The room contained a single table that was slightly in the centre of the room. Chairs were surrounding the table and every chair was filled except for the one that was next to a guy that looked very much like David and another one that was in the very back. In fact, the chair in the very back looked more like a throne than a chair. Must be for his father, Emilia thought as David walked over to his corresponding seat, sat down and, taking off his mask, pulled her onto his lap.
"Hello, brother," the guy said, staring intently at Emilia. "Mind if I ask, but why does she have a muzzle? You only put those on the girls you-"
"One more word and I will kill you," he replied coldly, grabbing the cards in the middle of the table and shuffling them.
"Why? Thank you, Teresa. Does she know why she has to?" another guy asked, taking a sip from the drink that was handed to him by one of the cat-costumed girls in the background.
"Yes. That is all I am saying. Now, who's up for a game of Card Battle with a little twist?"
"What kind of twist are we talking?" another one the guys asked. Must be another one of his brothers.
"Whoever has the lesser number, their girl has to perform certain tasks of the winners choosing."
"What tasks are we talking here?" a voice said at the door.
A man with ombre hair and a grayish beard stood at the door with a woman with the same muzzle as Emilia. Now that Emilia saw it, every woman in that room had on the same muzzle with a little change to show who they belonged to. The guy that was sitting next to David had rust-red hair so the woman standing behind him had red straps instead of black like Emilia's, the woman at the door had black-and-grey-streaked straps, so on so forth.
"It can be stripping -Mom, you aren't participating in that one-, dancing, and, my favourite one: dipping!"
"Not going to ask what that one is, but it sounds fun! Or is it one of your fucked up 'play time' moments?" the man asked, moving gracefully for his seat.
"You know me so well. The first time that happened, I ended up dissolving a prostitute in hydrochloric acid. But, because I have a nice soul, the woman only has to dip a fake body part into a vat of it!"
"Explain to me again, dear, why we kept him when we first heard he dismembered the neighbor's dog," the man said, now sitting in the throne-like seat at the back of the table, to the woman who entered with him. She reached up to her straps and took the muzzle off, revealing a slightly worn but beautiful face.
"I don't know, darling. Dear," she said, turning a concerned eye to Emilia, "If you ever feel as though he might kill you or hurt you in any kind of way, I'll give you my number, just give me a call. I will be there to make him stop, and you don't want that now do you, Davy?" Snickers were heard around the table as David's face slightly contorted into a face of anger.
"Mom," he said sweetly, covering Emilia's ears. Whatever else he said, made everyone at the table surprised and his father nearly purple with outrage. Emilia couldn't hear it and thought that she probably didn't need to hear it because he covered her ears when he said it.
"You will not speak to your mother that way!" he yelled, picking up an empty wine bottle and throwing it at him. Emilia's hand shot out and caught the bottle around its neck before it hit David's face.
"Thank you, dumplin'. Before we try to kill each other, let's play the game," he smiled, dividing the cards into seven hands and passing them out. "Any cheating will result in the dipping of their woman, and I don't mean a fake body part." Murmurs followed after that one. One of the guys raised his hand. "Derek, this isn't preschool. What do you want?"
"Will your bitch be participating?" Derek said, a heavy Russian accent, making Emilia's spine tingle. And not in a good way.
In response to that, David laughed. It wasn't a joyous laugh or was it a sarcastic one. Emilia couldn't tell which one it was, but, judging from the tone of what he said afterward, she didn't need to know.
"A) Derek, you call my girl a bitch again and I will make a 'pig in a blanket' like Mom used to out of your baby dick B) she will only participate if she wants to. Do you want to, Emma?" he asked, smiling at Emilia who felt that satisfying chill up her spine again. Shaking her head no, she saw him get close to her ear and whisper 'good girl'. "You saw what her response is. She will not be in the game. Now, choose your first card."