Coming Home (Morelli Family 6)

“Yes. Yes, it does matter.” I can only shake my head, too many confusing thoughts shooting through it. The strangest of them all is that, as cold as what he’s saying is… I kind of get it. In a way, I did the same thing. Even when I was tired of being with Vince, every time I thought about leaving, I would circle back to the uncomfortable thought of never seeing Mateo again. It wasn’t even much, I never thought of it as the driving factor, but it consistently came up. I couldn’t actually imagine his complete absence from my life, even if I only sat beside him at the weekly dinner I attended with someone else.

Mateo shrugs. “We can agree to disagree. I checked all your boxes, no one got hurt, and now we have Rosalie and I finally have an heir. This couldn’t have possibly gone better.”

“You lied to Meg. A lot.”

“I lie to people.” His eyes dance with amusement as he adds mockingly, “A lot.”

“That isn’t something to be proud of,” I remind him.

“I don’t care,” he states, guiding my hand to his chest, placing it over his heart. He flattens my palm against his skin and rests his hand over mine. “Anyway, we don’t have to talk about this. If it’s upsetting you, I’d rather not.”

“I just… this is a lot. You’ve been lying to me, too,” I point out.

That causes him to frown. “No, I haven’t. I’ve never lied to you about this; you never asked. I had to come up with something convoluted because your wish list is so long. If you were less concerned about people, I could’ve accomplished my end a long time ago and just left a trail of casualties in my wake. But then you wouldn’t be you, and I love you. As I’ve said before, you’re worth all the extra steps. I’ve been looking for you all my life, Mia. I finally found you, so I did what I had to do to get you. I always have and I always will. I’m not sorry for that.”

There’s no reasoning with him because he’s already too reasonable. Pushing both of my hands through his hair, I grip his head and stare at it. “I want in here. I want to go for a walk around every devious corner of your complicated mind.”

Smirking, he assures me, “You’d get lost.”

“I’d bring a map.”

“Too dark,” he shoots back. “You wouldn’t be able to see.”

“I’d bring a light,” I reply, quirking a smug eyebrow.

He smiles, bringing a hand up to tenderly caress my face. “You are my light.”

Chapter Thirty Three

Mia

It’s too bright.

I woke up with my face buried in my pillow, Mateo’s lips making their way across my shoulder blade, and the head of his cock breaching my entrance.

Not out of the ordinary for me, to be honest—but it’s not normally so bright outside. I guess Mateo let me sleep in today. Now that I’ve recovered my breath, I curl up in the shelter of his arms, my lips magnetically drawn to his chest. I love kissing his chest. I love kissing any part of this man.

Mateo runs his fingers through my hair and cradles my head so he can lean in and give me a kiss on the forehead. “Good morning.”

I grin, snuggling closer. “It is a good morning. You know what, though?”

“What?”

“I don’t think you’re supposed to bang the bride before the wedding.”

“That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard. Wedding day or not, why would I waste a perfectly good morning not fucking you?”

I shrug. “Hey, I don’t make the rules.”

“Well, I don’t follow them,” he states, lightly squeezing my side.

Sighing with contentment, I reach up and run my fingers through his hair. “I can’t believe today is actually here. I can’t believe I get to marry you.”

“And wear your new shoes,” he reminds me. “I know that’s the part you’re really excited about.”

I grin. “Obviously. I don’t get out of bed to marry the man of my dreams unless there are pretty shoes involved.”

“To be fair, I’d much prefer staying in bed. For the next two weeks, that’s all we’re doing—each other and the beach. Nothing else.”

“Sounds like my kind of trip.”

“Sounds like my kind of life,” he states, smirking.

“Someday,” I promise. “I can’t bring the beach, but you can fuck me all you want. After today, you legally own me—isn’t that how it works in this family?”

“I’ve always owned you.”

“I’m just saying, you should send my mom a tribe of goats or something.”

He chuckles. “I’m going to now. She’ll be so confused.”

I grin, pressing a few more kisses to his chest. “We should get up. My tummy’s starting to feel shifty.”

“At least it waited until after we finished. I’d say that level of consideration points to it being a girl.” He reaches down to pat my belly. “I approve.”