Family Ties (Morelli Family 4)

“Forget something?”

“Why would you hit him for doing the same thing you did?”

His locked jaw ticks, and he looks at his paper instead of me, but at least he answers, “Because he deserved it. Because I can. Because I wanted to. Pick a reason.”

I cross my arms, narrowing my eyes at him. “You were defending her.”

He sighs with annoyance, studiously keeping his gaze on the paper, clearly hoping I’ll go away.

I feel crazy asking, but I can’t help it. “Do you like her?”

His gaze finally leaves the paper, meeting my gaze without amusement. “Don’t you have to get to the bakery?”

“You shouldn’t make her hate you if you like her,” I state, shaking my head. “I realize you’re proficient at pushing people away, but Jesus Christ, Mateo, physically forcing yourself on her? That’s a little far. Couldn’t you have just worn on her the usual way, with your personality and mannerisms? Did you really need to turn to rape?”

“Probably,” he says, faint amusement creeping into his tone. “She’s incredibly soft, but resilient. Easy to intimidate, but hard to scare off. Not the type to give up on someone easily.”

That sounds like exactly what he needs. “Well… you definitely took the wrong tack. You should apologize—and by apologize, I mean grovel like you’ve never groveled before—and try to make amends for being a horrible bag of dicks to her.”

He shakes his head, attention back on the newspaper. “She wouldn’t respond to that. She’s with Vince again, anyway.”

I feel a little twisted thinking he should take the girl he raped away from her boyfriend, but, well, Mateo’s a lot harder to find a suitable partner for than Vince. Vince is young. He’ll meet lots of other girls. Mateo’s never found one that really fit him. If Mia does, maybe that’s worth exploring—if he hasn’t completely fucked his chances, which is a pretty big if.

“Do you think she could ever forgive you?”

“Francesca.” He meets my gaze, raising his eyebrows. “It’s done. It’s over. Go to work.”

“Explain to her that you’re damaged,” I implore. “Maybe she’s into that.”

He ignores me.

“Like, okay, he has an evil streak that spans a mile, but also a vulnerable side. Maybe she can work with that.”

He ignores me harder.

“I could talk to her for you, feel her out. I’m actually shamefully good at making excuses for you.”

That gets his attention. “Stay out of it.”

“But—”

“No buts.” He raises his eyebrows, meeting my gaze to let me know he’s serious. “Everything is on track right now, don’t fuck it up.”

“I don’t understand what that means.”

His head falls back and he drawls dramatically, “Leave.”

I crack a smile at him for the first time since all this shit started. I feel a little guilty for it, but now I have an angle that feels a little better. Instead of him just being a heartless monster, maybe he likes her. It is in his nature to try to fuck things up with someone he likes before they ever get a chance to take off. Completely in his nature. It’s almost a signature move. He’s never taken it this far before, but Beth probably intensified the abandonment issues he already had a ton of. Goddamn Beth. If not for Isabella, I’d wish he never met her.

—

Salvatore hovers above me in bed, dropping a kiss on my lips as his wonderful body presses me into the mattress.

Since it’s harder to get away in the evenings right now, I’m abandoning the bakery during the day more often so we can have a couple hours together.

“I want to take you out,” he says, dropping a kiss on the right corner of my mouth, then the left. “We should try to have a day trip soon.”

“I would love that,” I tell him, wrapping my arms around his neck. “I’m definitely not going to be able to do overnights right now though. Things at my house are still crazy and Mia’s not in Mateo’s bed anymore, so he probably isn’t as distracted and I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Salvatore sighs, rolling off me and onto his back. “Everything about your family kills my sex drive.”

I snort, snuggling up beside him. “Sorry.”

“It’s all right,” he says, curling his arm around me and pulling my snug against his chest. “I know it bothers you. My ear is yours to bend. Vent away.”

“I don’t even know if I want to vent. I’m really conflicted today.”

“About which method of castration your brother deserves? Me too. I’ve gone over it a few times, but there are too many options.”

I grin up at him, running my hand through his hair. “I’m so happy you’re normal.”

“Your family sets the normalcy bar pretty low,” he reasons.

“Good point.”

“How’s Mia doing?”

I sigh, resting my head on his chest. “I don’t know. I think my brother likes her.”

“She seems to have that effect on people,” he remarks, a bit dryly. “Which brother?”