Page 74 of Fractured Empire

“Holy shit,” I croak, going completely still.

The sight of my husband hasn’t hit me so intensely since our wedding day, and now for a completely different reason than the last. Leon is shirtless, wearing dark shorts that meet the tops of his mid-thighs, and he’s rippled with muscles that are straining from being pushed to the limit. His blonde hair is soaked with sweat, looking darker than it ever has, and his veins are popping out all over.

I’ve seen his body before, noticing how he looked when we went swimming with the kids for the first time, but that was nothing like now. He was in dad mode then, and I was so occupied trying to make sure Bastian and Leo were swimming safely that I didn’t allow my gaze to linger on him for too long. But now, now he’s a wet dream. Emphasis on the word wet.

He looks like he’s in a movie, the fluorescent gym lights shining down on him from above, and the wall of mirrors making my view of him double. My stomach flips and erupts with a flutter that can’t be mistaken for anything other than desire. If he thought he should apologize for watching me through the cameras, then I should certainly feel obligated to do the same for how I’m thinking about him now.

Leon lifts his arms up suddenly, stretching long and languid. The movement makes his shorts ride lower on his hips, drawing my eyes to the defined V he’s rocking. The V that leads to⁠—

Oh. My. Fuck.

My throat goes tight and dry as my whole body freezes stiffly, realizing where my mind is going. I want to know what his tight, wet body would feel like against mine if he picked me up and laid me down on the weight bench he’s standing in front of. Something tells me that despite having a loveless marriage previously, Leon would know exactly what to do with a wanting and willing woman at his fingertips.

The music comes to an abrupt end, and my breath catches. As if sensing my eyes on him, Leon turns, finding me frozen in the door’s frame. His head tilts slightly, and I swear a smirk blooms on his lips. He waves me in turning to face me head on, rather than looking at me from the side.

“Get it together,” I hiss at myself, the words too muffled to be heard by him or anyone else.

Opening the door, I’m met with the air conditioned shift in temperature, making it even more surprising how drenched my husband is.

“You know you’re allowed to come in?” he asks, running a white towel over his forehead and then around the back of his neck. It hangs there when he’s done, somehow looking like a slutty little man accessory. “This is your house now too, remember?”

“I didn’t want to interrupt you,” I reply lamely. “I wasn’t sure if you were done yet.”

His eyebrows hike up, almost challengingly. Teasingly. “So you wanted to watch and find out?”

“I thought we established that watching was okay.”

“I didn’t say I was complaining.”

God. His voice.

I must be ovulating.

“The kids will be waking up soon, I just wanted to touch base. Dinner is still on for tonight?”

He takes the topic change in stride. “Yeah, we’ll leave around six. We’ll see what they want to do once they’re up. It’s a tossup whether Leo will want to climb up and down the walls or if he’ll still be sleepy and want to relax.”

“And Bastian will do whatever Leo wants to do,” I add on, smiling fondly. “He’s a really good big brother. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a kid be so patient with his younger sibling before. Especially that close in age. I haven’t seen them even bicker once since I moved in, you know?”

“Oh it happens sometimes,” Leon assures me, sighing. “It typically involves a toy or something equally as silly when either of them is overtired or overwhelmed.”

“Really?” I try to picture it. “I can’t imagine, they get along so well. And Bastian is such a calm kid.”

Leon shrugs lightly, and I try to pretend like I’m not staring at his big shoulders as he does. “It’s not a regular occurrence but such is the way with siblings. I think I’d be more concerned if they never fought, honestly. It might be some kind of scientific phenomenon that should be investigated.”

“Did you fight a lot with your brothers growing up?”

“Oh, constantly,” Leon bursts out, laughing as he says it. “There were nine of us, and we were raised to be powerful, strong men. We fought over everything. Toys, clothes, cars, friends, who was better at something, who was taller, stronger, faster…it never ended. There was always some kind of sibling rivalry going on, but there was a ton of love too. Very much a ‘I can be mean to my brother, but I’ll kill anyone else if they try to do the same’ kind of situation. And we all had times where we got along better than others.”

“I can’t picture young mafia heirs with endless money fighting over clothes,” I point out with a disbelieving chuckle. “Couldn’t you just buy more of whatever was being fought over?”

“You’d think, Katya, you’d think.” His smile is reminiscent and contagious. “As an older sibling, Apollo taught me to be tolerant of the younger ones just like he was with me once upon a time. I’ve tried to teach Bastian to do the same, but he hasn’t needed much help in that area. It’s easy for him to be understanding and empathetic towards Leo since he saw him when he was going through a hard time.”

I hum softly, remembering what he told me about how they came to share a bedroom.

“It’s a difficult balance siblings have to maneuver, you know? The younger ones want to be the older ones, and the older ones just want to be at peace. It helps when their parents don’t play them against one another, or keep double standards. Dad was good at that, I think. He always made sure we were treated fairly, and that he shared his love equally as best as he could.”

“I don’t know the rest of your brothers very well, but I think he did an incredible job with you,” I tell him softly. “You’re a great father, and I’ve never seen you be anything other than a good man.”