I want to tell him I understand, but I don’t. I can’t fathom doing what he did, even if I didn’t have a choice.
“Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to, just to make it,” I tell him, even though it sounds generic to my ears. “It’s okay to feel badly about it—that’s healthy. But… it’s done now. Don’t let the guilt crush you. Learn something from it if you can, but let it go. You’re young, you still have your whole life ahead of you. If you start carrying that kind of baggage already, what hope do you have of a happy life?”
“I don’t think I have a chance at that regardless, Mia.”
“Well, I disagree. Maybe Mateo would be more understanding than you think. Maybe you could tell him you don’t want to do stuff like that anymore—or, if you don’t want to talk to him about it, just… make yourself more useful in a different division.”
“Division?” he asks, amusement finally breaking through his gloom.
“Yeah, department, whatever. I don’t know how this crap works, but another area. Whatever you want to call it. If Mateo’s interested in utility, be more useful doing something else. He won’t waste you on something literally anyone could do if it benefits him to have you doing something else.”
He doesn’t immediately respond, and I wonder if that wasn’t good advice in this scenario. In a company I think it would be, but I guess it could be different in a criminal empire. When he does speak, however, he says, “That’s a good point.”
“See,” I say, a little proud of myself. “Plus, you have this wonderful live-in girlfriend to come home to now. If that’s not a recipe for a happy life, I don’t know what is.”
He pulls back just enough to kiss me, and the look he gives me after looses a swarm of butterflies in my stomach. “You are pretty wonderful,” he agrees.
“You have your moments, too,” I tease.
“We should just stay in this bed and never leave,” he decides.
“Oh, that we could,” I say, wrapping my arms around his neck as his body comes down on top of mine. He grabs a condom, moving easily between my legs, and I sigh happily as he pushes inside me for the second time tonight.
—
“Who are you marrying?”
Francesca looks up, startled, as I drop into the seat across from her. Seeing it’s just me, she gives a little laugh, flipping the next page of her Bridal Guide magazine. “No one. Ever. I’m going to die childless and alone.”
“Sounds like fun,” I say, spearing a strawberry and popping it into my mouth.
“All fun, all the time, that’s my life,” she agrees easily, tilting her head as she gazes down at a beautiful white ball gown.
After a few minutes, she flips her magazine closed and passes it across the table in my direction. “You can have it if you want.”
I blink at the magazine in surprise. “Me?”
“You’ll get married before I do,” she says wryly, standing and collecting her breakfast dishes.
“Does everyone in this house know I’m only 18?” I ask, partially in jest, but also legitimately baffled. “Who gets married this young? Also, while Vince and I are… you know, great, I’ve only been officially his girlfriend for two weeks. I think we all need to pump the brakes on our expectations of this relationship.”
With a look verging on haughty, Francesca shakes her head as she heads for the kitchen. “I tried to tell you.”
When she returns, Francesca pauses beside me at the table. “I know you don’t really need the money anymore, but if you wanted something to do, you could help me out at the bakery.”
There are plenty of leisurely activities to do at the house, but it might be nice to actually be around other people once in a while. Not to mention, Francesca and Vince seem to get along, and I should probably nurture relationships with the Morellis he actually likes.
“Sure, I’d like that,” I tell her, nodding my head.
Flashing me a smile, she says, “Great. You can have Vince drop you off after school,” and then she’s off, leaving me to finish my breakfast by myself.
Chapter Eighteen
Although the girls assure me I’m totally-definitely-for-sure not a prisoner of any kind, Mateo is still not enthusiastic about the idea of me going out unattended. Vince usually gives me rides to and from school, but now that I’ll have a job, I don’t know if he’ll always be around to escort me. I don’t know how that’ll end up working, but for my first day, Vince gives me a ride.
When we enter the bakery and see a fairly attractive guy behind the front counter, I notice Vince’s arm possessively moves around my waist.
The guy behind the counter smiles at me. “You must be Mia. Francesca said you’d be in.”