Family Ties (Morelli Family 4)

I chuckle. “I’m working on it.” Ripping off the paper, I ball it up in my fist and open the little box. Nestled inside, a pair of silver entwined loops—cuff links. She got me cuff links?

I guess she can see the surprise on my face, and she misinterprets. “If you don’t like them—”

“What, are you kidding me?” I interrupt, plucking one out and looking at it. “These are sharp.” I lean in to give her a kiss. “Thank you, babe.”

She fidgets with her purse strap though, suddenly unsure of the gift. I’m kind of pissed at myself for not reacting better; I’ve just never had a woman give me cuff links before.

“I’ve never had to buy a present for a normal man,” she states, by way of explanation. “I’m now realizing you and my brothers probably don’t like the same gifts.”

“I love ‘em,” I assure her. “They’re from you, they’re great, I love them. I just feel bad I didn’t get you anything.”

“You don’t even wear suits, do you?”

“Sure I do—not as much as you’re used to, but of course I wear suits.”

“I’ll get you something better for our two-month,” she assures me.

“You don’t have to get me presents.”

“I’ll get you something Turtle would like.”

I groan. “Please don’t.”

Grinning, she heads for the kitchen. “Are you not the Turtle of your Entourage? My mistake.”

“If I’m not Vincent Chase, what are you even doing with me?” I shoot back.

“I would never be with anyone on that show. Ever. I would happily die alone if they were the only options.”

“I know you secretly fantasize about Adrian Grenier when you go home at night,” I tease, heading back to the counter. Before Vivian fucked up my groove, I was all ready to whip up breakfast.

“The only man I secretly fantasize about is you,” she says, winking at me. Now she notices the flowers on the counter, so she closes her eyes and leans in to smell them. “You said you didn’t get me anything. These totally count.”

“Yeah, but I always get you flowers,” I point out. “I was supposed to get you something else today. I dropped the ball.”

Plopping her handbag down on the center island, Francesca draws out a plastic container, now coated inside with chocolate pudding. “Well, the good news is, the pudding didn’t seep out of the container. The bad news is, it looks like this.”

I flick a glance at the container, smiling. I couldn’t care less about dessert. Francesca’s spending the night—that’s all I needed for today to be a victory.

Chapter Fifteen

“Can I ask you for a favor?”

I turn my attention from the screen to Francesca, situated between my legs as we watch TV. It’s nighttime and she’s curled up on the couch with me in a thin pair of leggings and one of my T-shirts; life is fucking good right now.

“Of course,” I tell her.

Now she twists around so she can look at me. “Do you have someone not connected to your family who could look into something for me? Kind of like a background check, I guess? I don’t want it on anyone’s radar. I was going to see if I could find a private investigator on my own, but to be honest, I don’t know who my brother works with, so I didn’t want to make a mistake. I don’t want him to know. Given you are part of his world, I figure you’re probably more knowledgeable about that stuff.”

Frowning, I ask, “What do you need a private investigator for?”

“You know my cousin, Vince?”

“Vaguely, yes.”

“Well, he’s been sort of seeing this girl, but he’s adamant about Mateo not finding out. On one hand, I get it, Alec feels the same way. But on the other hand, he’s a little more defensive about it than I think he should be, and Cherie brought her into the bakery today, so I have her name, I know what school she goes to. I’d just feel better if someone could check her out and make sure there’s nothing wrong with her. Because, you know, Mateo does usually find things out.”

“I can’t wait until he finds out about us and I can wear my new cuff links to family dinner.”

She elbows me in the ribs. “Not funny. He hates when people try to keep secrets from him. Even if he would’ve been amenable to me dating you, we’ve fucked it up by sneaking around.”

I shrug, since I don’t want to think about our situation. “Yeah, I know a guy who can look into that for you. Just get me her name and I’ll get him on it tomorrow.”

“Not connected to your family, though, right? I don’t want any trouble. Just in case I do get caught, I don’t want Mateo to lose his shit.”

“Not exactly. He’s not connected to my family, like la famiglia; he’s my half-sister’s boyfriend. He hates both my dad and your brother though, so he doesn’t get mixed up in anything that’s not above-board.”