Page 163 of Hidden Empire

“Start talking,” Apollo barks.

“Yeesh, I see you haven’t pulled that stick out of your ass yet.” Matteo flips him off but continues. “Misfire mishap on the range hit me in the shoulder. It’s just a flesh wound, really, and our doctor there already stitched me up. The poor kid who was holding the gun was scared shitless like I was gonna set him on fire or something, but it wasn’t his fault, the gun was old and wonky. Used the injury and the stuff that went down with Jade to get us out early. Nico, Remo, and I can go next semester if we want without penalty. Armani can still work there if he wants to, and Jade is free to come back, but he doesn’t expect it.”

“You’re okay, right?” I ask worriedly, eyeing his shirt-covered shoulder. I don’t give a fuck about returning to Empire, my brother was shot!

“Of course,” he replies easily. “I’m fucking invincible.”

“Doc is still going to take a look at you,” our father commands without leaving room for argument.

“Kay, that’s fine.” Matteo waves him off. “Is Martha cooking? It’s dinner time, and I’m fucking starving.” Looking down at me, he smirks. “I bet my little sister is, too, since she’s got babies baking in that oven.”

Guiltily, I wince. “Sorry, I hid it from you. You aren’t too mad, are you?”

“At my baby sister?” he scoffs. “Never, I made her a promise to always have her back even when she pisses me off.”

We hug again, and somehow Matteo is able to wrangle everyone to the dinner table, Ivan and Anatoly included. Dad is still watching Dmitri with a careful eye, but he doesn’t say anything bad to him.

Either Matteo somehow coordinated with Martha to have dinner ready for us, or he could smell it from the other room, I’m not sure. But there are piles of filet mignon, potatoes, vegetables, and more ready for us to dig into.

“My new favorite food is filet,” I tell Dmitri, giddy about digging into the juicy red meat in front of me. “I was more of a pasta girl before, but Martha thinks the babies are stealing all my iron and making me crave steak to replace it.”

“Stealing all your iron?” he asks, concerned.

“Nothing to worry about,” I assure him. “It’s pretty normal, and I don’t get lightheaded or anything so it’s balancing out with food.”

He lightens up at that. “Is your nausea still better?”

“Yep,” I answer. “Thank god, no more morning sickness for me.”

“You had morning sickness?” Dad asks. Now he’s the concerned one.

“In the beginning,” Dmitri answers for me. “Shortly after the first six weeks, she was throwing up almost every morning.”

“It was so annoying,” I groan. “More of a nuisance than an actual pain, at least. Dmitri had Dr. Petrov on stand-by though. I felt like Armani was in my ear every day, making me rehydrate.”

Dad doesn’t look like he’s digesting the fact he wasn’t there for my sickness well. He doesn’t look like he’s handling any of this well.

“She could have been hurt,” he seethes, hand tightening around his steak knife. “At what point would you have contacted her family to get her help, huh?”

“Dad,” I admonish, frowning at him. “Please, can we just enjoy dinner?”

Dmitri did everything for me and more, and I won’t stand for him being insulted.

“Fine, I can be hospitable,” my father relents, swinging his gaze back to my husband. “How did you and my daughter meet?”

Oh, what a terrible way to get to know Dmitri. The fairytale factor isn’t exactly substantial when it comes to our story.

“The food challenge, right?” Matteo guesses, stealing a bite of my cheesy potatoes.

“No,” Dmitri answers, shaking his head. “We met on the boat.”

Apparently, we’re going with the truth. Great!

My brother gasps, pausing midway into stealing another bite from my plate. “You sneaky little thing,” he accuses. “That’s where you went while you were lost?”

“Okay, I was lost,” I defend, sheepishly smiling. “I just wasn’t trying very hard to become unlost after running into Dmitri.”

“So that’s why you picked him for the food challenge? You already had an idea that he might like you.” Matteo boops my nose. “Smart thinking, little sister.”

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