Page 150 of Hidden Empire

“I also got really good at making crepes,” I report. There were other things we practiced in class, but crepes were the most fun. They’re like little floppy pancakes that you can roll up with all sorts of stuff. “Oh, and I decided I hate fight class. Also, Ivan kicked the shit out of some guy for talking about what he’d like to do to me since I was vulnerable after I took a weed gummy.”

“What?” several voices snap.

“Yep,” I report happily. I’m going to make my family love Ivan one way or another, and this seems like a good start. “There I was eating some chocolate cake with my brothers when a fight broke out, and some guy twice his size was bleeding all over the floor at Ivan’s feet. He handed him over to Armani, and Armani made him take the emergency boat home with the promise of hunting him down after the semester ended.”

“Fuck waiting until the semester’s over,” Elio growls.

“Who is this guy?” my father demands.

“He’s already dead,” Ivan notifies the table, making my jaw fall open.

Everyone looks at him while he sits at my side, casually picking at his pasta like he didn’t just drop that bomb on us.

“He is?” I ask, gaping.

“Yes,” he reports. “Dmitri slit his throat and dumped his body off of the boat about a mile and a half off of the island’s shore. He swam back.”

Holy, wow.

“He did?” I ask, jutting out my lower lip like my husband killing someone is adorable instead of horrifying.

“Romantic,” Uncle comments, taking an amused sip of wine.

“I was hoping the internal bleeding would kill him on the ride,” Ivan adds. “Couldn’t kick him hard enough to crack his ribs without the Lords losing their minds, but Dmitri handled it. He always does.”

Before anyone can somehow make this a bad thing, I decide I’m done with dinner. Ivan’s plate is empty, and I’m too tired to stay up much longer.

“Daddy, I’m really tired,” I whine, turning toward him. “Is it okay if I go to bed?”

“Of course, sweetheart,” he says warmly. “We’ll get your… friend a room ready.”

“There’s not really an open one close to her bedroom,” Apollo chimes in. “He’ll want to be close?—”

“I don’t particularly care what he wants,” Dad replies crisply.

“I’m sure he feels quite the same about you, father,” Apollo counters with an amused smile. “Respectfully speaking, of course.”

Apollo toeing the line of disrespect toward Dad is a crazy thing to witness.

I interrupt before things get even more awkward. “No, it’s okay, Ivan will stay in my room.”

My father looks taken aback, eyebrows crinkling in the center. “There’s only one bed in there.”

“I told you they practically slept on top of each other,” Apollo chimes in with a dull remark.

Father scowls at him. “I hardly thought you were serious.”

“It’s comforting,” I defend, lifting my chin. “And he does his job better if we’re in the same room.”

I feel like a kid trying to get a sleepover approved by my overprotective parents. They don’t get it, my relationship with Ivan, but that’s okay. They’ll learn to understand eventually.

Cassio’s jaw ticks. “How does he do his job at all while sleeping?”

“Test me,” Ivan offers without missing a beat. “When you think I’m dead asleep, try to touch a hair on her head, and I’ll sever your hand from your body before you can blink.”

Cassio tilts his head to the side, eyes narrowing as if to assess a threat. “Is that a challenge?”

He really doesn’t like Ivan, he’s been salty towards him since we arrived, and I don’t know how to help it. I’m not used to Cassio being outwardly protective of me. I mean, he’s my brother just like Matteo, Apollo, Armani, and all the rest, but he’s not around as much.

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