Page 7 of Fractured Empire

“We’ll get Rayna and the baby settled,” Apollo replies, giving me a dip of his head in greeting. “Then we’ll come talk.”

Talk doesn’t actually mean talk, in this case. He means he and Dad will come sit with me and suffer without sleep since there’s no way I’m going to get any sleep of my own. And for the second time tonight, I can’t brush off the offer. I want the company, and I might even need it.

“Yeah, okay. I’ll show you the rooms.”

“Did you have time to set up the pack and play that you have here?” Rayna asks, walking quickly to come up to my side. “We have one in the car in case you didn’t.”

“It’s set up,” I reply with a little grunt. “Cleo made me do it a few days ago.”

Rayna senses my tone and smiles sympathetically. “She knew the time was coming, but she isn’t suffering now, Leon. You just have to remember that, especially when you talk to the boys. They know she was in pain, and that she wishes she could have stayed with them, but at least she’s not sick anymore. She’s at peace.”

“Do you really believe that? That she’s at peace?” I ask quietly, nose wrinkling.

I’ve never thought too hard about the afterlife or what happens when we die. Some made men turn to religion to cope with our close relationship with death, but I’ve always simply avoided contemplating it. When my mother died, Dad told us all that she went to sleep in heaven, to make my younger siblings feel better. But I chose to believe him too, that way I didn’t have to consider any worse alternatives.

“Of course,” Rayna agrees instantly. “She’s somewhere out there, existing without pain and without a brain that’s decaying. She deserved to live a peaceful life with her sons, but life is brutal and unfair. The afterlife? It’s the reward we all get for enduring.”

I don’t know if her assessment is right, but it’s still comforting to hear.

“You’ll be there when I tell the boys, won’t you?”

“The whole time,” she confirms, her voice sure and steady. “Apollo and I think it’s best if you and I tell them with your father. Bastian is really close with his papa and I think Leo would be excited to see me and the baby, even if it’s a sad occasion. The distraction of more loved ones might help.”

“Yeah.” I swallow hard. “They’ll be happy to see you and Vaughn.”

They love Apollo too, but if we’re all being honest, he’s here for me, rather than the boys. We were each other’s first brother, and if anyone is going to be my rock through this, it’s him. Cassio and I might be closer a lot of the time, but Cassio only knows the loss of a wife and a son who he actually loved. When his first wife died in childbirth, along with their baby, I thought he would never find love again.

But he has Ana now. He’s known love and death and love again.

I don’t think that I’ve known anything other than death.

At least when it comes to women. I love my boys more than anything. Being a father means more to me than I ever thought it would as a young man. I don’t think it’s something you can conceptualize until you’ve done it.

Once we arrive at the guest rooms, Rayna stops at the door and touches my arm softly. “Well, we’ll make sure to get up early so we’re all ready in time. I can whip up some muffins so they’ll have an easy breakfast too. It’s important that they eat.”

“If you don’t mind.”

“I don’t,” she confirms. “We’re going to get through this, Leon.”

I have to believe her. Otherwise, I might lose it.

Chapter Three

Leon

Just like she said she would be, Rayna is up at seven in the morning, baking muffins while Vaughn babbles quietly in a wrap on the front of her body. Dad and Apollo are there too, sipping on their coffees and helping her when she needs something from the fridge, or tools from the cabinets.

The two of them look perfectly rested despite spending most of the night up with me. Neither of them is sporting the same dark under eyes that shade my face. I’ve pulled all-nighters before—we all have had our fair share of sleepless nights—but I’m exhausted from the emotional toll yesterday took on me.

The mortuary people were delayed and didn’t end up making it to the house until after my family arrived, which actually worked out for the better. Dad insisted on handling them, so I didn’t need to watch my dead wife being removed from our home in a body bag. I’m not sure it would have negatively affected me any more than watching her last breath did, but it was a nice gesture from my dad either way.

After Cleo was officially gone, nothing changed. The house was still cloaked in the silence of night, and my brother and father were still by my side. We sat in the den, rotating topics of conversation in between bouts of silence. We talked about The Outfit, mafia politics, and nothing that could even remotely deal with Cleo, or even death itself. By the time the sun started to come up, we all agreed to go our separate ways and get ready for the new day. For my part, I took another shower. A cold one this time, to try and wake myself up.

I’m not sure how helpful it was.

Rayna gasps playfully as she sees me walking into the kitchen.

“Oh my gosh, who is that?” she asks, her voice coming out with added enthusiasm as she looks down at her son. “Is that your uncle Leon? Do you want to tell him that we’re making his favorite muffins, hmmm?”