Entrapment (Morelli Family 7.5)

I don’t introduce Isabella to women. It hadn’t occurred to me Meg would go ahead and introduce herself without me—though I guess it should have, since her daughter is near the same age. Now she’s telling me my daughter and hers are fast friends and they’re all spending time together. I didn’t okay that. She should have asked me, not Ju.

There’s not much I can do about it now, but I’m not sure I like it.

Isabella has already experienced the loss of Beth; I don’t want her getting attached to the new maid if I’m not going to keep her around.

Vince breaks the silence.

“New maid?”

Meg turns her attention to him now, her gaze moving to his glass, then to his face, unsure whether he was addressing her or asking me. She answers anyway, giving him her name. “Meg. You need something?”

He shakes his head. I’m faintly surprised to see his gaze rake over her—she does fill out this maid’s uniform quite well, but it’s not Vince’s style. He has Mia at home, for Christ’s sake. I’d punch him in the face again if he thought he needed more than he already has.

“Nope, just never seen you before,” he answers, his gaze settling on her face. “How’d you luck into this job?”

“Head hunter,” Meg shoots back, without missing a beat. “Saw my resume, made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

My lips curve up in faint amusement.

Then Vince tells her, “You’re pretty.”

My gaze snaps to Vince.

I hear Meg say, “Oh, thank you,” but I’m significantly more interested in monitoring his response than hers.

“Don’t tell Mia,” I say, watching him for a reaction. “If she’s not allowed to talk to the baker, I don’t think you’re allowed to check out my maid.”

Vince rolls his eyes at me and takes a drink. “I don’t disallow her to talk to the baker. I just don’t like the guy.”

Whatever his reason for checking out my new maid, the idea of another guy who might be trying to creep up on his turf gets Vince’s focus back where it should be. The mere mention of Francesca’s baker makes him cagey—he’s trying not to show it, but I can tell. I’ve fucked with this kid enough to know when he’s annoyed.

“You don’t like any guy,” I toss back, my eyes glinting with amusement.

He shoots me a none too subtle look. “Can you blame me?”

Remembering Meg, I glance back at her and gesture in Vince’s direction. “This is my cousin Vince, by the way. He doesn’t like guys.”

Meg barely holds back a smile. “I heard.” Glancing his way, she tells him, “I’m Meg the maid; I do.”

I watch Vince for a reaction—is she just being cheeky, or lightly flirting? It’s not always a clear distinction with her and Vince doesn’t even know her as well as I do, so he’ll probably take that as lightly flirtatious. His face shows no obvious signs of interest, but I can see he’s about to respond. I’m very interested in further monitoring this interaction.

Joey butts in like a fucking mosquito and interrupts whatever Vince might have said to throw his hat in the ring. “Is that right?”

Faintly irritated at his interruption, I shut him down. “Nope.”

Vince’s gaze cuts straight to me, his eyes wide with surprise. I don’t initially understand why, then his gaze moves back to the maid and he looks a little more interested. It takes me a second to do the math, but as I watch him digest my response to Joey trying to flirt with my maid, I realize Vince ran it through his filter and mistook my annoyance for jealousy.

Now he looks slightly calmer. He’s no longer threatening to break the glass with his death grip. His gaze drifts back to Meg again with a different kind of interest, like maybe she’s the answer to his prayers.

Huh.

The maid’s trying to get my attention so I stop watching Vince and turn my attention back to her. “Should I go check on the ladies?” she asks with a pleasant smile. “See if they need help?”

“Please do.”

With a little nod of acknowledgement, she pivots and gives the guys a little wave before departing the room.

As soon as Meg is gone, Vince looks back at me. He’s trying for casual, but he’s too curious to pull it off. “She seems cool,” he says.

I nod my head. “She is.”

“I take it she’s your new plaything? Planning to keep this one, or…?”

“We’ll see,” I answer, watching him as I take a sip of my drink.

Joey pipes in. “Well, if you decide to throw her back when you’re done, I call dibs. Just make sure you let her keep the maid uniform.”

I fight the urge to smirk at my younger brother—can’t smirk at him wanting to bang my maid if I’m supposed to be territorial over her. Vince is still watching me, so I keep my face carefully blank and take a more deliberate sip before cutting an unpleasant look in Joey’s direction.