Accidental Witness (Morelli Family 1)

I shake her hand, but warily. “Mia.”

“Right,” she says, smiling again. “Anyway, Vince’s…” She pauses, her eyes rolling up as she appears to think. “Aunt? Cousin? There are so many Morellis to keep track of. Francesca’s his cousin. Anyway, she runs this bakery. I thought I’d buy you a cupcake and introduce you.”

My eyes widen of their own volition. I don’t know if I’m more surprised that this girl has met his family (but I can’t?) or that she wants to introduce me to them. My mouth starts to open to tell her that Vince doesn’t want me to meet his family members, but I don’t know how I can tell her that when it’s clear she has.

“The Oreo cupcake’s my favorite,” she adds, trying to bust down the wall of silence.

I already feel like I hate her, but I can’t deny she’s charming. Her friendliness might be infectious, if not for how deeply and profoundly jealous I am of her.

“Have you met Mateo?” I ask, since it’s all I can think about.

Wrinkling her nose up in displeasure, she says, “Of course. We’re not going to meet him. You don’t want to meet him. But Francesca’s fine.”

My options are either burst into tears, or go get a cupcake.

So I nod, following this goddamn girl to get a cupcake.

—

I don’t know why I let her drive—why I don’t just ask for the address and meet her there. She talks my ear off for twenty minutes, and then finally we pull into a little brick bakery with a green awning.

“Here it is!” she says brightly. She must be so tired of talking to me, carrying the conversation more or less by herself, but you can’t tell it from her cheerful demeanor as she hops out of the car and heads inside.

I try to stop thinking about this girl in Vince’s life, the one he allows access to all the things he tells me I can’t have, because for better or worse, I’m about to meet one of his relatives.

A ring of bells hangs on the door, chiming as Cherie opens it and heads inside. A dark-haired woman, probably in her late twenties, looks up and smiles, obviously recognizing Cherie.

“Oreo cupcake?”

“You know it,” Cherie says, stepping off to the side and giving me an encouraging look as I come up to stand beside her. “This is my friend, Mia. I don’t know what kind she wants, but you can put that on my tab, too.”

The woman scoffs, rolling her eyes as she bends to retrieve a cupcake from the glass display case. “Tab. Right.”

Cherie grins, and I can almost see why Vince is going to leave me for her. She’s goddamn delightful.

Francesca slides a cupcake on a paper plate across for Cherie, then offers me a smile. “And what kind would you like, Cherie’s friend?”

“Actually,” Cherie puts in slyly, “she’s Vince’s friend.”

Francesca gaze snaps to Cherie instead of me. “Vince’s Mia?”

I’m stunned at that, and my jaw inches open. Why does she say that like she… knows of me?

Cherie bobs her head, appearing quite pleased with herself.

“I thought he wasn’t going to introduce her?” Francesca questions, still at Cherie, not at me.

“He’s not—not to everyone else,” she says, her smile dropping. She holds up a hand, as if to slow Francesca down. “And it goes without saying, don’t mention this to anyone. But Vince said she was feeling weird about not being able to meet anyone in his life, and I thought… hey, we’re a part of his life!”

I have no idea how I feel about Vince apparently spilling all our business to other people when he won’t even share it all with me, but I’m still reeling from the fact that his aunt-or-cousin Francesca recognized me as Vince’s by name.

“So, Vince told you about me?” I ask her, trying to get my bearings.

Smiling thinly, she nods. “A bit.”

“And you’re…”

“Francesca,” she says, offering her hand.

I shake her hand with more warmth than I shook Cherie’s. “Vince’s…aunt?”

“Cousin,” she amends. “Mateo’s sister. We’re all cousins.”

“Oh.”

“Mateo doesn’t come around here,” she adds, setting my mind at ease. “He doesn’t care for sweets all that much.”

Clearing her throat, Cherie says, “Actually, that brings me to another point. Vince tells me that Mia is looking for a part-time job. I remembered you saying you wanted to hire someone else to pick up a couple shifts a week. I thought maybe you could help each other out.”

Francesca starts shaking her head even before Cherie finishes. “Mateo combs through all the applications.”

Cherie scowls, then rolls her eyes.

It’s the first time I’ve seen her be less than pleasant. Does anyone like this Mateo person?

Watching me a little more closely than I’m comfortable with, Francesca asks, “How badly do you need a job?”

“Well, pretty badly. But it’s fine—I know Vince doesn’t want me to meet your brother. I don’t even know if he wanted this, and I don’t want to push it. Plus I have very limited availability, only like Mondays and Saturdays, so I’m probably not… It probably isn’t worth the risk.”