Page 19 of Hidden Empire

“What card?” I frown. “I already told you I don’t have money.”

Matteo chuckles, patting my hand. “Your family credit card. All Moretti kids have money, just go with it, sis.”

Cesar offers another laugh before leaving us. I’m not one to turn down free things, especially when I actually need it. But a whole credit card? For myself?

“What if someone steals it from me?”

Apollo flicks his eyes to me. “Who exactly would steal from you while you’re here with us?”

My lips pinch. “Won’t I finish school?”

“You’ll finish it here. You have two exams left, and both will take place here. It’s already been arranged.”

They thought about checking in with my school? Well, that’s really nice.

“Oh,” I breathe.

“So?” Apollo questions. “Who is going to rob you of your card in our house?”

Not having a good answer, I shrug. “What if Matteo mugs me in the hallway?”

A burst of laughter rips out of Matteo, and he slaps the table in the process.

“Funny,” Apollo drawls, not finding my joke amusing. “If your brother happens to steal from you whilst you wander around the house, feel free to tell father. I’m sure he’ll take care of it for you.”

“Or you could simply stab him,” Nico muses, sipping on some amber liquid in his short glass. Is he drinking whiskey with breakfast? “A few times.”

I stiffen in my seat. What?

Matteo moves in close, his shallow breath meeting the side of my face. “Future enforcer, remember,” he whispers. “He’s genuinely suggesting you stab me a few times if I piss you off. He’s not making a dig at you.”

I release a held breath. So they know about the incident—at least as much as Brian knew—but they aren’t teasing me about it.

“We’ll have to work on getting you thicker skin,” Remo comments gently. “It’s a bit of a requirement in our world.”

“I can be tough,” I mutter honestly. I can, really. “It’s just, I’ve never had a family before, and I’ve just barged into yours. I feel like I’m a second away from saying the wrong thing and being thrown back out. I don’t want to mess it all up.”

Matteo opens his mouth, likely to comfort me, when Apollo’s deeper, more stern voice cuts in. “There is no being thrown out in this family, Jade. Morettis are for life.”

Without a snarky comment, everyone agrees with various grunts and nods.

I really, really hope that that’s true.

Chapter 7

Jade

The rest of the day involves Matteo showing me how to set up an iPhone, putting in everyone’s contacts, and signing me up for Instagram. He makes the account private, hiding my name, and only follows each of our family members—wives included. He says I don’t need to post anything, but I should like everything he posts.

And it’s important that I have multiple ways of contacting them. Like if my phone were to break but there was a computer I could access, I would be able to log on and message every single one of them easily. A really smart idea, if I’m honest.

He also gets me an older pair of his pants that fit much better around my waist. I helped him dig around in his messy closet to find them, and it was sort of fun. He has a bit of a chaotic room with dark splashes of colors and things haphazardly laying around. It screams Matteo, which I admire. I want to know myself as well as he does.

It’s just him and me for lunch, so Martha makes us each personal pizzas. When I can only eat half of mine, Matteo gladly devours the rest for me. It’s really amazing, just hanging out for the day.

We’re lounging around in my room, watching some movie about zombies, when someone taps on my open door. Alerted by the knock, both of us swing our heads, finding Dante—Dad—stepping over the threshold.

“Having fun?”

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