Lurking in the hallways, being in the shadows. I'm scared to trust them entirely, but it does feel nice not to run from them anymore. Something that I did every time my brothers or dad had a birthday. I would light a candle and blow it out. Wishing them a happy birthday. Now I kinda feel bad for acting like I don't remember them.

Thump, Thump, two people stop right before the corner. "Papà, sono preoccupato per Elma (Dad, I'm worried about Elma)." A deep voice says, which is Dominic's in Italian.

"Figliolo, non possiamo spingere di più (Son, we can't push any harder)." The second man said, guessing it was Dad's voice.

"Ma papà. È la mia sorellina; Voglio proteggerla e nasconde cose che mettono in pericolo la sua vita (But dad. She's my little sister; I want to protect her, and she's hiding things that endanger her life)!" Dominic protested against Dad. Did he just call me little sister? He actually cares that much about me.

"Dominic, devi capire la privacy, o perderemo la fiducia della nostra principessa (Dominic, you must understand privacy, or we will lose our princess's trust)." Dad warned my older brother about cause and effect. If you push me, I will push back.

"Sì, papà (Yes, dad)." Dominic replies.

"Ora Dominic, cosa hai trovato nel controllo dei precedenti (Now Dominic, what did you find in the background check)?" Dad asked my eldest brother Dominic. Do you really think you will find the information I'm not giving you? I have spies everywhere, and you will find nothing connecting me to the underworld since Brooklyn is known as Midnight, one of the top-ranked hackers/tech people.

"Elma Edwards è nata in Giappone. Si è recentemente trasferita in Italia per uno stage presso BlackGuard dopo essersi diplomata alla K-Prep High School (Elma Edwards was born in Japan. She recently moved to Italy for an internship at BlackGuard after graduating from K-Prep High School)." Dominic told Dad like he was reading a script. Is that all they found? I thought I had given them more information. But there is the fact that my men can find more information than other mafias since it's one of the skills we specialize in.

The Rose Dragons Mafia, my mafia, specializes in information gathering and business deals. The Sicilian Mafia, my family's mafia, is known for its fighting methods and skills. The French Mafia made its name known for being the wealthiest mafia. The Spanish Mafia and The Castellano Mafia specialize in drugs. The Russian Mafia does guns, while The American Mafia does weapons. The Chinese Mafia does trafficking. The Bulgarian Mafia is known for being the second-best in the money game, and The Turkish Mafia is known for its unique torture methods.

"C'è niente altro (Is there anything else)?" Dad asked casually in Italian.

"No, ma come ha fatto Elma a ottenere uno stage presso BlackGuard con così poche informazioni? Tutti i dipendenti della BlackGuard vengono sottoposti a un controllo dei precedenti molto eccessivo, papà (No, but how did Elma get an internship at BlackGuard with so little information? All BlackGuard employees go through a very excessive background check, dad)." Dominic said in a concerned tone for me. Oh yeah, I forgot how far we go into background checks. Ug, I keep messing up this way at that way.

"Buon punto, figliolo (Good point, son)." Dad agreed with Dominic.

"Pensi che Elma sia nei guai con Madame S (Do you think Elma is in trouble with Madame S)?" Dominic points out another theory. It is funny to watch them guess, but I also do feel bad for not telling them.

Thump, Thump, someone else joins in the conversation. "Potrebbe essere, ma ti ricordi quando Clover Heart e Caleb Dalton si sono presentati all'appartamento di Elma (Could be, but do you remember when Clover Heart and Caleb Dalton showed up at Elma's apartment)?" Dominic brings my third in-command and assistant to the discussion.

"Pensi davvero che Elma sia coinvolta con The Rose Dragons (Do you really think Elma is involved with The Rose Dragons)?" The third person who came into the room finally spoke, and it was Ricco's voice, my third older brother. This is interesting hearing them debate about my secret. But I know someday they will find out that I'm the Donna and founder of The Rose Dragons.

"Non voglio, papà. Ma finora, il comportamento di Elma lo dice (I don't want to, Dad. But so far, Elma's behavior says so)." Dominic pushes out the facts even if he does not want to believe them.

"Hai ragione. Ha senso se lei è un drago. Numero uno, Elma parla giapponese e tedesco. Due, la katana e (You are right. It makes sense if she's a dragon. Number one, Elma speaks Japanese and German. Two, the katana and)..." Dad says the fact out loud to his older sons. A-a-a, I spoke German and Japanese fluently, right in front of them. How Stupid Can I Be! They will find out soon, and I can't keep this act together for long.

"Lei conosce l'arte marziale (She knows martial art)!" Ricco finished dad's sentence.

"Pensi che Elma sia una spia (Do you think Elma is a spy)?" Alonso, who does not trust me, accuses me of being a spy. I am not the spy, idiot! And if anyone messes with you, they will be ten feet under. No one and I mean no one, will mess with the family of The Mafia Queen.

"Lei è nostra sorella Ricco (She is our sister Ricco)!" Dominic defends me against his own younger/triplet brother.

"E abbiamo visto il test del DNA (And we saw the DNA test)." Ricco adds to Dominic's statement.

"Il test poteva essere falso, Dominic (The test could have been fake, Dominic)." Still not trusting me, Alonso blurts out, not watching his words. Does he really think I would fake a DNA test? I have craved love from you for years and have been protecting you for years, preventing The Sicilian Mafia from falling.

"Pensi davvero che Elma non sia nostra sorella? Lei è una copia esatta di papà (Do you really think Elma isn't our sister? She is an exact copy of dad)." Dominic's anger goes against Alonso for the accusations.

"Bambini! Smettila immediatamente (Children! Stop it immediately)." Dad shouts at my brothers, making them shiver in their spots.

"Ora, daremo tempo a tua sorella di aprirsi e se è quello che sospetto... Si ricorda cosa è successo dodici anni fa (Now, we'll give your sister time to open up, and if that's what I suspect... She remembers what happened twelve years ago)." Dad tells my brother what he thinks is the issue. I remember Mom standing on top of her twin's dead body right before she got shot twice, once in the chest and another in the head, killing on impact. I didn't move a muscle at the time, shocked and horrified knowing I was the original target. After being taken, I swore to protect my family from the shadows, understanding that I was scared to return.

Still in a hayes against the wall, I snap out of it and return to my room. Lying down on my bed, I collect my thoughts. Trying to process what just happened downstairs. Knock, knock, someone asked to come into my room. "Come In!" I yelled to whoever was on the other side.

"Thank you, Principessa!" Dominic enters the room with a concerned face. What did I do this time? Or what do I don't know now? I rolled my eyes at him for talking about me behind my back. They didn't even care about talking behind my back. Why don't you just leave me alone to dwell, Dominic? Why do you care so much about me? "You don't have to talk, Elma. But I need you to listen to me." Dominic sat next to me on my king-sized bed, and I gave him a mad puff as I lay back down, putting my head on the pillow. "I'm sorry, Neonata!" He paused for a second while letting out a sigh. "It was unacceptable for us to talk about you, but I need you to understand that we are worried... You are our little sister, and as big brothers... It's our job to protect and take care of you, Farfalla!" Dominic finally finishes his mini-speech which makes me go into full-blown tears.

"I-I'm S-cared, Domini-c! Th-at Yo-u G-uys Woul-d L-eave Me B-ecause I-I'm Her!" I cried into Dominic's chest, accepting his comfort and love for me.

After all, my tears flooded out. I calmed down and kept sniffling my plugged nose as Dominic asked, "Principessa, can you tell me what you mean by Her?"

Now my body tensed up. My mouth slipped again! And knowing Dominic, he will not let it go. Crap! What am I gonna tell him? Anything I do say will lead to the fact that I lied to him and everyone else. "Dominic, I haven't been telling the whole truth," I mumbled just loud enough for my brother to hear.

"You know, Elma. It's better to admit a lie instead of getting caught." Dominic said, words of wisdom. Letting me lean against him while he embraced an arm around me.

Dominic is right; it's better to ask for forgiveness than get caught in the process. "I-I," now, taking a deep breath in. "I am an assassin." I just let out, feeling one of my burdens gone. Then after I realized what I had done. I ran into my bathroom, locking the leaving behind a shocked Dominic on my bed.

While in the bathroom, I huddled in a corner with my knees against my chest. Dominic keeps asking me to come out, and I'm not in trouble. But I feel broken and destroyed; my walls, which have been building for the past twelve years, have fallen or otherwise been decimated. Now I hear the rest of my brothers and dad at the door. They keep saying; I am not in trouble at all but are proud of me for talking to Dominic.

"Neonata! Can you open the door? I don't want to use the key." Dad pleads with me again. After sitting for five minutes, the door handle turned. Then they all saw my small body huddled in a corner with big puffy eyes. It took a few minutes, but Dad sent away all my brothers except Dominic.

"Did you tell them?" I whispered to my brother, who sat down next to me.

"It's not my place to tell." Dominic sits next to me on the floor.

"Thank you, Dom." I uncurled myself and when directly into Dominic's chest. "I just don't want them to see who I have become," I mention the last part before going into tears again.

"I understand that, but you know that we love you no matter what, Elma," Dominic revealed. Moving my long black hair from my face. Locking his blue eyes with mine, showing emotion that he loves me.

"Where are you going?" I asked my older brother, who stood up from the bathroom tiles. Then out of nowhere, "A-a-h!" I screamed at him picking me up as I latched onto his neck, not wanting to fall.

"Somewhere but your room." Dominic declared as he carried me out of my room.

We passed five doors before stopping, which I am guessing was Dominic's room. "So you speak in Italian?" He broke up the tension and silence as I glazed around the midnight-dark theme room. Which really fits Dominic being the heir to The Sicilian Mafia.

"It was my first language, you idiot." I rolled my eyes at him while being placed back down on the bed.

"Idiot?" Dominic questions raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, Idiot. Because you forgot that I grew up speaking Italian." I stated the obvious back, finding a nice comfortable spot in the sheets.

"Good point..." Dominic mumbled before joining me in his bed.

"Are you gonna tell Dad?" I asked, curling up right next to him.

"Not until your ready or unless you're in danger, Farfalla (Butterfly)!" He locks eyes with me again, showing emotion that he is not lying to me.

"Thank you, Dom." I yawned back, wanting to have a nice nap.

"But, I want to do talk sessions with you or have someone come in." Dominic gave me a severe look, not joking with me.

It will come out someday, and it's not a good idea to hide that I am already doing therapy. "I am already doing that," I said into the pillow.

"With who? It's not in your records?" Dominic asked as he played with my hair.

"It's a requirement from Zachary if I want to 'work.'" His face immediately changed after hearing Zachary's name, 'Overprotective brother alert.'

"Who might this Zachary be?" Dominic's body and tone stiffened.

"Relax, fratello! Zachary is from dad's generation and is a father figure to me." I scolded him for the gross thoughts in his mind. "Also, I want you to join me for a couple of sessions if you can promise not to kill him or tell anyone," I mumbled the last part as I hid in the pillow on Dominic's bed.

"I promise, little sister." My oldest brother kissed me on the forehead before I closed my eyes. "And have a good nap."