Her Mafia Brothers

Shopping

It was Nick, hot and sweaty, shirtless. "Let me shower and get dressed and we'll go, okay? Are you coming?" he asked Logan but my littlest big brother shook his head.

"Busy," he claimed.

"Sure you are," Nick said, and rolled his eyes. Then he turned to me. "Just me and you then, little sis," Nick said. "That okay?"

I nodded. It was okay. I was looking forward to it, actually. Although Nick was scary when he glared, and his swollen knuckles from punching the outside wall of the house yesterday were a reminder of his volatility, I felt comfortable around him now after playing in the pool with him. Riding on his shoulders, dunking him, splashing him, had been fun. Truth be told, I was excited about spending the day with him, and getting to know him a bit better. And of course getting some new things would be a bonus.

It didn't take me long to finish my breakfast and get ready, and within half an hour Nick and I were getting into one of the black Mercedes SUV and backing out of the garage.

Like the perfect gentleman, Nick held the door open for me as I got in, and he made sure I had buckled up properly before he drove off.

"Do we have security?" I asked Nick as he picked up speed now that we were on the open road.

"Yes," he said, nodding to the identical black SUV behind us. "But don't worry, you won't even know they're there."

I swallowed hard. The thought of security trailing us still made me nervous, despite Damon's reassurances.

"I don't suppose we can ditch them?" I asked hopefully, but Nick answered me by glaring at me so fiercely I shrank back in my seat in pure terror.

"No," he growled. "That will not be happening. Don't even think about it."

"Okay," I whimpered, trembling slightly. "Sorry."

Nick glanced down at me, noticed my shaking hands, and covered both of them with one of his, rubbing his thumb along my wrist gently. "I didn't mean to scare you, little sis," he said apologetically.

He kept his hand there on mine and slowly, my racing heart steadied and my ragged breathing returned to normal. His big hand was comforting; his sheer size made me feel safe. Far more than the security team trailing us did.

It didn't take long until we got to the mall and Nick parked the car, came around to my side to open the door, helped me out of the seat, and took my hand. I tried to tug it away - I was far too old to need to my hand held like a little girl - but he held me fast. I don't think he even noticed that I was pulling to get away; if he did, he didn't show it. I looked around and saw a couple of men in black suits spread out and walk behind us, off to each side. I did my best to forget about them but I edged myself slightly closer to Nick and smiled when he squeezed my hand in reassurance.

There were masses of people here, but the crowd parted as we walked through, all seeming to give us a wide berth. I looked up at Nick in confusion but he wasn't acting as though this was out of the ordinary. Did people always do this when my brothers were out in public? I mean, he did look quite intimidating. Even dressed casually like he was now, he oozed power, danger, confidence, wealth. I noticed a few young women looking sideways at him, like they wanted to talk to him or something, but none of them did. They just stared, and drooled. Nick noticed, and smiled his dashing smile at them, then winked at me like we had some secret. It made me feel special. Like I was important to him.

"Come on little sis, let's get you a new wardrobe."

He led me into a shop that looked insanely expensive. All the clothes hanging on the racks were way out of my league. At least, they were way out of my league once. But Nick seemed to have other ideas. He seemed to think I was worthy of these high-end clothes and didn't even look at the price tags as he pulled garment after garment off the rack and held items up against my body, trying to gauge the fit. At first, the snobby shop assistant looked down her nose at me, but as soon as she saw Nick was serious about buying for me she couldn't have been more attentive, suggesting different bits and pieces that she thought would suit me.

After less than half an hour, we left the store, Nick carrying three huge shopping bags overflowing with shirts, jeans, skirts and dresses for me in one hand, and still holding my hand with the other. I offered to hold them, but he wouldn't hear of it. Although he did give them to a man in a suit, presumably one of our security team, to put in the car for us, freeing his hands up to buy me more stuff.

Next he led me into a sports store where he bought me some Nike pants and a few hoodies, three pairs of shoes, and some socks. I didn't ask for any of it and I didn't really pick it either; Nick did all that. He just seemed to intuitively know what I needed, and he had really good taste in clothes. If he *wasn't* a fashion model, I would be surprised. It would explain a lot, if he was. Like his seemingly endless bank balance and the need for security, not to mention his enthusiasm for taking me shopping. I suppose it was possible that Damon had made him take me, but it sure didn't seem that way. Nick seemed to be enjoying this trip as much as I was.

We went into a store that specialised in underwear, and this time Nick seemed awkward. It was funny, seeing my big, strong brother blushing, and I giggled. He shot me a stern look and I shut up, but it didn't stop me from laughing inside. He waved a young, female shop assistant over and told her to get me everything I would need because I pretty much had nothing, he handed me his credit card, and told me he would wait outside.

Nick might have been uncomfortable in this shop, but it appeared that the security team wasn't. Or if they were, they didn't show it. One of our suited bodyguards followed me in and while he didn't stand too close to me, I knew he was there, watching me. I turned to glare at him, hoping he would get the hint and go away, but he ignored me completely and spoke into his lapel, turning his head in each direction, presumably searching for possible threats to my safety. It was weird. I was far safer now than I'd ever been, surely?

It didn't take long for the sales lady to find me everything I needed and she showed me how to use Nick's credit card to pay for it all. As I carried the bag out of the shop, Nick came in and took it from me, handing it to one of the bodyguards to take. Is this all the bodyguards did? Carry my shopping? If so, I could probably get used to it, I told myself. As long as that's all they did. I still wasn't keen on the idea of someone trailing me and watching my every move, but a personal shopping bag carrier could be handy.

"You hungry?" Nick asked me. "Or is there more you want to buy? I'm not sure what else you need, so it's your turn now to decide what you want to do."

Before I could answer, Nick's phone rang loudly in his pocket and he fished it out and answered it, holding a finger to my lips, warning me to be quiet. Just as he did, I saw the bodyguard near me speaking into his lapel and walking hurriedly towards us. Nick swore into his phone and stuffed it back into his pocket before taking a firmer grip on my hand.

"We've got to go," he said gruffly, walking really fast towards the exit, so fast I had to scurry to keep up with him. His legs were so much longer than mine that I was pretty much running, but he didn't slow down any, he just kept dragging me along with him.

Something was wrong, that much was clear, but I wasn't brave enough to ask him what it was. Obviously thinking we weren't moving fast enough, he wrapped an arm around me and hoisted me up onto his hip, breaking into a run. Frantically, I wrapped my arms and legs around him and clung on, trying to stop myself from jostling around so much.

"Damon is on his way," one of our security team informed my brother but all he did was nod and continue running.

He unlocked the vehicle using the remote in his pocket before we even got to it, and when we did, he wrenched open the back door and flung me inside, not even gently, telling me sternly to stay put. I nodded in fear.

The front door opened and a man dressed in a black suit, vaguely familiar, got into the drivers seat, and pressed the button to lock the doors. He turned to face me. "I'm Paul," he said. He didn't smile. "I'll keep you safe, but I need for you to stay down. Nick has to sort something out, but he'll be back soon."

Although I tried really hard to keep my fear at bay, I couldn't stop my body from shaking. Obediently, I crouched down low on the seat, but hearing a commotion outside, I couldn't resist sneaking a peak, looking up just enough so I could see out the window while still hopefully staying hidden. Men I didn't know, big, rough looking men, surrounded Nick in the carpark. Walking towards them, from every direction, were my other brothers. Damon was the closest. And he was holding a gun.