by Sam Mariano
She shrugs theatrically, then snorts. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
“Jesus, woman. You should use condoms if you’re going to fuck your way out.”
“We did that time,” she assures me. “It was before I was afraid he was going to get me pregnant. Mateo wouldn’t let me have birth control.”
My stomach feels a little funny. “Did he want to get you pregnant?”
“Maybe, to piss off Vince. Who knows? May have just been part of the game to torture me. He probably didn’t really want to impregnate me, but he was trying to make me hate him, so he pulled out all the stops.”
“That doesn’t sound nice.”
“It wasn’t. It was a dark time. But now we’re all better. He’s so manipulative, I don’t know how much of what I experienced was an act, and how much was real, so… who knows. It doesn’t matter. We should go baby shopping! My little brother and sister aren’t babies anymore, it’s so sad. I’m so excited!”
“I don’t even know if I am, yet. I was actually going to ask you to get me a pregnancy test.”
After a hiccup, Mia nods. “For sure. I’ll bring one tomorrow. Now that you’re not on house arrest anymore, we should go shopping. I saw this gorgeous lilac dress in the window at the mall. I can’t afford it right now, but I do want to try it on.”
“I’ll buy it for you,” I tell her. “We need to get you a few outfits for your first semester, too.”
“I can’t believe I’m going to college. I didn’t think I’d be able to afford it.”
I watch her, though it’s not like I have to pay close attention with her this drunk. “Is Mateo paying for it?”
She bobs her head yes. “He wasn’t going to originally when we moved out, but he has since changed his mind.”
I figured. “Well, I’m going to be running the bakery now and I know you used to work there from time to time. If you want to make a little extra cash this summer, you could work there with me.”
“I love that idea,” she tells me, but a bit soberly. “I can’t believe Francesca actually ran though. I know she wasn’t happy here, but it always seemed like she knew better.”
“I didn’t know Francesca all that well. I didn’t even realize she wasn’t happy here.”
“Well, you’ve had a lot going on. A lot to adjust to. Presumably Mateo’s kept you pretty busy, plus you were a maid, and a mom—it’s a lot.” Sinking back into the couch, she says, “Speaking of a lot, why did you let me drink so much wine?”
Grinning, I tell her, “I’m much more likely to get the truth out of you drunk.”
Mia shakes her head. “Mateo’s never gonna let us have girls’ night again.”
Chapter Twenty Three
Mia and I ended up passed out in Mateo’s bed.
We didn’t plan to, but I was really tired and Mia was still talking my ear off, so I wanted to get more comfortable. I hadn’t seen Mateo all night anyway, but I figured he was working.
Something wakes me now, and when I convince my eyes to open despite it still being dark outside, I see Mateo standing beside the bed, shaking his head as he unbuttons his dress shirt.
Seeing I’m awake, he remarks, “This is mean.”
I crack a sleepy smile, glancing over at Mia. She’s fast asleep in sleep shorts and a navy blue tank top, hugging a spare pillow, but she’s curled up close to me.
“Do you have girl on girl fantasies, Mr. Morelli?” I tease quietly.
“Only when you two do shit like this,” he states, dropping his shirt on the chair. “I’m still sleeping in this bed, I hope you realize that.”
“As long as you don’t torture Vince with this information tomorrow,” I tell him, scooting a little closer to Mia to make room for him on my other side.
“Oh, come on,” he says.
I shake my head. “Nope.”
He steps away just long enough to step out of his slacks and into a pair of sweatpants, then without a shirt, he climbs into bed beside me.
“You’ve given me a brilliant idea,” he informs me.
“I’m usually a fan of your brilliant ideas, but I’m skeptical of any plan this could’ve inspired.”
Mateo grins, leaning in to kiss me. “No, it’s a good one, guaranteed to make you love me forever.”
“Really?” I ask, with exaggerated interest. “That’s the one thing you’ve always accepted you couldn’t force.”
“But I realized I can,” he says, hopefully exaggerating his smugness.
“Let’s hear it.”
“I know you insist you’re not a jealous person,” he begins.
“I’m not,” I state.
“But if you ever stop loving me, I’m stealing Mia back from Vince and keeping you both here as my sister wives. Mia’s much more malleable than you are; I can use her affections to make you love me again.”
Grinning and barely holding back a laugh, I tell him, “That’s a terrible plan.”
He shakes his head. “It would work. If for no other reason, because you’re a mother hen. You’d want to shield her from me.”
“Stop making dastardly plans,” I say, lightly shoving him in the arm. “I’m already yours, you ass.”
“And now I have a back-up plan, in case someday you don’t want to be.”
I shake my head at him, but lean in and kiss him anyway. “You’re one of a kind, Morelli.”
“You love me,” he points out, locking his arm around my waist.
“And nothing’s ever going to make me stop, so you can retire your terrible plan.” Reaching out to run my fingers through his hair, I give him one more little kiss. “Did you find that Castellanos guy?”
“Not yet,” Mateo answers, much to my disappointment. “I’ve got guys looking, but I’ve wasted so much fucking time.”
I offer a sympathetic sigh. Mateo isn’t a man who likes being outsmarted, and boy did they bait him good. “You’ll find him. We’ll get this all sorted. Bring down the hammer on these assholes.”
Smirking, he tugs me up against him. “It turns me on when you get all bloodthirsty.”
“I’m so not fucking you with Mia in our bed. I don’t have a lot of limits, but you just found one.”
“You’ll have to change your tune once you’re sister wives,” he informs me.
“I love your dick way too much to cut it off, so don’t tempt me.”
That surprises a burst of laughter out of him, and I feel Mia stir behind me. Bringing my finger to his lips, I mouth “shhh” to him. Grinning with devious intent, his hand slides down between our bodies. I squeeze my legs together before he can make contact, and widen my eyes at him in a speaking manner.
After a few seconds, I peek back over my shoulder, but Mia is still asleep.
“We need to go to sleep,” I whisper to Mateo, catching his hand and moving it away.
“I have needs.”
“I’ll meet them happily tomorrow, once Mia’s gone.”
“It could be fun. Trying not to wake her up,” he says, trying to entice me.
I shake my head, closed for business. “You move the bed too much.”
“I haven’t heard you complain about it before.”
“I haven’t, but you’ll wake her up. I’m sure it’s weird enough for her to be back in your bed at all, but to wake up to you fucking someone else in it? No.”
“I hate to break it to you, she’s not going to be psyched to wake up and find me in it at all.”
I lean in and give him a lingering kiss. “Tomorrow you can fuck me as many times as you want, I promise.”
“I hope you didn’t have any other plans then,” he replies.
“I’ll cancel all of them,” I promise, winking.
---
When I wake up the next morning, Mateo and Mia are both gone. I hear the shower running in the bathroom, the adjoining door cracked open, so I drag myself out of bed and make my way in there.
I see Mateo’s silhouette in the stall, and thinking of all the sex we’re suppo
sed to have, I decide to surprise him. Thankfully the bathroom is huge, so I can sneak over and brush my teeth first without attracting his notice, then I strip off my clothes and climb into the shower with him.
I plan on surprising him with my arms around him, but he’s too perceptive and spins around to smirk at me as soon as I ease the door open.
“Well, good morning to you, too,” he says, his eyes moving over my body.
I cut off his perusal, moving forward and wrapping my arms around his neck to kiss him. “I figured we should get a head start.”
“That’s true, you promised me lots of naked Meg today.”
“And I take my promises very seriously,” I tell him solemnly.
“Oh, me too,” he says before capturing my lips.
After a very pleasurable shower, we grab some lunch downstairs with the girls and head to the play room. After some family time, Mateo hauls me back upstairs and we spend a decent chunk of the afternoon in bed.
Even though it’s Sunday, Mateo says he has to get some work done afterward. Typically he takes Sundays off, other than whatever shop talk happens while the men drink in the study before dinner, but obviously right now we’re all on high alert.
Mia and Vince get to the house a little early tonight—Mia’s doing, as she pulls me aside to give me the pregnancy test.
“Are you going to take it right now? I’m so excited. Can I come? Is that weird to ask?”
I laugh at her excitement over my possible pregnancy. “No, I’m going to wait until morning. You’re supposed to take it first thing for the best results, if I remember correctly.”
“If that thing’s positive, we have to go baby shopping this week.”
“I think we should go shopping this week either way so you can show me that lilac dress you wanted.”
Looping her arm through mine, she says, “You spoil me.”
“Just call me sugar daddy,” I reply.
Vince eyes up our entwined arms before giving me a slight look of censure.
“What?” I ask innocently. “You’re not jealous of me, too?”
Mia elbows me in the side for that one, but Vince just rolls his eyes. “Your boyfriend’s rubbing off on you,” he tells me.
“Often,” I reply, grinning at the face he makes in response.
“No one was harmed in the making of our girls’ night,” Mia assures him, reaching her hand up to caress his face lovingly.
“This is going to be a sad dinner,” I state. “No Adrian, no Francesca. Sad.”
“Mateo’s brother’s coming tonight with a plus-one, so their spots will be full,” Vince tells me.
“Which brother?”
“Dante. I don’t imagine you’ve met him, he doesn’t usually come to family dinners.”
“Oh, cool. No, Mateo hasn’t even mentioned him.”
“They don’t really get along,” Vince states. “But it’s all hands on deck right now, so…”
“Why don’t they get along?” Mia asks.
I’m surprised she hasn’t met him either, since she’s been around a lot longer than I have.
Vince rolls his eyes. “Falling out over a girl, what else?”
Shaking my head, I say, “Man, all of you Morelli men owe me a fruit basket for taking him off the market. It sounds like he was a real troublemaker before I came on the scene.”
Smirking at me, he says, “We’ll all chip in and get you one.”
Mia and I get a head start on dinner. It’s really weird just having the two of us in here though.
“Is this what it’s going to be like now?” Mia asks. “Good thing we like each other.”
“We need to find Joey a girl,” I tell her. “One we like and want to deal with on Sundays.”
“Or Alec,” she suggests. “He’s kinda cute, that nose aside.”
“I never talk to Alec, so I don’t know. I just want Adrian back. Elise is all right, but I miss Adrian already.”
“Tell Mateo to offer him a big raise.”
“I think he did,” I admit. “He tried to get him to stay, but it was a no-go.”
“I loved Adrian when he wasn’t tattling on me. He was like a cuddly, gruff, homicidal teddy bear.”
Raising my eyebrows, I tell her, “That’s maybe not the best description.”
The door flings open and in walks some woman I’ve never seen before. She has brown hair and blue eyes, and she’s wearing a tight black dress with matching black pumps—and boy, does she look pissy.
She glances from me to Mia, approaching the sink to wash her hands. “What are we making?”
“Uh…” Mia just stares at me, like I might know who it is.
“Where’s Francesca?” the new girl asks, grabbing a hand towel and drying off. Then, without asking, she reaches into the cupboard where we keep the wine glasses and pulls one out. Again, without asking, she walks over to the pantry and pulls out one of the ‘emergency wines’ we keep in there, in the event we run out at dinner and no one is around to go to the cellar. I watch as she walks over to the correct drawer and extracts a corkscrew, opening the wine and pouring a large quantity of it into her glass.
Since neither of us has answered yet, she looks back at us with a raised eyebrow.
“I’m sorry, who are you?” I ask, confused.
“Colette. You’re both new.”
Mia speaks up. “I’m not that new.”
Shrugging, she says, “It’s been a long time. I’m not surprised the guys have cycled through another batch of girls. One of you Mateo’s?”
I raise a hand.
She nods at me, taking another gulp of wine. “Cool. All right, let’s do this.”
New Girl takes no prisoners, but I kind of like it. She’s not talkative while we cook, but boy, does she like wine.
Once we have everything going, I decide to sneak away. My plan is to pump Mateo for information about who this new creature is, and I’m more than a little pleased to find him outside his study where we’ll have a bit of privacy. His back is to me, so I get to sneak up on him, wrapping my arms around his waist and hugging him from behind.
“Hey, handsome.”
He stiffens, apparently surprised, and I let up long enough for him to turn around.
Aaaand that’s not Mateo. My jaw drops as I come face to face with an alarmingly similar looking man with the same hair. From behind, I definitely couldn’t tell a difference.
“Well, hello,” he greets. He doesn’t sound amused, but he has to see from the shock on my face I thought he was someone else.
“I thought you were Mateo.”
He shakes his head. “Sorry to disappoint.”
“Dante?” I guess.
He nods once. “Meg?”
I nod back. His gaze rakes over me, assessing, not appreciating. “Nice to meet you,” I say belatedly, offering him my hand.
Mateo steps out then, glancing back inside to finish a conversation before seeing us both standing there.
“I see you’ve met my brother,” Mateo says.
Dante nods. “Intimately.”
Grimacing, I add, “I thought he was you from behind.”
“Apparently, I’m handsome,” Dante adds.
Glancing from Mateo to the new Morelli, I surmise, “You guys have to be full brothers, right?”
Mateo nods. “How intimately?”
“I just hugged him, told him he was handsome,” I state, grimacing again.
“Huh,” he says, tugging me in for a kiss. “Don’t do that again.”
I smile and roll my eyes at him. “Maybe you should’ve told me you had a twin.”
“Not twins. He’s a year younger,” Mateo informs me, glancing at the other man.
“Don’t feel bad,” Dante tells me. “We tend to attract the same women.”
The smirk that tugs at Mateo’s lips reminds me of Vince’s words earlier. “How is Colette?”
Dante spares Mateo an unamused glance before walking into the study.
Mateo is stil
l amused when his brother disappears. He turns back to me, his hands dropping to my hips, and he gives me another lingering kiss. “He doesn’t much like me. Tonight should be fun.”
“He might like you if you didn’t steal his girlfriends,” I suggest.
“I didn’t steal her. I borrowed her.”
I roll my eyes. “You’ll have to tell me the story later. I was coming to ask who the girl in the kitchen was, but I guess that’s his plus-one.”
“You could’ve asked her,” he pointed out.
“She seems kind of mean. I think she’s only interested in communicating with her wine glass.”
“Really?” he asks, surprised. “Colette was never mean. A little prim at times, definitely not so accepting of the lifestyle, but never mean.”
“She knows her way around the kitchen better than I do.”
He nods. “They were together for a couple of years. She’s been to her fair share of family dinners.”
Rubbing my hands together, I look back to the kitchen. “Well, if this is my new sister-in-law, I better go make friends.” Sparing him a glance, I add, “Though, for future reference, I’d love to meet one new in-law you haven’t already banged. Just one.”
“I didn’t bang her,” he says, rolling his eyes. “We fooled around a little bit, but no banging. He wasn’t even with her yet, he’s just deeply possessive. Pretty much any man she ever had any contact with before him is his enemy now.”
“Loyalty—I dig that,” I say, preparing to sashay away, but he catches me around the waist.
“Hey, I’m loyal,” he says, tugging me up against him. “To you.”
I run my fingers through his hair, stealing one more kiss before I head back to the kitchen. “Good.”
We finally finish cooking and start serving. We come to a slight problem with the whole “serve your man” part—with Francesca gone, there are no unattached ladies helping with dinner. Cherie steps in, but it just reminds me that Francesca is gone and we don’t know where she is.
Even though we typically don’t talk shop at Sunday night dinners, there is a fair amount of that tonight. When the search for Salvatore Castellanos comes up, Vince mutters, “I hope we do find him. If I ever meet the guy, I’m gonna shake his fucking hand. You deserved every minute of thinking Meg cheated on you.”