Page 110 of Savage Empire

He freezes, digests the information, tips his head back, and fucking laughs. It’s a hearty and shocked laugh, bubbling out of him uncontrollably.

“Gesù Cristo, Rayna. I never have a dull day when you’re around.” Peeking around my shoulders his eyes light up. “Are those chocolate tarts?”

I nod numbly, still reeling. “With black cherry filling. I was working on croissant dough when Apollo busted down the door.”

“Fuck yes,” he cheers, rounding the counter. He’s become much more himself since the Sienna rescue. He needed time to cool down, and I understood entirely. “I’m stealing two of these, and calling some people to get you a new door. You finish your croissants, or wrap them up to finish them later. You should have some chocolate too, you look a little pecky.”

Some sugar might actually help snap me out of this stupified state.

“Wait, if you’re here and Apollo just left, where’s Yordan?”

Elio lifts a pastry to his lips, pausing to answer my question. “No need to worry, he’s with Javi, Ana, and Cassio. There’s a foster family lunch at the orphanage tomorrow and he wanted to volunteer by setting up with them.”

My stomach twists in knots. “You don’t have any tequila with you, do you? I don’t think chocolate is going to fix me.”

His face softens with sympathy and understanding. “It’s an indoor set up, and no outsiders are there. He’s making goody bags, not straining himself. They’ve got plenty of guards and I believe Leon is there too. He’s safe. Trust me, if it was a public event, Apollo would be there.”

“How did this become my life?” I groan, feeling a little relief to the anxiety bubbling in my gut.

“You crossed paths with Apollo Moretti,” Elio says with a chuckle.

Don’t I know it?

Chapter Thirty-One

Apollo

Elio

Your fiancée’s door is fixed.

Ilook down at the text, a small smile playing on my lips. Something about Rayna being referred to as my fiancée gives me a smug bit of satisfaction. Especially now that it doesn’t feel like a lie.

She hasn’t officially agreed yet, but she hasn’t outright rejected me either. I knew she wouldn’t. She may have been deep in denial about what’s been brewing between us for ages now, but she’s waking up to reality. We have a connection, one that I won’t allow to go ignored any longer.

Her shooting me today only solidified what I’ve been coming to realize for weeks. Rayna is everything I have pictured as a wife for myself and as a mother for my children. She comes with a take-no-shit attitude, and bags of sass that I didn’t see coming, but I’ve become accustomed to all the same.

Where would I ever find another woman brave enough to curse me to my face? Bold enough to try and strike me for disrespecting her? Beautiful enough for me to dream of her yelling at me and only wanting to kiss her in retaliation?

No, no other woman would do.

“You’re all set,” Doc says, pulling me out of my thoughts. Our family doctor is almost always available for patch ups like this, and never far when we need him. “Try not to get it wet for a few days. Pain medicine this time?”

“No,” I answer quickly. “Barely hurts. Gin will do.”

Honestly, wine could probably handle numbing the small soreness from my wound. But gin has been my choice of drink for years now. The sharp and crisp acquired taste is more appealing to me than the smokier notes of bourbon that my brother Nico prefers.

“Mmm,” he grunts, nodding like he expected the answer. “Shall I alert our Capo about this incident, or?”

“No incident,” I reply with a roll of my shoulders, standing up from my chair. “An accident with my woman. I’m sure he’d rather not know.”

He huffs, the stern older man almost looking amused. “Foreplay has changed so much since I was in my youth.”

I chuckle. “You’ve got no idea, Doc.”

Pulling out my phone, I bid him goodbye and start typing out a message to the woman who put me here.

Apollo