Page 54 of Hidden Empire

Either way, I melt.

Chapter 17

Jade

I’m lounging on my brother’s shared couch, daydreaming about being kissed when Armani lets himself in the room. He’s got his hands full, one carrying a box, the other holding a red apple that’s already been bitten into.

“Emailers are here,” he says by way of greeting.

“About time,” Matteo cheers loudly, jumping out of his bed to confiscate the little brown cardboard box.

“They were ready a few days ago,” Armani admits. “I kept forgetting to go grab them before the admin building closed for the night.”

“That’s okay,” I say before Matteo can chastise him for it. “We’ve all been busy anyway.”

Armani smiles, coming over to ruffle my hair. “I should have remembered. You’re probably missing Dad, it’s okay to be upset with me.”

“I know it’s okay,” I reply. “I’m really not upset, but I do miss Dad.”

“Well, now you can send him a message,” Matteo chimes, passing me a small device. It looks sort of like a cross between a phone and a pager.

It’s a custom technology that only accesses a secure network for emailing in and out of Empire Academy. There’s no way to google something, download an app, or take a picture, making it perfectly safe to use here.

“Remember how it works?” Remo asks from across the room. Matteo gave him his device, too, but he isn’t showing any interest in it at the moment.

“Like texting,” I say, remembering when he first tried to explain them to me. “We have a few preloaded contacts, and anything we send to them goes to their special email thingy.” The receiver doesn’t need the device, just the internet and access to a computer or phone.

“And don’t text anything incriminating,” I add quickly. “They aren’t monitored, but just to be sure, keep it PG.”

“Right.” Remo nods in approval, his light brown curls bouncing.

“You’ve got Dad, Uncle Cesar, and Apollo in there,” Matteo adds, leaning over to press down on the small power button. He points to each of their contact names. “Better email Dad first so he can take a breath and stop worrying about you.”

My lips turn down. “You think he’s worrying still?”

He snorts. “Is that a real question?”

I smile because he’s probably right. I don’t like the idea of Dad worrying too much, but I love knowing there’s someone who cares about me as much as he does.

“I’m going for a run,” Remo announces, casually dismissing himself before popping out of the room and into the hall.

“Running on your day off is certifiable,” Matteo gripes, scrunching his face up at the idea. “Disgusting.”

“Don’t yuck his yum,” I chide.

“Anyone who yums running should be yucked,” he counters.

I roll my eyes and start exploring my new device. “I’m going to say hi to Dad.”

“Don’t forget to tell him about your boyfriend,” Matteo teases, causing me to freeze.

“What?” I ask, fear crawling up my neck.

“Kidding,” he bursts out, laughing hard. “Jesus, dude, take a breath, you look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

“Guilty conscious?” Armani asks, tilting his head at me.

“No, he just took me off guard,” I reply through a release of air. “I thought he might know something I don’t.”