Tragic Empire: Chapter 40

“I knew I should have gone to the bachelorette party instead,” Matteo sulks, tossing his cards into the center of the table with a huff. “I’m going to tell Jade that her husband keeps stealing my money.”

Dmitri simply smirks, collecting his chips. He doesn’t reveal his hand, having forced Matteo into folding. He wants him to wonder whether or not he bluffed. Dmitri plays poker like he was born doing it, and it irks Matteo.

I, on the other hand, find it quite amusing.

“Were you hoping that she’d pity you enough to let you tag along?” Apollo inquires, snark dripping from his tone. “It’s ladies only, Brother. She told you this.”

“Twenty times,” Elio tacks on, twirling his glass of scotch.

“Ivan and Anatoly are there, it’s hardly ladies only,” Matteo grumbles in response. “So not fair.”

“They’re guarding the girls,” Dad reminds him. “I’m sure they’re not having a ton of fun either, Son.”

“I’m having a great time,” Apollo says with a mischievous grin. Getting under our little brother’s skin is one of his favorite pastimes.

“Bachelor parties are supposed to be comprised of half-naked strippers, irresponsible drug consumption, and loud music,” Matteo says, ignoring him. “Not card-playing, cigar smoking, and whiskey sipping at home.”

“The idea of half-naked women who are not my wife coming within a mile of me is revolting,” Dmitri grimaces.

“Good,” Nico declares, beginning to deal out the next hand of cards.

“I’m too old for strippers,” Dad adds on. “The last woman who tried to get my attention for money called me Daddy, and I thought I was going to be sick. I told her that my daughter calls me that, and she scurried off, thankfully.”

Matteo bursts into a fit of laughter at the admission and most of us chuckle alongside him. The party has been surprisingly nice, and despite Matteo’s whining, I think even he’s been having fun.

All Dmitri wanted to do was have a guys’ night, and everyone was more than happy to comply. Since the wedding is only a couple days away, all of us were in town and available.

Cleo, Melani, Jade, and Ana are out dancing and have been for a few hours now. Ivan, Anatoly and a team of guards are with them, keeping a very close eye on the group. I’m not worried for their safety, though. They’re in a Moretti-owned club, in our territory. As much as I’d prefer to be with Ana, it’s nice having all of my brothers in one room again. It doesn’t happen often.

It’s interesting having the original nine of us with the addition of new blood. Apollo, Leon, Elio, Emilio, Armani, Nico, Remo, Matteo, Colton, Dmitri, Dad, and me. We’re all family, even if it’s in different ways for some of us. Dmitri by marriage and Colton, unofficially, but close enough to count. He isn’t just Armani’s best friend now, he’s Ana’s chosen brother. Her, Armani, and Colton are as close as Jade, Matteo, and Ivan. Their friendship isn’t as cuddly, of course, but just as meaningful if you ask me.

Naturally, I’ve always cared for Armani as my younger brother. But watching him with my wife, seeing him pull her further into the family, it’s strengthened that bond tenfold.

I used to consider Leon my closest ally in the family, followed by Apollo. I think it’s Armani now, and I’m glad for it. He brings a new kind of life into my days. I can’t put into words how much it means to me every time he gets my wife to smile when she’s stuck in her darkness.

Like he knows I’m thinking about him, Armani decides to join the conversation. “I don’t mind the daddy thing,” he proclaims, waggling his brows. “There are way worse things to be called in bed.”

“Agreed,” Elio quips. There’s a look in his eye that has me thinking he’s more serious than Armani. He’s always been private about his romantic life, but I could see him being interested in deviant things.

“I do not want to know,” Dad tells them with a huffed laugh.

“You’re no fun,” Armani accuses. “You used to be so much more vulgar. Being a girl dad changed you.”

Dad clicks his tongue and grins. “Thank god for that.”

“I don’t know,” Colton muses. “I miss watching Dante Moretti make pretty little society women faint. It was absolutely legendary.”

“That only happened twice,” Dad defends, brushing off the praise.

Dmitri chuckles, out of the loop. “There’s a story there.”

Dad shakes his head. “It’s hardly a story.”

Apollo doesn’t let him get away with it so easily. “A simple case of overzealous mafia princesses trying to be the next Moretti mommy.”

There’s a rousing laughter around the table and Elio picks up where Apollo left off. “One of whom thought promising him more heirs would seduce him. Dad just looked her up and down and told her that he’d break her tiny little body, and she shouldn’t make promises she couldn’t possibly keep.”

Dad wrinkles his nose at the memory. “She was twenty.”

“And the other one?” Dmitri asks, an amused smile on his face.

Leon takes the pleasure of explaining that one. “One of Cleo’s older cousins. She was laying it on thick and Dad told her that he wasn’t looking for a wife, but she could try her luck with his brother. Uncle Cesar tortured her last husband. Suffice it to say, she was properly spooked and took a nap in the middle of the party.”

Again, the table shares a laugh, even Dad can’t hide his chuckle. The mention of our deceased uncle doesn’t go unnoticed though, and the air shifts. Nico shares a look with our sister’s husband and he nods sympathetically.

“To Cesar, then,” Dmitri says, raising his glass.

“To Cesar,” each of us echoes, joining him in the gesture.

We lapse into one comfortable hand of poker after another, conversations popping up and shifting every so often. I didn’t expect to feel so content going into this night. I expected to feel a constant nagging urge to flee and find Ana. Since losing Isobel, my relationship with my brothers has been strained at best. I didn’t want to be around anyone, and none of them knew how to help me.

Being with Ana has been like a breath of fresh air after years of barely sustaining oxygen. I feel most whole when she’s by my side. She fuels me. And I do miss her, but I expected to dread missing her more. As fucked up as it is, I think I forgot how much I loved my family. Loving Ana didn’t just wake up my cold broken heart, it reminded me who I am, and how lucky I am to have our family.

I missed my brothers and our father. I missed feeling alive in their presence. They couldn’t heal me, they didn’t have what I needed. But they didn’t leave me either. No matter how hard I shoved them away, they’ve always been waiting. Morettis are forever, and with Ana as my wife, I don’t think I’ll ever take that for granted again.

Matteo has finally won some of his money back when the door creaks open. My heart immediately soars, the beat hammering hard as my wife comes into view. Her silky black hair is tumbling around her tight blue dress, properly mussed from her night out. With pink flushed cheeks and a stunning smile, she waltzes into the room, making her way to my side.

“Hello, everyone,” she greets happily. “Sorry to interrupt.”

“You’re fine, darling,” Dad says, immediately making sure she’s welcome. He’s done everything in his power to make her feel like a part of the family, and I can’t express how much that means to both of us.

“Don’t worry, I won’t be long,” she tells the table before sliding into my lap. Crossing one long leg over the other, her warm body molds against mine—a perfect fit. “Hello, Husband.”

Ana is practically purring in my lap and I arch a brow at her tone. “Hello, Wife. What are you up to?”

“Oh, nothing too serious,” she assures me but there’s a sultry glimmer in her lovely caramel eyes. “I was just going up to our room and wanted to let you know that we’re home when I had a thought.”

The table has gone quiet, no one bothering to pretend not to be listening in on us. Nosy bastards.

“Did you?”

“Mhmm,” Ana hums. “Remember how you were a little concerned about my dress being so… tight?” Teasingly dragging her fingers down my chest, she makes my skin pebble under my shirt.

Where is she going with this?

“I recall,” I reply gruffly. The fabric is like second-skin, it would be hard to forget.

“Well… I thought about it, and you were right.”

Nothing good can come from your wife telling you that you were right. It’s a trap, it’s always a trap. Men are never right.

“Oh?” I ask, eyeing her suspiciously.

“Yes, I hadn’t even thought about how snug it truly was until coming home,” she explains with a seductive smirk. “I thought, how embarrassing it would be if I came in to say hello to you all, and my poor brothers had to bear witness to something as scandalous as panty-lines.”

Oh, shit.

Oh, fuck me.

I watch in utter fascination as she pulls a hidden item from behind her back. Twirling familiar white lace around her manicured fingers, she pushes the fabric into my chest like a gift and grins. “So, here you are, my love. No lines to worry about.”

My hand shoots up, wrapping around the lacy scrap of material, attempting to conceal it from the table of men. They’ve all already seen it, of course. I’m torn between being pissed that other people are witnessing this moment and thrilled that Ana feels safe enough around us to pull off such a stunt. My vexing little wife is going to be the death of me.

I barely hold back a groan as she smacks a quick kiss to my cheek, inhaling her sweet scent. “Enjoy the rest of your little game, hmm? I think I’m going to take a nice hot bath.”

Before I can object, she’s off of my lap and strutting out of the room, leaving her soaked panties in my hand. Every eye in the room is on me, some of them glinted with amusement, others with distaste.

“Jesus Christ,” Matteo—of course, it’s Matteo—breaks the silence. “Is that what being married is like?”

My lips spread into a small smirk. It is for me, apparently.

“Yes,” Emilio brags at the same time Dad replies, “Not even close.”

Leon just frowns and shakes his head. “Definitely not.”

“No comment,” Dmitri adds, being the only other married man in the room. No answer is all the answer my brother needs in this case.

“Three out of five, then,” Matteo concludes. “I like those odds, maybe I need to start looking for a wife.”

“God help us all,” Apollo mutters before tipping back his drink.

Matteo rolls his eyes. “Dick.”

“I don’t think many marriages are like Cassio and Ana’s,” Armani tells him. “She has his name tattooed in seven different places on her body.”

“She does?” Dad asks, bewildered at the new information.

Fuck yes, she does.

And now I have her name inked on the right side of my heart, taking up most of the space on my peck. My three favorite letters, branding me for life.

“Yep,” Armani confirms, smirking. “I would know, I put them there.”

My smirk dies. As much as I enjoy my name being permanently etched into my wife’s skin, I despise the reminder that my brother put it there seven times over. At least we’re well matched, because he did my tattoo of her name too.

“I saw the one on her ring finger, but where…” Dad stops himself. “I don’t even want to know.”

No, you do not, I think deviously.

Bored of them and hungry for my girl, I stand up and toss my chips in the middle. “I’m out.”

“Have fun,” Colton says with a sultry tip of his hat. He’s probably so proud of her. I wouldn’t be surprised if he and Armani encouraged this from her.

As much as I detest sharing my girl in any way, having those two as her friends has helped her grow in ways I could never have expected. They’ve emboldened her with a confidence that I not only admire but crave. She’s so utterly herself, and it makes me deliriously happy.

Nico huffs with disdain. “Can we return to the game? This is revolting.”

“If his wife is home, that means mine is as well,” Emilio states, standing up from the table alongside me. “I’d much rather see her stunning face than continue this, no offense.”

“None taken,” Dmitri tells him. We all know he’d rather be with Jade too.

Matteo starts to complain, but I can hardly hear him as I leave the group, venturing off to find my minx, her panties held tightly in my fist. I’m going to make her pay for that sexy little stunt.

Here I come, forza.