Aldric Kensington's Pov.

She is so small. No matter what she says, she is still my princess. The first daughter of this house and the first sister of the Kensington's.

Right now, I am sleeping beside her. Well, pretending to sleep. Both of us are. I know she is not quite comfortable having someone in her personal space.

I am lying on my back, my posture rigid despite the softness of the bed. Athaliah is lying facing away from me, her back to me, wrapped in her own thoughts. She's rebellious, always has been, and despite the warmth of the room, she can't seem to shake the urge to keep some space between us. Her body is tense, as if she's still trying to adjust to the closeness, to the fact that after a decade apart, we are finally reunited—now, sharing the same space.

Those brothers of mine think that they can have the privilege of sleeping with her. With me being the first born, they always have to stay back when it comes to our sister.

Tonight was a mess. Well, this whole week was a mess. After Athaliah told us where that sorry excuse of father of ours sent her, I lost every ounce of control. I went to my dungeon and tortured some fuckers to release my tension. Not only me, but all of our brothers coped with that newfound information differently.

Reuben has it the hardest. That boy does not know what to feel. When he heard the news of mom dying, he was shattered. After Athaliah gone, he started to put all the blame on her. It was easy for him to blame rather than accept. He became isolated. He started losing his temper often.

Even now, after that call and dagger that Athaliah received, he raced recklessly, relieving his anger. I had to get him out of the prison thrice this week for that.

None of us could take into account that the dried blood on that dagger was my princess's. I don't know what she had to endure in that Asylum, but one thing is for sure, I am going to hunt that person down and tear him apart, limb by limb with my bare hands.

Soon enough, Athaliah gave in and slept in a deep slumber. She turned towards me and snuggled into me. I smiled. When she was younger, she used to love sleeping beside her brothers. She told us she felt safe. I hope I can give her the same sense of security now when she feels the most unsafe.

When we heard her screaming in her sleep, we all got worried. I knew it the first time that she was having a nightmare. When she screamed again, I realized it might be often that she had nightmares.

So, I consulted with a mental health physician about it. He told me there might be various reasons for it — trauma being a major one. The thought that my sister is suffering from trauma brings rage and disappointment in me. Rage because she had to endure such things and disappointment because I failed to protect her. Guilt creeped in me. If only I had tried harder to find her. If only I had stood up against our father to know more about my princess. Then my princess would not had to suffer like this.

So, we made a decision. We will not let Athaliah sleep alone. One of us will always be with her. If she has any nightmares, one of us will be with her, helping her through it.

Kissing her forehead, I whispered, "Sleep well, princess. I am here with you. I will not let you face any danger alone now."

I tilted more towards her and draped my arm on her, securing her. She immediately shifted more towards me. I closed my eyes to fall into a peaceful slumber for tonight.

It was morning. I woke up a long time ago. But I didn't try to change my position because Athaliah is hugging me while sleeping. She looks so calm. I know that Athaliah has a habit of waking up early, so she will soon be awake. Till then, I want to cherish this moment. I want to feel at peace that after nine years, I have my princess with me.

She stirred in her sleep, rubbing her eyes. She slowly opened her eyes and took a look at her surroundings.

"Good morning." I wished.

She got startled and backed away from me. Her eyes wide with alertness. I felt a pang in my chest. Exactly what did she go through?

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Good morning." I repeated.

"What is so good about this morning?" she sassily replied. Her tone was grumpy.

I was about to reply her when we heard shouting from downstairs. It looked like our brothers were arguing. It is not a big deal.

"And Zephyrus said I behave like an animal. You brothers can never have a peaceful morning, can they?" she said after rolling her eyes.

I didn't miss how she said 'my' brothers.

"They are your brothers as well." I said looking straight into her eyes.

"We both know the truth. There is no need to pretend."

"Exactly. And the truth is that you are our sister." I replied.

She contemplated for some time to reply me but then we heard another voice from downstairs.

This was not the sound of my brothers. It was a sound of a man, probably in his 40s.

I got alert. I stood up from the bed and said,

"Athaliah, no matter what happens, don't come downstairs until I call you."

She also got alert and asked.

"What's happening?"

"I will look into that. It seems like an intruder. Stay in your room."

Saying that I grabbed my gun from the holster attached to my lower leg. I always have a gun with me so that I can keep my family safe.

I looked back at Athaliah and saw she was not fazed by me having a gun. I got out of her room with quiet and careful steps and reached the stairs. I saw a man sitting on the couch in the living area.

When I saw his face, I was stunned. I don't know how to feel when I saw the person I least expected to be in my living room.

I slowly went downstairs and heard my brothers asking the same questions I have.

"I still don't understand why are you here on our property." said Ezekiel.

Each of my brother is alert of the danger that this man can pose.

"I already told you; I came here to meet someone." He replied.

"I don't think we have someone who actually wants to meet you." said Zephyrus.

"What is happening here?" I asked, my voice echoing the room.

"Well, well ,well. See, with whose presence are we graced by. The Italian Mafia Don." He said, mocking me.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of having Cronus Valkryie in my house?" I asked in the same tone.

"I came here to meet someone precious." He eyed my gun and continued, "I am disappointed. Is this how you Italians greet your guests. With guns. I thought you would think different from your brothers."

Each of my brothers have a gun in their hands and eyes on the man sitting on the sofa, unfazed by the six pairs of eyes glaring daggers at him.

"Who do you want to meet with?" I asked, not beating around the bush. It us already bad enough with the capo of Spanish Mafia here. I don't want to harm my family's safety.

Although he is no longer a mafia don. But that doesn't mean he could be underestimated. When his mafia was still alive, he was on top. He killed ruthlessly with no mercy. He was the most brutal and infamous mafia don.

He sighed. "I am bored of answering the same question over and over again."

"If you give a name, I am sure it will not be very hard for you." I replied.

"I don't know why we think he is a threat. This man could not even save his own empire from crashing." Reuben remarked, still pointing his gun at him.

Whatever Reuben says, every person in this room is well aware of the threat Cronus can pose. It doesn't matter he doesn't run his mafia; he could still single-handedly disarm three of us if he wants to. And not all my younger brothers come under this category of three.

Cronus eyed Reuben. His face showed no expression. I cleared my throat to divert his attention from my brother and said,

"Name." I asked about the person for whom he decided to enter the territory of one his biggest rival. Unarmed.

He was about to say something when Reuben spoke,

"Get out of here, you old fogey."

"Disrespect him again and I will shoot you in your eyes." We heard a very angry tone from behind us. We turned back to see Athaliah standing near the staircase.

"Athaliah, go back to your room." Zephyrus ordered.

"It is not safe here, cupcake." said Royce.

She rolled her eyes and addressed the intruder.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I missed my junior." Cronus replied.

"It's not even that long." replied Athaliah.

"A father is always worried for his daughter."

Wait, what?

What is going on here? All my brothers were confused and eyeing each other for answers.

Athaliah sighed and said, "Don't call me junior again. I hate that."

Saying this, Athaliah went towards Cronus and hugged him, might I add, too tightly. She never even let us be in the same room as her and now she is hugging a stranger.

Cronus chuckled. The only evidence that he is a human. Nobody has ever seen a single muscle on his face twitch. And here this man is smiling hugging my sister.

My sister.

"What the hell is happening?" Zephyrus roared.

They broke their hug.

"Darling, come here. This man is dangerous for you." Kaelen said, worry and confusion laced his tone.

"My dad might be dangerous, but not for me."

"WHAT?" All of us said, shock underlined our tone.

"My bad! I forgot to introduce him. Meet him. His name is Cronus Valkyrie. My dad." Athaliah said with a beam of happiness.

"And dad, they are the Kensington brothers." She introduced us.

We all felt a sheer pain when Athaliah didn't mention us being her brothers. She happily introduced her 'dad' but not her brothers.

"Her brothers." Reuben said with a hint of jealousy.

The air of the room suddenly felt thick. To reduce the tension, I said,

"Let's all just sit and talk."

We all settled down on the couches. Athaliah didn't leave Cronus's hand.

"So, you were her foster father?" asked Ezekiel. He has this ability to quickly sober up after a shock.

"I am her father." Cronus replied sternly.

I saw Athaliah squeezing his hand.

"Why did you want to meet her?" asked Zephyrus.

"That's a ridiculous question."

"Since how long you know Athaliah?" I asked.

"Since she was born." Cronus replied.

"What?" I asked. What does he mean by this? Had he been keeping tabs on my family?

"He means since I was reborn. After successfully escaping that place, I ran into him. I was barely alive by then, but he saved me, giving me a rebirth." Athaliah replied this time.

Her words pierced my heart. She was barely alive. I am going to hunt that monster and bring hell to him. He will have to bear ten times the pain that he inflicted on my princess.

However, I don't know why but I feel there is more to this story.

"Thank you for saving my sister." I said.

Cronus just scoffed. He put hands on Athaliah's head and started massaging it. Athaliah leaned more towards him and sighed softly. Like she was in heaven.

She never feels relaxed with us. But then again, she was betrayed by us, once.

There was a complete silence for few minutes. Then Ezekiel cleared his throat and said,

"We are grateful for you to care for our sister. But we want to make one thing very clear that this is Athaliah's house. And if you are planning to take her away, that is not happening in a million lifetime."

At his statement, all our brother's spine straightened. Me included. No. I can't let him take my princess back. It will be like one of our pieces will be gone. We cannot let Athaliah leave us again.

"You cannot take my sister away from me." Reuben shouted after pointing his gun at Cronus.

———🌸———

Here is the next chapter.

I hope your like it.

Please vote and comment on how you like it.

I also apologize for the delay as I and stuck in something.

I hope you guys understand.

Also, I am open to any suggestions.