Family Ties (Morelli Family 4)

Mark holds his hands up in surrender. “Hey, man, I was just—”

“Trying to impress the panties off Mia, yes, I know. You’re wasting your time. Which is fine, I’m sure you have a lot of that to waste—just don’t bring my daughter into it.”

Mateo straightens and goes to walk away, but stops short when Mark remarks blithely, “You shouldn’t fear a little competition, Morelli; it’ll keep your game sharp.”

I grimace, because Mateo turns right back around. I didn’t think he’d take the bait since he clearly doesn’t take Mark seriously, but there he is with a hook in his mouth.

“Competition?” Smiling as if amused, Mateo remains towering over him, but places a firm hand on Mark’s shoulder. “You can talk all the shit you want, Mark. That’s all it is. I can talk, too—and I could back it up.” Indicating Mia’s empty wine glass across the table, he says, “See, all I have to do is keep ordering her wine so she won’t be able to drive herself home. You can dream about what it’s like to have her mindless with lust in your arms, but I could actually have it. She’d put up a meager protest. I’d ignore it and fuck her anyway. Then she’d come all over my cock, crying out my name and begging me for more.” Straightening, giving Mark’s shoulder another squeeze, he says, “That’s how I could spend the rest of my night, if I were so inclined. Can you say the same thing?” He pauses just long enough, then releases Mark’s shoulder and pats him on the back. “Of course you can’t. That’s why you’re not competition.”

I suck in a breath and let it out, reaching for my own wine glass as Mateo walks back around to his side of the table.

Poor Mark, usually in such good spirits, has an uncharacteristic scowl on his face. “You know, I don’t hate a lot of people, but I hate him.”

Sal nods his understanding and I watch as Mateo signals the waitress and, just to be an asshole, orders Mia another glass of wine. As he settles back in his seat, faintly smirking, he shoots Mark a little wink.

“See, this is why we should’ve invited Meg and Vince,” Sal tells me, eyeing Mia’s wine glass with obvious discomfort.

“He won’t really do it, he was just running his mouth,” I tell him, shaking my head. “He just wanted to piss Mark off.”

“You sure about that?”

“He said he could spend his night that way, not he would. I’m at least 60 percent sure he’s not gonna do it.”

Sal snorts, shaking his head and taking a drink. “He’s such an asshole.”

I glance down at said asshole, but my gaze drifts to Cherie, seated across from him. Her face is set in a scowl and she has her phone out, thumbs flying across the screen. I realize since she’s on Mark’s other side, she just heard everything Mateo said to him. I’m just about to go down and do damage control, make sure she’s not texting Vince and getting Mia in trouble, when Mia and Isabella come back from the bathroom. I don’t want her to overhear me talking about what he said, so I stay put. If it is Vince she’s texting, I’m probably too late to intervene, anyway.

When Mia sits down, she’s mildly surprised to see her wine glass refilled, but since it’s there she drinks it anyway. After she empties that glass, Mateo orders her another. She’s tipsy enough at that point she doesn’t object. I’m still reasonably certain Mateo is only ordering her drinks to irk Mark, but Sal is less confident. He tenses along with Mark when Mateo orders another glass for her and glances at me with mild aggravation.

I pat Sal’s hand on the table. “I’ll talk to him and make sure he’s not up to no good.”

Sal rolls his eyes. “Yeah, because he’d obviously tell you.”

Mia’s pretty wasted by the time she finishes that glass. Before she heads to the bathroom, she stumbles over to Mateo and leans down to tell him, “Don’t order any more. I have to pee.”

“Thank you for the update,” he says lightly.

Mia nods, one hand on his shoulder for balance, but then she notices Maddie looking. Pointedly resting her other hand on his other shoulder, Mia lingers and holds Maddie’s gaze.

Maddie lifts her eyebrows. “I was just being friendly. Down, girl,” she says before turning away.

Apparently satisfied, Mia wordlessly removes her hands and heads for the bathroom.

Sal watches the whole exchange, noting Mateo’s satisfaction once Mia’s done marking him as her territory. As soon as she bumps into a chair on her way toward the hall, Sal’s frustration peaks and he gets up from the table. “I’ll be back.”

Chapter Forty Eight

Francesca

I watch as Sal takes off in the same direction as Mia, a little dread settling over me. I don’t want to draw Mateo’s attention if he hasn’t noticed, but of course he has. He frowns as Sal catches up to her just before they disappear down the hall toward the bathrooms.