Page 14 of Hidden Empire

“Cool,” he chirps, shifting the mood. “On a lighter note. Next, we have the first of the Moretti twins, Elio. He handles asset management. It’s more on the business side of the organization, of course, but still important—even if it’s boring as fuck.”

I laugh despite myself and despite my lingering sadness for Cassio.

“Elio is twenty-five and single. He’ll be one of the more outwardly normal of the lot of us.”

“His twin is Emilio?” I ask, hoping I’ve remembered that right.

“Correct,” he adamantly cheers. “Emilio and Elio are identical twins, though they don’t act like it as much anymore. Emilio is quite busy and tends to make his wife and kids a priority now, above Elio.”

Is that bad?

“Emilio is our ambassador. He represents the family in the normal world, showing them how regular we are, attending charity galas and all that bullshit. He keeps his hands clean unless absolutely necessary.”

“To make the family look normal?”

“Yes,” he confirms, meeting my eyes. “There are a lot of people who know what we are and what we do. Never underestimate how many people can be bribed and bought. However, it’s always safer to maintain innocence and a clean image. Emilio does that with his wife, Melani.

“Their marriage was arranged, but they love the shit out of each other now. They’ve got two kids, Valerio, who is two, and Mila, who’s only two months. That’s why he went home, mostly. He lives in the city a few hours away for business purposes, and having his two-month-old be away from him drives him nuts.”

I can imagine.

“Oh, and Valerio will inherit Emilio’s role as our ambassador if he wants it.”

“If?” I didn’t know want was an option in this type of business.

He nods, finishing up their names. “Yes, because it’s a business role. Emilio’s son and future sons have more of a choice—Elio’s future sons, too, if he has any. They can pass it to another Moretti son or a trusted Outfit member if they’d prefer a different, more… involved position. We can never have too many snipers or enforcers, can we?”

I blink. “I guess not?”

He chuckles. “You’ll learn more about the ins and outs of the business soon enough; no need to stress about it. Anyway, next up, we have Armani, who just turned twenty-three. You missed a wild party that night.”

“I’ve missed a lot,” I mutter sadly.

He frowns. “No dwelling, little sis. There’s still plenty to see firsthand now that you’re here. I have a ton of birthday parties to come.”

A laugh bubbles from my lips, and he smiles before returning to his lesson.

“Armani isn’t married—but he’s never lonely if you catch my drift—and he’s a weapons instructor. He’s the one with the man-bun and tattoos all over. He’s pretty cool, but I have a feeling he’s going to be suuuuper protective of you. So, that won’t be fun.”

Protective sounds nice, I think to myself.

“On to the second set of twins, we have Nico and Remo. Nico is four minutes older, but Remo is the bigger one. They’re twenty-one and still in Empire, like me. Nico is going to be an enforcer, though; we’re already sure of that. I think Remo will do something with Tech, but he isn’t so sure about it yet.”

Empire? I want to ask, but Matteo is already moving on.

“Then there’s the best for last, of course. We’ve got me. Nineteen years old, single, and the baddest Moretti of them all.” He playfully winks, continuing to spell out his name.

“Oh! And Uncle Cesar is important, I suppose. I’ll just throw him down here. Uncle is our dad’s brother. He’s forty-one and our current enforcer. Bit of a terrifying guy to everyone but us. He’ll spoil you as soon as he finds out you exist. Dad probably texted him already since they’re besties.”

“Besties?” I giggle.

“Yep,” he agrees, popping the P. “Brothers bonded for life and all that, but Uncle doesn’t have any kids, so he’s just got us. Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s here for breakfast.”

He goes quiet for a minute, and I notice he’s adding me to the tree, noting Kim in small letters as my mom. Smaller letters than the rest of us, like he doesn’t even want to put her there. I smile at that. I’m not stupid. I know Officer Brian likely spilled some of the beans of my home life, and Kim would be hard to make look favorable.

“What did you mean when you said you were “in Empire” still?”

His eyes light up as he finishes up the family tree, making a small key at the bottom. Star for me, Diamond for uncle, and Skull for the deceased. He doodles the little characters where they apply and then passes the completed work over.

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