Page 23 of Hidden Empire
“Yes, well, unfortunately for you, you’re now a part of a family full of impatient men with anger issues. If we don’t have someone to destroy for this in the next few hours, we’ll likely begin to annihilate anyone who has ever laid eyes on you. Killing potential innocents isn’t typically our thing, so.”
So terrifying and so sweet at the same time.
In two days, I’ve gone from a house that would prefer me dead to a home that would kill to keep me alive. Whiplash doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Still scared, but reassured by Apollo’s place at my side, I’m able to open up.
I shut my eyes, count to three, and begin to speak.
“Bruce liked to play games.”
Chapter 8
Jade
Five Months Later
Apollo grunts as I hug him with enough force to tackle a normal-sized man to the ground. He doesn’t waver, catching me easily as I bury my face into the side of his neck. “Emotional little thing, you are,” he grumbles, but I feel his arms wrapping around me in return.
“Going to miss you so much, big brother,” I tell him, meaning it entirely. Apollo may be a grumpy, generally unfriendly jerk to most, but he’s one of my favorite people in the whole wide world.
Five months ago, he listened to me spill the worst of the worst from my past, and since then, he’s taken me under his wing. I know how to throw a solid punch, shoot any gun you put in my hand, and I’m even a bit better of a liar. All because of this man.
“Yes, I’d miss me too,” he agrees. In Apollo language, that translates to: I’ll miss you as well, little sister.
I smile, letting myself down from his hold, and look up at his impassive face. “You’re going to send me lots of emails, aren’t you?”
“I’ll reply to your constant pestering, yes.”
I grin. “You’re the best.”
“I’m aware.”
Matteo scoffs next to us. “Come on, Jade, let’s get to the boat before Apollo freezes it with his cold-ass attitude.”
“Wait!” I rush back over to Dad, interrupting his chat with Uncle Cesar to give him the same big hug I gave to Apollo.
He laughs as my hair hits him in the face, hugging me back just as hard. “Have a good time, sweetheart. Be safe, and listen to your brothers on the boat.”
He’s said the same sentiment at least thirty times in the month leading up to this, and I don’t even care. I’ve grown addicted to the way my family cares for me. It’s the best part about my whole new life—feeling truly cared about.
“I will,” I promise again. “Email me tons, and keep Martha updated about me! I’m going to miss her.”
Dad chuckles. “She’ll have my head if I don’t.”
Putting me down and kissing the top of my head, he meets my eyes. “If you want to come home, I can make that work, sweetheart. Just say the word.”
He’s also told me that more times than I can count. Uncle Cesar offered to help Apollo train me in everything I could learn at school if I really wanted to stay. It’s a tempting offer, truly. But I want to be like all of my brothers and go to the school they’ve all attended. Plus, I think I would feel pretty dang sad without seeing Matteo for months. He’s not just my brother, he’s more like my best friend.
“No, that’s okay,” I assure him. “I’m going to have fun, and you can always pull me out early if I hate it.”
He’d burn the island down before letting me stay a minute longer than I didn’t want to be there, he told me himself.
“That’s right,” he agrees firmly.
Our goodbyes don’t last much longer, fading out until the people who are staying separate from the people who are going.
We flew on a private plane to get here. Dad, Uncle Cesar, Apollo, Nico, Remo, Armani, Matteo, and me. It was my first experience in the air, and I’m really glad it was a private flight. If my family didn’t own a plane or have the budget to rent one, I can’t imagine how nervous I would’ve been—surrounded by strangers while doing something for the first time.