Page 181 of Hidden Empire

I nod into his neck, smearing my tears into his skin. This has been the worst day of my life. Worse than all of Bruce’s torture, worse than learning who I thought was my mother would never love me… worse than all of it.

I lost my uncle, the hope of my mother’s life, and the twin I’ll never know.

Lips wobbling, I plead for some good news. “My brothers are okay?”

“Nico, Elio, and Matteo took out most of the ambushed shooters in this room,” he begins, filling me in on everything I couldn’t possibly keep up with. “Elio has a busted lip, and his ribs might be bruised, but he’s fine. Matteo probably has a concussion, but he’s okay too. All of them are going to be just fine.”

It should make me feel better, but the relief is fleeting.

“I h-hate today,” I tell him, sobbing further.

“I know, my love.” Dmitri rocks me, comforting me for as long as he can before handing me off to Ivan. There’s a massive mess to clean up, and there’s no way in hell he’ll have me be a part of that.

“Shhh,” Ivan coaxes, holding me close. “Let’s get you cleaned up and go wait to hear how Anatoly is, okay? He’s going to make it out of this, and he’ll want to know you’re alright.”

“He killed Bruce?” I ask, trying to control my heart rate and shake off the deep-seated sadness cloaking my heart. I have to keep my babies safe, even if that means drying my eyes when I never want to stop crying.

“He did, sestra,” he replies softly. “Anatoly had his gun shot out of his hand, and he was still able to beat him to death. He’s got a few more wounds and a big-ass cut down his arm, but he put Bruce down for good.”

“He killed my demon,” I mumble, feeling guilty. “He could have died too.”

“But he didn’t,” Ivan counters. “They had backup and a very calculated plan to get to you, and we still stopped them. It’s okay, Jade. It’s all over now. The demons are gone, and all your monsters are going to keep you safe.”

My favorite monsters.

My family.

They’ll be taking care of Karina, I’m sure. Stealing every bit of life remaining inside of her until she no longer exists. I don’t know how long Nico will be able to drag out what he does to her.

Given the fact that she’s responsible for our uncle’s death, I assume he’ll give her everything he’s got and more. Especially if he heard the news of our brother.

Dante Moretti is meant to have eleven children, and he’s going home with ten. Not only that, he’s going to have to bury a brother of his own.

I don’t know how I can ever make him feel better again.

Chapter 50

Jade

We have the funeral a week later. It’s intimate, with only our closest friends and family in attendance. The flowers are in bloom in the garden, tiny white petals spilling around everyone’s feet. It was Apollo’s idea to have the funeral at home, knowing Uncle Cesar wouldn’t want it any other way.

My eldest brother has done a lot of the heavy lifting, taking a big weight off of our dad. Apollo is great at controlling his emotions, better than anyone else I know, but even he isn’t immune to the all-consuming grief our family feels. I’ve seen his facade cracking more than once, and still, he keeps moving forward.

Emilio and Melani are here with both of their children. It was a horrible way to meet my sister-in-law for the first time, but I know I’m not alone when I say having her and her babies here has brought some light to this dark time. Valerio and Mila are absolutely precious and so well-behaved, bringing smiles with them wherever they go.

Similarly, Leon and Cleo’s son Bastian is being a little ray of sunshine, sitting in my father’s lap for the ceremony. I can tell that he’s helping because even if it’s hard for my father to smile, he can’t help it when his grandson giggles.

Since the semester is over now, Colton is here, too, for Armani. The two of them sit stoically in the back row, wearing their tuxes while passing a flask between each other. Cassio is sitting with them, but he refuses the alcohol each time they offer.

None of us have started to truly cope yet, but I’m better off than most, having both Dmitri and Ivan keeping me afloat. Dmitri never fails to remind me that Uncle Cesar would hate to see me sad and that he’ll be happier in Heaven if he can see that I’m doing okay down here without him.

I never gave much thought to what I believe in when it comes to religion or spirituality or whatever. But now, I have to believe. I need to know that Cesar is up there, keeping Isobel and Angel company. He’d want me to think that, so I will.

Elio is sitting with Martha, being the one who was able to coax her out of the house. She’s been silently devastated just like the rest of us.

Anatoly is here, still recovering from his injuries with a broken shoulder in a sling over his tuxedo and a healing black eye bruising his face. He’s sitting with his father, Dr. Petrov, who had made the trip to support his son. The two of them seem to have a quiet relationship. Hell, I didn’t even put together that they shared a last name until he showed up with flowers in hand, looking for his son.

Dmitri’s father made the trip out to be here with us too, as a sign of respect, but he can’t stay long. Leaving Anya with only her guards makes him immensely uncomfortable and we all understand. He does make sure to meet me properly, welcoming me into his family with open arms. He even calls me his Nevestka, Russian for daughter-in-law.

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