Coming Home (Morelli Family 6)

I look at the envelope, but don’t take it yet. “You don’t understand. My mom thinks she’s touring Buckingham Palace. Meg’s gotta be dying to make cracks about my low-class roots.”

“Her roots are as low-class as yours,” he assures me. “You’re both a couple of gutter mice.”

I release his lapel, smoothing it down, and taking the envelope. “If my mom says ‘fancy’ one more time, I’m going to die of mortification. She can’t come to dinner. Mateo’s going to be exasperated. He doesn’t even like tacos, and my mom is like tacos personified.”

Nodding solemnly, he says, “I bet you’re right. He’s going to retract his proposal on the basis of your sketchy mom that he already knew about.”

I sigh at him. “Can’t you just let me be dramatic for a minute?”

With a faint grimace, he says, “I would, but according to your sixth grade drama teacher, you’re not cut out for it.”

My jaw drops a few inches and he winks, turning me around and giving me a light shove back toward my mom.

“Stalker,” I shoot back.

“You like stalkers. You’ve never dated someone who wasn’t a stalker.”

I flash him a lightly flirty smile, since he worded it that way. He sighs and rolls his eyes, realizing too late what he said.

“If you and Elise weren’t married, you were Mateo’s pick for my next husband,” I inform him, just because. “Since you had to go and be married, it’s Rafe.”

Adrian rolls his eyes. “He’s lining up a back-up husband for you? He’s such a psycho.”

“Apparently I’m incapable of surviving alone.”

“Nah, you’d do all right,” he assures me.

“See, you have faith in me; that’s why you’re my back-up husband,” I tell him.

“You can’t marry Rafe anyway. Vegas is too far, I can’t keep a good eye on you that far away.” He pauses, rocking his head to the side in consideration. “Although if Mateo’s dead, good chance I am, too.”

“I can’t live in this world where you and Mateo are both dead,” I inform him. “I hate everything about that world. Let’s stop talking about this.”

My mom looks a little less enthusiastic as Adrian and I approach. I wonder what Meg said to her. Probably shouldn’t have left her alone then either, but I needed to escape.

Since he already gave me the money and he doesn’t feel like rescuing me from my own mother, I return to my mom and Meg. Without explanation, I hand my mom the envelope.

Meg’s perfect eyebrows are lifted as she watches Adrian walk away, then flicks a glance back at me. “You better watch it, Elise knows her way around the cutlery.”

Cocking my head, I ask, “What do you mean?”

“Getting a little handsy with Adrian there, don’t you think?”

As my mom opens her envelope to see how much is inside, she voices a different concern. “I don’t know how you get used to having all these scary men roaming the halls.”

“Scary? Adrian?” I smile at the absurdity. I guess it’s not really absurd, since he is technically dangerous, but it’s hard to look at him through her eyes after all these years with him around.

“My concern is the bigger threat,” Meg states, giving me a serious nod. “Remember there’s a dungeon in this house.”

Now my mom’s eyes widen and she looks back at Meg to see if she’s joking.

“I wasn’t doing anything,” I tell Meg. “And I’ve managed to stay out of the dungeon for five years; I think I can stop worrying about it.”

“There’s a real dungeon?” Mom asks, torn between horror and fascination.

“What kind of castle doesn’t have a dungeon?” Meg tosses out, turning around and heading back the way we came.

—

My makeshift bridal shower not being an ordinary affair, it concludes with family dinner. Sort of. Sal and Ethan are on their way while the women get ready upstairs. I’m ready, all dolled up in a slinky green dress, so I thought I could sneak away and steal a minute with Mateo before dinner.

“Are you saying you don’t trust Colin’s guys?”

I hear Mateo in business mode, so I peek my head inside the study, knocking lightly on the thick door. It was cracked open so I thought I was okay to come in.

Mateo glances at me, smiling faintly and nodding for me to enter.

Adrian glances up at me, but he answers Mateo anyway. “I’m not saying I don’t trust them, I’m saying I don’t think we need four freelancers. We have enough of our own men. If you want to contract Colin for added protection, fine, but we don’t need his friends.”

“You’re in the wedding. Elise and Westley will be there with you. You’re going to be distracted. I want all four to make up the difference.”

“It’s overkill,” Adrian states. “Will and Kate didn’t have this many fucking guards on their wedding.”

I grin at Adrian’s royal wedding reference and move around the desk, taking a seat on Mateo’s lap. His arm moves naturally around my waist, but he keeps his gaze on Adrian.