Page 98 of Tragic Empire

Sighing, he stands up from his chair and walks over to the small bar cart. Glasses clank and liquid bubbles as he pours two glasses of dark liquor. The drink rolls across the end table nearest me, and I catch it with a quick hand. Fire burns at the back of my throat as I drain it in one go.

“Only you would shoot vintage scotch like it’s cheap tequila,” he grumbles disapprovingly. He sips his and lets out a deep breath. “Guess you’re still not much of a drinker.”

Never have been, likely never will be. Alcohol dulls the senses and lowers inhibitions. I like to be alert and on my game at all times.

“No,” I agree, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

“Always the practical one.” Taking another sip of booze, he sets his glass down and crosses his arms. “So be fucking practical, Cassio. Can you handle Ana being pregnant? Is it something you ever want to try? Because if it’s not, you need to talk to your wife about it.”

“What if she wants it someday? What if sheneedsit and I can’t?”

“From everything you’ve mentioned, and everything Armani tells me, the girl is just as in love with you as you are with her. You know what that means? It means she doesn’t need or want anything more than she needs you. Talk to her, make a plan. You’ll feel better once you do.”

He’s been talking to Armani, too?I’ve been texting him more recently, needing to share some of what I’ve been going through with Ana. I had no idea that my younger brother has been doing the same thing.

“Will I?” Somehow I doubt it. “Ana deserves to be a mother if she wants to be one.”

“Sometimes, for someone so smart, you can be so fucking dumb.” Leon groans and I frown. “Cassio, there’s more than one way to be a mother. You said the girl used to volunteer at the orphanage like it was her damn job before this whole mess, for fuck’s sake. If she wants kids, a pregnancy doesn’t need to be the way to make it happen.”

She could want to adopt.

“I did tell her that,” I remember, like a light clicking on. “I said when I see our future, I think about her wanting to bring a kid home one day, and what room we’ll put them in.”

Hope swells in my chest like a balloon of relief. I latch on to the idea hard. I could handle that. I could be a father again. I could make Ana a mother if it meant not risking her life with a pregnancy.

“Cleo and I are considering it too,” Leon mentions hesitantly. “Adopting.”

I blink in surprise. “You are?”

He shrugs. “She wants another, and it hasn’t been happening.”

Oh, wow.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” I had no idea they were trying and struggling with fertility.

“Honestly? I didn’t want to freak you out.”

“Because Isobel and I had trouble,” I surmise with a small frown. “You didn’t want to upset me. Fuck, Leon… I feel like an ass. You’re always here for me and I?—”

“Wasn’t ready,” he cuts me off. “Emilio knows, Cleo and Melani have started talking.”

That’s even more surprising than the previous news. Cleo has never wanted anything to do with making friends. She’s always been extremely introverted, and never responded to Melani’s attempts in the past. Maybe after years of being married into the family, she’s starting to warm up.

“And you’ve talked about adopting?”

He nods, finishing off his scotch. “Pretty sure that’s the route we’re going. Cleo likes being a mom. It fulfills her.”

“But you two still aren’t..?”

“In love?” He laughs. “No. Our relationship is clinical at best.”

“Fuck, I’m sorry.”

“She’s a good mom,” Leon says. “It’s enough.”

I’m not so sure he means it, but I’m not going to pry. He’d tell me more if he wanted to. There are some things a man has to keep to himself.

“The expansion here is taking more time than we thought, so she’ll be here with Bastian tonight. They’re going to stay with me for a few weeks. I’d say we should have dinner?—”