The Dragon Blade

Chapter Ten, Regulations

"Domenico, è ora di cena (Dominic, it's time for dinner)." A deep voice in Italian wakes me up, guessing it's Dad.

"Hey, Principessa!" Dominic starts moving, making me snuggle in more. "Nope! It's time for dinner, and you missed lunch already today." He starts unhooking himself from my grasp.

Now getting picked up from the couch, carried to the dining room, and placed nicely in my chair as I whined. "Can't I just skip dinner and go to sleep?" In response, everyone chucked, thinking it was cute.

"Mateo, I think you might have to feed Elma like a baby. If she keeps falling asleep." Romeo tells his twin, teasing me in the process.

"Nope, I'm awake!" I quickly sat up straight, waking myself up.

We all sat at the table with Dad at the head, Dominic on the right, and me on the left. Then looking to the left, Mateo sat next to me, plus his twin. Now Ricco sits in between his two triplets, and my last brother Elio sits the third seat down from me. "You know you're very lucky that Dominic let you skip lunch earlier," Mateo mentioned.

"You're kidding me!" I gaze right into his eyes while a young female adult enters. She was wearing black jeans and a dark gray shirt.

"Yes! And know that we love you, Principessa, so much!" Romeo beats my other brothers to the punch.

We all talked as the young adult went around the room, placing plates in front of my family from a serving tray. Dinner was Gnocchi, Focaccia, Roasted Veggies, and an Italian Green Bean Salad. I discovered her name was Giorgia as we thanked her for the meal.

"Ich bin nicht hungrig (I'm not hungry)." I mumbled in German, not wanting to speak in English. Playing with my food, being bored at the table.

"Es ist nur Essen (It's only food)," Romeo comments back in German.

"Sprechen Sie fließend oder lernen Sie noch (Are you fluent or still learning)?" I asked in German, wondering what level he was at.

"Romeo is still learning German," Dominic said as I just noticed that Romeo didn't understand what I said.

We both stare into each other's eyes, trying to read each other. Out of amusement, I couldn't help chucking. He was reading me, and I slipped up without knowing.

"Ok? What's going on here?" Mateo blurts out, glazing between his twin and me.

"Power play, dear brother." I gave them my power smirk, which totally caught them off guard. Oops, too much!

B-u-z-z, all my brothers' phones go off. Then Ricco noticed my confusion and said, "Papà, wants us all in the living room."

What did I do now? I didn't think I had done anything yet. Just remember Elma, you're The Mafia Queen, the most powerful person in the world. You hold power! Making men cower to the ground like flies. People fear you but also respect you highly for your morals.

"I have called a family meeting to discuss and negotiate boundaries for you, Principessa." Dad's eyes landed directly on me when he said 'boundaries.' Basically, a fancy name for saying rules to my face.

"Fine, but I am agreeing only because we are negotiating." I lowered my voice in a dark way as the words came from the tip of my tongue.

We all sat down on the couches, and rule one ended up being, No alcohol or drugs. Which nicely told them I only drink when it's a special occasion or 'that day.' Luckily they didn't push the question further. They all seemed curious about 'that day.'

"Rule Two, curfew." Dad comes out bluntly.

"Before you say anything. I have evening meetings at BlackGuard because of the different time zones." Dad was about to say something, but I held up my right index finger, stopping him from speaking. "I'm fine being back home at ten only on nights I don't have meetings." I stand my ground, seeing my shocked but proud brothers.