Page 174 of Hidden Empire

I hold back a laugh. The rumors about Armani being a bit of a slut are true then. It makes sense, I’ve watched men and women looking at him before, and they seem to like what they see.

“We’re not talking about me,” he shoots back, huffing at his brother. You’d think after a few hours, they would run out of steam, but it hasn’t happened yet.

“Who gives a fuck about sex?” Apollo drawls, shaking his head. “You’ve never loved a woman before her, correct?”

My response is immediate. “Hell no.”

I’d say except for my sister, but we both know that’s not the kind of love he’s referring to. There’s no one who’s ever even come close to Jade. Not in the way she makes me feel, not in how her beauty captivates me, not in the way she drives me to be a better man, nothing. No one can touch the way Jade has engraved herself in my heart.

“And what about Ivan?” Armani asks, curving up an eyebrow. “Has he been in love? Perhaps recently, and with my little sis?—”

“Ivan is off limits,” I warn, cutting in. “Your conspiracies about him and my wife hold very little interest to me.” There’s a slight smirk that draws up his lips like he’s proud of getting even a small rise out of me.

“And what about that one?” he questions, nodding toward Anatoly. “Do you trust him as much as you trust your brother? He spends a lot of time with Jade, too, doesn’t he?” Armani doesn’t think Jade has a romantic interest in her guard, he just wants to know if I think Anatoly wants her.

The Morettis are fiercely protective of their own, and it’s the only reason I’m tolerating this line of questioning. If anyone else were speaking to me in this way, I’d have their head for implying my wife to be anything but undyingly loyal. That isn’t what he’s trying to get at, though, so I’m able to remain calm.

“Anatoly,” I call out casually, getting his attention. “How do you feel about my wife?”

Without flinching, he replies, “Protective.”

“And when you look at her, what do you see?”

“My Koroleva.”

“And?”

“And the mother of the future Pakhan.”

Turning back to Armani, I lift a brow. “Satisfied?”

“Depends on what Koroleva means,” he grumbles.

“Queen,” Apollo translates for him, a rare smile painting his face.

Armani relents, sighing before taking a deep swig of his drink. “So you’re all here to stay, then?”

“For a bit,” I say cautiously. “We’ll stay as close as we can for as long as we can, but chances are, we’ll move into a separate house in the near future.”

Instantly Armani is guarded again. “Why would you move out?”

“I’m sure you can guess,” Apollo drawls.

Scrunching up his nose, Armani’s lips twist in disgust. “Seriously?”

“How do you think she got pregnant exactly?” Nico questions boredly.

Unwilling to make his anger build, I shift the conversation only slightly. Still on topic, but away from mine and Jade’s sex life. She’d blush so hard if she were here, mortified by the idea of her brothers hearing anything about us in that regard.

“Privacy is a bit of a concern for us,” I inform them carefully. “We’ll be new parents, and Jade is nervous to do anything wrong when it comes to the twins, so we’ll stay here for quite some time, I imagine. She’ll be happy to have your father’s help. But eventually, space will be necessary. Dante suggested building a place on this property, and I’m amenable to that, but it will ultimately be up to Jade.”

“And if she never wants to leave?” Apollo asks.

“I don’t think Jade will ever want to leave your family,” I answer honestly. “But she does eventually want to be in the west with me. She has family to meet there as well. She’ll be free to visit whenever she likes, and we’ll schedule more than enough time with all of you. My territory is already a Moretti safe zone—our marriage cemented that.”

“So when Matteo wants to move out there with you, you’ll allow it?”

It seems Nico has the same inkling that I do. Matteo may just pick leaving with Jade and me over staying with his family. It’ll be a touchy situation to handle when the time comes, but of course, I wouldn’t tell him no.

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