Their Little Princess

Chapter Forty-Five

The next day, Xander wakes me up by pulling my blanket off of me, cold air rushes in and I startle awake, "Xander!" I say, reaching desperately for my blanket.

"How does it feel to get waken up like that?" He says.

My brothers always make me wake Xander up because he doesn't yell at me or threaten me which is what I'm guessing they've experienced. I don't blame him, because right now I'm certain I could yell at him.

"Breakfast is ready," He says, walking out of my room.

My shoulders drop and I exhale, trying to wake myself up fully. I prepare for my day and get dressed and walk down into the kitchen. "Happy day-before-your-birthday," Carlo says, ruffling my hair all up.

"That's not a real celebration," I counter.

"Sure it is," Francesco says, setting my food in front of me. 

"Elijah cooked this?" I ask.

Elijah walks into the kitchen, he wraps up a conversation he was having quietly with Emilio before walking over to me and planting a kiss in my hair, "No, not this time, angel. Merion, she's our chef, I had her come in early this morning to make breakfast. A few people will be coming in for a couple hours a day to cook and clean. Are you okay with that? We can introduce you to them if it would make it better," Elijah explains, looking at my expression to gauge how I feel about it.

"I don't mind," I say, "Would they clean my room?" I actually kind of hate cleaning my room, it's huge and I love it, but also, I have a lot of clothes and stuff, more than I used to have, and I hate tidying.

"If you want them to," He says.

"Alright, I say starting my food.

"I'll be at work all day, but we'll be back later tonight and we can play Monopoly, sound good?" Elijah says.

"Alright," I say.

He walks out of the house, and I sip the hot chocolate Francesco made me, as Carlo walks in. "Is Xander still here?" I ask him. 

He shakes his head, walking over to the microwave to grab the plate he put in there, "I think he left with Sandro and the others," He says, "Emilio's in his room if you need anything from him though."

"Okay, thanks."

"Up for a movie?" Carlo asks me. I realized on Saturdays, it's the emptiest around the house. Everyone is either at work, or at home doing work, or in their room. There's a ring on the doorbell. Carlo walks out of the kitchen and reappears a moment later with Zio Dante.

"Hello, principessa," He says, pulling me into a hug when he walks into the kitchen, "Happy early birthday. How does it feel being almost 14?" He says with a half grin.

"Not that different," I shrug, "But it's not my birthday yet so..."

"Nonsense," He says.

"Right? That's what I said," Carlo echoes.

I fight the urge to roll my eyes. "I just need to grab my work things from Alessandro's office, but I'll see you tomorrow, then we can celebrate your real birthday, yeah?" He says teasingly.

"Yeah," I say.

Once he leaves, I walk out into the living room with Carlo to watch something. "What do you want to watch?" He asks, grabbing the remote.

"I don't know...Let's try Riverdale," I say. I've heard a few things about that show and it looks interesting enough.

"Alright."

By the time my brothers come home, we're at the season finale. I'm just staring wide-eyed at the screen, Carlo hasn't said a word in over 10 minutes. "Enjoying that show?" Elijah says with a slight grin on his face before it pauses. We both turn to Elijah instantly as he sets the remote down. "Elijah!" I protest.

"I'm sorry, angel, if we want to play the game, we have to start now," He says, "I don't want you up too late."

"La tua faccia è troppo tardi," Carlo mutters.
[translation: your face is too late]

I can't help the giggle that escapes and they all turn to me instantly, everyone accept Sandro.

"You speak Italian?" Francesco says, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"Um...Yeah?" I say. Dang it, I'm gonna miss spying on them.

They all look a bit impressed, maybe shocked. "You don't look surprised, Sandro," Carlo says.

"Be serious, he's Alessandro, he probably figured it out ages ago," Xander says, rolling his eyes.

"Did you?" Emilio asks him, curiously.

"When you mentioned the hospital when she just got here, she panicked slightly, we were speaking Italian," Sandro says, he slides his coat off and walks into his office.

Sometimes it's genuinely terrifying how perceptive he is. Once everyone is settled and ready, Emilio walks back in with Monopoly, Sandro walks in behind him, still in his button up, but the sleeves are slightly rolled up and he ditched the blazer. "Who's ready to play Monopoly?" Emilio says.

.   .   .

"You literally landed on my property earlier!" I exclaim.

"Did not!" Carlo counters, "And plus, if you don't call it when it happens, it doesn't count."

"That doesn't even make sense. And pay attention, jackass, you landed on my railroad," Xander says to Carlo.

"Well I don't have any money money left, moron. Why the hell do you think my piece is no longer on the board?"

"We're supposed to just sit and pretend Emilio wasn't sneaking money the whole time?" Francesco say, narrowing his eyes at Emilio.

"No I wasn't!" Emilio insists, but the small half smirk lets everyone know he's lying.

"Your poker face sucks," Sandro says, casually moving a piece and then looking at Elijah's now empty possessions, he sits back, "And I win."

Everyone erupts in protests. "Can someone get the popcorn?" Carlo says at the sound of the microwave beeping but before anyone can answer, Sandro's phone rings. His jaw tenses when he sees the caller ID.

He stands, "I need to take this, I'll be right back."

Elijah's POV:

"Understood."

Alessandro hangs up the phone, his jaw tenses and he shuts his eyes in frustration.

"Riccardo?" Francesco says, he already looks inches away from frustration.

"There's absolutely nothing," Sandro says, his fist slams down on the desk in frustration, he pinches the bridge of his nose, shutting his eyes. The room is silent.

"I don't even see why I'm suggesting this, but what if we told Maddie?" Francesco says, "She lived with Elena. She could give us something that would help if she understood the situation."

I look over at him, my eyes narrow, "Are you serious?"

"Obviously I'm serious, why would I joke about something like this?!" Francesco snaps, "Do you plan on lying to her for the rest of her life?! She hates being lied to—"

"And so you think she likes murder more?" Xander says sarcastically, his voice is thin and challenging, "You think she'd prefer hearing that not only did her mother and step-father torture her for her entire life, but the rest of the family she had is involved in the fucking mafia?!"

I see her before the others. At the dead silence in the room, Sandro opens his eyes and follows everyone else's line of sight.

"Madison."