Coming Home (Morelli Family 6)

I open up my last box, getting a glimpse of shimmery rose gold peep-toes with my criss-cross straps, but then I can’t even focus on the shoes anymore. There on top rests one of Mateo’s cards, and my heart promptly drops out of its chest cavity when I read the message scrawled across in Mateo’s handwriting.

“For our wedding,” he says, simply.

I can’t breathe. My brain can’t process this. Exhilaration soars through me, making me a little light-headed with the rush of blood. I’m so confused. He can’t marry me. He can’t marry either of us, because it wouldn’t be fair.

“Our wedding?” I ask, faintly. “How can we have a wedding?”

Mateo comes forward now, taking my hand and tugging me off the bed. “We sign some paperwork, plan a big party, invite a bunch of people, and buy you a new dress.”

“Don’t be a smartass,” I say, my voice shaking a little. “Are you serious? Is this real?”

“This is completely real,” he informs me, bringing my left hand to his lips and kissing my knuckles. “I want to marry you, Mia. And if you haven’t noticed, I’m a man accustomed to getting what I want.”

I don’t know how he can keep his humor about him; I’m such a mess of emotions, I feel like I might throw up. “But what about Meg?”

“Meg and I are no longer together. No more sharing, just you and me.”

My jaw drops open. “What? Since when? How?”

“I can answer all this later,” he assures me. “First, you answer my question.”

My hearts pounds in my chest like a victory drum. “Of course I’ll marry you, you crazy man.” Saying the words aloud, hearing myself say them, suddenly makes it feel real. “Oh, my god. I’m going to marry you. You’re going to marry me. We’re going to get married?”

“Mrs. Mateo Morelli,” he says, trying it out. “Mia Morelli. I like both.”

“I love both,” I say, suddenly overwhelmed. I throw myself into his arms, kissing him because I can’t even help myself. Holy shit. “Oh, my god, I can’t believe this.” I pull back, eyes wide, grinning helplessly. “And you proposed with shoes. You’re the greatest, hands-down. All the other men in the world can just give up now.”

“Well, you already had a ring,” he points out.

I hold up my ring now, sighing as I look at it. I whole-heartedly love my ring, but when he gave it to me, he wasn’t asking me to marry him. He was just evening things out since Meg had one, but he was committed to us both.

I circle back to that, because I have to know what my happiness is costing her. “I need to know what happened with Meg. Everything seemed fine at dinner.”

“Everything is fine,” he assures me. “Nothing terrible happened; it wasn’t an angry ending, we just…” He shakes his head, then brings his gaze to mine. “I love Meg and Meg loves me, we just don’t want to sleep together anymore. I’ve invested much more in my relationship with you than my relationship with her, so it stopped growing. To be honest, I didn’t want to invest in that one anymore. Turns out, she doesn’t either. She’s still going to live here at the house, just not in this room anymore.”

“Is she mad at me?”

He shakes his head. “Ending things was her idea.”

“But what about the baby?”

“Like I said, things won’t change that much. Obviously Meg is family, I just won’t be sleeping with her anymore.”

I shake my head, still vaguely disbelieving. On occasion I’ve had selfish fantasies that went a little something like this, but I was wholly unprepared for it to ever actually happen. “I was not expecting any of this.”

Wrapping his arms around my waist and tugging me close, he looks down at me. “And I wasn’t expecting to face the possibility of actually losing you. My takeaway: I hated it, and it’s never allowed to happen again.”

I smile up at him, locking my arms around his neck. “I’m inclined to agree with you.”

“No more Saturdays at the bakery,” he adds.

“I figured.”

“And you’re never to leave the house without a guard again. Not ever. Not for anything. If the house is on fire, you make sure someone accompanies you outside.”

“Well, then I might die from smoke inhalation.”

“The house isn’t allowed to catch on fire, either,” he decides. “You’re definitely not allowed to die.”

I laugh, hugging him and closing my eyes. “I’m so happy.”

“Now that you’re home, so am I.”

Chapter Twenty Two

Mia

“You really didn’t have to come.”

Meg rolls her eyes, grabbing a fistful of ivory taffeta and cocking her head in consideration. “Don’t be ridiculous. Who else was going to help you pick out a dress? Adrian?” Glancing back at me over her shoulder, she says, “You should try this one in white. Mateo wants his bride in a white dress, none of this ivory shit.”