Dancing in a Cage (Mafia!Brothers and Sister!Reader)

Chapter 2

I sat patiently in the chair in front of my little makeup station, looking into my own black eyes. My black hair was styled loosely and hanging free of any kind of hair tie, with the faint black eyeshadow matching the silver-gray floor-length tent dress with a golden belt as an accent to compliment the fine gold arm cuff wrapped around my left upper arm. A gold decorative pin was nestled above my right ear with seven diamonds arranged into points, almost like a crown. It was the only piece of jewelry that I truly treasured because it was the only birthday present that I received from my brothers, given to me when I was twelve years old.

I wore this entire outfit only during family dinner meetings and, despite looking pretty enough while wearing it, it didn't change the fact that I hated formalwear. Maybe I'd have to try again and convince my brothers to have a pizza night in pajamas, just like in the years before Papa and Mom passed. However, appearances were everything while at these dinner meetings -- no matter how much I protested.

A soft rap on my door alerted me to my escort's arrival, and I walked over to the door to open it up. The man, Franky, who was my assigned bodyguard, looked down from his 6'5'' height to my 5'3", his square shoulders stiffening a little as I gave him a small nod of acknowledgement. Without saying anything, he turned around and waited for me to leave the room, looking around to make sure the area was clear. His harsh green eyes reminded me of Choromatsu's, which may have been why Osomatsu hired him to be my bodyguard for any event, kind of like a roundabout way of apology. The carefully trimmed dark brown crew cut gave away the guard's military background, and I noticed a new scar just behind his left ear.

"Franky, did you get hurt?" I asked as I passed him, my black kitten heels softly clicking on the buffed blue-gray slate tile floors of the spacious mansion we called home.

"Not severely, ma'am. I'm still able to perform my duties given to me," His reply was crisp and to the point. I closed my eyes briefly, knowing that getting him to change what he called me wasn't going to happen, despite telling him for ten years to call me by my name.
"Do you know which family we're entertaining tonight?"

"The Yowai family, ma'am."

The name sent chills up my spine. Both families hadn't met in a while, with the last meeting ending in a heated argument between Choromatsu and Mr. Yowai about an arranged marriage between Osomatsu and Totoko, the Yowai's sole daughter. Thankfully, I hadn't heard any conversation about the Yowai's eldest son and myself, but I was certain that Choromatsu and Todomatsu had something to do with that.

The silence swallowed whatever words I had as we approached the grand dining room, where there was a small buzz of activity. Various servers were finishing setting up the table while I slowly walked to my usual place near the head of the table, which was quite a few feet in front of the massive fireplace. I was told to always sit between Osomatsu, who was at the head, and Ichimatsu, who sat to Osomatsu's left. The right seat was for Karamatsu, followed by Todomatsu, and Choromatsu closest to the guest family. Jyushimatsu was normally seated between Ichimatsu and the guest family, where he could react the fastest to an oncoming threat.

I took another deep breath and put my hands on the high back of the sturdy wooden chair, rubbing the tips of my fingers over its smooth curves and ornate leafy decorations. I had sat in this chair for as long as I could remember, but it wasn't always at this thirty-foot-long table. I heard Franky move away from me to stand next to one of the four entrances into the dining room. Out of respect for the visiting family, I couldn't sit down until everyone was standing behind their assigned places. It was a pain, but only one of the few small negatives of eating with all of my siblings.

The other cons were I couldn't have any kind of conversation unless asked directly, and I couldn't really look at anyone for a long time. I had to remain polite to both families, as I was essentially an 'outsider' during these kinds of meetings, despite being a sibling. I learned that lesson harshly when Papa was still around, lightly rubbing a sizable scar that was hidden by my hair on the back of my head.