Family Ties (Morelli Family 4)

“I’m too busy commending your duplicity; I didn’t think you had it in you.”

I quirk an eyebrow, finally taking a tiny sip of my drink. “Well, underestimating the women in your life is a common mistake you make, isn’t it?”

His eyes narrow, but I don’t flinch.

“I’m really sorry if I hurt you,” I tell him. “That was never my intention; I was just trying to take a little happiness for myself. Trust me, we have all been hurt in this.”

Nodding slowly, Mateo watches me as he takes a drink. “How did they know to go after Mia?”

A flush creeps up my neck and heats my face. Adrian filled me in on the details he was aware of in the car, but he wasn’t there—apparently Mateo rode to her rescue solo, which really isn’t his style. “I don’t know,” I finally tell him.

“Did you tell them—?”

I don’t even let him finish. “No. I didn’t leak anything to Sal’s family. I wouldn’t do that. I’ve never even met any of them except for Sal and Mark. Well, and Sal’s one sister, but she’s not involved like that.”

“Then why would they go after Vince’s girlfriend? They’re nobodies.”

Grimacing, I try to consider what will piss him off the least. I can’t think of a single thing. Even though I meant no harm, he wouldn’t be pleased that I’ve been talking about his personal life outside of our family.

Since I’m silent way too long, scrambling for an excuse, he speaks again. “I specifically told you not to drag Mia deeper into our bullshit.”

“I didn’t. Maybe they only went after Mia because she was at the bakery. Maybe it wasn’t her they were striking out at, just a Morelli holding they know is less protected. I would never put Mia in danger, and Sal knows better, anyway.”

“You can’t have it both ways, Francesca. If he knows better, he knows she matters to me.”

I can’t talk my way around that, so I stick with the truth. “He knows you have a history. But he doesn’t want to be your enemy. He wouldn’t use that against you—and I didn’t tell him on purpose, I was just talking about my life…” I trail off to a stop, as his expression moves past knowing and into a blatant insinuation that I’m a moron. “He wasn’t using me to get information. We’re in a relationship and we talk about our lives. He talks to me about his sister’s stupid douchebag ex, and I may have at some point mentioned that Mia’s your soulmate.” I shrug innocently, like he couldn’t possibly fault me for that.

Mateo rolls his eyes. “Oh, my mistake. That’s obviously suitable pillow talk.”

“I realized after the fact that maybe I should’ve kept that to myself.”

“Why is Mia already campaigning for you?”

That draws a frown out of me. “What?”

“The whole way home she tried to convince me that I want peace with the Castellanos family. Which was amusing in the sense that watching Mia try to deliberately influence me is like watching an elephant try to tiptoe, but also mildly aggravating, because she wouldn’t know to do that without prompting.”

I take another sip of my alcohol, flashing him the doe eyes. “I may have mentioned to her in passing that peace between our families is as good for you as it is for them.”

Now Mateo regards me dryly, shaking his head. “You’re right. I’ve underestimated you.”

“But it was true,” I point out, widening my eyes. “Calculating, maybe, but also true.”

“You can’t use Mia to handle me,” he states.

“I’m not trying to handle you,” I assure him. “I am loyal to you and our family, but I want to be with Sal. Now that his dad’s gone, Sal is going to be the head of his family. And I do have the power to sway him. I’m just saying.”

This makes him smirk, shaking his head. “So your relationship benefits me.”

“It already has,” I inform him. “Nothing that went in your favor today would have if not for me. Sal’s dad is dead because he knew how much it meant to me to keep you alive, Mark was there to save Mia because Sal wanted him there to protect me. I can keep going if you need an itemized list.”

He nods, understanding the truth of that statement. Mateo is a lot of things, but above all he’s pragmatic. He may be legitimately pissed off at me for all I’ve kept from him, but utility trumps everything else in my family—if I’m useful enough, he’ll be lenient. Even without all the gory details, even knowing I went behind his back, today’s events make it pretty clear I’ve been lobbying for him on the other side. Frankly, with me on their side, if Sal would’ve wanted to take down Mateo, I could’ve helped him do it. I know him, I know his weaknesses, I know all his core people, I know their weaknesses—if I wanted to bring Mateo down, I wouldn’t be sitting in his study right now asking his forgiveness.