Assumed Master by Lila Munro Read Free Book Online Page A

Drake’s for the evening.
    Spying their sons standing on the sidewalk
surrounded by a bevy of girls of all shapes, sizes, and colors, Dante shook his
head as he came to a halt at the curb.
    "We definitely have our hands full,"
he said, honking the horn to get their attention.
    "Please tell me you’ve had the talk about
a million times," Julie said, waving as the boys jogged over. "Do you
need me to conjure some horror stories from my teen years to convince them
rubbers are a must and girls are the devil?"
    Blake snickered from the back seat just as
Gavril pulled Julie’s door open.
    "Aunt Julie," he said, leaning in
and kissing her on the cheek. "How do you feel, love?"
    "Taking lessons from Papi I see,"
Julie answered, cradling his face and kissing the end of his nose. "I’m
okay." Although Dante noticed her eyes grew cloudy again.
    "Can we come home?" Lucien asked,
shoving his brother away and leaning in to hug her. "We’ll be quiet while
you…" The boy grew still as if not knowing what to say next.
    "We need some time, boys. Aunt Julie
needs time to recover a bit, but we do need to talk," Dante said,
motioning them to get in the vehicle.

 
    Chapter Six
     
    "So, Aunt Julie will be living with us,
too?" Lucien asked, reaching for another chocolate chip cookie. "Cool."
    "Hello, Luc. Don’t you get it?"
Gavril said , sitting back with his eyebrows knitted
together. "She’ll be Papi’s like Dad is Papi’s. Is that right?"
    "Well, yes," Dante answered, wishing
he had a beer in hand instead of a cup of coffee.
    "I guess Uncle Mason was a big ass then,"
Gavril said, reaching for his vitamin water.
    "Gav," Lucien gasped. "Take it
back. Uncle Mason was tops. He’s just looking out for Aunt Julie’s welfare.
Would you want her living all the way out there on the river by herself? Look
at her? She’s a girl for piss sake!"
    "Boys, my God!" Blake scolded. "Watch
your mouths."
    "Well, it’s true," Lucien defended. "She's
a girl and you and Papi have always taught us to respect them and protect them
at all cost. She’s a mess and she needs us. I’m glad she’s going to live with
us. Gav’s the ass."
    It seemed to Dante maybe they were teaching
their boys just a little too well if they were that perceptive of the
situation. In some ways, he thought they might understand it better than he
did. Gavril decidedly knew Mason was an ass and Lucien clearly saw through
Julie’s attempts at being strong while Mason was ill. Dante didn’t remember
being that attentive until he was at least thirty.
    "I’m the ass?" Gavril asked, clearly
put off by his brother’s assessment. "And speaking of respecting her, it
seems to me no one does."
    "And what makes you say that?" Dante
said, hoping to God this conversation ended soon so he could get his night
class over with then go home and get the beer he so badly needed.
    "Did anyone think to ask Aunt Julie what she wanted?"
    Silence fell across Drake’s kitchen and not
one person looked another in the eye.
    "That’s what I thought," Gavril
deduced. "How the hell is that respecting her?"
    "Gav, language," Blake hissed
through tightly drawn lips.
    The boy posed a good question. One Dante had
no answer for.
    "I was wondering what you boys would like
to eat when you come home next week," Julie spoke up, giving Dante a
sideways glance that told him move on, this argument wasn’t worth it right now.
"I’m going to be the one cooking for a while and I need to do some
shopping."
    It sickened Dante how well Julie was around
kids and she didn’t even realize it. She’d have made a wonderful mother, would
be now to his boys.   She should have had
a dozen running around behind her. But instead, when the devastating news came
that a dozen would never be borne of her womb, something seemed to die inside
her and all talk of her and Mason having children ceased. He wondered now whose
idea that had been. Was it Mason’s? Every attempt Dante ever made to broach the
subject with Mason had been