Page 29 of Hidden Empire
“I’ve seen Matteo take down men double his age and twice his size. I know Matteo can end a life as quickly as he can tell a ridiculous joke. I don’t have to ask him these things.”
My arms cross, half-offended by this. “I’ve taken care of myself on my own before.”
“And now you’re not allowed to,” he argues right back. “You’re meant to be kept safe, not thrown to the wolves.”
Maybe I like wolves, I want to challenge, but refrain. “No one ignored me, no one was mean to me, and no one threatened me, okay? Can we move on now? I’m tired.”
“When’s the last time you drank your juice?”
Aaaand here we go.
Armani is serious about a lot of things, but hydration might be on top. It’s good for everything, according to him—and maybe scientists too, I suppose.
“How much money do you spend on clothes and electrolyte juice?”
He scoffs. “What else is there to spend money on?”
“Food?” I say the first thing that comes to mind.
“Dad pays for food.”
“I don’t know, Armani,” I groan. “A house?”
His nose scrunches in disgust. “I live at Dad’s.”
“What about a car? A boat? Activities?”
“I have three, Dad owns a fleet of ships so why would I need a boat, and what activity would I care enough to spend a dime on?”
“Okay, this is a stupid game,” I huff. “I haven’t had juice in an hour.”
Like I’ve morally offended him, he gasps, clasping my hand in the crook of his elbow. “Let’s go before you dehydrate. I swear, I don’t know what I did to deserve so many siblings with such poor personal care skills. If I didn’t water you all, you’d die like finicky houseplants.”
The sun is shining down on the boat, but not enough to make me perish from going an hour without a beverage. Boys are so dramatic.
“There was a solid month where I drank almost exclusively diet Dr. Pepper because it was all Kim wanted to buy, and our tap water was like radioactively bad.”
The look on Armani’s face is murderous. I forgot I can’t say things like that without thoughts of war and torture immediately sparking in my brother’s brain.
“On the bright side, I like soda?” I add warily, trying to soften the blow of the information.
“It’s like you want me to kill her,” he grumbles, guiding me away from the hallway and back to where we belong. A hopeful look creeps into his eye. “Do you want me to kill her? Because I will literally leave to do it.”
“But then who would protect me from the hallways?” I joke, nudging him with my elbow. “Why are we still talking anyway? I’m juiceless here, Armani, juiceless!”
“You’re teasing isn’t cute,” he lies, unable to hide his grin.
“I’m always cute,” I disagree. “I?—”
Whatever I’m about to say is knocked right out of me when someone crushes me into a horribly tight hug.
I suck in a startled breath, relaxing when I recognize the scent of the body closing in around mine. “Matteo,” I groan. “Can’t. Breathe.”
“You disappeared!” he accuses, holding me just as tight. “I thought I was going to lose my shit if I couldn’t find you in another minute!”
“You were already losing your shit,” Nico drawls blandly, flipping through a magazine.
“I see you’ve been worried,” I laugh, observing his relaxed state.