Chapter 3: Boss, Mr. Cohen

~Morning~

~Rayna's POV~

Since Treyton had told me to stay at the base to take care of Lyra and Jacob, I was making breakfast for them. I made the most basic breakfast however. Eggs, bacon, toast, a glass of milk, and some sausages. I laughed at myself.

"How much more basic could you be?" I chuckled. I then heard footsteps on the stairs. It was Jacob.

"Good morning." He rubbed his eyes and waved. I chuckled. "Tired?" He nodded. "Not much of a talker are ya?" He chuckled.

"I don't really talk in the mornings."

"Ahh. I see. Don't worry." He came over to the table and sat down.

"What are you making?" I grabbed his plate and set it in front of him. His eyes widened.

"Breakfast? For me?" I nodded. "Thank you!" He gladly started eating.

"Where's your sister?"

"She's still asleep. She didn't sleep to well the night before at the hotel since she was having recurring nightmares about our mother." I sighed.

"I'm so sorry for what happened to you guys." He shrugged it off.

"Oh well. As long as I have Lyra near me, I'm okay. I don't really care about mother." I gave a questioned expression.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened between your mother and you guys?" He put his fork down.

"We just had finished dinner and mother and I put away the dishes. I went upstairs to go to sleep, but then those two men, Dean and Treyton, came and scared her. They went around the whole house and noticed that mother had children there. They still carried on with their duty and got shocked about who we were and they left. After they left, Lyra went downstairs to comfort mother, but mother ended up going off on her. Saying she shouldn't have adopted her and told her that she never loved her. I came down and mother started to go after me, but Lyra stepped in front of me and protected me from her hit. We both ran out...you know the rest." I stood there, stunned. I couldn't believe that that happened to them. No one should ever have to go through that.

"I'm so sorry. Believe me, if I was there, I would've smacked her." I posed as me hitting her and Jacob laughed.

"Thanks. It' comforting knowing other people care." He smiled. I then saw Lyra come down the stairs. She came over to us.

"What are you guys talking about? Jacob giving you a hard time?" She looked over at him and playfully punched his shoulder.

"Ow." She laughed.

"You made breakfast I see." I grabbed her plate and placed it in front of her too. She smiled. "Thank you. We didn't exactly eat the other day, so this is a pleasant sight." She sat down next to Jacob and started to eat.

"Oh that's right. I have to do some assignments later. Dean requested me to do some 'duties' in the city. I won't be here later, so you guys will be here by yourselves. Don't worry though. No one will come here. You guys will be safe." Lyra nodded.

"If you don't mind me asking, what kind of 'duties' do the guys assign you to do?" I looked down.

"...Lets just say they're similar to what...Dean and Treyton have done before." I looked away. Lyra looked down at her plate. "However, like the guys mentioned before, we don't physically hurt people at all. No one will be hurt, but, seeing how you guys reacted to Dean and Treyton coming to your guys home, I've come to think about the people's mental state after we do our jobs. I'm sorry." She then put her hand on my hands. She looked at me with caring eyes. She was so pretty. I looked away blushing.

"It's okay. Treyton and Dean both said that it was their uncle that had told them to do these types of jobs. It's not your fault. However, I'm grateful that someone has an understanding heart to these sort of things." She smiled. I smiled back. Then, we heard the front door open. It was Treyton and Dean.

"Good morning sir." I bowed.

"Good morning guys. I'm hoping you had a pleasant nights sleep?" Dean asked Lyra.

"Yes I did. Best sleep I had in the past few nights." She smiled. Both of them chuckled.

"Today, you will be coming with us to the main headquarters. Our uncle wants to meet with you." Treyton said. Lyra had a shocked expression.

"M-Me?" They nodded. "Then, can Jacob come as well? I want him with me."

"He actually asked for both of you anyway, so it's okay." Dean said. "It's nothing serious though. You both will be okay."

As long as Jacob is beside me for the whole time, then okay. When do we leave?"

"In 30 minutes actually. You guys have time to get ready." She nodded and headed upstairs with Jacob.

"You know your job for tonight?" I nodded.

"Yes sir." I bowed.

"Haha. There's no need to be so formal towards us. We've been close for awhile." Dean laughed. I looked up embarrassed.

"Sorry si- I mean sorry." Both of them laughed.

~30 minutes later~

~Lyra's POV~

"We're ready." I came down with Jacob after getting dressed. Dean came towards me.

"Then lets be on our way." I nodded. I went over to Rayna.

"Thank you for taking care of us." I hugged her. I could tell she wasn't use to this sort of thing, but she hugged back anyway. I let go and smiled at her. Jacob and I followed Dean and Treyton out to their car. We got in the back and Dean drove off.

~10 minutes later~

We arrived to a deserted area somewhere in the countryside. We took a path that led into the forest. Up ahead we saw a house. The house was huge, almost like a mansion. Treyton opened the door for me and I thanked him. Outside was a bunch of men dressed in uniforms, like butlers. The men open the door for us and led us inside. Inside was beautiful. There was a big chandelier that hung from the ceiling and there was floral designs almost everywhere. The men then led us down one of the halls to a big room. It looked like a office room, so I guessed it was their uncles workplace. We were seated and we waited for their uncle to come.

After 5 minutes, he walked in through the door. Both Dean and Treyton stood up and bowed to him.

"Hello Uncle." I quickly stood up too and bowed also. I motioned Jacob to do that as well and he did. He chuckled.

"Haha. You don't need to do that Ms. Lyra. You don't need to either boy." He said to me and Jacob. I looked up and saw him. He looked like he was in his late 50s and he had brown, almost grey hair. His eyes were hazel and he wore a grey suit. He pulled out his glasses and put them on to see us better. "My my. You guys grew up so fast."

"I'm sorry?" I said.

"Ah! Nothing, Ms Lyra. Please have a seat. Dean, Treyton, please wait outside." They both nodded and walked out. He sat down at his desk and looked over at me.

"Welcome to my home Ms. Lyra. I hope you have a pleasant stay here."

"Thank you for having us. Your nephews had told me that you wanted to speak to both of us in person."

"Yes. I wanted to discuss something with you. Both of my nephews have told me about what had happened when they went out to do their job. I'm very sorry to hear about what happened between your family. I shouldn't have had the boys go out there. My apologies Ms. Lyra." I looked down.

"It's okay. Our mother wasn't a pleasant woman anyway. We needed to get away from her. So, this might be weird to say, but, thank you for letting that happen. Even though I had to hear and see things that no one should experience, I'm very glad that I'm out of that negative place." He looked down also. He sighed.

"I know that you want to never go back there, so I'm making you an offer." I sit up. "Would you like to join our team?" I blinked. I never expected this.

"But, wouldn't I have to do 'jobs' that you assign? I'm sorry, but-"

"No. You wouldn't." I look back at him. "I know that you don't want to do those things, so I have other jobs for you to pick. If you work for me, you and your brother can stay here at my home. I will feed you, clothe you, and make sure you are safe from anyone who wants to hurt you. These jobs aren't dangerous like the ones I assign to the others. You won't hurt people in any way nor will you need to hurt yourself. The jobs I will be assigning will be very simple." I looked down. Jacob tugged on my shirt.

"Lyra, he said he won't make you do anything that'll hurt you nor hurt us. It'll be okay. We can finally be safe from mother and other people." His eyes were pleading. "Plus this house is really cool." He whispers. I chuckled.

"If I accept your offer, you promise that you'll keep us safe and won't make me do jobs that'll hurt people nor us?" He nods. "...Okay. I accept your offer." Jacob's face lit up. He hugged me.

"I promise you. I'll make sure you guys are safe. Now then, I'll show you guys to your rooms. He gets up and both of us follow him. Dean and Treyton were standing on the side of the doorway waiting for us.

"Boys, Ms. Lyra and Jacob will be living here from now on. Please give them your welcome." They were shocked at first but then came to realize.

"I hope you have a pleasant stay here Lyra. You too Jacob." Dean and Treyton said. I smiled.

"Thank you guys. I also want to thank you for protecting us for the night. If you hadn't helped us..."

"We were glad to have helped. Besides, I wasn't gonna let you go since you basically broke into our house." He gave a wink. I chuckled.

"Well then, I just remembered that i have work to do. Dean, would you mind taking them to their rooms. If Jacob prefers his own room, he can have the room next to Lyra's. If not, you can still use that room fro privacy." Jacob's face lights up.

"Wow really?!" Jacob looks at me.

"If you promise to behave and tell me where and what you'll be doing around the house, then I'll let you."

"I promise!" I laugh.

"Okay then." He hugs me. "Oh! Actually, if you don't mind sir, can I speak to you for just a second."

"Of course. Dean, take Jacob to his room while I speak to Lyra please?" Dean nods his head and takes Jacob to his room. "Oh and Treyton. Rayna's downstairs asking for you. She called me to tell you since she didn't want to bother you."

"Okay. I'll go right now." Treyton bows and heads downstairs where Rayna is. I turn to Boss.

"There's a couple questions I want to ask you sir." He chuckles.

"Haha. You can call me Mr. Cohen. My workers like to call me Boss since apparently that's cool to say to them, however, you can call me by my last name Lyra." He smiled. I smile back in awe. He was so proper and well mannered than people I've met before.

"Okay Mr. Cohen. Well, you answered my first question already. I was gonna ask you what I should refer to you as. My other question is, you said you had jobs for me to do around here at the house and I would like to know what those assignments are. If that's no problem with you."

"Ahh. Okay. As I said before they aren't anything dangerous or stuff you don't like. It's very simple assignments. As I am always working and my men are outside patrolling mu home, I would like you to keep my workers in line." I look at him dumbfounded.

"Keep your workers in line?"

"Yes. For a long time, some of my workers have been...how you say...distant. They would do their jobs, but still would give others the cold shoulders. Also, my nephews. If you could, would you try and get them closer? From a young age, they've always picked rights with one another. I want them to act like brothers and not like friends that are going through thing with each other. Could you please try and get my people closer together?" I smiled.

"My mother use to say I had this power to help bring people together again. Almost every time we'd meet people, I would know right away what had happened between them. I would say, 'You guys can do this! You guys can work it out and be together again.' So what you're asking me to do for you will be very easy for me to do." He smiled.

"I hope to be hearing from you soon Lyra. Until then, I will be off." I give him my goodbyes and I head down the hall to where Dean and Jacob are at. I knock on the door to Jacobs' room and I enter. The room had blue wallpaper and the bed was a queen sized. He had a balcony outside and a walk-in closet.

"Wow. I think I might sleep in here for now on." Jacob looks at me.

"Pfft. Yeah right. You're trippin'." I give him a glare and I laughed.

"Oh yeah. Ima sleep here tonight." He groans.

"Thank you Dean." I look at him.

"Of course. For now, I'll leave you guys be. Your room is on the right next to Jacobs so you guys will be close." I nod my head. "Have a nice day." He close the door and walked off.

"You wanna go see my room?" I ask Jacob.

"Sure." We opened the door and closed it and went to my room. I opened the door and inside the walls where grey and I had a huge white bed. Just like Jacob's room, I had a balcony too. I also had a walk-in closet, but I could tell it was bigger than Jacobs. Inside the closet, I saw a little sitting area where I could sit down and change. Jacob just stood there jealous.

"Hmpf. Whatever. At least my room has...has..." I chuckled.

"Sorry. I couldn't hear you. Repeat that?" He just glared at me and went over to my bed. I could tell his attitude changed. "You okay J?" He turned at me and his face was red.

"D-Don't call me that! That's my baby name you use to call me!" He pouted. He then got red. "W-Would it be okay if I s-sleep here with you at night...since..." I go over to him and hug him. He hugged back.

"Anytime. You can even climb into bed when I'm asleep if you want to." He hugged tighter. I understand where he was coming from since I use to do that with mom when I first lived with her. I was used to sleeping with kids and I wasn't use to sleeping by myself, so I would sneak into bed with her. I don't care if he does too. He's my brother. I would never tell him no. He let go.

"I-It's not because I'm scared! Don't think that's the reason!" He then ran off to his room. I just laughed. Then I heard a knock.

"Come in!" Dean walked in.

"Hey, do you mind if we talk for a bit?

"Of course. Is something wrong?" He closed the door and came over to sit on the bed next to me.

"You were adopted huh?" I gave a questioned face.

"How did you know that?"

"I did a little background on you. It's easy to get some info about someone if your uncle is basically a mafia guy. He has connections." I nod my head in understanding.

"You wanna know my point of view of my life so far?"

"If you don't mind." I sit comfortably to say my story.

"I don't remember anything when I was born to when I was 5. The first memory that I can remember is me being at the adoption center. Kids didn't like me. I was smarter than them and I liked to read then to play with them. I was an outcast." I look at him. "Is was like that for a year until my mom came and adopted me." I paused. "Ever since that day, she's been really hard on me. Always making sure I'm at the top of my classes, makes sure I'm cleaning up the house, and makes sure I'm taking care of my brother." Dean breathes heavily.

"Doesn't all of that bother you?" I looked down.

"Not really. To be honest, I didn't mind it. It was the fact that mother would always have a reason to be mad at me. Everything was fine until I got older and that't when everything started to change. I was always cautious around her. Growing up I was always walking on eggshells. If I ever crossed a line without me knowing what it was, she would yell at me. She never hit me. That's something she never could bring herself to do. However, when it came to Jacob, she never yelled at him. My mom saw him as the youngest child, so she rarely asked him to do things."

"Favoritism." I look at him.

"Why do you say that?" He looked down.

"Treyton was always uncles favorite. When it comes to doing hard assignments, I would do them. Treyton would accompany me, but he never got it bad. It's been like that for as long as I can remember. Even as children, like you described with Jacob and you, I was always the one to do chores or help my uncle with stuff. Treyton would always be there just watching. He's 2 years younger." He then made a realized face. "Oh! Let me tell you our ages. I'm 20 and Treyton's 18." My face turned so quickly.

"HUH?!" He flinched. "Oh. Sorry. I though you guys were way older. I mean, I would figure you guys were at least in your early 20's or maybe late 20's." He started laughing.

"HAHA! I'm not surprised that you think that. When we started to get more people to work with us, they all thought and said the same thing. We just grown and matured more quicker than most people."

"But the fact is, I'm turning 17 soon. You guys are like my 'age' you know?" He swayed his head. He mumbled something. "Did you say something?" He looked up at me.

"Oh! Sorry. I was thinking to myself."

"What were you thinking about?" He got nervous.

"O-Oh nothing! Just work. I have something later to do." I nodded my head.

"Ahh. Okay." We stayed silent for a few seconds. He then stood up and spoke. "Ahh. Well, it's getting kind of late. I have to go get ready for tonight's work. I let you be for now."

"Oh okay! I'll see you later." He walked to the door and walked out. I went to go lay down, but Jacob suddenly came in. Before I could ask him what was up, he ran over to me and started to hug me tight.

"Whoa! J? What's wrong?" He burst into tears. I looked down at him worried. "It's okay. Talk to me." He calmed down a bit and tried to talk, but he was choking on his words.

"I-I want t-to be with you right now." I gave him a soft smile.

"J. I already told you. You can to me whenever okay. I'll stop whatever to just be with you okay? Why are you crying?" He looked down. He tightened his grip on my shirt.

"W-While you were talking to Dean, I-I dosed off in my room and had a nightmare about m-mom. Lyra, s-she was about to k-..." I grabbed him and hugged him.

"Hey. I will never let her hurt you. I won't even let her come near you." I put my hand on his face and raised his face to mine. "Look at me." He looked up. "I swear on my life, if that woman ever comes close to touching you or hurting you, I will protect you. Even if it means that I get hurt. J, I care about you, so much that I'll do anything to protect you. You're my little brother. I'm your older sister. It's my job to be your protector and to love you with all my heart. I will fight to the death to keep you safe. Remember that. When you feel like I don't love you, remind yourself, that I love you so much." I put my hands on his cheeks. "I love you J." I hugged him. He hugged me back, crying. We kept that way for a good 5 minutes until Jacob calmed down.

"C-Can I sleep with you...please?" He looks up. His eyes were begging.

"Of course. Even when I'm already asleep, you can come into bed with me. Okay?" He nods his head. "Okay. Go get ready for bed. I'm gonna unpack our things into our drawers okay?"

"Okay!" He runs off to his room with his clothes to get ready. I grab our suitcase that the men had dropped off earlier when I was talking with Mr. Cohen. I put it on my bed and started unpacking my clothes and other items that are necessary for everyday life. I go to my bathroom to put everything in place and walk out to see Jacob already in bed waiting for me.

"Haha! I didn't even hear you come in." He got shy and laid down. I grabbed my pj's and went back in the bathroom to change and brush my teeth. After all that, I turned off the lights and got into bed with J. He had already dozed off to sleep so I got on my phone for a bit before going to sleep.