Once Burned (Morelli Family 3)

Clasping his hands together to signal the end of his speech, he adds, “If anyone has anything to get off their chest, do it tonight. Tomorrow is too late.”

I glance at Mia, expecting her to have the most volatile response to that, but she keeps her gaze on Mateo—and she manages to keep it calm.

Huh. Maybe she doesn’t know. She’s usually more transparent than that.

Or maybe she does, and she’s going to tell him.

Now that Mateo’s done reminding us all of our places, it’s time for drinks. Elise automatically heads to the liquor cart, and I follow to help. Mateo gets his first, naturally, but when she pours a second, I take it over and offer it to Vince.

Vince’s stormy brown eyes meet mine, giving birth to dread inside me. I need him to get his shit together. I need him to let it go.

“I’m good,” he says coldly.

“Never known you to turn down a drink before,” I remark evenly.

He holds my gaze, cool anger in his eyes, but he doesn’t touch the glass.

Suddenly it’s plucked out of my hands and I glance up to see Mia, forcing a smile and taking a seat on the edge of Vince’s chair. “Don’t mind him, he’s a grump today.”

Vince’s features register surprise as she hands him the glass, and of course he takes it from her.

“We doing this now?” Vince asks placidly, looking up at her.

She tries to smile at him, but I see her eyes narrow with aggravation. I realize she doesn’t want to sit with him, doesn’t want to pretend everything’s okay between them, but she is anyway.

So she’s not going to tell Mateo.

Vince realizes the same thing, and an unpleasant, Ben-like smile graces his lips and nearly makes me cringe. Then he moves his arm around Mia and tugs her onto his lap.

Her jaw locks, but she keeps an aggressively mild smile on her lips and doesn’t say a word.

Chapter Seventeen

I take Elise to bed after drinks.

I’m not ready for sleep and I still need to talk to Mateo tonight, but when Elise gets handsy, I can’t really turn that down.

She falls asleep in my old bed afterward, and I lie there for a few minutes watching her, thinking about what a lucky bastard I am. Thinking about all the nights I spent alone in this bed, wondering if she’d even want me.

I haven’t had a ton of lucky breaks in life, but I’m glad I got this one.

When I head back to Mateo’s study, it’s just in time to see Mia leaving. She’s not in her dress from earlier, but in… pajamas? She doesn’t see me as she heads to the kitchen.

Frowning, I step inside. His head pops up and I can tell initially he thought Mia was coming back in, because his expression dims when he sees it’s only me.

“Mia spending the night?”

Mateo nods, abandoning his desk for the pair of chairs we usually sit in when it’s just us and he doesn’t have to command the room. “First night back in the old room, huh? How’s that?”

“Better company this time,” I say lightly. I’m still on Mia sleeping here, though. “Does Meg know she’s here?”

Mateo nods, not even looking aggravated as he finishes his drink. “It’s Meg she’s spending the night with.”

“In your bed?” I question, remembering all too clearly the last time I saw Mia in his bed.

Mateo smirks. “I promise to keep my hands to myself, Mom.”

“I have a feeling Vince wouldn’t appreciate this.”

“I have the same feeling,” he agrees, meeting my gaze. I don’t like the probing look he gives me, but if he’s wondering about Vince’s involvement with Joey again, he doesn’t say anything this time.

“Listen, there’s some stuff around this whole Joey thing that… I’d rather not tell you. What I’d like is for you to just give me the reins on this one, let me handle it, and don’t ask for all the details.”

He doesn’t immediately say no, but he is understandably hesitant. “Why?”

“Because it wouldn’t benefit you and I’m taking care of it, so it doesn’t matter. At worst, some of it might be hurtful. At best, it’s just damned annoying. I want to use my own discretion, handle it as I see fit, and it’ll all be over and we can move on with our lives.”

“Who is it you think would hurt me?” he asks, because he’s Mateo, and he has to know.

I sigh, wishing for some alcohol myself. I don’t feel like getting it though. “Your father.”

Judging by his expression, he didn’t expect me to say that. “Oh. No one else?”

I shake my head.

I don’t know if he thought I meant the girls or Vince, but he seems relieved to know I only meant Matt. “Sure. Deal with him as you see fit.”

“I already did. I just meant… the information surrounding it.”