Her Mafia Brothers

Jack to the Rescue

"Rocco is stealing my door and trying to hurt me," I blurt out quickly, but even as I say the words, I don't think this is going to go as well for me as I'd hoped.

"Why?"Jacks asks.

I gulp. How am I meant to answer that question? I stand still for a moment, trying to figure out how to word it that will get Rocco in the most amount of trouble and me in the least. But before I've got it sorted in my head, Rocco speaks up.

"I'm taking her door because she's been slamming it for half an hour straight," he growls, glaring at me fiercely. "And I owe her a slap because she kicked me when I was crouching down unscrewing the hinges."

I gulp again. Put like that, it sounds pretty bad. I watch as a frown slowly creeps across Jack's face. If I thought Jack was unhappy about being interrupted before, he's even more unhappy now, after hearing Rocco's explanation.

"Half an hour?" Jack repeats. "Why the hell did you let her slam it for so long? Why didn't you go and put a stop to it the first or second time it happened? Why did you let it carry on?" Jack is seriously pissed off, and right now he's directing all that fury at Rocco. I smile smugly.

"And you can wipe that smirk off your face right now, little girl," Jack growls. "What were you thinking, slamming your door like that?"

I'm pretty sure that's a rhetorical question, so I don't answer.

Jack waits a few seconds, glares at me hard. "Well?"

I jump. Oh. Looks like I'm supposed to answer him after all. I shrug.

"A shrug is not an answer, Carrie."

"I'm really bored!" I whine. "There's nothing to do and everyone's ignoring me."

Jack raises an eyebrow. "So you were trying to get attention?"

I shrug. "Maybe."

"Well now you've got it," Jack growls. "Are you happy now with the attention you're getting?"

That's one question I don't have to think about to answer. I shake my head. "No," I whisper.

"What did you think would happen when you started slamming your door?" Jack asks. He sounds merely curious now, instead of scolding like before.

"I don't know!" I exclaim. "I figured I'd get in trouble but I thought maybe someone would come and tell me to stop and I could convince them to play a game with me or something." My voice gets quieter and quieter, eventually trailing off completely. Saying it out louds makes me sound pathetic. "I didn't think Rocco would take my door!" My voice is high-pitched and loud, and Jack directs his glare to Rocco.

"Yes it does seem a bit extreme," he agrees. "He should have stopped you right at the start, not let it go on for so long." Jack and Rocco stand there and glare at each other for a moment, Rocco's arms are folded against his chest and it's obvious he's not going to back down. He's also way bigger than Jack and for a few seconds I'm the tiniest bit afraid for my favorite brother. He's injured, after all.

"Why didn't you stop her sooner?" Jack asks.

Rocco scowls. "Because I have enough on my plate as it is! You know that! She's fucking 14 for chrissakes should she really need to be told not to slam her door for half an hour straight? Anyway, she got off lightly. Damon would have spanked her ass long before now, and probably taken the door, too. I'm trying to back up the boys as best I can - just like you and Nick! I don't have time to be dealing with a temper tantrum because she's bored and can't find something to do in this house that has every conceivable thing in it!"

I've never seen Rocco this worked up before and I'm not sure I like it. In fact, I definitely don't. I'm not a fan of angry Rocco at all. His whole body is stiff, rigid with tension. He's flexing with fury, so his arms and shoulders which are big and muscular anyway, look positively huge now.

"And she's lucky she had so much of a head start on me after she kicked me, I was going to give her a good whack. I'm probably going to have a bruise!"

That makes me giggle. Rocco and Nick are both sporting multiple, huge bruises from when they fought each other the other day and Paul had to break them up. But I kick him just once and he acts like the sky is falling?

"Hey!" Jack growls at me and instantly, my giggles vanish. He's not going to let Rocco hit me, is he? I don't like it when Rocco hits me. Because he's the second youngest after Logan, it somehow seems worse when Rocco spanks me, than when the older ones do it.

"Rocco isn't going to spank you," Jack assures me, seemingly reading my mind. "You definitely shouldn't have kicked him, and if you ever do it again you'll be in trouble with me as well as Rocco, and probably Damon too. But right now I know you are upset, so you get a free pass."

A cloud of anger passes over Rocco's face. Jack has just undermined him and he's not happy about it.

"But he is going to finish taking your door. That's a fair consequence, Carrie, and I don't want to hear you arguing about it. If you do, I'll change my mind about letting Rocco spank you."

I gasp, but bite my tongue so I don't argue and earn myself a spanking. But I'm really upset and I know it shows on my face.

"Come here Carrie," Jack says, as he sits back down. "Come and sit with me for a bit, while Rocco finishes taking your door. Then you won't be tempted to kick him again and he won't be tempted to slap you. Plus, I like spending time with my little sister. I'm sorry we're all so busy, sweetheart. Hopefully all this will be over soon and we'll have Damon and Alex back again."

I don't want to sit with Jack. I don't want him to let Rocco take my door. But I take a few deep breaths, trying to contain my anger.

"You suck," I spit at Rocco. He glares at me and flexes his hands and takes a step towards me, but I scurry over to Jack and sit myself down on his knee, tucking myself securely under his good arm, nestling in close against him.

"That wasn't very nice, Carrie," Jack growls, but I can hear the amusement in his voice. "Apologize to Rocco."

I shake my head. No way. I'm not apologizing. I'm not sorry. Nope. Not at all.

"Quickly," Jack tells me firmly.

I hesitate for a minute, just waiting to see what my brothers are going to do. If I can get away with refusing to apologize, that's what I'm going to do.

Jack raises one eyebrow, looking the spitting image of Damon. He scares me. So I look down at the ground and quickly blurt out a mumbled apology that I definitely don't mean. I don't think Rocco's very happy about it, but Jack just sighs.

"Go and take her door," he says resignedly. Rocco leaves the room, shutting the door softly behind him, probably to make a point: to show me how doors in this house should be closed.

"And you," Jack says, tilting my chin up so I'm looking at him, "can just sit here with me. I'm not at all happy that you were slamming your door, but I do understand your frustration."

He cuddles me as best he can with his one good arm and kisses my hair.

"I love you Carrie," he whispers. "I know this is hard for you. But it will be all over soon, I promise."