vote and comment ❤️

Part 2

~ Daniela's POV ~

By the time we reached New York City, thanks to the early start we had this morning at 6am, it was only 7pm.

I don't know why but I assumed we would go straight to Carson's home, I guess I should have known he'd want to go and see his friends first.

"I can take you home if you want first, but if we take this road we'll get to Long Island quicker."

"Long Island?"

"Yeah, I own a house there. It's kind of like our base, we conduct all our business from there and train there. My top men live there too."

Nodding my head, I looked out the window at the highway we were on just to take a moment to think.

I knew it would be better for me and my anxiety if I asked Carson to take me home first, but I also knew I'd have to meet his friends at some point. At least this way I'd have him with me, and because it was so late in the day, I assumed we wouldn't be there for very long.

"You don't have to take me home, I'll come with you."

"Are you sure baby? I can always introduce you to them another time."

"No, it's okay. I'd rather get it out of the way and then go home with you." That's all I wanted was to go home with him. I even had a surprise for him, like I said I assumed we would go home tonight.

When he glanced over at me I gave him a small smile which he returned. "I'll be right by your side the entire time, don't worry I promise nothing bad is going to happen. We'll only be there for a bit then we'll go home."

Some time passed by while Carson drove the extra 45 minutes that it took to get to Long Island while I just sat there trying to calm my anxiety. I wasn't exactly dressed to make the best first impression in my leggings and oversized hoodie, especially when I knew these people were filthy rich.

If they were anything like Carson then I knew they'd all be dressed head to toe in designer clothes while I was here wearing a hoodie that said 'Columbia University' that I'd found in my old room in Ohio.

I guess I bought it back when I got accepted in to college, when I thought I would have the time of my life living in New York City. Little did I know I would end up meeting the devil a few weeks into my time at Columbia and, well you know the rest.

I also knew that the moment Carson told them I used to be in a 'relationship' with the brother of their biggest rival I'd be in for a world of shit. That's if they didn't already know who I was just by looking at me.

I was so happy for him to be back with his friends and his family but honestly, I was a lot more scared than I was letting on. These people weren't normal, friendly people, they all belonged to one of the deadliest crime organisations in the world.

Actually they didn't just belong to it, they ran it. They were the worst of the worst and no amount of kisses and hugs from Carson would ever make me forget the reality of the situation.

I was walking into the lion's den and the moment they found out who I was, I would be the prey.

When I felt my palms become sweaty in my lap, I decided I'd had enough of my overactive thoughts, instead shifting my attention to Carson instead.

"Are you nervous to go back?"

When I spoke in a soft tone, he glanced over at me before he eventually nodded his head. "I guess, I've never been away this long."

"Well, at least I'm here with you. Not that I can do much where your mafia men are concerned but I can always give you a hug afterwards, not in front of them because you're a macho man, I get that."

My words had the desired intention of lightening the mood when they caused him to let out a laugh. As he nodded his head he took my hand bringing it up to his lips to kiss the back of it.

"You do give the best hugs." I gave him a smile, keeping hold of his hand which he eventually rested on the console between us. At first I was happy, staring at our joined hands and savouring the comfort his hand gave me. Then my eyes zeroed on his tattoos that were peeking out from under the sleeves of his jacket, covering the back of his hands and I suddenly felt my nerves come back all over again.

They just reminded me how dangerous he was.

When I slipped my hand out of his, I saw him glance over at me with frown before he focused his eyes back on the road, but he didn't say anything. After another while of driving, Carson finally pulled up to a huge gated mansion, of course which had armed guards standing outside.

When we reached the gate Carson lowered his window so that the guard could see him before he opened the gate, the entire time I just sat there staring at the house in awe.

Earlier he said it was a house, to me it was more like a castle.

"Boss." The guard nodded his head out of respect before he stepped back into position and Carson drove through the gates towards the huge building standing tall at the end of the drive.

While Carson parked the car, I pulled down the sun visor revealing the small mirror so that I could check my appearance one last time, untying my messy bun letting my long brown hair fall in loose waves down my back.

"I look awful Carson. Everyone here is going to be rich and sophisticated and I'm wearing a Columbia University hoodie and leggings."

When he sensed the panic in my voice Carson let out a laugh, reaching out to straighten my hood at the back of my neck.

"You look beautiful Dani."

"I look like I belong at orientation week."

Of course my words only made him laugh again as he opened his door getting out of the car. Within seconds he was by my door, opening it for me. The moment I got out of the car he gently pushed me up against it, dipping his head to press a kiss to my lips.

"You look beautiful and anyway we've been driving all day Dani, no one is going to judge you." He pecked my lips one more time before he stepped away and closed my door, taking my hand in his.

When he tried to take a step towards the house my feet remained firmly planted on the ground causing him to turn back to face me.

"I'm scared." The frown on his face softened when I spoke in a tentative tone before he gently pulled me into him.

"I'm here, nothing is going to happen baby."

"But what if they don't like me?" I know I sounded like a child and it was probably irritating him, even though he did well not to show it.

"You're the cutest thing ever, how can anyone not like you?"

"Carson I'm being serious. They're going to find out my past with Ayden and then they'll hate me."

When I said that his earlier frown reappeared and he let out a sigh, nodding his head in agreement.

"They might for a little while. But, I told you whatever is thrown at us we will deal with it together. This is one of those things. I did too, but now I love you."

When he said those words he tilted his head down pressing a soft kiss to my lips.

"Come on." This time when he turned towards the front door I followed next to him, holding his hand tight in mine. When we reached the door Carson typed in a code on a key pad which unlocked it, then he pushed it open.

The large entry hall was completely empty when we walked in, but I could hear the sounds of voices and movement coming from other areas of the house.

"Do you know where they are?" When I asked him the question Carson nodded his head as we started walking down the hallway. As we walked I looked around at the beautiful decor, especially in some of the rooms we passed like the huge white marble kitchen and the equally large dining room.

"It's a Saturday night, they'd be downstairs in the basement."

"The basement?" When he heard my confused tone Carson let out a laugh, nodding his head. "It's been renovated. Among other things... we have a gym down there and an informal living room or games room whatever you want to call it."

"So that's where you relax?" Once again he nodded his head just as we reached a set of stairs leading down to the basement.

"The basement is everything for us. It's where we relax, train and work out, keep our guns and things like that and where we...deal with some other types business."

I decided not to comment or think too much about what that last bit meant instead focusing on the basement as we descended down the stairs. It's funny how I always picture a basement as some kind of dark and deserted area of a house that looks like crap. This one however, definitely didn't look like crap.

The interior decor of the hallway in the basement matched the one of the hallway on the ground floor perfectly. Considering we were underground the entire place felt so open, like such an important part of the house.

And it was huge.

It didn't take long for us to finally reach a set of doors down a darker hallway, before we came to a stop and Carson turned to face me.

"If you want to leave at any time just tell me that you're tired and I'll take you home, okay? I promise we won't stay long."

I nodded my head tightening my grip on his hand when he finally opened the door. It took me a moment to take in my surroundings when the doors opened since the room was so huge and new to me.

On left hand side was a kind of living area with a huge flat screen and some couches where Carson's friends were currently sitting. On the right hand side of the room was a bar area with a pool table. It had a cinema room kind of vibe, with dark walls and dark furniture but with the lights on it was still bright enough to see everyone clearly.

From what I saw before they noticed us was that they were busy playing video games on the huge flatscreen. The second they heard the doors open, they turned to look at us almost instantly standing up. It was the girl who very quickly ran towards Carson causing him to let go of my hand as he stepped further into the room.

From what I saw of her in those few seconds I could instantly tell she was beautiful. Her hair was long and thick with caramel highlights framing her sharp cheekbones. She had plump lips, the kind that instantly made any girl jealous and she had big beautiful brown eyes.

As soon as she reached him she wrapped her arms around him in a hug which he instantly returned.

"Carson you're here." She mumbled the words into his chest as she held him in a tight embrace. "All that time we thought you were dead, I thought I'd never see you again. I thought I lost you, I thought I lost one of my best friends."

Her words came out muffled but it was easy to tell that she'd started crying.

"Don't cry Avi, it's okay."

"I'm so glad you're okay Carson, I don't know what I would have done if the last time I ever saw you was when we had a fight. I'm so sorry about what happened that night Carson, I know we messed up and you were angry but-"

"Don't apologise, it's not important Avi, it's over and finished. I'm back now." Carson shook his head as he eventually pulled away from her, using his thumbs to wipe away her tears causing her to smile. "I'm happy you're back."

"I can tell, I don't think you've ever hugged me that tight." His response caused her to let out a melodic laugh before she eventually stepped aside turning to face the other two of his friends.

They were both tall and well built, particularly the one on the left, he seemed as if he had more of an athletic build. The one on the right had a hard look on his face, completely masking his emotions.

Carson then stepped further into the room going over to the guy on the left first. They didn't say anything at first, instead just giving each other a hug before Carson turned to the other guy to give him a hug too.

Maybe it was a guy thing that they didn't say much, instead just doing some kind of nod towards each other, but I was sure they would have a conversation later.

Of course they all knew there was a lot to say.

Finally, once Carson had finished hugging all of them and they stepped away from each other, their attention suddenly shifted towards me as if they'd only just realised I was standing there. When Carson followed their gaze towards me, he turned to face me holding his hand out in my direction.

When I realised all the attention was on me as I stood in the doorway to the room, I felt my anxiety skyrocket. Taking a few tentative steps towards Carson, I took his hand in mine again thankful for the comfort he gave me when he squeezed my hand gently in his.

The entire time I felt their eyes on me, my heart was pounding in my chest and I was instantly wishing I could be anywhere else but there.

"Dani this is Aviana, Fox and Grey." Holding his hand tight in mine, I watched as he first pointed to the girl that he hugged, before he then pointed to the more athletic looking guy Fox and then lastly Grey, who was the angry looking one.

"This is Daniela, my girlfriend." When he turned his attention back to his friends to introduce me, an even more awkward silence suddenly fell around us.

Although in that moment all I wanted to do was curl up into a ball somewhere dark and quiet, I managed to muster up a small smile as they all stared at me clearly scrutinising everything about my appearance.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." When I spoke in a soft tone, I waited for at least one of them to respond to me but when they didn't, I took a step closer to Carson when I realised this wasn't going to go well at all.

As I felt them staring at me, analysing me and judging everything about me, my hand reached up to hold onto the pendant around my neck and I gripped it tightly in my hand.

"Girlfriend?" Finally it was Aviana who broke the silence causing me to meet her eyes for the first time. From up close I found her even more beautiful even after she'd been crying, but all she did was look at me with confusion.

"You've never had a girlfriend in your life and now you suddenly turn up after a month away with some kid?"

"Watch your mouth." Carson's reply was almost instant, his tone suddenly becoming a lot less friendly, not that it fazed any of them in the slightest.

"Hold on, I thought you were attacked and held hostage or something? When did you have time to get a girlfriend?" This time it was Fox who spoke, with much less hostility in his tone than Aviana.

"She was with me. Look, it's a long story but-"

Before Carson could finish his sentence, Grey finally spoke for the first time since we entered the room, his steely gaze focused on me.

"Tell me you're screwing with us Carson. Tell me, this is just some ploy of yours to get back at McKnight."

He knew.

The moment he mentioned Ayden's surname, Carson tugged on my hand pulling me slightly behind him as if he was trying to protect me.

An action that definitely didn't go unnoticed.

A moment passed while Carson and Grey had some kind of silent conversation just by staring at each other, but before either one of them could speak, Fox spoke again.

"McKnight?" Shifting my gaze over to him I saw the confused frown on his face as he stared at me, until realisation dawned on him. "Holy crap. It's her, I knew I'd seen her before. She's the hot girl from the photo we saw. See I told you that you'd end up screwing her Carson."

Photo? They talked about Carson screwing me?

When I turned my head to look at Carson in confusion, I saw him clenching his jaw glaring at Fox like he wanted to kill him for saying that. But, before Carson could say anything the sound of footsteps sounded out from behind us causing everyone to look at something behind Carson and I.

"Oh this should be good." When Fox smirked both Carson and I turned around to see what he was looking at.

It's crazy how sometimes it can take one thing to put your whole life into perspective. What happened next was enough to make me realise how much I loved Carson but also just how easily I could lose him to someone else.

Before either of us could react, the blonde bombshell in the doorway ran towards Carson, crashing her lips to his in a kiss as soon as she reached him.

The moment she pressed herself against him Carson's hand left mine when he instead placed it on her waist.

I may have only been his girlfriend for a few days, but the sight of him kissing someone else right in front of me hurt me as much as it would have if we'd been together for a year. The moment I heard laughter coming from Fox behind me, it just made it even more humiliating and heartbreaking for me.

Must I remind you that I was wearing a college hoodie after driving for twelve hours and both her and Aviana looked like they'd walked out of a Vogue shoot.

I just stood there pathetically watching as she kissed him before she pulled back enough to talk, still keeping her hands firmly planted on his shoulders.

Why wasn't he doing anything?

"Carson I love you so much."

So do I.

"Baby I'm so glad you're okay, I know things weren't great between us before you went but I promise I'll do better for you. I love you."

"Carson." When I said his name, they both turned to look at me. On the one hand the woman looked confused by my presence while Carson frowned as if he suddenly realised what had just happened for the first time.

"Who the hell are you?" When the blonde spoke again, this time with her words directed at me I peeled my eyes away from Carson and towards her.

"I...I'm..." My useless response caused her to let out a frustrated sigh before she turned her attention towards Fox and Grey behind me.

"Who the hell let her in here? Is she one of your whores?" When she said those words she shifted her gaze back to me taking in my oversized hoodie before she let out a laugh. "She's not much of a whore though, she's not much of anything."

And you thought you could come and live a fairytale life with him in New York? Didn't you think he would have a girl here? Or maybe more than just one?

"Get your hands off me Chloe."

"What? Carson we-"

"I'll give you one last chance. I'd never lay a hand on a woman but I can sure as hell ask Aviana to get rid of you for me. She's done it before and she can do it again."

Carson's entire demeanour had changed in a matter of seconds and apparently this Chloe girl knew it was better to take his warning and let go. A tense silence fell around as Carson glared at her while she continued to take a few steps back to put some distance between them.

"If you ever touch me again I'll make sure you live to regret it."

"But Carson I thought we were in love." The moment she said those words with tears rising up in her eyes I heard Fox let out another laugh behind me which he quickly covered with a cough this time.

"I've told you this already, I don't love you Chloe and I never did."

"Is it because of her? You'd never push me away otherwise."'Once again she turned her attention to me. "What does she have that I don't Carson? Look at her."

"Information, I'm guessing. That's why you brought her here, right?" This time it was Grey who asserted himself into the conversation, coming around to stand in front of Carson and I.

I must have looked worse than I thought for them to assume I was only there because of the information I apparently had on Ayden.

Oh sweetheart, didn't you already know you were ugly? Ayden told you enough times.

I guess I should have known.

"Why would she have information?" Through her tears Chloe looked between Carson and Grey, trying to figure out what she'd missed.

"Tell her Carson. Tell her how you brought McKnight's whore into our base of operations. She must be valuable because from what I remember you said you'd kill her when you kill Atticus and Ayden."

Carson still hadn't said a word to Grey, instead just sending him a glare, one of those glares that used to scare the hell out of me.

But this time I just felt my heart continue to fracture and break the more I heard these things that he'd said about me in the past.

He was going to kill me.

"Grey stop." This time it was Aviana who spoke, clearly trying to diffuse the situation as she looked between Carson and Grey and then over at me.

"Why did you bring her here? What kind of value would she bring to us? Or is it just for you? Because you've never had a girlfriend before so what makes this one different?"

The more Grey continued to try and get a rise out of Carson, the more nervous I became. I knew the look on his face, I'd seen it plenty of times while we were locked in that room. He was going to snap if Grey didn't stop and the last thing I wanted was for him to hurt one of his friends on his first day back.

I could feel multiple sets of eyes on me when I took a step towards Carson, placing my hand on his arm, not that it did much to take his attention away from Grey.

I just hoped it would comfort him or maybe the comfort was for me? Maybe it was my last attempt at trying to see if I actually meant anything to him.

But my touch did nothing.

The moment I looked back at Grey and my eyes met his I could see this deep hatred burning behind his brown eyes.

Maybe I underestimated how much my past would effect my future.

"What is it Carson? I can't think of many reasons why you'd want someone like her around, unless it's just the thought of having McKnight's sloppy seconds that gets you off?"

Before I could try to stop him Carson suddenly lurched forward, throwing his fist in Grey's direction. Unlike the many times Carson got into fights in that room, his opponent now was just as skilled as he was.

Grey instantly dodged the punch as if he knew it was coming before he threw one of his own which Carson blocked. It continued like that for a few seconds while they each dodged the punches until Carson finally landed a punch on Grey's jaw.

It seemed like that suddenly changed the intensity of their fight and very quickly they were both landing hit after hit.

I wanted so badly to stop him but I knew there was very little that I could do. The only person who tried to break it up was Fox when Aviana told him to, but then he got hit in the face which only seemed to sour his mood.

Rubbing his jaw Fox stepped away from the fight causing Aviana to give him an incredulous look.

"What are you doing? Stop them!"

"Those fools can kill each other for all I care."

I'm starting to think this was all because they had very, very short tempers. Fox seemed like the most relaxed of the three of them and all it took was one punch to the jaw and his mood was just as bad as theirs.

When I realised no one else was going to stop them, I called Carson's name a few times to try and get through to him which only earned me a glare from Chloe who was watching from across the room.

"Your bitch is calling you, are you sure you don't want to stop? Maybe leave us for a month again so you can go and be with her?"

They stopped for a few seconds while Grey spoke before Carson eventually threw another punch before he responded.

"Don't call her that, I didn't leave you, I was kidnapped."

"It sure looks like it to me. Did you enjoy your stay in LA?"

When Grey spat those words at Carson, he accompanied them with another punch which resulted in Carson kicking him in the stomach. The action winded him for a moment as he stumbled back, long enough for Carson to explain.

"LA was the closest place to where we were. We were there for three freaking days before we drove back."

"The Carson I knew would have come straight back to New York the first damn chance he got."

With that Grey charged at Carson, landing another punch to his mouth which busted his lip instantly. Seeming like he wasn't even fazed by the pain, Carson pushed Grey back before he punched him in the jaw.

"Maybe you don't know me then." When Carson said those words wiping his mouth, Grey's cold glare shifted over to me instead. "Or maybe she changed you."

"She didn't do jack. I just needed some time, you have no idea what happened."

"Because you haven't said anything! You just disappeared Carson!"

By now they'd finally stopped hitting each other, instead just glaring at each other with a small distance between them.

"What the hell did you want me to do? I wasn't going to tell you over the damn phone. I told you to hold it down until I got back-"

"Carson I held it down for an entire month! I did your job and my job all while I thought you were dead."

"Well I wasn't dead!"

It was those four words in those few seconds that told me exactly why Carson had put off coming back here. It wasn't just because he was scared or nervous, it wasn't just because he needed time. He was also hurt and his next question confirmed it.

"Did you even try to look for me?"

A silence fell around us, their heavy breathing the only sound we could hear while they both stared at each other before Grey finally spoke.

"How could you think we wouldn't? We spent every single day trying to find you Carson."

When Carson didn't respond instead just clenching his jaw probably to keep control of his emotions, Grey took a step towards him, lowering the volume of his voice.

"We're your family, nothing would ever change that." Carson nodded his head before lifted his hand to wipe the blood away from his mouth again.

No one said anything for sometime while Aviana handed them both some paper towels to clean up the blood. From what I could see Carson was already starting to bruise and his busted lip was pretty bad.

"Sorry for hitting you." When Carson mumbled his apology Grey cracked a smile taking note of the number of injuries on Carson's face.

"I think I won."

"Oh please I could knock you on your ass if I was actually trying."

When they both just laughed, somehow managing to find humour in the situation, Fox jumped in from where he was now sitting at the bar with some ice on his cheek.

"You owe me a Rolex or something if this bruises." When Fox pointed to his cheek Carson let out a laugh. "You were the idiot who tried to get involved."

"Only because of her!" When Fox turned the attention towards Aviana she rolled her eyes, dropping back down on the couch where she was sitting before Carson and I walked into the room.

Finally he seemed to realise I was still standing there for the first time since Chloe came into the room when his eyes met mine.

"Dani-"

"You said nothing was going to happen."

"I know, just listen-"

"No, you listen. First you kiss Goldilocks over there when you completely forgot that I existed and then you get into a fight and now you're hurt and-" The moment I saw his lips twitch into a smile, I cut my sentence off narrowing my eyes at him which only made his smile grow.

I was really trying not to let the hurt show, not in front of his friends or Chloe. Right now I was letting the anger through instead.

"It's not funny Carson."

"It's not I know, sorry. Carry on." When he gestured for me to continue clearly amused by the whole situation I just shook my head at him, taking a step towards the door.

He wasn't even taking me seriously.

I didn't know where I was going to go, but all I knew was that I needed to get out of that room before I either lost my temper or started crying.

Knowing me and my crying, those two things are one and the same.

Before I could make it to the door though, I felt him grab my hand which I instantly yanked away as if his touch burned me.

"Don't touch me, not after you had your hands on her."

The action finally seemed to break through his amusement when he frowned at me but before he could try and say a word, someone else spoke up.

"Carson just give her a minute, I'll take her outside for some air." We both turned to look at Aviana when she stood up, coming over to me. At first I could tell Carson was unsure but then he eventually nodded, which told me he trusted her.

I, on the other hand, definitely didn't trust her. I knew they hated me, that much was totally clear by the things Grey said to Carson during their fight.

"Come on." When she gestured for me to follow her, I took those few seconds to weigh up my options.

I could either act like a child and insist on staying with Carson which would only make her hate me more and make me look weak. Especially when I really did want to get out of that room.

Or, I could go with her and risk my life.

Of course I chose the second option, we can debate how stupid it was later.

On a scale of stupidity I would say it's not that bad when we compare it to the time you thought you could take on a bunch of violent masked men and instead got yourself kidnapped.

True.

Without looking at Carson, I followed Aviana out of the room as we walked back through the hallways of the basement in silence. It was only when we reached the doors that led to their 'backyard' on the ground floor that she finally spoke.

"How old are you?"

"21." She nodded her head as we stepped outside into the warm night air, heading down a small path through the huge garden.

The garden was honestly unlike anything I'd ever seen before. It felt more like a resort since there was a pool on one side of the garden with a seating area under a gazebo and then just so much open space and greenery. As we walked through the maze like garden in the centre, from what I could see at the back the paths went on forever into the trees, maybe leading to different places in the garden.

"Aren't you scared?"

"Scared?"

"Of Carson and all this." When she gestured to the armed guards standing across the garden, I shook my head. There was no way I was going to admit to her that this whole thing was scaring the living day lights out of me.

"I'm not scared of Carson. He's not a bad person, I have no reason to be scared of him. The rest...I'm getting used to it I guess."

A few moments passed in silence while I nervously walked next to her knowing that at any moment she could take off her stiletto and stab me with it.

"I don't know if I trust you." She came to a stop when she said that, turning to face me. She didn't seem like she was going to kill me but she was hiding her emotions which was probably why.

"I don't blame you, I know how it looks and I know no matter how many times I tell you that I'd never go back to Ayden with information, you won't believe me. But, there's a lot you don't know - maybe soon I'll tell you and then you'll know why Carson trusts me."

I think I deserve an Oscar for that performance even though I kept my voice firm and steady, I was also trying so hard not to throw up from how scared I was.

She studied me for a moment narrowing her eyes at me before she nodded her head.

"That's a good answer, cautious I like it."

With that she continued walking and once I'd let out a nervous breath I followed next to her.

"That blonde woman..."

"Goldilocks?" She looked at me with amused smile before she continued. "They had sex, a lot, but that's it. She fell in love with Carson and he, well he didn't feel a thing for her."

I wordlessly nodded my head although on the inside the information made me feel sick. It's different assuming in my head that he used to have hundreds of women around him, but when you hear about it and see the woman kiss him in front of you, it's harder to deal with it.

"He doesn't feel anything for her Dani. I saw your face when she kissed him, but you know it was all her, Carson was just in shock."

As much as I wanted to throw myself a pity party because of what happened, I also knew she was right.

"Maybe, but it didn't make it any easier."

Eventually we stopped walking when we reached a fountain at the bottom of the garden and she gestured for me to sit with her on the bench next to it.

"How are you feeling now? I thought maybe the air would do some good after that whole thing." When she broke the silence around us I nodded my head focussing my eyes on the water ahead of us. "I'm okay, thank you for saying that - I really needed to get out of there but I didn't know where I could go."

"Your welcome." When she gave me a small smile, I couldn't stop the words leaving my mouth. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

When she heard my question she managed to hide her emotions very well so while she thought of her answer, she didn't give anything away.

"I hate Chloe, probably more than you do right now and at one point we were all scared she would become his girlfriend. Putting aside your relationship with the Irish Mob, you're the best kind of girl to be with him."

"What do you mean?"

"You're not an attention seeking whore like she is, you're shy and kind of cute in a weird way, and don't take this the wrong way but I can tell you're not like her from your dress sense. She'd never be caught dead in your outfit, whereas you pull it off very well."

Her words brought a smile to my face as I glanced down at my outfit.

"I told Carson I looked like I belonged at orientation week." When I mumbled those words she let out a laugh, nodding her head in agreement before it fell quiet between us, the sound of the fountain being the only sound around us.

After the crazy tension in that room it was actually really peaceful.

"We've all been doing this for five years now, so I can kind of figure out someone's vibe pretty quickly. You don't seem like the type to turn on him, even though you can never truly tell what someone's capable of. You have this innocence about you."

"Trust me, I don't feel innocent." When I mumbled those words, images of all that numerous men I'd been with came to my mind along with the image of George's dead body.

From the moment I met Ayden I lost my innocence, he took it and I didn't even know it at the time.

"You've been through a lot - being kidnapped, I mean. I could tell from the way Carson was talking that it can't have been easy." Nodding my head, I resisted the urge to let out a wry chuckle - if only she knew what I'd actually been through.

"Dani, Carson has been one of my best friends for eleven years and you're the first girl he's ever brought to meet us, no matter how weird it all turned out to be. If he trusts you then I'll give you a chance but, if you ever do anything to hurt him or betray him in any way, I'll kill you myself."

I know I should have taken her seriously and I really did, but I just couldn't keep a straight face when I realised why she'd brought me outside away from everyone else.

The moment she saw my smile she gave me a confused frown, clearly trying to understand why I found a threat to my life amusing.

"Sorry, its not funny, I totally get it and I would never do anything to hurt him. It's just a little funny...the fact that you're giving me the talk." It seemed to take her a second to understand before a grin spread across her face. "I've wanted to do it for years but he never met anyone so I never had the chance."

I know I probably should have been more cautious about her being so nice to me, but she really did seem like she was trying to be genuinely nice. There must have been a reason why Carson trusted her to be alone with me, he obviously knew her very well so he would know if she was an undercover bitch or not.

She didn't seem like one, at all.

"Can I ask you a question?" When I nodded my head, she continued. "How did this all happen? You were with Ayden and then Carson gets kidnapped and now he's in love with you."

Maybe he's in love with me.

"It's a long story, and I don't know how much of it Carson wants to tell you himself but when he was being attacked I kind of...found him?"

"Found him?" She rose an eyebrow at my my strange choice of words. "I tried to help him when he was being attacked and I ended up going with him."

"Oh, I get it, you were being like one of those stupid brave girls in stories. Carry on." She gestured for me to carry on as she got more comfortable on the bench, tucking one leg underneath her as she turned to face me.

I didn't know whether to laugh or take offence at her comment so instead I just continued.

"That George guy drugged us for four days and then locked us in a room for three weeks, I think. We went through a lot together and apart from a couple of hours one night we spent every minute together."

"So you guys got close in there, I get that part, but what about Ayden? Carson would never trust you unless you gave him a reason to."

For a moment I just sat there, knowing exactly what she was asking me in a round about way.

Why wasn't I with Ayden?

I didn't know if I could trust her or not, but also knew that if I'd told Carson the truth sooner then things would have worked out faster between us. I also wanted to gain her trust, and telling her would be my way of attempting to do that.

"Ayden...he was...he..." When I struggled to find the words, looking away from her she quickly jumped in. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Her voice softened the moment she realised just how sensitive the subject was for me, but I just shook my head. "No, it's okay."

She didn't say anything for a few moments, giving me a chance to get my thoughts together before I finally told her.

"He was abusive and violent. Carson assumed I knew who Ayden was when he told me he saw me at some events with him. But I didn't, he never said a word about his business in front of me, so I had no idea."

"So that's why he trusts you." Even though she was just thinking out loud putting all the pieces together, I nodded my head before I continued. "He knows I'd never go back to Ayden. I didn't even want to come back to New York with Carson I was that scared of ending up in a similar situation with him or at one point I was terrified at the thought of just being in the same city as Ayden."

She fell quiet for a moment as she just stared at her hands, which as a side note definitely looked much better than mine thanks to her billion dollar manicure.

"So when you said you weren't scared of Carson..."

"It's because I know he would never hurt me. I know what bad people look like, I spent three years in hell with them, Carson is nothing like them."

"Them?" When she rose an eyebrow at me I let out a breath. "Ayden and his brother, Atticus."

I could tell she was curious, anyone would want to know all the details of what happened but I was grateful that she didn't push me to tell her any. Instead she just nodded her head before she eventually stood up from the bench, holding her hand out for me to take. When I stood up, she gave me a smile, holding my hand as we started walking back.

"It'll be nice to have another girl around for once. Do you know what it's been like to spend eleven years with those three idiots? At one point I even thought I was a lesbian just because I hated those guys so much. Then I realised it was just those three that I hated."

Her words caused me to let out a laugh, while she just continued as if we'd been friends forever.

"It's hard growing up as the only girl surrounded by boys, they were never good with women's issues as they call them."

"But I thought- never mind." When I quickly cut myself off shaking my head she gave me a frown. "It's okay, you can say whatever you're thinking."

"I thought you talked to Carson about that stuff? He once told me you smoke weed whenever you get period cramps." When I said that she let out a laugh nodding her head as we walked. "Yeah, I do. I guess they're all different in their own ways. Fox is the only I tend to talk to about sex since he's obsessed with that kind of stuff, Grey is better at the emotional talks and Carson...he's good for taking my mind off things and giving good hugs."

When she flashed me a smile I nodded my head, suddenly feeling extremely envious of how she had three friends who all complimented each other well even if they were all guys. I can't imagine having one friend to talk to about things, let alone three.

I was lost in my thoughts when she suddenly grabbed my hand, pulling me to a stop. "I have an important question to ask you."

"Okay..."

"Have you two done it yet?"

You'd never believe I just met this girl less than an hour ago.

"Okay, I'm not telling you that." The moment I shook my head, letting go of her hand to start walking again she let out an excited squeal. "You have! How was it?"

I could feel my cheeks burning as I quickly walked away from her while she followed behind me, somehow managing to catch up with me in her high heels.

"Fine, but you're telling me all the juicy details one day." I let out a laugh when she pouted next me before we ended up walking in silence, only for a few seconds before she broke it again.

"You're only 21, you're like our little baby." When she reached out to punch my cheek I swatted her hand away causing her to laugh.

"I'm only four years younger than Carson."

"Four is still a lot. So, are you in school?"

"No, I graduated this summer."

"Oh really? From where?" When I just turned to give her a raised eyebrow, it took her a second before she let out a laugh noticing my hoodie again. "Right, Columbia. So what did you do?"

"Accoutancy, I want to be an accountant." When I gave her a proud smile, she nodded her head before she smirked. "Oh a smarty pants, that's sexy. You should put some glasses on and do a role play with-"

"Do you only ever think about sex?" Of course she just let out a laugh at my weirded out expression when I cut her off. "Oh you'll get used to it, soon I'll have you talking about everything with me."

She waved her hand dismissively at me as we walked while I was just so confused at how this whole conversation had changed from her not trusting me to suggesting I role play with Carson.

"I don't think that's going to happen, I'm not really the most open person when it comes to this stuff - its supposed to be private."

"You really are perfect for him." When she let out another laugh I gave her a frown. "What do you mean?"

"Carson's like that, he likes to keep things private too - he wasn't like most guys who go around proudly telling everyone what they did the night before, he was respectful to everyone he had those kind of relations with. Even stupid Chloe."

I like how she used the past tense, that definitely earned her brownie points.

Nodding my head, I felt some ease in knowing that he didn't used to behave a like man-whore even though I'm sure he had a lot of different women in his bed. He did once say he was highly experienced in that field.

"What's he like? When he's here, I mean." She didn't seem concerned by my question, instead just taking a moment to think before she finally answered.

"When he's working he's very serious, he's probably the best person at separating business and pleasure. It's rare that you'll ever even see him joking with Grey while they're working, unless they're taking a break and Grey's one of his bestfriends. Whenever they're away from work, they're completely different with each other. We're all like that I guess."

When a frown crossed her face I almost felt like I'd asked her the wrong question since the topic seemed to make her a little sad.

"Is it hard working with your friends?"

"It can be. Most people would assume it's fun working so closely with them, but this life and the work we do isn't exactly fun. But, we've been doing it for five years and it hasn't changed us, at times it makes us closer even if other times it can make us fight - a lot."

She flashed me a grin as we were just about to head back inside when she suddenly grabbed my hand to stop me.

"He's never had a girlfriend Dani, I know you were upset with him when we left but he just needs time to adjust to being back and fitting you into all of this. It won't be easy, but if you love him then just stick it out - he'll get there in the end."

Nodding my head I gave her an appreciative smile although inside I was much more unsure about this whole thing than I was before we got here. I don't think it had even been an hour since we arrived here and we'd already fought once.

I guess I was right to expect this to be a difficult journey, but I also knew I loved him enough to stick it out - for how long? I have no idea.

What did you guys think?

I can't wait for you to read the rest of part 2 ❤️

(Also yes I just added this because I forgot to end it with an authors note 😭)