Family Ties (Morelli Family 4)

It’s a good enough reason for me to stay put.

I am in deep shit with this girl. I’m trying to tell myself it’s fine and I’ve got it under control, but I have a sinking feeling that I do not have it under control. For the first time in my adult life, my feelings have me under their control. Of course I couldn’t have surrendered to some romantic bullshit with a woman I could actually have. Of course not. I have to fall for the one who’s going to ruin my whole life.

Especially because I have to kill her ex. I mean, I have to find out who it is first, but then I have to kill him. Apparently her brother isn’t going to like that. I haven’t supported war with her brother because, frankly, he can probably crush us. We have the weight of tradition on our side, the fact that we’re the legitimate Mafia in this town; Mateo’s just some fourth-generation descendant of fucking psycho criminals. But that also means he makes his own rules. He innovates, where we remain traditional. His cover of business investor is actually legitimate enough that he can make friends in the right places, where we’re blatantly mob thugs.

Pissing Mateo off just isn’t a great idea. He’s a vicious, vengeful son of a bitch with no moral compass. It makes me sweat just thinking about crossing him, but what the fuck does she expect me to do? Just let this scumbag keep walking around, never having to pay for what he did to her? Unacceptable.

The list of impossible shit I need to do just keeps on growing.

Maybe I could talk to Adrian. I definitely can’t ask him point blank who her psycho ex is, because he’s too perceptive for that shit. But if I could find a way to bring it naturally into the conversation, maybe…

It couldn’t be Adrian, could it? I know they grew up together, but once he was old enough, he left. He did show back up out of nowhere a few years ago, though. I don’t know how he came to work for Mateo, only that he did. I’m not sure how old she was when she was involved with this guy, but that timeline might check out. Adrian is definitely capable of some sadistic shit, and I’ve never known him to be interested in women, so I could see him using one as a means to an end. He could’ve easily used Francesca to get back into Mateo’s good graces.

Fuck, I hope it’s not Adrian.

I can’t kill Adrian. Not unless I want to die myself. Mateo would take it as an insult if I killed any member of his crew, but if I killed Adrian, he wouldn’t rest until he had my severed head on a spike outside of his house. Mateo isn’t loyal to a lot of people, but we all know better than to fuck with his only friend. Assuming we even could—Adrian is extremely proficient, so he wouldn’t be an easy man to kill. He’s a little less guarded when he comes around to help me with this Willow stuff, but I’d have to attack like a real coward to take him down myself.

I try to shuffle back through any mention she’s made of Adrian. I wasn’t paying attention, but I don’t think she seemed especially tense when his name came up. I need to bring him up again, that way I can gauge her reaction. I don’t know what I’ll do if it is Adrian, but I need to know one way or the other.

“Do you always look this fierce in the morning?”

My gaze drifts to Francesca, instantly softening. Her hair’s a mess, there’s makeup smudged beneath her eyes, and she still looks half-asleep. Obviously I have to kiss her.

She loops her arm around my neck and kisses me back, but pulls back after a minute and covers her mouth. “I didn’t bring a tooth brush.”

“I think it’s going to be okay,” I say, as she moves out of my arms and nearly gets off the bed. Suddenly remembering she’s naked, she drags the sheet over and bundles it around herself.

“I’m gonna take a quick shower,” she tells me.

“I will embed that visual in my head for safe-keeping.”

She flicks a smile at me over her shoulder, then disappears inside the bathroom.

Luckily when I get to my phone, I see it’s early enough that I should be able to get back home before I miss anything. I’m going to be cutting it really close on my first stop, but I book us two tickets for a noon flight and grab a $12 bottle of water off the mini bar.

Francesca emerges a few minutes later. I take a quick shower myself, then we grab all our stuff and head out for a quick breakfast before we have to get to the airport.