Chicken nuggets and fries sounds good, and I'm hungry, but there's something more important playing on my mind. Our brothers, and the way Damon is dealing with them. Or not.
"You know how to get into the left wing, aye?"
Logan shook his head. "Hell no. We're not going in there. Do you have a death wish? Damon's already going to be pissed at the boys, do you really want him pissed at you, too?
I pouted. Of course I didn't want Damon mad at me, I'd faced his wrath enough recently and I was quite enjoying the small freedom of him being away and not watching me so closely. But I also really, really wanted to know what was happening to our brothers. I needed to know that Damon didn't have double standards. He'd already made it clear to my brothers when Jack and Alex were fighting, that they weren't to be doing it in the house, in front of me. And if it had been me and Logan..... I doubt either one of us would be able to sit. But I knew, pretty much without a doubt, that Rocco and Nick wouldn't be punished in the same way Logan and I would be, and I needed to know that they weren't getting off scot-free. Because if they did....
What? What was I going to do? Run away? In the middle of a Mafia war when it wasn't even safe for me to go to school?
I shook my head. "Of course not. But I need to know what's happening to them. I need to know that Damon doesn't have double standards. You know what would happen if it was us who did that."
Logan grinned then winked at me. "We're not going in the left wing. But-" he stopped talking and started walking, indicating for me to follow. He stopped at the base of the stairs and pressed his ear against the wall for a second before walking around the front of the stairs and around behind them, to a little cupboard that I didn't even know was there. He held his finger to his lips and slowly, carefully, slid back the bolt. There was all sorts of stuff in there and no light, so Logan used the flashlight on his phone to help us navigate our way past the boxes and stuff to the very far corner. The one right against the wall to the left wing. There was a space big enough to sit in and a couple of cushions on the floor. Logan winked. He'd obviously sat here before, listening. Hiding. Eavesdropping on serious Mafia business without Damon knowing. Silently, I crept up beside him and we both placed our ears to the wall. The sound was muffled, but we could hear enough.
Damon sounded beyond angry. He was berating them furiously and while he wasn't yelling, it was the closest I'd ever heard him come. His tone was chilling. Shivers went down my spine listening to him, and there was a wall separating us! I couldn't make out exactly what he was saying, but I did pick up a few words here and there. Idiots was said a lot.
When Damon stopped scolding them briefly, perhaps only to draw breath, Alex took over for a bit and he sounded every bit as furious as Damon. They lectured the boys in tandem, first Damon, then Alex, and sometimes even both together. Even through the wall, they scared the shit out of me. I'd never heard them sound quite so furious or scary before.
"They're really letting the boys have it, aren't they?" I whispered happily to Logan. He held his finger to his lips, but nodded and smiled. It was a huge relief, knowing how much trouble my bad brothers were in. I was glad Damon wasn't just letting them off. He was really losing it at them, and I had a feeling he was just getting started. Well he'd probably been at it for a while, really. No doubt he'd been telling them off for the whole time Logan and I had been cleaning up their mess, or perhaps Paul had been, and Damon and Alex had only just taken over. But either way, it didn't sound like he had any intention of winding up the scolding any time soon. My brothers were going to be facing Damon's wrath for a long time yet.
And then Damon growled something which chilled me right to my bones.
"You two are supposed to be looking after Carrie and Logan! Who the hell is going to do that now that....." and that's where I stopped listening. Those words terrified me.
"Who is going to keep us safe?" I squeaked, trying to not to scream, desperation clutching at me. Quickly, Logan put a finger to his lips, silencing me, and guided me out of our little hidey hole.
"You're going to get us busted!" he admonished me, once we were safely out in the main part of the house, out of the way from ears that weren't meant to hear us spying.
"Sorry," I murmured. But I wasn't. Not really. My fear was totally valid. Who was going to protect us?
"We're perfectly safe," Logan assured me. "Paul has his best men here with us, and Nick and Rocco will be fine. They're a bit banged up, but that won't stop them looking after us. Damon is just trying to lay a guilt trip on them. He's good at that."
I thought about that for a second, then nodded. That made sense.
Just as I was about to ask Logan to take me back into our little spying hole, the door leading to the left wing opened and slammed shut with a bang. Heavy footsteps approached.
"Oh shit," Logan whispered. He froze, and I froze right along with him. If Logan was scared, I was scared too. I didn't know why yet, but it was obviously not good.
"Where were you two?" Paul demanded, looking just about as scary now as he'd looked before, when he was breaking up Rocco and Nick.
I gulped. Did he know? What was he going to do to us if he found out? I tried to speak, but when I opened my mouth nothing came out. My mouth was too dry to speak. My feet were frozen to the floor and a tremble went down my spine.
"What do you mean? We've been cleaning up the mess our brothers made, just like you told us to," Logan said. "I don't know why we had to clean it though," he continued. "They made the mess, they should have had to clean it up. We're not their slaves."
I watch Logan carefully, for any sign of fear. I think I know him well enough to know the truth and sure enough, there it is. His hands are shaking, just a bit. He quickly puts them in his pockets, but he boldly holds Paul's gaze. His voice is steady. How well does Paul know Logan? Can Paul tell he's lying? God, I hope not.
I hold my breath. It's not really intentional, I'm just too terrified to breathe.
Paul stares hard first at Logan then at me. Logan doesn't break. I will myself not to break either, and stare at a little spot on the front of Paul's shirt. Is it blood? It looks like blood. Which one of my brothers does it belong to?
Paul crosses his arms. I keep silent. If I open my mouth, I'm not going to be able to keep up the lie, I'll break. I'll let Logan down.
"Really?" Paul raises one eyebrow, staring at us both so ferociously that I tremble violently. He's scarier than Damon. Way scarier. I don't know why I didn't realize this before.
Logan nods. "Mmmhmmm. It's tidy now, see?"
"Hmmm." Paul frowns. "And then what did you do?"
"Nothing yet," Logan announces cheerily. "We're about to make us some chicken nuggets for dinner. I'm pretty sure the staff have gone and that's about the only thing I know how to cook."
Paul doesn't say anything. He knows Logan is lying, but Logan isn't backing down. I admire his bravery.
Paul turns to me and looks at me sternly. "Carrie?" he asks, one eyebrow raised. "Where were you?"
I can't stop shaking. I don't know what to say. If I open my mouth I'm going to blurt out the truth and that's not going to be good. It's going to be very, very bad.
"Don't hassle her," Logan says, coming to my rescue. "She's upset enough. Nick and Rocco fighting in front of her absolutely terrified her. Leave her alone."
Paul ignores Logan and keeps staring at me. I have to say something. Anything.
"I was with Logan."