Family Ties (Morelli Family 4)

Frowning slightly, she asks, “Why does he hate my brother?”

“Because he’s kind of a monster? Nothing personal, Ethan just doesn’t care for guys like us. He’s a fucking Boy Scout.”

Francesca smiles, rolling her eyes like I’m ridiculous. “Like you’re so bad.”

“Not with you. I’m not so nice when it comes to business.”

“Well, unless there’s a ‘take your secret girlfriend to work’ day no one’s told me about, I doubt I’ll ever see that side of you.”

“Nah. Ma’s been with my dad for nearly 40 years and still doesn’t know the details of his business. That’s just how it works. Better for you if we ever get busted, too.”

“Is that something you guys worry about? Mateo never seems to worry about getting caught, so sometimes I forget it’s something to consider.”

“Your brother has a different set-up and a hell of a lot more money at his disposal. He keeps pretty good separation between himself and the shit he’d do hard time for, plus he’s bought off a lot of the right people. We have cops on our payroll too, of course, but we don’t have a relationship with law enforcement like he has. Your brother’s a beast. The way he has it all stacked, Dante would go down a lot harder than he would.”

She nods, glancing back at the TV screen. “Yeah, Mateo gets shit done. He was so pissed at Joey for getting caught. I was kind of worried. Joey’s out now and everything seems to be okay. Mateo won’t let him come back home, though. He had to get his own apartment.”

“I don’t know how you all handle living together. I love my family, but I couldn’t live with all of ‘em.”

“We all have our own space. It’s more like being neighbors who get together for dinner every night than anything else. Mateo’s just so controlling. Plus, you know, he wouldn’t approve of our relationship, which makes him a major bummer.”

I can’t help grinning. “You should tell him that. ‘Mateo, you’re a huge bummer.’”

Laughing a little, she says, “He wouldn’t care.”

“Well, he should.”

“I wish I had power,” she tells me, suddenly spirited. “I’d make sure you never got caught.”

I smile at the idea of Francesca running this city from her bakery, sending her hit men home with cupcakes. “You’re too sweet to have power. In order to have power, you have to be willing to do the dirty work. No one just hands out power. You gotta fight for every bit of it.”

“Well, then I wish I had enough of my own money that you didn’t have to do that kind of stuff anymore. We could settle into a nice, peaceful life in the suburbs. Buy ourselves a nice SUV, have a couple kids. I could take up Pilates. You could bowl on the weekends.”

“Are we moving to Bedrock?”

“I’m just saying.”

I reach for her hand, twining my fingers together with hers. “It’s a nice thought, but even if you did have enough money to be my sugar mama, it doesn’t work like that. There’s no getting out for me. I know how set you were on falling for a commoner, but that’s not in the cards for me.”

“Well, now I’m not going to marry you,” she says, with mock-disdain.

I smirk. “You were gonna before I said that though, huh?”

“Obviously. You made me breakfast for dinner. It’s all changed now, though. Don’t even try to change my mind.”

“What if I get you the house in the suburbs, the SUV of your choosing, a couple of kids—eventually—and raise you a dog? I’m probably not going to go bowling, and I still have to be a bad guy at work, but just like any other job, once the workday is over, I can come home and be a normal guy with you.”

“Mm,” she murmurs, reaching forward to grab her wine glass from the coffee table, then settling back against me. “That sounds nice.”

It really does. I’ve never been much for the suburbs myself, but the peace radiating off Francesca at the mere thought of it grows the appeal real fast.

On the same track I’m quickly moving toward, Francesca says, “Let’s think up ways to make your dad like me. How can we make this happen?”

“Can you kill your brother?”

Laughing shortly, she says, “No.”

“Can you change your last name and find a time machine so you can travel back and erase all evidence of your relation to him?”

“That’s slightly beyond my abilities. What if he met me, not knowing who I am, and he really liked me? And then once he totally likes me and wants me as a daughter-in-law, then we drop my last name? But I can totally disapprove of whatever Mateo does that he doesn’t like, or just disapprove of Mateo outright? Then I’ll be an ally.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Why not? I’m sorry, but your dad doesn’t sound like the greatest person in the world either. Maybe he should get off his high horse about Mateo.”