Page 22 of Her Dream Mafia Daddy

Making sure she was in all new clothes, no jewelry or anything else from her past life, she grabbed a notebook and a pen and wrote on it, ‘Don’t ask questions, just play along.’

Going down the hall, she knocked on Eamon’s door.

“Come in,” he called out.

When she entered, she saw everyone and gulped. Finnean, Rory, and Kellan were in the room. Holding up her sign so everyone could see it, she saw them sit taller.

“I was wondering if I could come in here and color for a bit.”

“Of course you can. I think I have some crayons over here if you want to sit at the table.” Eamon gestured for her to sit close to him.

“Perfect! Crayons are the best. The waxy smell makes me smile.” She sat down and then looked at Finnean. “My head kinda hurts, do you think we could close the blinds so it’s not so sunny in here?”

“Of course. I’m sorry your head hurts. Do you want something for it?”

“No, I’m ok for right now. I just think being in a cool, dark space would help.” She smiled at them, but it was wobbly and fearful.

She wrote on her paper, ‘You trust everyone here, right?’

Eamon looked at it and looked at her. He nodded and then said, “Why don’t you turn on some soft music?”

“Oh, that’s a great idea.” She picked up her phone and turned on some music and then toggled to the text messages. She put it on the table so Eamon could see it and scribbled out another note: ‘I think my phone has tracking on it.’

She could see him go tense, his hands clenched, and his jaw was tight. He looked like he was about to murder someone. She thought she would actually be ok with that. He sent a text of his own and her eyes grew wide.

“Why don’t you color me a picture of Ghost? I would love to have one to put on his stall.”

“Yeah! Maybe Kiera can come in here and help and we can color all the horses and then they’ll all have cute name plates instead of the boring ones you have now.”

“Cheeky girl, that sounds good to me.” He smiled at her, his mere presence calming her nerves.

The door opened and Kiera and Liam stepped through.

“Yay for a coloring date! What are we coloring?” Kiera skipped over to sit next to her.

“We are coloring the horses and making them cute nameplates because the ones they have are so boring.”

“Yes! That’s the bestest idea ever!” She squealed and got to work beside her.

“Excuse me, Daphne, but I think you forgot to do something earlier?”

“Umm, not that I can think of, Uncle Liam.” She was confused. She had been a good girl.

“I looked at your room and you had clothes on the floor. What’s the rule?”

“Um, to pick my clothes up and not leave them on the floor?” Her face was scrunched up in confusion.

“That’s right. You knew the rule and now there will be consequences. I am taking your phone for at least 1 day. Maybe not having access to anything will help you remember to follow the rules.”

Understanding dawned on her as she whined, “But Uncle Liammmm.”

“You can either give me the phone or you can take five swats from each person in this room plus penalty swats from Liam. What’s it going to be, Little girl?”

She felt her cheeks burn as she slid the phone across the table to him.

“Good choice. I will take this into my room for safekeeping and you can have it back once I am convinced you will keep your room clean.”

“Yes, Sir.” She pouted, even though she knew this was a good thing. As he was leaving, Kellan held up a device to the phone, and she wasn’t sure what it did, but she trusted them to take care of her and of Kiera.