13. Emzee

EMZEE

CHAPTER 13

B efore my father had gone to prison, our rare Zoric family dinners had always been tense and awkward. My father liked maintaining the illusion of a big, happy, united family, but when it came down to it, our actual happiness mattered zilch to him. All he ever cared about was power and money and optics, and us kids were only useful to him as one more means to that end. We weren’t emotionally close to him, but he liked to keep us physically close. He had expectations that we’d show up for various events and meetings to make him look good. I’d hated it.

Now that he was out of the picture and both of my brothers were in solid marriages with babies on the way, our family dinners were more frequent and less horribly uncomfortable.

That had a lot to do with Tori, who loved hosting us at the gorgeous luxury condo she and Stefan lived in. The apartment itself had even become more welcoming since their marriage had solidified. Before, it had been all dark masculine furniture and starkly modern, almost bare rooms. But Tori had put up family photos, switched out the heavy curtains for airy linen ones, even painted some of the walls in soothing shades of blue. Now, it felt more like a home.

I could really appreciate it.

I didn’t know all the details about Tori’s life before Stefan, but I’d gathered that her senator father (may he rest in peace) had been a lot like ours; concerned more with appearances than the actual well-being of his children. Tori had a stepmother named Michelle, though—a true southern belle who was loving and kind and had tried to make their house a home—and Tori seemed determined to do the same for us Zoric siblings. My sister-in-law was going to be an amazing mom. We certainly all benefited from having her around.

I used my key to let myself in, and immediately heard voices coming from the kitchen.

“The party has arrived!” I announced, heading toward the noise.

Tori and Brooklyn greeted me warmly. I got a hug and a kiss from both of them, though Tori’s huge, pregnant belly got a bit in the way of the hug.

“You look amazing,” I told her with a grin. “Are you getting excited about the delivery?”

She laughed. “I just want this baby out of me. I’m more than ready for it.”

“And I’m ready to hear all your advice,” Brooklyn chimed in. “I know I’m barely showing, but I feel like I’ve been knocked up for a million years.”

“Your morning sickness still acting up?” I asked.

Brooklyn gave a shudder. “It’s the fucking worst, I swear. I miss being able to keep down my breakfast. Speaking of food…”

Apparently they’d been deep in discussion about the scalloped potato recipe being served for dinner. I could smell the dreamy, cheesy, buttery goodness cooking in the oven.

“I just don’t get why mine always turn rock hard,” Brooklyn said. “Or else the milk curdles. I’ve basically given up at this point, even though I love them.”

“Three things,” Tori said, holding up her fingers. “One: Yukon Gold potatoes only. You can’t be using red skinned or anything like that.”

“The recipe specifically said red skin!” Brooklyn said. “It’s a conspiracy!”

Grinning, Tori said, “Trust me. Yukon only. Two: you have to slice with a mandoline. No knife is ever going to cut them thin enough, that’s a fact. And three: you must use whole milk, or even fifty-fifty milk and cream. These are the great secrets, directly from Michelle.”

“I’m ready to follow your ways, Tori-wan,” Brooklyn joked, crouching down to peek at the dish bubbling away in the oven. “They look amazing.”

“Actually, if potatoes is the only thing baby wants you to eat, I’ve got another Michelle recipe tucked into one of my books around here somewhere,” Tori said, turning to rummage through a stack of cookbooks on a shelf.

Through the kitchen doorway, I saw my brothers in the living room, congregating by the bar. Stefan caught my eye and jerked his chin, indicating that I should join them for a mini-meeting while The Wives were distracted. I politely excused myself from the potato discussion and headed toward Stefan. He was pouring out glasses of scotch, muttering as he did so. He and Luka both looked tense. My stomach dropped. This couldn’t be good.

Stefan slid a drink over to me, and we all took a somber sip before anyone spoke.

“The Bratva would like their money,” Stefan said. “And soon.”

Adrenaline rushed through me, and I took another long swallow of the scotch.

“We don’t have it,” Luka hissed. “In case you hadn’t noticed, we aren’t a very liquid company right now.”

“I’m aware,” Stefan said sharply, his voice hushed. “And I’m doing everything I can to stall. I even told them how we’ve been rebuilding, and that we just narrowly avoided a takeover by Elite. But they don’t give a shit about our excuses. Crime was paying, after all.”

Stefan tossed the rest of his drink back and poured himself another.

“Jesus fuck. We could actually lose everything,” I murmured.

“That’s real helpful, Em,” Luka said. “How big of a loan can we take out as a business?”

“Not an option.” Stefan shook his head. “Even if we could borrow that much, or even half, we’d be fucked at tax time. You have to be able to itemize and account for that kind of?—”

“And just what are we all whispering about?” Brooklyn asked brightly, appearing out of nowhere.

We all jumped, doing our best to act natural—and probably failing.

“I, um, was just telling my brothers that I have a surprise,” I said. Three pairs of eyes turned to me, and I scrambled for something to say. “I’m, uh…well, I’m engaged!”

It wasn’t exactly how I’d planned to spring the news on everyone tonight, but my brothers and I had needed to come up with a distraction and this was a pretty handy one.

For a moment, everyone just stared. Then their eyes darted down to my hand.

“I don’t have a ring yet!” I said quickly, putting my hands behind my back. “We’re trying to get his grandmother’s. It has sentimental value.”

“You’re engaged,” Stefan said, his voice flat, as if he didn’t quite believe me.

“Yep!” I said, keeping my own voice cheery.

“Oh my God!” Brooklyn said, throwing her arms around me and jumping up and down. “Congratulations, Emzee! Emzee’s getting married!”

“Emzee’s getting married?” Tori echoed, rushing into the room as fast as her pregnant body could take her. She joined Brooklyn so us girls were all in a group hug now.

“To who?” Luka asked skeptically. “I didn’t know you were even dating anybody.”

My brothers seemed pretty taken aback. Not least because they probably couldn’t figure out if I’d just come up with the story on the spot to cover for our sibling huddle. There’d be no reason for them to be suspicious, though, once they heard who it was.

“To Ford,” I said, trying to keep my tone light.

“Really?” Stefan said, not disguising his shock.

My brothers knew who Ford was—and what he was to me. They knew he’d protected me from the high school bullies who’d made my life hell and that the two of us had been close ever since. He’d been a fixture in my life for years. A very platonic fixture, however.

“Wait, you’re marrying Ford ?” Brooklyn said.

“Hmm,” Tori said, narrowing her eyes at me a little, sizing me up.

I couldn’t blame The Wives for being taken aback as well—considering the fact that the last they heard, Ford was supposed to be my fake (and temporary) boyfriend. They were clearly bursting to drill me for all the details about the unexpected escalation, but luckily they were bound by the Secrets of the Vault not to disclose what they already knew in front of my brothers.

Still, I knew I’d be getting the third degree during our next lunch.

“Yes, I am,” I answered Brooklyn. “We haven’t picked a date yet, but probably in the next few months. I know it seems sudden, but…I guess when you know, you know.”

There was another long silence—The Wives exchanging glances and my brothers doing the same. I held my breath.

And then a smile spread across Stefan’s face.

“This is great news,” he said. “Malone’s exactly the right kind of man for this family.”

I let out a relieved laugh. Out of everyone, I valued Stefan’s approval the most. After all, since our father had gone to prison, my oldest brother had taken over as head of the household.

“This calls for a celebration,” Luka announced.

“There’s champagne in the fridge!” Tori said, heading into the kitchen.

Stefan popped the bubbly open and poured a glass for everyone, including a few sips’ worth for both of the pregnant Wives.

“I’d like to raise a toast to the joyful union of Emzee and our future brother-in-law, Ford,” Stefan said as we all lifted our glasses. “We’ll have to invite him over for the next dinner and properly welcome him into the family.”

Everyone started talking all at once about how happy and supportive they were, how beneficial it would be for someone in the Zoric family to make a match with a son of the Malones. I washed down my guilt with all the champagne that The Wives couldn’t drink. There was nothing I could do but just go with it. The family deserved some good news, after all.

Across the top of my champagne flute, I caught Tori’s gaze. She lifted her eyebrows in a questioning manner and I shot her a pleading look. This wasn’t the time to talk about it.

“It actually makes perfect sense,” Luka said. “You two have known each other forever.”

“Yep,” I said, drinking more champagne. “Shall we sit down and eat?”

Once dinner was over, I insisted that my brothers leave us women alone to have some girl talk while we loaded up the dishwasher and tidied up the kitchen.

“What happened?” Tori wanted to know, a sly grin spreading across her face.

“I thought this was a temporary thing,” Brooklyn teased. “Did you take my advice to bang him and he ended up proposing on the spot?”

“Of course not!” My cheeks went hot. “Look, I can’t talk about it just yet, but please do not breathe a word to my brothers about the origin story,” I said, lowering my voice. “I promise I’ll fill you in later. For now…just roll with it,” I said.

Oh, the irony.