Family Ties (Morelli Family 4)

“Respect for your parents is pretty big in my family,” I tell her, since that’s the easiest way. “As much as my father pisses me off, I’d never disrespect him the way Mateo has disrespected yours. The way my dad sees it, it’s the principle of the thing. Mateo could kiss my father’s ass—which, obviously he wouldn’t anyway—and my father would still hate him. What your brother has done is unforgivable to my dad, and it’s not a precedent he wants to see accepted.”

“But my family isn’t like yours. Why can’t he just see Mateo’s empire as something different?”

“He’s not going to change his thinking, Francesca.”

She shakes her head, clearly aggravated. “So even if Mateo would let us be a couple, we still couldn’t. Your father will never accept me?”

I can’t bring myself to verify that, so I just don’t say anything.

“That’s stupid,” she states. “That’s really fucking stupid. Mateo just took over for my dad when he got sick. No, he doesn’t respect our father, but why should he? My father is a monster. My family is still traditional, Mateo is just the patriarch. We all respect Mateo, whether we like him or not. Maybe your dad should start thinking of himself and Mateo as equals and forget my dad altogether.”

“I wish I could reframe it for him like that, but it won’t work. It’s generational at this point. How’s he gonna look at someone a couple years older than me as his equal? He’s not. It’s always gonna be your dad.”

“Did your dad even like my dad?”

“Nope.” That’s the fucking funniest part of this whole stupid situation. “He didn’t disapprove of his actions enough to cancel all this out, though.”

“Right. Sure. He only imprisoned women and brutally murdered entire families. What’s not to like?”

I shrug. I hate when she puts me in the position of defending these assholes. “I agree with you, obviously, but the way my dad saw it, his wife was the one in the wrong. A woman shouldn’t cheat, she damn sure shouldn’t get knocked up by someone else and embarrass her husband, and then to top it all off, she left him. You can’t embarrass a powerful man like that.”

“I know that. I’m glad to see your family’s as deeply entrenched in the dark ages as mine,” she adds, rolling her eyes.

“Hey, I’m a modern man by most standards. If you cheated on me, I’d just kill the guy, not you.”

She glances back at me so I can see her roll her eyes. “My apologies; you’re clearly a modern marvel. Being a woman is stupid.”

“I’m gonna have to disagree with you on that one,” I tell her, running a hand down her arm. “I’m pretty glad you’re a woman. My dad would approve even less if you weren’t.”

“Something worse than being a Morelli?” she asks mockingly.

“Well, I’m assuming you’re still a Morelli. Hey, maybe that’s what I should do, bait and switch him. Make him think I fell for Mateo, then when he’s about to actually combust, I say, nah, Dad, look at this gorgeous woman, I’m actually in love with her. Aren’t you relieved?”

I expect her to at least give me a smile at this scenario, but instead she takes a bigger gulp of her wine and doesn’t look at me.

I go back over it in my head, then I realize what I said.

I just said I was in love with her. Which I’ve kind of accepted as a fact inside my head, but I have not shared that sentiment aloud.

“I mean…” I start to backtrack, bring it back to a joke, but then I shake my head, deciding against it. “Nah, fuck it. That’s exactly what I meant.” Her wine glass is still tipped back—man, she is chugging it. “Does that really come as such a surprise? Don’t get weird on me. It’s not a bad thing. You don’t have to say it back, I just—”

She leans forward, putting the drained wine glass down on my coffee table. Then she turns around in my lap, leaning on my chest and smiling at me. “You love me?”

Phew. For a minute there, I wasn’t sure how she was going to take it. Bringing my hand up to her face, I run the backs of my fingers along her jawline, then tuck a chunk of dark hair behind her ear. “Of course I love you. I think about you every day. I crave you like a fucking addict. I’m nuts about you, Francesca. Can’t you tell?”

A slow grin stretches across that perfect mouth of hers, and it’s like she’s lit from within. Seeing her happy, knowing I made her feel that way, it’s like someone injected a shot of happiness straight into my veins.

“I had a hunch,” she teases. “Sometimes it’s just a little hard to reconcile what we feel with what we can do about it. I know your family is important to you. I know they wouldn’t want you with me. I don’t know how we build anything that lasts on top of that.”