Page 21 of Fractured Empire

“How many days has it been, by the way? You look like you haven’t slept in weeks,” Colton says, swaggering up to me with another beer that he just grabbed from the cooler. Wherever Armani goes, Colton Wyatt is quick to follow. The Texan cowboy mobster is somehow my fashion-obsessed Italian gun expert brother’s perfect platonic match. They’ve been attached at the hip since they met as children.

“If I hadn’t slept in weeks, I’d be hallucinating, and probably dying,” I reply, taking his offering and popping the top off on the edge of my table. “I’ve been sleeping, just like shit. It takes me forever to pass out, it takes even longer to wake up, and I don’t feel rested at all afterward.” If Apollo and Rayna weren’t here to help me, I’d be afraid of falling asleep while making the boys their breakfasts every day.

They’re the only reason I can even disappear into the garage for hours after my kids’ bedtime without feeling like an irresponsible dad. I know Apollo’s got the house covered, and he assured me of it himself—knowing the verbal confirmation would help.

“Hallucinating could be fun,” Armani muses, drumming his fingers on the table top. The round felt-top wooden table is typically reserved for poker nights with my brothers, but now it’s just somewhere convenient to sit while we get drunk. “You could hallucinate something hot.”

“Yeah, that’s what I need.” I huff, rolling my eyes and taking a long drink.

“I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what you need, man,” Colton says with an awkward chuckle. “I don’t mean to overstep, so you call tell me to shut the fuck up if I do, but getting laid could probably like, fix your mental shit. At least for a little bit. Doesn’t sex, I don’t know, give you all those happy chemicals in your brain? I always sleep better after⁠—”

Armani snorts, interrupting him. “When’s the last time you even got any, Colton? You and Leon are in the same boat. You may as well be priests with how backed up you are.” Colton glares at his best friend, but my brother isn’t bothered. “But he’s right. Getting your rocks off would probably help you sleep, at least for a little while. We could take you out, you know? It wouldn’t take long to find someone to give you a little all natural Ambien.”

My head shakes and despite not being interested in the offer, he pulls a smile out of me. “The last thing I need is a hookup and the drama that comes along with it.”

“Oh, I can get you a girl that fucks and leaves, dearest brother,” he assures me with a devilish grin. “If you want no drama sex, you just have to pay for it. It’s the only surefire way to avoid any stage-five clingers or wanna be wives.”

“You think I should hire a prostitute so I can sleep?” I drawl, hoping my voice reflects how insane I think his idea is.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” He smirks. “I’d hire her for you. My treat.”

“That’s even worse,” I grimace, causing both men to chuckle. Turning my attention to Colton, I lift a brow. “I know my reasons, but why exactly aren’t you having sex? Last I heard, the two of you were the casual fuck every weekend at minimum kind of guys.”

“Don’t say a word,” Colton immediately snaps at Armani before he can answer in his place. My brother holds his hands up innocently, laughing to himself. Looking back at me, the cowboy sighs. “Fuck it, I’ll show you my cards if you show me yours, Leon. I know you had no feelings for your wife. I also know you’re not fucked up enough to celebrate being free of her by going balls to the wall and having some big orgy party or something now that she’s gone. But why don’t you want to go out and see if the mood strikes?”

It’s no real secret, I suppose.

Shrugging, I reply, “Casual sex doesn’t appeal to me. I’ve had enough experiences with Cleo only being used for the possibility of procreating that I’ve found out exactly what I don’t want. I don’t want to use or be used to get off, man. There’s nothing sexy about it, and I don’t really think there ever has been.”

“Look at that,” Armani coos, patting his friend on the back. “You’re both romantics. At least Leon is more likely to find a woman who appreciates that than you are to wear Nico down.”

Colton flips my brother off, glaring hard.

“What? You said you were gonna tell him, I just beat you to it.”

“Nico, huh?” I ask, eyebrows drawing in. “How long has that been a thing?”

“It’s not a thing,” the cowboy says with a huff.

“Not for a lack of trying,” Armani adds, tipping his bottle toward his friend in a bit of a tease. “Hey, you know what you signed up for when you fell in love with my little brother. I get to torture you for it until the end of time.”

“I wouldn’t torture you if you fell in love with my little brother,” Colton replies tightly. “At least Dustin wouldn’t give you so many mixed signals.”

Armani rolls his eyes. “Dustin wouldn’t give me anything because he’s straight.”

“I feel like there’s a lot to unpack here.” I look between the two of them, eyebrows pinched together. “I don’t know if I have the capacity to digest this right now.”

Cackling, my brother throws his head back. “You’ve only had like five drinks. It’s not that complicated, honestly. Colton is head over dick for Nico, Nico won’t give him the time of day, except for when he kind of does. And Colton stopped getting laid awhile ago because he says it feels like cheating even though Nico is very much not his boyfriend.”

“Yes, nothing complicated about that,” I drawl, sarcasm clear as day. “I do not miss being as young as you two.”

“Were you ever really this young and fun?” Armani teases, tilting his head in challenge. “From what I can remember, you’ve always been the golden good boy, doing whatever Daddy needed while maintaining the utmost professionalism.”

“I hate it when you guys call me that, you know?” I scowl, looking down at my beer. “Pointing out the golden thing only reminds everyone that I look different from the rest of you, and that’s how the rumors about Uncle Cesar started.”

Colton coughs on his last sip. “Wait, what rumors?”

“I told you about that, didn’t I?” Armani frowns. “When we were younger, people liked to say that Leon was Cesar’s kid. Either Cesar banged Mom, or Mom pretended to be pregnant so that Dad could take in the kid he had out of wedlock. It was dumb, and it pissed Dad right the fuck off. Cesar too.”