“Not as big as it would be with this family. Mateo’s had to take on smaller operations before, nip ‘em in the bud, so to speak. But the Castellanos crew isn’t a small one, we’ve coexisted with them for so long and they’ve amassed their own power. I’m hoping this doesn’t make Mateo less inclined to coexist in the future.”
Mia’s eyebrows rise as she chews her sandwich, but she shakes her head. “Maybe he shouldn’t have, if they’re going to start problems like this.”
“No, he should’ve,” I offer a little too quickly, but the last thing I need is Mia—totally not understanding mob politics to begin with—being anti-Castellanos. “The peace was a really good thing for Mateo. He doesn’t want the territory they cover anyway, and most of the members of that family don’t want a war with Mateo. It’s just the current boss that’s the problem. If they can avoid outright war between them for a little longer, if they could just oust the current boss, the next one in line is all for peace. We want peace with the Castellanos family. That’s a good thing. Mateo’s temper might try to convince him otherwise right now, but it’s what we want. It’s what’s best for both families.”
Mia nods her acceptance, like that makes enough sense. “I don’t know. Vince never talks business with me.”
“Most of the men don’t. They like to keep the women protected.”
Smiling indulgently, she says, “They’re such sexist jerks.”
I grin. “We’re so delicate.”
“Right?” She shakes her head. “I could totally understand this stuff if someone explained it to me.”
“And I can plot with the best of ‘em.”
“Damn Morelli men.”
“It’s okay,” I tell her, looking up from my soup. “The woman behind the man is important, too.”
“Very true,” she agrees, but in the way that people agree about something that doesn’t apply to them.
I have to smirk into my soup, because I know things she doesn’t. By the time Sal takes over for his dad, Mia’s bound to be with Mateo. She has no idea, but I do; the two of us, sitting here at this table, are the women behind Chicago’s bosses.
Chapter Twenty Nine
It’s all even more stressful than I imagined when I was hatching the plan.
For one thing, Sal was spot on about Mateo locking his ladies down. It’s not that he never lets them leave the house, but unless it’s his idea, he doesn’t encourage it. He’s protective and controlling; he likes to keep his pets in their gilded cages.
I remember the first two weeks Mia was here; she was completely perplexed by the way Mateo blatantly sabotaged her attempts to visit her family. She kept asking me if she was a prisoner, and I kept assuring her she wasn’t, she should just give it time. It didn’t matter to Mateo that it was abnormal for Mia to be away from her family, that she wasn’t like us—she had a parent, even if one who surrendered her rather easily in exchange for a cash payout. Presumably Mia’s mom still thought she’d see her daughter. But Mateo made it clear Mia couldn’t go anywhere without a chaperone, and each time she asked for one to take her to visit her family, he just didn’t come through.
Eventually she caught on and stopped asking.
Which was what he wanted. To break her ties to the family she had before and teach her to be completely dependent on ours. Mia, being the apt pupil she is, adjusted.
As far as I know the maid had no issue whatsoever with Mateo’s training, but I think she might be a sociopath, so she probably doesn’t care about her family.
That’s not nice. I should be nicer to her since she’s going to be history soon.
Anyway, it’s impossible for Sal to enact his part of the plan with her securely behind the Morelli gates. We’re hoping she eventually goes somewhere on her own, but if she doesn’t, I’m going to have to involve myself more than I want to and propose we go out together one afternoon. I really don’t want to do since I’m not her biggest fan to begin with, and I don’t want to get to know her when I already know what her future holds. Beth wasn’t my favorite person in the world, but we were friendly, and it was really weird when she died.
I also prefer not to set off any alarms for Adrian or Mateo, and if I’m the one who suggests the outing and then Meg happens to meet up with Salvatore, it makes Meg look less guilty than if it was her idea to begin with.
But eventually Meg does go out, and Sal gets his opportunity.
Adrian notices.
Meg gets thrown to the wolves—or, in the dungeon, as it happens.
Mateo goes dark.
I see Elise scurry to Mateo’s study with a broom and dustpan, and Adrian emerge a few minutes later with the broken pieces of Mateo’s favorite decanter. Elise follows right on his heels, cheeks flushed, assuring him she could clean it up herself.