Page 9 of Tragic Empire

My best friend nods, kneeling down to clean my legs and feet while trying to smile again. “It’s nothing serious. I’ll feel like a fucking asshole telling you why he’s so worried when something so much worse just happened to you, honey.”

“Tell me anyway?”

I was serious when I requested the distraction.

I need to think about anything other than death.

“I let Doc give me a birth control shot,” she admits with a slightly nervous glint in her eyes. “It’s stupid, but ever since everything with Bruce, medicine kind of freaks me out. He used to imply that he could poison me at any time. In my food, while I slept… and I guess I’m not over that yet. I had a bit of a freakout after the injection and Dmitri has been helping me through it. I mean, neither of us expected me to panic so hard, but I did.”

She’s so careful with how she explains the situation, like she truly does feel guilty for her own struggle. But just because she isn’t suffering something as supreme as witnessing a massacre, it doesn’t make her pain foolish or unimportant.

“That’s not stupid,” I reply softly.

Jade’s home life before finding Dante and her brothers was vile. The now deceased man called Bruce used to torment her day in and day out, playing with her life for sport. She was alone with a “mom” that despised her and no knowledge of her true biological family. It makes sense that her trauma still affects her, even in new and unexpected ways.

“It was the strangest thing,” she continues, frowning. “I trust Doc, he literally delivered my babies, but as soon as the needle was in my arm it was like all the blood left my body. I was cold, crying, shaking, and overall freaking out. Nothing was wrong with the medicine, I just lost it, I guess. It’s only been a few days and Dmitri has been so good about it.”

“He’s the best,” I agree quietly. Needing the conversation to continue to keep my mind busy, I add, “Why did you decide to get on birth control? I thought you didn’t want it?”

“I didn’t want it,” she confirms. “It still kind of freaks me out, if I’m being honest. Just the warnings and potential side effects concern me, but it was the best option for us. Because as much as I want an army of that man’s children someday, I’m not ready for another baby. I like our little family as it is right now.”

“I get that,” I agree quietly. “We’re still young.”

Too young to be dying.

Her lips curve up slightly on the sides. “And besides, Cesar is already the biggest little menace. Can you imagine two of him?”

Automatically, my mouth twitches. Jade is a great mom. She could handle it, even if it would be hard. Cesar is a bit of a terror, in the best way. The five-month-old has the most infectious chaotic energy, though his twin sister is the gentlest little sweetheart.

I’ve become fond of them both, and Jade has taken to calling me Auntie Ana to the pair of little ones. I hope all of this commotion hasn’t disturbed them. From what I can tell, they’re asleep safe and sound, likely with a team of guards at their door.

Dmitri is incredibly protective of his children, and I doubt he’d leave the house without being absolutely sure of their safety. Remembering that fact, I breathe out, feeling a bit better about any possible disruption I’ve caused by storming into the Moretti home.

Soon, Jade’s hands move closer to my inner thighs, and she freezes.

“They didn’t… right?”

“No,” I answer, knowing exactly what she’s asking.

She doesn’t say it, but her face screams her relief.

We lapse into more silence as she takes care of my hair like it’s her own, taking meticulous care when conditioning to remove any knots or snarls. The intimate gesture is so soothing that I lose myself in the soft massaging of my scalp.

Once my clean hair is rinsed, she looks down at my body again. “Do you want to wash under?”

Under my bra and knickers, she means.

Unashamed but unable to move, I nod. My muscles feel like complete and utter goo, so I ask, “Will you? It’s okay if you don’t want to?—”

“Of course I will,” she interrupts without hesitation.

The whole process is smooth and gentle, it isn’t sexually charged or drawn out. She removes the wet fabric and takes care of the rest of me like second nature. If I wasn’t already grateful for her friendship, I would be now. Immensely so.

Jade notes a small bruise on my left breast and gives me a sad look. She’s wondering if I lied before, and I didn’t.

“Cole,” I tell her simply.

Her expression falls. “You guys finally..?”