by Sam Mariano
“Speaking of my ex-sister wife, I hear you two went out last time you were in town. How was that?”
“She’s not what I expected of Mateo’s girlfriend—even if she was just half of a set.” I poke him in the chest for that one and he flashes me a grin. “Hey, it wasn’t a put-down. I would’ve been very interested in playing with that set. Mateo’s a lucky bastard.”
“I stand just fine on my own, thank you very much.”
“I’m not arguing with that. I just can’t play with you now; you’re married to my cousin and he gets homicidal when his wives stray. I’m stunned that you came out of Vegas so unscathed, to be honest. I wasn’t suggesting you keep quiet to cover my ass, I thought I was covering yours. I know he fucked someone else on the regular, so technically he didn’t have a right to get mad at you, but he’s not generally all that worried about fairness and equality in his relationships.”
“We have a unique relationship, but he values and respects me. I know it probably doesn’t always look that way from the outside, but we keep each other safe and make each other happy.”
Nodding, he says, “You don’t have to convince me; I get it. It takes an enormous amount of trust to surrender your power to your partner. If I’d have found you first, you’d know these things and understand yourself a little better. Seems like Mateo’s such a control freak, he didn’t properly educate you about your own interests. Probably makes him seem that much more irreplaceable to you.”
“He’s super irreplaceable. There’s no on in the world like Mateo,” I assure Rafe.
This causes him to smirk. “See? Like I said.”
“You just don’t understand.”
“I completely understand. It’s possible to have what you have and also have consent, that’s all I’m saying.”
I roll my eyes. “He has my consent. I signed a waiver and everything.”
“Did he really make you sign something?”
“No! That was a joke.” It’s halfway off the tip of my tongue to tell him Mateo designated him as my back-up husband, but I nix the urge and redirect. “Anyway, we were talking about Meg.”
He cocks a questioning eyebrow. “Were we?”
I give him what I assume is a convincing nod. “How’d your date go?”
“It wasn’t a date. It was a kidnapping. She made plans and dragged me along for the ride.”
I nod, smiling fondly. “That sounds right. But you had fun?”
Frowning slightly, he says, “I don’t know. She’s not really my type. Guards herself like the Hope diamond. Hell of a lot of work to crack a nut like that. Could be fun, but with her I think it would be more a battle than a thrill. Anyway, I’m not into long distance relationships or potential step-children.”
“Oh, come on. Step outside your comfort zone. You’re a big, strong man; don’t tell me you can’t handle a challenge.”
Smiling, Rafe shakes his head at me, his brown eyes dancing with amusement. “It’s adorable that you think you can goad me into dating your friend.” He pulls me closer, our hips brushing as we move. “If you were mine, little one, I’d discipline you for attempting things like that.”
I hold up my hand to flash him not only my engagement ring, but now my wedding band. “Sorry. Only one man gets to discipline me from here on out.”
Rafe nods once in acknowledgement. “Like I said, he’s a lucky bastard.”
Chapter Thirty Six
Mia
Rafe and I finish that song and get halfway through the next before Adrian comes to retrieve me. As he leads me away from Rafe and off the dance floor, I joke, “Elise won’t let you dance with me, will she?”
“That’s a definitive no,” he assures me.
Glancing around, I note he’s leading me away from the reception. “What’s happening? Where are we going? Is it Vince?”
“Not exactly.”
“Don’t be vague,” I say, shooting him a look of annoyance.
“Ben’s here,” he states.
My face falls and my jaw inches open. “Vince’s dad? Why would he come here? We didn’t invite him.”
Nodding once, the weight of the world weighing on his broad shoulders, Adrian says, “I’m sure that’s exactly why he’s here. It was a blatant show of disrespect. Ben’s old school; you don’t do stuff like that. Family is family, regardless of what shit might be going down. Mateo not inviting his own uncle to his wedding… Well, I warned him it wouldn’t be looked at kindly.”
My eyes bulge. “His uncle who provided shelter when Vince kidnapped me.”
“I know, Mia. I’m not saying Mateo was morally wrong, I’m just saying that’s not how things are done in this family. Whether you hate each other or love each other, you do the respectful thing; put on a smile and shake hands.”
“The respectful thing would’ve been calling Mateo and letting him know where I was.”
Adrian glances over at me. “You’re looking at this from your perspective, where Mateo is God. Ben is from the old generation. Mateo’s below him in regards to respect owed. You respect your elders regardless.”
“The elders in this family suck,” I mutter, loyally.
“Trust me, I do not disagree.”
Mateo, Ethan, Colin and some dark-haired man I’ve never seen before stand huddled together, appearing to be engaged in middle East peace talks, judging by their solemnity.
Mateo’s mood is decidedly darker when I get to him. I stand near enough for him to reach out and wrap an arm around my waist, but he doesn’t touch me. He’s in business mode, and I hadn’t hoped to see Business Mateo tonight.
My stomach sinks with dread, then my blood boils with anger. How dare they do this on my wedding day, for Christ’s sake. This should be a happy, relaxing evening for us. I shouldn’t have to worry about Mateo getting upset or a mob war breaking out between… I don’t even know! They’re the same family. I don’t understand what the hell any of this means, but it shouldn’t be happening at my wedding.
Throwing my hands up in the air, I toss out, “I say we greet him.”
All of the men assembled around me turn to stare at me.
I shrug. “What the hell, right? If the big deal is it’s a show of disrespect that we didn’t invite him, let the old bastard in. Shake his hand in front of people, give him a slice of cake, hope he has an allergic reaction, and then send him on his way. Have someone watching him every minute that he’s here, keep him out of the house, but… fuck it. This shouldn’t take over our wedding. If Vince isn’t here with him, then probably no one is here to kill me.”
“I’m not taking that chance,” Mateo states. “Ben and my father—you don’t understand, Mia. They’re animals. You think I’m ruthless, but they are fucking psychotic.”
“He knows he wouldn’t leave here alive if he did something like that,” I reason.
Adrian shrugs. “He’s old. Maybe he wants to go out with a bang.”
“Can you check his guns at the door? Say everyone has to.”
“He won’t buy that,” Adrian states.
“I also don’t want him here, guns or no guns,” Mateo adds. “After what he did, I hope he rots in hell.”
Shrugging helplessly, I tell him, “I just want us to get back to the wonderful evening we’ve been having. I just want everyone safe. He flew here from Vegas, so it stands to reason he expects to get in.”
The men talk some more and ignore me, but I feel safer here in the cocoon. Dark-haired stranger checks me out and winks at me like an asshole. Don’t know who he is, but I don’t need any additional hot psychos hanging around, so I ignore him completely.
“Look, we can just take this guy out if it’s an issue,” Mr. Dark Hair says.
Colin’s head snaps up. “No one feckin’ asked ye, Ryder. I asked ye here for added security, not a freelance mob hit.”
Casually rubbing his hands together, Ryder lets his gaze land on Mateo. “For a little extra pay, I can do a little extra work.” He shrugs innocently. “All I’m s
aying.”
Adrian’s voice has an edge to it. “Your guy was the one who first caught wind he was on his way. Maybe you knew he was coming.”
“Yeah, or maybe we’re just good at what we do.” He smiles at Adrian like an asshole, since he basically just insulted him.
I narrow my eyes, propping a hand on my hip. I want to yell at him, but I don’t know who these guys are, so I keep my mouth shut.
“All right,” Mateo says irritably, sighing. “I don’t like this one bit, but we’ll let him in. We’ll greet him visibly, exchange a few words. He can have a glass of champagne, take his girlfriend out on the dance floor, then he can get the fuck out of here.” Pointing to Ryder, he says, “You and a few of my men are going to follow him to the airport afterward.”
Ryder’s eyes light up and he nods smugly.
Colin pinches the bridge of his nose. I recall sitting in the study when Mateo and Adrian were making plans for added security, so I assume Colin is responsible for the new guy being here. Now the new guy is trying to convince Mateo to commission a mob hit. It probably wouldn’t take much to convince Mateo of that, but I have to imagine there would be massive fallout if just refusing to invite him to our wedding is a kerfuffle.
“Wait, Jessica came with him?” I ask, wrinkling up my nose. “Is it too late to change my vote?”
At least it gets a slight smile out of Mateo. “You don’t get a vote.”
As Ryder walks past, he slickly assures me, “I’d give you a vote.”
I side-eye Adrian.
He assures me, “I know, I don’t like him either. Don’t worry, he won’t be back.”
“I actually might hire him for a side gig,” Mateo tells Adrian. “I’ve hired Colin too many times. I want someone who isn’t associated with me at all who can do one job and disappear. I won’t miss that guy.”
“I’ll look into it, but for the record, I strongly disapprove,” Adrian states.
“What else is new?” Mateo asks.
“Hire Hunt instead. He’s already retired, so he can do a job and disappear. Also, he hasn’t hit on Mia, so I like him a lot more.”
Mateo smirks at that last bit.
“What’s the side gig?” I ask, more than a little paranoid. This Ryder guy must be a hit man, and he seems to have caught Mateo’s interest by offering to commit a murder, so of course Vince is the first person who comes to mind.
Mateo finally approaches me, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me close. He drops a kiss on top of my head. “Nothing for you to concern yourself with.”
That doesn’t do anything to lessen my anxiety. “You’re not going to kill Vince, right?”
Ignoring my question, Mateo meets my gaze with his warm brown eyes, holding his attention on me. The frantic feel of everything that’s happening starts to drift away as he invites me into his calm, his control. His hands come to rest on my hips and he pulls my hips against his, then leans his forehead against mine.
Everything is quiet and calm and peaceful. Contentment moves through me and leaves no room for anxiety.
“You know what we’re going to do now?” Mateo asks, his deep voice steady.
“What are we going to do now?”
“We’re going to go back to the reception. I’m going to take you out on that dance floor, and we are going to enjoy the rest of our night.”
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pull myself up to give him a kiss. “That sounds wonderful.”
He nods once, then leans in to kiss my neck. His perfect lips in that sensitive nook send shivers of pleasure all through my body.
“Then, when all these people finally leave, do you know what we’re going to do?”
“Go to our room and spend the whole night doing impossibly dirty things to one another?”
He leans back and closes his eyes, sighing contentedly. “Yes.”
I can’t help smiling. “Life is good.”
“Much better with you in it.”
I beam, leaning in and giving him a kiss.
I only realize once we’re halfway to the dance floor that I totally forgot he never answered my question about killing Vince. Since it’s not happening in the next hour or so, though, I decide to wait until later. I’ll remember to revisit once the wedding is over. I don’t want to talk about Vince at my wedding.
Some of my calm slips when I see Ben and Jessica stroll through our yard. I don’t know why, but it makes me angrier to see her than him. She was such a bitch to me in Vegas—and a self-admitted gold digger, so I really don’t even want her looking at Mateo.
Mateo stayed with me while we waited, but now that we’re approaching Vince’s father, I can sense the shift in him. His hand rests around my waist, his carriage calmly authoritative, but the sight of various armed men hanging nearby—keeping an eye on this situation—completely kills any pretense of this being a friendly interaction. Mateo’s fingers dig into my hip a little harder. I wrap my arm around him and lean into his side, wishing I could absorb his negative feelings.
As predicted, Jessica is already looking Mateo up and down. The look on her face tells me she now has a slightly better understanding of why I was so keen on coming home.
When we approach one another, I expect Mateo to extend his hand the way I’ve seen him do a million times over. The way he did to Rafe, when he had first escorted me back from Vegas and I didn’t know what to expect.
It doesn’t happen. Neither man moves. They stop walking about a foot apart and stare at each other, each apparently waiting for the other to speak.
The rigid pause lingers so long, Jessica and I start looking at each other anxiously, like maybe we should say hi. We don’t like one another, but the tension running through both men is off the charts. Mateo generally shares his calm, his control, his strength with me, but now from the grip of his hand on my hip to the heat coming off his body in waves, all I can feel is carefully contained fury.
Jessica finally clears her throat, then glances at the men around us. They’re far enough away that they’re not crowding us, but near enough to intervene, should there be a reason.
She looks like a sex kitten in a short, tight leopard print dress with shimmery gold panels on each side. I don’t actually like the dress at all, but her necklace is even less my taste, so it’s all I can think to compliment.
“I like your dress,” I finally blurt.
Jessica grabs onto my empty compliment like a life raft. “Thank you. I also—your dress is really elegant. You look beautiful.”
Ben’s cold gaze slides to me now. I don’t know whether my having the nerve to speak first, or Jessica’s assertion that I look beautiful did more to bring his attention to me, but now his gaze rakes my body, at once dismissive and degrading. My stomach sinks, feelings from Vegas coming back to me, climbing up my throat and filling me with anxiety. I draw in a breath right around the time his gaze hits my sweetheart neckline and lingers.
I don’t even think, I just bring a hand to my chest, covering myself to the best of my ability.
A cold sneer tugs at Ben’s lips as he meets my gaze. “Don’t worry, honey. I’m not impressed.”
Everything about this man makes me feel dirty.
Mateo’s cold voice cuts through the tension in the air. “If you’re going to speak to my wife, I suggest you do it with much more respect than that.”
Ben’s gaze slides back in Mateo’s direction. He lifts a hand to rub at his jaw in a gesture than can only be mocking, but it lacks any kind of good humor. “Your wife, huh? Funny, last I checked, she was my son’s whore.”
Shame wraps itself around me like a wet blanket, coating me in grimy humiliation. Mateo’s grip on me tightens protectively, his body tensing.
Jessica’s eyes go round and she looks around as the men surrounding us all advance a step.
My stomach rolls over and bile threatens to rise up my throat. I don’t think it’s the baby’s fault, though thinking of the baby in this moment is horrible because I’m j
ust now realizing it descends from this terrible, disgusting man.
I fight the urge to put a protective hand over my abdomen, but I’m a little worried I’m going to toss my cookies. I swallow convulsively, drawing in a breath, but Mateo doesn’t react. I’m terrified he’s going to. I don’t know what happens if he kills Ben, but I’m trying really hard to see how this ends without that happening, and…
Oh, god, my stomach. I can’t handle this stress.
Adrian steps forward. “This was a bad idea. Let’s not do this. This is a pleasant event. Why don’t you two just shake hands and go your separate ways.”
“Shake hands?” Mateo asks, smiling slightly. It’s a weird smile, though—not just tinged with menace, but steeped in it. Menace oozes out of this smile and it turns my stomach even more. “You think I’m going to shake hands with this washed up, sorry excuse of a man? I wouldn’t trouble myself to spit at his feet.”
Ben lights up with rage. I haven’t seen him actually feel anything beyond mild, bored disdain, but now heat suffuses his wrinkled cheeks, his dark eyes gleaming murderously. “You dare speak to me that way?” he asks, quietly. The way he says it, he seems to imply he’s giving Mateo one last chance to change his story.
Mateo doesn’t. “Oh, I dare a lot, old man. Just like you, right? You come to my home, to my wedding.” Mateo waves his hand, indicating the gathering. “You insult me with your presence; you insult my wife by reminding her she ever had a thing to do with your cowardly, sniveling little bitch of a son—who hates you, by the way.” He rears back, as if stunned, and places a hand over his heart. “That’s just fucking rude, now, isn’t it?” Indicating Jessica at Ben’s side, he says, “I don’t laugh about this showgirl you brought with you, pointing out how even with that trashy dress and excellent boob job, you probably can’t get it up. I don’t say a thing about your spineless, shit-for-brains son insulting me, taking what’s mine and hurting her. Hell, I don’t even tell one of the hired guns who stopped you on your way to my house to just put a bullet through your useless fucking skull and end your lonely, miserable existence. There are a lot of things I could’ve said to you, Ben. But all I have to say to you is this: get the fuck out of my city.”