The Emperor (Dark Verse, #3)

by RuNyx

“You are a fucking warrior queen, and I’m so proud of you,” he told her softly, seeing the effect his words had on her. Her lips trembled in a slight smile. “You make me strong.” Fuck, he liked that.

Dante bent to scoop Lulu up in one arm, bringing her to his face. “Don’t shed on me where people can see. I have a reputation to protect.” Amara felt amusement crawl up her cheeks, seeing the huge man in the expensive suit and the tiny cat getting fur all over him, making her laugh.

“She’s so soft,” Morana uttered, amazed. Tristan came to stand behind her and Lulu, the little attention seeker that she was, tried to climb over Morana’s shoulder to sniff him. Morana struggled to contain her. “Traitor, I know he smells nice, but stay with me for a second!” Lulu stretched towards Tristan. Tristan stared at the cat, before shaking his head and taking a step back. “Get that thing away from me, please.”

“This thing is a fucking cat, dude,” he told the other man, rubbing Lulu behind the ear, so naturally Amara wondered if he’d ever had pets before. “She’s a cute little thing.” “Can we get one, caveman?” Morana blinked up at him, putting a hand on his arm. “We’ll adopt a stray.” Tristan sighed, sending a glare at Amara, and she burst out laughing.

“We share a father, Mr. Maroni.” Dante’s hand paused on the way to his mouth, his eyes honing in on the other man. “Excuse me?” Alpha laughed. “The bastard didn’t tell you.”

Morana came back on screen, a huge smile on her face. “Sorry, Xander needed some help.” “How’s he doing?” Amara asked, curious about the boy. Morana shrugged. “Not the best, if I’m being honest. He’s not talkative at all but boy, he’s freaky intelligent. Like even I wasn’t doing the shit he’s doing at his age. He likes to sit with me when I’m working, seeing all the codes and stuff. But doesn’t talk, except to maybe ask a few questions. Just my luck huh? Stuck with two guys who barely grunt,” she ended on a little laugh, shaking her head.

“You should have him tested for his IQ,” Amara pointed out. Morana nodded. “Yeah, we will. I mean we’re all just kind of adapting to being in the same space, you know? Tristan took to it like a duck to water, though. He loves him. He doesn’t say it, but I can tell. I found them in the kitchen one night cooking pizza because Xander had a nightmare.”

“Do you want to know the gender? I can see it.” “It’s a girl, isn’t it?” Dante asked from her side, rubbing her ring. “Indeed it is,” the doctor confirmed, pointing to a white shape on the screen. “That’s her right there, nestled in her mother’s womb, all comfortable and safe. And she looks healthy. Congratulations.”

Dante looked at her, pressing their foreheads together. One baby there, one baby missing. Amara didn’t think that would ever not hurt.

“Dante will be a good Daddy,” Morana gave a cheeky wink, making Amara sputter. “So would Tristan,” Amara pointed out. Morana raised her glass. “To finding good fathers for our kids. We scored in that department.”

“So, what, we play them, my king?” He chuckled, his fingers flexing on her face. “We play them, my queen.”

Xander was a quiet kid, but he’d already weaved his way into Tristan and Morana’s life. Amara had seen both him and Tristan playing cards at night and she understood what Morana meant. Tristan loved the boy. It was evident in the way he stood close to his side, or always kept his eyes on him when he was in the room, or ruffled his hair. Amara recognized the ways Tristan fell in love, the same way he had with Morana, just with much less turmoil. As for Morana herself, she had taken to Xander like a pro. And given both their histories, Amara was certain they would make incredible parents to the little boy if they chose to keep him.

Tempest Talia Ava Maroni slid out into the world with a scream louder than her mother’s. Her lost sister never followed.

Dante looked down at the little warrior princess in his arms, his little storm, and felt something shift inside him, fall, click into place, locked tight. With the names of both women who had protected their children in their own ways—his mother and Amara’s — Tempest was a wrinkly, scrawny little thing, with a head full of dark hair and eyes squinted closed, looking nothing like the babies he saw in the media. He’d never seen anything more beautiful.

Love was too tame a word, adoration too juvenile. Broken and bleeding at fifteen, she had made his world tremble; exhausted and spent now, she owned it.

“She’s a fighter,” Dante said, his voice sounding rough to his ears. “Like you.” Amara’s lips trembled. “She’s ours, Dante. Ours. After all this time.” Dante pressed a kiss to her wet lips. “My warrior queen. I’m so proud of you.”

“And if she ever cracks?” Amara locked her gaze with his. “Then we fill her up with gold.” She smiled, and Dante pressed his forehead to hers.

“She has your eyes,” Tristan noted, standing behind Morana. Yes, and Dante loved that. Just like Amara had inherited her eyes from her mother, Tempest had inherited them from her.

“There aren’t two people I trust more with her life besides Dante. If anything were to happen to us, I’d die knowing she was safe and loved by someone who would lay their lives for her.” Morana went teary-eyed. Tristan put a hand on Amara’s shoulder in silent acceptance. And Dante smiled.

Dante turned to see Zia walking down the aisle arm in arm with his woman in a stunning dress of white gold that shimmered in the sunlight, the lacy full sleeves covering her arms, the high neck covering her scar, her hair in some kind of an up-do, his little warrior princess nestled in her arms.

Dante felt something move inside his chest, something so soft and fierce and alive, something that only resonated with and for this woman. His magnum opus. His warrior queen. The mother of his child.

He bent down and planted a kiss on her head, before pressing a hard kiss to his woman. “You’re the beat to my heart, Amara. Now, she’s a beat too.” She wiped the lipstick from his mouth. “And mine.”

Dante looked around at his chessboard, and with his queen by his side, he felt ready to play them all.