Old Flame: Dante’s Story: (Morelli Family, #8)

by Mariano, Sam

  “I have a friend who would love you, you know. Well, not love you, but he’d love finding creative ways to extinguish the light dancing in those pretty blue eyes. If I keep finding you in my way, I might introduce you two.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Dante. I barely know you; when have I ever been in your way?”

  The little pain in the ass doesn’t even know how much she’s in my way. Telling her the extent of her damage would infuriate Mateo, though, so I’ll stick to the things she does know about.

  Reaching up with my free hand to wind one of her blonde curls around my finger, I tell her, “Like I said, we need to talk.”

  She swallows hard, the fear wafting off her in hot waves. I’ve never felt more like a predator; not in a house full of girls I’m going to sell like cattle, not standing in front a man I’m about to kill—never.

  “About what?” she asks warily.

  “About rats, and how much I don’t fucking like them.” I give her hair a sharp tug and she gasps, but she doesn’t swat my hand away. Maybe because the way I have her cornered, if she did, she’d have to bring her hands up between our bodies and she doesn’t want to touch me.

  “What does that have to do with me?” she asks, looking genuinely confused beneath her fear.

  “Think back to last time we saw each other, when you came to my house. Do you remember what I told you not to do?”

  “You asked me not to tell Mateo.”

  “I told you not to tell Mateo,” I correct her. “Maybe that’s why you got confused, Elle. It was a demand, not a request. When I make a demand, I expect it to be obeyed.”

  Narrowing her eyes at me, she says, “Whatever you want to call it, I didn’t say anything, so I’m not sure why you’re bringing it up.”

  “Bullshit.”

  Her eyes widen in legitimate surprise. “No?”

  I scowl at her now. “What the fuck do you mean, no?”

  “It’s not bullshit. I never mentioned that day to Mateo—he had enough on his plate already. I didn’t think Vince would much appreciate it, either, and I didn’t want him to find out because he tends to accuse me of things first and ask questions later. I never mentioned it to anyone because I didn’t want to cause trouble between you and any of your relatives. Sure, you were mean to me, but nothing actually happened, so why would I mention it to anyone?”

  Denial isn’t all that surprising, but she looks so goddamn earnest. She’s not just denying telling on me, she’s offering plausible reasons she wouldn’t do it in the first place. None of it sounds like a lie, but it can’t be the truth, either.

  “Did you tell Meg?” Mateo’s girlfriend has a big fucking mouth, maybe Mia mentioned it to her and that’s how it got back to my brother.

  “No. Like I said, I didn’t tell anybody,” she states.

  Okay, maybe she didn’t tell him I intimidated her, but she must have at least mentioned stopping by. “Don’t fucking lie to me, Mia. Even if you didn’t tell him I was an asshole, I know you must have mentioned coming over. If you slipped up by accident, just tell me that, don’t lie and try to cover your ass.”

  “I didn’t slip up and I’m not lying. Trust me, you’d know if I tried to lie. I’m a terrible liar,” she states.

  “You’re a terrible liar and you expect me to believe you lied to Mateo?”

  Cocking an eyebrow, she says, “I didn’t have to lie to him, because I never brought it up in the first place.”

  “He never brought it up to you?”

  Mia shakes her head no.

  I narrow my eyes and try to glare her into submission, but either she’s telling the truth and she’s got nothing to tell me, or the girl is a million times more clever than I give her credit for. Time to find out.

  “My brother has a thing for you, doesn’t he?”

  Her eyes widen in shock, then she breaks eye contact and tries to inch away from me. I drop the lock of her hair and put my arm on the other side of her to stop her from going anywhere.

  “Your brother has a girlfriend and I have a boyfriend,” she states, almost tonelessly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to the drawing room before that boyfriend notices me missing and comes to investigate. Literally the last thing I need is to get caught locked in a bathroom with you.”

  “That would probably expedite your imminent death sentence, wouldn’t it?” I murmur.

  Mia rolls her eyes. “Yep, and if I die, who will you harass?”

  “I’m sure I could find someone,” I offer back.

  She finally brings a hand up and lightly pushes at my chest to get me away from her. “Maybe someone whose name you can remember,” she mutters.

  I take a step back. “I remember your name just fine.”

  “Then why do you keep calling me Elle?” she inquires, cracking open her purse and drawing out her cell phone. Predictably, it has a sparkly pink case and I almost laugh at how fitting it is.

  “Elle Woods.”

  Her gaze jumps back to mine like that’s more shocking than anything else I’ve said or done to her. “Elle Woods?”

  “From Legally Blonde. Don’t tell me you’ve never seen it. Ditzy blonde who likes pink and thinks the world is made of rainbows and sunshine.”

  Biting back laughter, she says, “You mean clever, Harvard-educated lawyer who can kick ass in the courtroom and make her way in the world without being an asshole? Yeah, I know who Elle Woods is; I just can’t believe you do.”

  “Colette loves that stupid fucking movie,” I explain, though I’m not quite sure why.

  “Mm, she has good taste. In movies, at least,” Mia adds with a touch of snark.

  “Not in men though, huh?”

  “Shit taste in men,” she agrees, but lightly, all things considered.

  “You’re one to talk,” I tell her. As I watch her fiddle with her cell phone, I cock my head, a sudden thought occurring to me. “Did my brother buy you that phone?”

  Her gaze snaps away from the phone and right back to mine. Guardedly, she answers, “Yes. Why?”

  There it is. That actually makes a lot of fucking sense. I couldn’t make sense of why she would tell him she came to my house, but not tell him how I treated her. If he knew where she was but she didn’t tell him, I’d bet my fucking house it’s because she’s unwittingly carrying around a tracking device—the goddamn cell phone he gave her.

  If he didn’t trust her I might think he’s just using it to keep an eye on her whereabouts to make sure she’s not making trouble, but I know that’s not the case. Since she passed his test, I know he has all the faith in the world in this girl’s loyalty. He was tempted to believe in her even before she passed the loyalty test until I knocked some fucking sense into him.

  That can only mean he’s so fucking besotted, he has to know where she is at all times. Jesus Christ. This is worse than I thought it was. That’s not the mark of a minor infatuation, that’s… he didn’t even track Beth like that.

  Maybe this girl isn’t going anywhere.

  Shaking my head, I tell her, “No reason.”

  “No reason?” she asks, suspiciously.

  “I figured if you can’t afford groceries, you probably couldn’t afford the latest model iPhone,” I offer, since I apparently have to give her something.

  Her cheeks flush with faint embarrassment. “Oh. We can afford groceries,” she mumbles.

  I don’t care. The mystery is solved and I never did get that drink, so I’m done here. Without a word I make for the door, but I stop before opening it. I feel Mia behind me, ready to make a beeline out of here. It should go without saying, but just in case, I glance back and tell her, “Don’t tell anyone about this time, either.”

  “Don’t worry.” Then, with a mischievous smile, she adds, “My hair is full of secrets.”

  I cock an eyebrow and automatically look at her hair. “Okay?”

  Her smile droops. “Mean Girls? You don’t know that one? Now I’m disappointed. I like
d the idea that after a long, grueling day of torturing innocents, you go home every night, kick back on your couch, and watch chick-flicks.”

  “That definitely does not happen,” I deadpan.

  She shrugs. “You could have let me have my fantasy.”

  “No.”

  “You should watch it. I mean, Colette should watch it,” she says with an exaggerated wink, like she’s in on my dirty secret.

  Shaking my head, I open the door and back up against it. “And you should get your little ass back to the drawing room before I text Vince myself and tell him you lured me into a bathroom with you.”

  “That’s not funny,” she informs me as she scoots past me.

  I shrug my shoulders, watching her. “I don’t know, I think it’d be pretty funny.”

  “I’ve never done anything to warrant you wishing for my death,” she informs me.

  Now that I have a handle on the crisis she has caused with her well-meaning bullshit, I can agree with that. I know my brother is off-track right now, but I also know I was able to straighten him out and make him see things clearly last time he tried to do something stupid for this girl. Now that I understand what I’m dealing with, I feel a lot better about the whole thing. My brother is a reasonable man; all he needs is a good talking to.

  Hell, even if this girl did find out about his involvement in trafficking, I don’t think it would be enough to alienate her. I’ve treated her like garbage on two occasions now, and I still get a friendly vibe off her like she’s willing to sweep it all under the rug and start fresh. And she hasn’t slept with me—surely Mateo has an advantage there.

  Maybe I should let her and Colette be friends.

  I bring my attention back to Mia at the sound of her voice. She’s flashing me a friendly smile, saying, “Well, I’m gonna head back. I’m sure I’ll see you in there.”

  “I’m sure you will.”

  “Oh, and… I’m sorry for your loss,” she offers.

  I nod my head once. “Thanks.”

  With another faint smile, she turns and heads back toward the drawing room.

  I turn in the opposite direction and head to Mateo’s study to grab a drink.

  30

  Colette

  All the food has been put out for the mourners, but as the first few come up to fill their plates, I realize there’s something missing.

  “I’ll be right back, I’m going to run and grab some napkins,” I tell Maria.

  She nods her head at me but doesn’t speak. She’s not normally this surly, but I know she has some kind of unpleasant history with Vince’s dad, and I think his presence here is making her crabby.

  Without another word, I go to head out of the drawing room, but I stop dead in the archway at the sight before me in the hall. Dante has just opened the bathroom door to come out, but he backs up against the door like he’s holding it for someone. Dante doesn’t even hold doors, but why the fuck would someone be in the bathroom with him? Then my stomach bottoms out as I see a pretty blonde girl look up at him as she walks out of the bathroom.

  Mia.

  For a couple seconds, I can’t process everything I’m feeling, but then it hits me all at once. Rage turns my blood to fire, jealousy ignites and melts all my bones. My legs feel shaky so I step back into the drawing room and plaster myself against the wall for support.

  Dante never lied to be about other women before, not once. I already caught him in the lie about her coming over while I was asleep that one day when he said it was Vince, and despite his claims that he definitely never slept with her, my instincts told me there was something there. I believed him because of his spotless track record, and why the hell would he go to all this trouble to bring me back if some other girl made a big enough impression on him that he’s willing to lie to me to… to what? Divert my suspicion? To protect her? He swore he hadn’t slept with anyone I would have to continue seeing once I came back, but what if that was a lie, too?

  Why was he locked inside a bathroom with her? I try to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she was inside using the restroom and she forgot to lock the door. Dante had to use the restroom so he opened the door on her by accident, but… that scenario is implausible, because once he realized she was inside, why would he have gone inside with her? These are residential bathrooms, not public restrooms with stalls for multiple people. And Dante opened the door from the inside, so he was most definitely inside that bathroom with her.

  Something has to be going on between them. Or something went on between them while I was away, and now Dante is trying to mitigate the damage. Maybe he’s lying to me about that because he knows I would hold that grudge forever, I would always hate her if she slept with Dante, even if it was when I was engaged to another man. It doesn’t matter if it’s fair; Dante could have never endured Declan’s presence, and I would never be able trust that whatever was between him and this girl had completely fizzled, could never endure her presence at family events knowing Dante’s hands had once traveled her naked body, knowing she might have curled up beside him in my spot on our bed. Dante keeps telling me she’s not going to be around much longer, but no one else seems to agree with him. Maybe it’s wishful thinking. Maybe he’s hoping she goes away soon because as long as he can keep a lid on their involvement until she’s gone, I will never know it happened.

  At the end of the day, I don’t know if it matters if he’s lying to try to protect me from pain and jealousy I don’t need to feel. I don’t want him lying to me for any reason, period.

  Just as that thought blows through my mind, the scent of coconut wafts my way and Mia comes breezing into the drawing room.

  Without much thought, my hand shoots out and I grab her by the arm.

  She gasps in surprise and whirls around to see who is accosting her, but her alarm softens when she sees it’s only me. “Oh, hi, Colette.”

  I’m so tightly wound, the mere sound of her voice shatters my self-control. My hand on her bicep tightens and I head toward a quieter corner of the room. “Come with me. We’re going to have a little talk.”

  Since I don’t really know her, I don’t know whether she’ll whip her arm out of my grasp and tell me to fuck off, call for Mateo since apparently she holds some sway with him, or perhaps follow me, watch me with amusement dancing in her eyes as she relives all the times she’s fucked my man.

  My own thoughts make me so angry, it takes me a minute to process that she has let me haul her across the room to a quiet spot, and now she’s waiting—confused, but patient—to see what I want with her.

  Now that we’re here, I don’t even know what to say. I’ve never been in this situation before. I did have a high school boyfriend cheat on me, but I didn’t say shit to the girl he cheated with, I just reamed the bastard I was dating. This is different, though. Dante didn’t cheat on me, he just maybe sparked up a relationship with someone else when I abandoned him and left him all by himself.

  I fucking suck.

  I’m so confused, so angry, but I still want to bash this girl’s head against the ground if he ever touched her. I’m so overwhelmed with emotion, I could almost cry.

  I shake it off and channel the rage, trying to keep it in check enough to get a confession out of her. I don’t know what I’ll do once I get one, but—

  “How have you been doing?” she inquires, regarding me like this is a social interaction and not a confrontation.

  “I’ve been great,” I snap. “Back in Dante’s bed where I belong.”

  Her eyebrows rise and fall in momentary surprise, but once she recovers, she offers a smile. “Oh. Well, good. I’m glad to hear that.”

  Sure she fucking is. I narrow my eyes at her and she frowns.

  “Is something the matter?” she asks me.

  “I like your shoes,” I say, but my tone is still aggressive. I can’t seem to help it.

  Mia glances down at her shoes, then over to mine. “Thanks. I like yours, too.”

  “Yeah?” I ask, po
uncing. “They look familiar?”

  Now she cocks her head, looking back at the shoes, then slowly to my face. “No? Those aren’t the ones you wore to family dinner.”

  “Did you and Dante fuck while I was gone?”

  Her jaw drops, her cheeks pinken, and her eyes widen in shock. “What? No! Of course not.”

  “Don’t lie to me.”

  Sighing with exasperation, Mia brings a hand to her forehead and shakes her head. “Jesus Christ, you two were made for each other.”

  “What does that mean?” I ask sharply.

  Before she can answer, Mateo’s voice suddenly cuts through my rage fog as he approaches me from behind.

  “What’s going on over here?”

  Mia answers tiredly, “I don’t know, your whole family seems to be on a collective mission to get me in trouble with Vince today.”

  Mateo catches my gaze, holds it for a couple seconds, then lets his gaze drift to Mia. I felt sternness in his gaze when he looked at me, a silent warning to let him cut in and handle this, but when he looks back at Mia, it’s gone. “Only I’m allowed to do that,” he jokes.

  Mia shoots him a look.

  “Go on, head back to Vince before he gets pissy,” he tells her.

  I attempt to stop her departure. “But I need to—”

  Mateo lightly grabs my upper arm and shakes his head. “No, you don’t.” He nods at her again, “Go on, Mia.”

  I grit my teeth and glare at him, but I don’t say another word to Mia as she cautiously regards me, then walks away.

  Once she’s gone, rather than talk to me, Mateo nods toward the exit to the hallway. “Outside. Let’s go have a chat.”

  Despite the knowledge that he can’t actually hurt me—Dante would never allow it—a faint wave of concern moves through me at the curtness of his tone. I let him haul me out into the hallway since there’s no point in putting up a fight and making a scene. I’m tempted to, since I’m not supposed to be alone with Mateo, but given I think he’s about to reprimand me, I’m not even remotely concerned he has romantic intentions.