Accidental Witness (Morelli Family 1)

Hide. She doesn’t say it, but she doesn’t need to. The fact that she knows I should worries me.

“Is… anyone here?” I ask.

“Vince just got home. Not happy.”

My stomach sinks. I realize I was hoping he would stay away, at least for today.

“He’s looking for you,” she adds. “If I were you, I wouldn’t be easy to find.”

I nod woodenly, but I continue toward the main hall instead of changing directions and heading for Francesca’s. “He’ll find me eventually.”

She crosses herself before walking away. I don’t take it as a good sign.

I’m not sure if it’s a low point, exactly, but I’m legitimately terrified Vince is going to hurt me. I don’t want to believe he ever would, but given how angry he got over far less, it seems a likely outcome.

What I’m hoping is he’ll surprise me. Instead of angry at me, he’ll be hurt with me. He’ll hold me, comfort me, take me back to our bedroom.

“I don’t need you fucking following me, Adrian.”

The sound of Vince’s voice freezes me in my tracks. He’s just around the next corner. I’m tempted to turn back and change my mind, but I don’t, because there’s no time.

Adrian’s voice is low, gravelly as he tells him, “I just want to make sure you don’t do anything you’ll regret.”

If he was going to respond to Adrian, he doesn’t. His eyes land on me and he stops short. I hold his gaze for a few seconds, neither of us moving. Adrian still takes a couple steps forward, eyeing me warily.

Then Vince is in motion, eyes narrowed and more or less vibrating with rage.

“You’re fucking him?”

I shake my head, unmoving, tears welling up in my eyes. “No.”

“Don’t fucking lie to me, Mia,” he snaps.

“I’m not. I’m not. I didn’t know, Vince. I didn’t—”

“How the fuck do you not know?” he demands, grabbing me by the wrists and pushing me up against the wall.

I cry out, not because he hurt me, but because I’m afraid he’s going to. “I’m sorry,” I say, not even struggling against his hold. “You were right about everything and I should’ve listened… I should’ve listened, but I believed him,” I say, choking on a sob. “I didn’t think he was… but he is, and I’m so sorry.”

“Now that you’ve fucked him you’re sorry? Isn’t that convenient!”

“I didn’t,” I cry, face crumbling. “Stop saying that, I didn’t…”

“In my bed, Mia. In my fucking bed.”

“I thought he was you!” I cry. Whether he likes it or not, it’s the truth. “I was asleep, it was the middle of the night in our room and I thought you came home—why would I ever think it could be anyone else?”

“You have eyes, don’t you?” he demands, his own eyes widening with belligerence.

I shake my head, looking away from him. “I wasn’t facing him. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. I didn’t know, Vince. I didn’t do it to hurt you, I didn’t even know. He manipulated me, just like you said.”

“How many times, Mia?”

At first I think he’s asking how many times I was with Mateo, but before I can answer, he continues.

“How many times did I try to tell you? I tried so fucking hard to protect you.”

Adrian hasn’t moved to interfere, but at this, he takes a step forward. “Vince, come on.”

“What?” he practically roars, glaring at Adrian.

“It wouldn’t have mattered,” Adrian states.

I’m a sobbing mess, but I look up, surprised Adrian would say anything in my defense.

“You know that,” Adrian states, shaking his head. “This was always going to happen; it was just a matter of how and when. You knew that.”

“And I tried to stop it,” he states.

“But nothing could have,” he points out. “You know who he is. Maybe Mia didn’t, but you did. If he couldn’t have tricked her into docility, he would have hurt her. The end result would have been the same.”

“Stay out of this,” Vince says lowly.

Nodding once, Adrian eyes up Vince’s hands on me. “Why don’t you let go of her and I will.”

“This isn’t your fucking business,” he states, eyes narrowing.

“I’m okay,” I tell Adrian, nodding. “Really. I understand why he’s…angry.”

“Don’t sink to his level,” Adrian says to Vince.

At that Vince laughs. He drops my arms and takes a step back, spinning around a little wildly. “Maybe I’m just fighting the inevitable, Adrian. Ever think of that? They’re all like this. Every fucking one of them. And you know what, shit like this doesn’t happen to them. They do shit like this, but it’s never done to them.” Spinning back around to me, he glares with such anger, such hatred, that it nearly knocks the breath right out of me. “How am I supposed to look at you now, Mia?”

Lip trembling, I shake my head. “I don’t know,” I whisper.

“How many times did you fuck him?”