Page 173 of Remi's War (Four Dark Horsemen 2)

This is my code word for killing, but my mother never learned the true extent of my cruelty, so whenever the dark four have to deal with shit, I just say I need to focus on the latest merger.

“It’s Saturday, Mom. Penelope would have killed me.” Besides, I don’t mention to her that I would never miss dinner with my family.

Alesandro stares at me and then whispers, making a move toward me, “Hi, Dad.” His voice is barely audible while he clenches the sugar harder, some of it spilling on the counter. Then he quickly comes to me and hugs me, pressing his cheek to my stomach while I softly run my fingers through his hair, giving him his moment.

He has trouble showing affection, and despite living in our house for the last three years, he’s still a bit afraid we might hurt him like his biological parents did when they sold the twins to the highest bidder. Fury glides through my veins, awakening every monstrous trait of mine, threatening to make me lose control and wish for the time to go back so I could kill them all over again without an ounce of remorse.

Alesandro asks for hugs only when he feels lonely or cries; however, he knows he is loved and accepted just the way he is.

The other day, he even shared his latest poem with us and asked me to take him golfing; for a deep introvert, that’s a huge win.

Compared to most of our friends, Penelope and I decided to have children right away, wanting to add to our little family. However, destiny sent us another challenge when she refused to give us a child, no matter how hard we tried.

The doctors just opened their hands and claimed there was nothing wrong with us, and yet every single time, the test was negative, which made my wife sadder and sadder as the years passed, especially when our friends started to pop out kids one after another.

She was happy for them, enormously, but she constantly searched for what was wrong with her. The last straw for me was Amalia getting pregnant. Somehow, that broke my wife, seeing her twin with a baby bump and basically showing her what she could have looked like if fate had been kind to us. Especially with how tight their bond has gotten over the years, as they’ve traveled to see each other every month.

So I did what was right. Threw away all the books about babies and infertility, redecorated the empty nursery, and took her away for a whole year to travel around the world with all the resources available to us.

I spoiled her rotten so she had no doubt that our lives were perfect, even if it was just the two of us. She finally let go and became happy again, without any shadows in her beautiful blue eyes that still have the power to rule me.

We came back home, and that’s when the guys informed me that they saved a few kids from a child-trafficking ring in my absence, and there was a set of twins who didn’t talk at all and needed a place to stay for a while until their identities were sorted out. Most of the kids in that raid were kidnapped from good and loving families, so it should have been just for a couple of days.

The minute we found their parents, we went to talk to them about the boys, but the two junkies just wondered if they could sell them again, this time to us.

Santiago barely stopped me from beating the piece-of-shit father to death.

Penelope and I decided to keep them until at least one of them started talking while giving them a warm environment and all the psychological help they might need. Somehow, though, the more the boys stayed, the more we felt like family. Then one day, Penelope asked me if I was okay with adopting them.

So that’s how they became part of us, and we couldn't have been happier.

Or at least we thought so, until recently.

“Where is my wife?” I ask, dipping my finger in the brown mass and laughing when my mother slaps my hand away.

“Outside. Enjoying the last days of summer,” a deep voice replies from behind me, and I look at the man entering the kitchen, wearing a scowl on his face when he glances my way, but then he grins when his grandkids run to him. “Hello, munchkins.”

“Grandpa! You’re here!”

He squats down, letting them both hug him, and then stands with them in his arms. “Of course. Your birthday is coming up soon. I wouldn’t miss it.”

Loud cheers echo in the space.

He raises his brow at me. “Remi.”

“Asher.”

Asher still gives me a hard time for marrying his daughter without him and never lets me forget it. While he is the best father-in-law one could ask for and frequently flies to us, living between the two countries… the man has a vicious streak in him. Which doesn’t stop him from calling me son, supporting me, and hugging me every fucking opportunity he gets.

I don’t mind, though, as shocking as it sounds. Our love for Penelope binds us, so we do have common ground.

He kisses his grandkids and puts them back on the floor as he walks around the counter and wraps his arms around my mother, inhaling her scent. “Hi, love.”

Mom’s cheeks heat up, and she leans on him. “Hi.”

And that’s how I know this is my cue to leave, because the last thing I want to watch is my mother being kissed by her husband.

Let’s just say they shocked us all when they got married eight years ago, but they are blissfully happy. Considering they both suffered enough in the past, I’m glad they have each other.

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