Page 35 of Hidden Empire
Women are beautiful, but looking at them? I feel nothing similar to when I look at a handsome man. I can’t help it.
Armani whacks Matteo’s chest with the back of his hand. “I don’t even want to think about her looking at someone with dreamy eyes, and you’re thinking about her getting married?”
“I’m a realistic man,” he grunts. “Chances are she’ll be in love by the end of her first year at Empire. Lord knows we’ll have to fend off contract proposals.”
Being in love with my mystery guy by the end of the year sounds kind of lovely, actually. But wait! “What the fuck is a contract proposal?”
Arranged marriages and betrothals I’m familiar with, they’ve been explained to me before, but a contract proposal? It sounds so cold and detached.
Matteo gives me a confused look. “Um, exactly what it sounds like?”
That’s what I was afraid of. I guess it’s really not that dissimilar to what I’ve heard before, but I never went so far as to put myself into that hypothetical position. I don’t think I like it one bit.
My eyes narrow at Matteo, and I forget about my dinner entirely. “People are going to try to make a deal for me? Like, offer something in exchange for my hand in marriage? What kinda old ass shit is that?”
He rolls his eyes like I’m the one being crazy. “There’s not an offer we’d entertain. We don’t need anything.”
“But if you did, you’d sell me in exchange?” I demand, hands going to my hips.
“Well, I wouldn’t do anything,” he huffs. “And no, it’s likely Dad wouldn’t agree to that. Especially with how many of his sons are single. He’d just pick one of us to marry off. That’s how Cleo and Leon got matched together.”
I frown, remembering that now. Two of my brothers are in paired-off marriages, one of them being loveless. That’s got to suck, right?
Matteo sees my face and lifts my chin with his hand. “Hey, don’t feel bad for them,” he says, reading my mind. “They may not have picked their wives, but neither of them would trade their kids for anything. We used to have a running bet that Melani and Emilio would be in love eventually, and now they are.”
Of course, they’d bet on their brother’s marriage. “You did?” I chuckle a bit. “What made you think so? Because she’s nice?”
I haven’t met Melani yet, and I’m glad for it. She had a two-month-old when I showed up, so I’m glad she made taking care of herself a priority. I would have felt so guilty if she made a trip to Dad’s just for me. She’s going to come with Emilio to see us when we come home from Empire anyway. It’ll be a perfect time, I think.
Even without meeting her, I can tell she’s sweet. She sent me flowers and contact information to use for various situations. If I ever need a party catered, a fancy dress on short notice, or a ride anywhere, I have the phone number to make it happen.
“She’s nice,” Matteo agrees. “And she’s fucking hot, Emilio was just being stubborn. He was already obsessed with her, he just needed to realize he was all in. I think his messed up little co-dependent brain couldn’t understand anything that Elio didn’t spell out for him, and Elio hated Melani.”
“I don’t think Elio hated her,” I argue softly, even though I wasn’t there. Elio isn’t a hateful person. “He probably just missed Emilio.”
Matteo shrugs. “Don’t underestimate Elio’s ability to place blame where it doesn’t belong. Melani is the bombshell sweetheart that took his twin hours upon hours away. But before that, she took Emilio’s attention, too.
“I mean it when I said he was obsessed with her. He had trackers and guards on her at all times, and she loved it. She smiled so big any time he got worked up about her safety. And I mean, if he wasn’t gone for her already, he would be now. They’ve made two kids. You don’t see a woman like Melani naked multiple times without feeling something for her.”
“Okay, enough about marriages and babies,” I sigh, beginning to pick at my food again. “There’s someone I saw walking in that didn’t stay. Big guy, brunette, didn’t say a word, and he was with someone who sort of looked like a smaller, younger version of himself. The younger one looked like a first-year, too, I’m just curious if we’ll share classes.”
Matteo chews, nodding while he thinks. Armani doesn’t look suspicious, so I think I’m in the clear.
“Hmmm, you’re probably talking about Dmitri Morozov and his little brother Ivan. They’re like us, Empire royalty.”
“They are?” I try to ask lightly, keeping my tone curious so that Matteo doesn’t pick up on anything else in my tone. The last thing I need is to never be let out of his sight because of a little crush. Okay, a big crush.
He nods, swallowing a bite of food. “The Morozovs are the only Russian mafia with over twenty members in the states—they’ve got hundreds if not thousands of men on the West Coast. They own their territory without effort, and their numbers are the most intimidating out of all the groups on the list I gave you. They are absolutely lethal, and we aren’t exactly friendly.” He pauses to consider his words. “We aren’t enemies, but we aren’t allies.”
“Dmitri is their heir?” I confirm, trying to picture the study sheet he made me.
“Correct,” he answers, grinning. “Look at you, learning and shit.”
So Dmitri is an heir. I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
On one hand, he could be safer from my crazy-ass brothers with that title. On the other hand, he could already be promised to marry someone else. Having an heir betrothed at a young age isn’t uncommon. Although, maybe he got away with it like Apollo because his family doesn’t really need anything.
“They tend to keep to themselves and their little group. Pretty sure they eat away from the common areas, that’s probably why you saw them leave.”