Alec sits the farthest from Mateo, while Rafe takes a seat opposite Mia, on Mateo’s right hand side.
“That’s my seat,” Adrian tells him.
“Guess you’ll have to sit somewhere else,” Rafe offers, smiling mildly.
Adrian gives him a dead-eyed look that makes me think of Sin. Apparently sensing conflict, Mia leaves her husband’s side and takes Adrian’s arm, guiding him to the seat beside hers. “Here, Adrian, sit next to me. I’d rather sit by you than him anyway.”
If she wanted to annoy Rafe, she fails. He grins at her and says, “Ah, yes. Between the two of us, Adrian is always your first choice, isn’t he, little one?”
For a split second Mia’s eyes widen in shock, then narrow with annoyance and she tries to glare him to death. “I take back all the nice things I said about him, Laurel. He’s an asshole.”
Mateo takes his seat, a self-satisfied smile playing around his lips. “We should have invited Sal and Francesca to dinner. Next time you chase off your flavor of the month and need my help retrieving her, give me a little more notice, won’t you?”
“If you like the playboys, Alec is available,” Mia tells me, side-eyeing Rafe. “Maybe you two can work out your issues and you can be with him instead. Then you can stay in Chicago.”
“You’re supposed to be helping, not suggesting more competition,” Rafe informs Mia.
“And you’re supposed to refrain from pissing off pregnant women, but here we are.” Turning her attention back to me, she says, “Come on, let’s go grab salads. You should bring out Alec’s, too.”
“Don’t you dare,” Rafe says, catching my eye.
I would rather spit in Alec’s food than serve him, but now that Rafe has said that, I have to. Once we’re in the relative privacy of the kitchen, I ask Mia, “Is serving the men some sort of big deal?”
Rolling her eyes, she glances back at me. “You have no idea. When I first encountered this family, Mateo stirred up all sorts of shit simply by making me bring him his food on Sunday. I was dating Vince at the time, didn’t think anything of it. It’s essentially waitressing without the tip, right? Wrong. I guess it’s a respect thing.”
“Sounds like a proprietary thing,” I volunteer. “I’m not Rafe’s property, so… which salad is Alec’s?”
Elise stops short, lifting her eyebrows. “Alec? I thought you were Rafe’s girl?”
“I’m no one’s girl. Tomorrow I’m going back to Connecticut, so none of this matters.”
That catches Mia’s attention. “How are Vince and Carly doing? Did they ever buy a house? I know Carly told me they were looking to buy after everything settled down.”
I nod my head. “They’re doing well. They bought a beautiful house with a big back yard. That’s where I’m spending the summer. Doesn’t make sense to stay by myself in Chicago when I could go hang out with them instead. Plus, Vince got a grill, and he’s trying to fatten me up with his mad grilling skills.”
Sighing to herself, Mia smiles. “Good. That sounds perfect for him. What did Carly say about the whole baby thing? She didn’t seem psyched you spent time in Rafe’s room to begin with.”
I grimace, considering the conversations I have ahead of me tomorrow after the plane lands and my sister greets me. I’m bringing far more baggage than she’s expecting. “I haven’t told her yet. To be honest…” I glance up at Elise, since I don’t really know her. Not like I know Mia much better, but she exudes a warmth that makes me comfortable talking to her. Elise keeps to herself a little more.
Seeing I don’t want to share in front of her, she says, “Oh, okay,” grabs two salads, and heads for the dining room.
Once the door swings shut, I decide to tell Mia the truth. “I’m not sure if I’m going through with this pregnancy.” I pause, waiting to see judgment cross her features. It doesn’t, but her brow does crease with concern.
“Why not?” she asks.
“I went to Vegas to tell Rafe, obviously, but he did not respond well. I really don’t think he wants kids. His enforcer… it’s complicated, but his enforcer started expressing interest in me and we got romantically involved.” At this, Mia’s eyes go wide, but I keep going. “As soon as Rafe noticed, he wanted me back. I think it was more about stealing a toy from Sin than actually wanting me, so even though he’s here right now and I have his attention, I have doubts that it’s real. I don’t think anything has actually changed in the past week, I think Rafe is just a competitive person who can’t stand to lose.”
“Oh,” she murmurs lowly, as if she hadn’t considered that.
I nod. “So whatever he told you, that is the actual situation. I’m not playing hard to get here. I delivered myself to Vegas, and while he was initially happy to see me, the second I told him I was pregnant, he turned Arctic and sent me away.”
“What an ass,” she says.
“Yep.”
After a moment of frowning over that, her attention returns to me. “Well, okay, so you’re not completely sold on Rafe. I get that. But does the pregnancy have to be tied to being with him? You’re already pregnant, so… what does this decision depend on?”
I sigh, shaking my head. Glancing around her kitchen—which is larger than my entire apartment—I know she won’t understand my working-class struggles. “I don’t know what it depends on, to be honest. At this point, I’m not sure it’s even a decision so much as an i