"How long are they going to take?"

Emily asked Leo in a soft voice as she craned her neck to look upstairs at the hallway leading to the third floor.

"I have no idea, to be honest. Sometimes their meetings last for hours." Leo replied as he continued to play his favorite mobile game.

Even though it appeared like his attention was on the game, Emily knew that he had been observing her all this while.

It had been more than three hours since they returned after the incident at the restaurant.

The man, known as Shadow, who saved Daniel's life, also accompanied them to the mansion and was currently accompanying her brothers in their meeting.

All that she knew about that man was that he belonged to the Supernatural race and he was just as good-looking as the other supernaturals whom she had met so far.

"Young Miss, here is your favorite tea. It will help you to calm your nerves." Mrs. Harris said as the old woman placed the cup on the table.

"Mrs. Harris, when are you going to stop calling me this formally. I'll really appreciate it if you will call me by my name." Emily once again tried to point out an 'already discussed several times' issue, knowing fully well that the woman was not going to listen to her.

"You should eat more, Young Miss. Look at you. I've never seen such a fragile young girl in my life ever before. I'm going to add more nutritious food to your diet." Mrs. Harris reprimanded the girl with a voice filled with warmth and care before she disappeared into the kitchen.

"I'm surprised that you are still trying," Leo commented with a shake of his head as he looked in the direction of the kitchen.

"One can hope!"

Emily replied with a little shrug as she picked up the teacup and took a small sip of the fragrant herbal tea.

The honey-sweet chamomile taste engulfed her tastebuds into a warm hug as she sipped more of the fragrant liquid.

It did not take long before the tea started showing its magic and her tensed body started relaxing.

Her muscles loosened up and she let out a sigh of relief as she finished the tea and placed the empty cup back on the table.

"You really like this tea, don't you?" Leo asked after a few seconds as he put away his phone and focused his attention on his sister.

The two of them were sitting opposite to each other. The little wooden table which was placed in the center separated the two of them.

Emily shrugged a little as she replied, "At the very beginning I started drinking this tea to heal my bruises but then I slowly get to realize that it also helped me in calming down and relieving me from those headaches that I get every time I started overthinking the things. Now I'm more or less used to it. Just like you are used to your hot chocolate."

"That makes sense. But the problem is that other than the normal herbs, there's also a unique and rare magical herb mixed in this tea. Unfortunately, this herb can only be found in the forest under Sullivan's territory." Leo told her with bitterness coating his voice as he mentioned the name of the Sullivans.

Emily observed her brother for a few silent moments before she decided to ask the question that had been lurking in her mind for quite some time by now.

"What's the bad blood between you and Rylan?"

Her voice came out full of curiosity as she stared at her brother with twinkling eyes.

Leo immediately looked up to stare at his sister with shocked eyes as he asked, "W-what made you think like that? I mean...is-isn't it simple that I'm not fond of him considering our families are rivals?"

The way he became flustered made a smile appear on Emily's lips.

"I'm not that dumb, brother. I know that the grudge that the two of you are holding against each other is more than just because of the rivalry between our families. I just know that there's a story and that too an interesting one."

Leo looked at the smiling girl as he shook his head before muttering, "You know nothing."

Emily nodded her head in agreement with his statement as she replied, "Of course! But that's because you are not telling ne anything. Not did Rylan and Shane. Every time I brought up this topic they played it down by diverting the conversation. So, please tell me."

Leo was about to open his mouth, obviously not to answer her question, when they heard voices coming from the stairs.

Soon enough, the rest of the Alessandro brothers appeared in the living room followed by Sam, Domenic's secretary, the head of the Security of the Alessandro mansion, and Shade.

"Are you alright?" Daniel asked as he took a seat beside her on the sofa.

Everyone's attention was on the girl as they waited to listen to her reply.

"I'm much better. Leo has been a great company." Emily immediately replied with a sweet smile as she let the fingers of one of her hands curl around Daniel's arm.

Crist chuckled as he patted Leo on his shoulder before taking a seat beside his youngest brother.

The others too settled down on the sofas. The head of the security disappeared from the living room along with Domenic's secretary.

The only person remained there, who was not a part of their family, was the Shadow guy.

Rather than sitting, he kept standing behind Domenic in a carefree attitude. However, she could see the sharpness and alertness in his beautiful amber eyes.

"Emilia."

Her attention was pulled towards Domenic who was looking directly at her. His green eyes did not hold any warmth in them but they were not cold either.

"There are some things that we need to clear." He spoke that single sentence which made her gulp down her saliva in nervousness.

One of the things that she hated the most was letting down Domenic by doing something stupid.

And somehow, she knew that he was not really impressed by her behavior. Or at least, that's what she thought.

Daniel noticed the stiffness in her body and immediately snaked his arm around her shoulders, instantly making her relax as she felt his support beside her.

"From today onwards, Shadow is going to be your new personal guard. He will become your shadow and protect you at all costs."

Domenic laid down the first change that had hit her life.

Her eyes traveled to look at the man who was standing behind her guardian. His eyes staring right back at her.

"Can I trust him?"

She could not help but ask, her eyes returning to look at Domenic once again.

"Even though I've already looked into his background and made sure that he can be trusted, I'll let you decide for yourself," Domenic answered with a look of assurance in his eyes.

However, Emily was left confused. She was about to ask what he exactly meant by his statement when Shadow decided to speak.

"There will be a team of hidden guards around us all the time. This team is personally trained by the Third Young Master. You won't find yourself alone with me until the day you can trust me with your eyes closed."

Emily was left shocked as she first stared at Shadow and then at her eldest brother who nodded his head in agreement.

What else she could say? Therefore, she just nodded her head in acceptance.

"Moving on, I know that what happened today was something that you were not prepared for and I'm fully aware that you were worried about Daniel's safety. But you need to remember, in the future never make this mistake again. You should escape from that place immediately and that's an order, Emilia Alessandro."

Domenic's voice came out cold and commanding as he stared directly into her eyes.

Emily could feel tears threatening to spill but she did not want to cry in front of a stranger. However, when she looked up at the spot where Shadow had been standing, she found it empty.

The man had left the living room at some point and as soon as she realized it, she was no longer able to control her tears.

She was expecting to hear Domenic's angry voice or Mark's taunt. Rather, everyone stayed silent as she cried silently.

Daniel's hand tightened around her shoulder as his fingers started drawing circles on her upper arm, a tactic that he often used to calm her.

She felt someone crouching down in front of her and when she saw familiar hands covering her own small ones, she moved her face up to look at Domenic.

"Sorellina, I know that you don't want to agree with what I'm telling you to do, but you have to keep in mind that you are the life of the Alessandro family. You are the one who's most important to all of us. That you are our strength. All we want from you is that you never forget this. You need to stay safe, sweetheart. If you are safe and happy, we can fight and win all our wars. Will you do that for me? Will you keep yourself safe for your brothers, for your family?"