by Sam Mariano
“Okay. Will you teach me?”
Mia pauses and glances over at Mateo, as if for approval. He nods without looking up from his own plate. “Yeah, of course I will,” she tells Isabella.
Since Mateo doesn’t join in the conversation—he’s not used to kids at dinner, so he probably just doesn’t think of it—Mark hops on and regales Isabella with stories of the cookies he made at the bakery that were bigger than her head, and the cooking competition he and Mia had. Isabella is very into the idea of a cooking competition, and she is especially interested in a cookie larger than her head.
A little over halfway through the meal, Isabella tugs on Mateo’s arm and leans in to whisper in his ear. He gets up and helps her out of her seat, then with a hand on her little shoulder, looks around for a bathroom. He makes it around the table to where Mark and Sal are seated, then he glances at Mia. On cue, she drops her fork and pushes back her chair.
“I’ll take her.”
Mia heads over to that side of the table to take Isabella’s hand so she can lead her through the crowd.
Mateo places a hand at the small of Mia’s back and leans in close to murmur, “Thank you, Mia.” He watches pleasantly enough until they’re out of sight, then he leans down right where he’s standing and tells Mark, “Lay off my kid, asshole.”
Mark holds his hands up in surrender. “Hey, man, I was just—”
“Trying to impress the panties off Mia, yes, I know. You’re wasting your time. Which is fine, I’m sure you have a lot of that to waste—just don’t bring my daughter into it.”
Mateo straightens and goes to walk away, but stops short when Mark remarks blithely, “You shouldn’t fear a little competition, Morelli; it’ll keep your game sharp.”
I grimace, because Mateo turns right back around. I didn’t think he’d take the bait since he clearly doesn’t take Mark seriously, but there he is with a hook in his mouth.
“Competition?” Smiling as if amused, Mateo remains towering over him, but places a firm hand on Mark’s shoulder. “You can talk all the shit you want, Mark. That’s all it is. I can talk, too—and I could back it up.” Indicating Mia’s empty wine glass across the table, he says, “See, all I have to do is keep ordering her wine so she won’t be able to drive herself home. You can dream about what it’s like to have her mindless with lust in your arms, but I could actually have it. She’d put up a meager protest. I’d ignore it and fuck her anyway. Then she’d come all over my cock, crying out my name and begging me for more.” Straightening, giving Mark’s shoulder another squeeze, he says, “That’s how I could spend the rest of my night, if I were so inclined. Can you say the same thing?” He pauses just long enough, then releases Mark’s shoulder and pats him on the back. “Of course you can’t. That’s why you’re not competition.”
I suck in a breath and let it out, reaching for my own wine glass as Mateo walks back around to his side of the table.
Poor Mark, usually in such good spirits, has an uncharacteristic scowl on his face. “You know, I don’t hate a lot of people, but I hate him.”
Sal nods his understanding and I watch as Mateo signals the waitress and, just to be an asshole, orders Mia another glass of wine. As he settles back in his seat, faintly smirking, he shoots Mark a little wink.
“See, this is why we should’ve invited Meg and Vince,” Sal tells me, eyeing Mia’s wine glass with obvious discomfort.
“He won’t really do it, he was just running his mouth,” I tell him, shaking my head. “He just wanted to piss Mark off.”
“You sure about that?”
“He said he could spend his night that way, not he would. I’m at least 60 percent sure he’s not gonna do it.”
Sal snorts, shaking his head and taking a drink. “He’s such an asshole.”
I glance down at said asshole, but my gaze drifts to Cherie, seated across from him. Her face is set in a scowl and she has her phone out, thumbs flying across the screen. I realize since she’s on Mark’s other side, she just heard everything Mateo said to him. I’m just about to go down and do damage control, make sure she’s not texting Vince and getting Mia in trouble, when Mia and Isabella come back from the bathroom. I don’t want her to overhear me talking about what he said, so I stay put. If it is Vince she’s texting, I’m probably too late to intervene, anyway.
When Mia sits down, she’s mildly surprised to see her wine glass refilled, but since it’s there she drinks it anyway. After she empties that glass, Mateo orders her another. She’s tipsy enough at that point she doesn’t object. I’m still reasonably certain Mateo is only ordering her drinks to irk Mark, but Sal is less confident. He tenses along with Mark when Mateo orders another glass for her and glances at me with mild aggravation.
I pat Sal’s hand on the table. “I’ll talk to him and make sure he’s not up to no good.”
Sal rolls his eyes. “Yeah, because he’d obviously tell you.”
Mia’s pretty wasted by the time she finishes that glass. Before she heads to the bathroom, she stumbles over to Mateo and leans down to tell him, “Don’t order any more. I have to pee.”
“Thank you for the update,” he says lightly.
Mia nods, one hand on his shoulder for balance, but then she notices Maddie looking. Pointedly resting her other hand on his other shoulder, Mia lingers and holds Maddie’s gaze.
Maddie lifts her eyebrows. “I was just being friendly. Down, girl,” she says before turning away.
Apparently satisfied, Mia wordlessly removes her hands and heads for the bathroom.
Sal watches the whole exchange, noting Mateo’s satisfaction once Mia’s done marking him as her territory. As soon as she bumps into a chair on her way toward the hall, Sal’s frustration peaks and he gets up from the table. “I’ll be back.”
Chapter Forty Eight
Francesca
I watch as Sal takes off in the same direction as Mia, a little dread settling over me. I don’t want to draw Mateo’s attention if he hasn’t noticed, but of course he has. He frowns as Sal catches up to her just before they disappear down the hall toward the bathrooms.
Mateo frowns at the table for a moment, then pushes back his chair to stand. He hesitates when he remembers Isabella is with him and he can’t leave her at the table, so I quickly push back my own chair.
“I’ll be right back, I’m gonna go make sure Mia doesn’t get lost,” I tell him.
His eyes move in my direction but he still doesn’t look completely satisfied. Since he’s mistrustful of everyone, I’m sure our concerns are different. I know Sal didn’t follow Mia for any nefarious purposes, but Mateo views the world through his own lens, so I’m sure the thought at least crossed his mind.
When I make it to the bathrooms, Sal is leaning against the wall with his phone out, standing guard outside the ladies’ room. It’s stupid that I feel even a trace of relief; I know I never have to worry about Sal betraying me, but 28 years of trust issues don’t just evaporate because you meet Prince Charming. Luckily my prince is incredibly patient and doesn’t even take offense when I show up to check on him.
“Miss me?” he jokes.
I nod, moving close and wrapping my arms around his neck. “You were gone so long.”
Sliding his phone back into his pocket, his sexy gray eyes meet mine and he wraps his arms around my waist. “I’m not complaining. You can follow me into a darkened hall anytime.”
I smile as he leans forward to give me a kiss, but I don’t linger long before pulling back and telling him lightly, “Well, it was me or Mateo. I thought you’d enjoy my company a little more.”
The mere mention of Mateo annoys him. Like all of us, Sal goes back and forth on liking him. One day he thinks he’s just fine, the next he’s sure he’s a massive asshole who needs to be set on fire. It looks like today is a “kill it with fire” day.
“Your brother is something else,” he says, leaning back against the wall, but still lightly holding my waist. “And Mia—that girl needs a fucki
ng babysitter. Why’d she drink the wine?”
I smile. “Because he ordered it for her and she rarely disobeys him.”
“Well, she’s trashed. I think I’m gonna have Mark drive her car home.”
I shake my head. “No way, Mateo will never let her leave with Mark.”
“She’s not gonna leave with Mark, she’s gonna leave with Vince. I just texted him and told him to come pick her up.”
Surprise trickles through me with a dread chaser and I widen my eyes at him. “Why did you do that?”
Sal looks surprised as his eyebrows shoot up his forehead. “What do you mean, why? Because she’s wasted and there’s at least a 40 percent chance of her getting date-raped if your brother takes her home.”
“Sal, you can’t do that. I love how gallant you are, I do, but… we don’t get in Mateo’s way like that. Even Adrian doesn’t do that, and Mateo loves Adrian. It’s dangerous to cross my brother. He likes you now, but I promise you, he would turn on you on a dime. I know it’s uncomfortable watching and having no power to stop bad things as they happen, but that’s the way it is with my family.”
I understand why Sal is struggling with this—he’s the one with the clout in his own family now, and it’s well within his reach to make things happen or not happen. But he has no such influence in my family, and if he forgets that fact, especially in defense of Mia, he will swiftly find himself transferred over to Mateo’s bad side.
“Except I do have the power to stop it. I have fingers—they’re capable of texting Mia a safe ride home. I’m not interfering in his business or his life; I’m simply preventing him from potentially hurting your friend in a social situation. Maybe if he hadn’t laid out his fucking plan right in front of me I could’ve given him the benefit of the doubt here, but he did. Who he fucks isn’t my business, but I’m not gonna stand by like an asshole and let him hurt someone I like when I could very easily prevent it with a single text message.”
I shake my head at him. “But you can’t. I don’t know how much clearer I can be. We can judge and complain and try to cajole him, but we can’t actively interfere. He may be friendly right now, but Mateo is the boss; things only remain nice if he gets his way. I’ve told you before, Mateo does what he wants and we fall in line—that’s just how it is. You can’t protect Mia from Mateo. Vince is her boyfriend and our cousin, and he can’t even protect her from him. If you try, you’ll make him an enemy, and you do not want Mateo for an enemy.”
The door opens before Sal can respond. His resistance is giving me anxiety, but now I have to do damage control. Mia emerges from the bathroom, smiling in the cheerfully oblivious way of drunken people. I move away from Sal to go to her side. “Hey, having fun?”
“Oh, yeah. Isabella is so cute and sweet. Oh my god. She’s going to be the cutest flower girl ever.”
“Yeah, totally.” Without missing a beat, I add, “Hey, listen. You know Vince is coming to pick you up, right?”
She nods with gusto. “Yep. Sal called him for me.”
“Okay. But if Mateo asks, can you say you called Vince? Don’t tell him Sal was involved in that decision; just tell him you called Vince to pick you up since you obviously can’t drive home.”
“Sure. It was a good idea. I knew I couldn’t drive home, but I didn’t really think about it. Sal is so nice and smart. I’m glad you’re going to have a nice, smart husband.”
I crack a smile as we head down the corridor toward the dining room. “Yes, I’m very pleased with his many virtues.”
---
For the very first time, I use my own key to unlock the front door of my very own home, right in the heart of suburbia.
Since Sal and I are leaving for our honeymoon directly following the wedding, we’ve been slowly moving in all week. I was pretty easy to move, except for the fact that I have way too many items of clothing for our new his-and-hers closets. Sal has assured me he will build me a bigger closet, but I’m fine with what we have. I don’t really need all those dresses now that I won’t be at family dinner every night, so I left some behind.
Tonight we will spend our first night together in our new home.
Sighing with contentment, I peel off the thin white sweater I wore to the rehearsal dinner and hang it on the coat rack in the corner. I love having my own coat rack in my own entryway.
“Can you believe it? In 24 hours, you and I will officially be husband and wife.”
Sal smiles, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist. His lips brush my neck and I shiver with pleasure. I turn in his arms so I can wrap my arms around his neck and snuggle into his embrace.
“I should’ve married you the minute I saw you,” he states. “Think of how many wasted days you’ve been a Morelli when you could’ve been a Castellanos instead.”
I grin, giving him a quick peck on the mouth. “You know changing my last name isn’t going to rewire me, right?”
“I like your faulty wiring just the way it is.”
“Now that’s true love,” I tell him, winking.
“You Morellis are a special breed; love means a different thing to you nutjobs.”
“Whatever, you love us.”
“I love you,” he specifies. “The rest, I could take ‘em or leave ‘em.”
“You’re totally hooked.”
He leans in to kiss my neck.
“You chugged the Kool-Aid,” I continue.
His warm breath travels toward my ear.
“You love our issues so much you renewed your subscription.”
He nips at my earlobe.
“You—”
His big hand comes up to cover my mouth so I can’t talk.
I attempt a muffled “hey!” but then he moves his hand and replaces it with his mouth. He can shut me up with kisses anytime he likes.
After a minute, he pulls back, his gray eyes dancing with amusement as he regards me questioningly. “You done now?”
I let my hand drift down to catch his, walking backward toward the stairs. “Nope, you better take me upstairs and shut me up some more.”
“As long as you know your place, woman.”
I poke him in the stomach for that one, then before he can retaliate I hightail it up the stairs.
---
Waking up on the morning of your own wedding is both thrilling and terrifying.
At least, it is for me. I still have no idea if Sal’s mom is coming, but it seems like she’s not. He’s sleeping at night now, so I think he’s managed to get over it, but it’s still heartbreaking. I would be crushed if even Mateo refused to come to my wedding, so I can only imagine Sal’s own mom refusing to show up for him.
It’s still going to be a wonderful day, though. I’m not marrying the man of my dreams—I’m marrying someone better.
There’s a lot to do, even for our small, intimate wedding. Just getting myself ready is a whole thing. I start the day getting mani-pedis with my bridal party and Meg. I don’t know how Meg shoe-horned herself in, but one minute it was just the bridal party, and the next minute Meg and Mia were both there. Since her fiancé is paying the bill, I can’t really say much about it.
Even now that she’s sobered up, Mia doesn’t like Maddie. She tries to get Meg on the anti-Maddie team, but Meg doesn’t have enough sense to shoo away attractive women, apparently, so she chats her up instead.
I guess I can’t marry Maddie off to Alec, after all. Mia would probably come around once she accepted Maddie wouldn’t try to seduce Mateo, but it’s probably best to just leave it. Also I don’t know Maddie well enough to be sure she wouldn’t try to seduce Mateo, and nobody needs that.
After mani-pedis and some nerve-steadying mimosas, my bridal party and I head to the bridal room at the church. I don’t go to church, but Sal apparently has one that he goes to with his mom, so that’s where we’re getting married. It’s beautiful, with stained glass windows, soaring ceilings, and cherry wood pews. Candles and white rose petals have been set up along the pa
th I’ll walk up the aisle. Isabella has some more white petals to drop on her way down the aisle.
It’s perfect.
The ceremony doesn’t even mean that much to me—big, small, a success, a flop. None of it matters to me. All that matters to me is becoming Sal’s wife, going to our home tonight, and boarding a plane to Italy tomorrow so we can spend a full week away from it all, just enjoying each other. What matters to me is the life we’ve already started building together, the memories we’ve already started making, the dreams that have already come true.
While I get ready with Mia, Cherie and Maddie, a photographer snaps photos. My dress is absolutely incredible. I tried on a few strapless dresses that looked nice, but the one I settled on is a full white ball gown with an embellished overlay, sheer but similarly embellished sleeves that also add a little more modesty to my bust. Then there are these two soft, perfect panels of fabric that skate down each hip to fill out the skirt even more, with more embroidery along the bottom.
I feel like a princess in it, and even though it’s big and heavy and I have no idea how I’m supposed to ever pee once I put it on, I can’t wait. I can’t wait to walk down that aisle and see Sal’s face waiting for me at the other end.
As my stylist affixes the last pearl pin in the back of my hair, I’m already floating on cloud nine—and then Maddie taps me on the shoulder, her eyes alight with quiet pleasure.
I turn my head and stunned relief swirls through me when I see Sal’s mom standing right behind Maddie. She still looks a little guarded, but I’m so overcome with happiness that she showed up for Sal, I can’t keep from pushing off my chair and stepping forward to hug her. She clearly wasn’t expecting it, but she looks a little mollified when I pull back.
Her gaze wanders over me. I’m still in a white satin robe since I haven’t put my dress on yet, but my hair is done, my make-up applied; I feel prettier than I ever have before.