Mateo has always kept an eye on Dante, so how did this happen?
My eyes go to the keypad on my phone, my eyes running over the eight, the six, the one, the seven. My eyes caress all the numbers that would connect me to Mateo. For years I’ve had his number memorized. I could call him right now and put an end to all this. Warn him of everything Rafe has told me. He could dispatch Adrian and have the threat neutralized before dinner is over. Mia did tell me to surprise him. He wouldn’t expect that. He leaves me to rot in the dungeon until I can pop out his baby so he can kill me; I give him a heads up about an overthrow attempt.
But what if his side is the wrong side? I have no idea how many people are in on this takeover. Surely if Dante is approaching the point of action, there are many other pieces already in place. He’s the one who’s giving me a chance, letting me out, not Mateo. If I tip Mateo off and Dante has bugged the phone or someone moves on Mateo anyway, I’m biting the only hand that wants to feed me.
I wish I remembered Mia’s number. I wish Mateo would let her visit me. I want to tell her not to trust Rafe—of course, I don’t know that it would do any good. That goddamn girl and her Morelli whisperer abilities. She would manage to attract one of the assholes who wants to overthrow her husband.
His pet. Ew.
She’ll be all right. I mean, losing Mateo is not going to be pretty. I don’t even want to think about that. Ugly flashes of when we thought Mateo killed Vince come back to me, but it will be worse because it’s Mateo, and he’ll actually be dead. There will be no surprise ending, no more of Mateo’s mind tricks, no more twists. He won’t be able to bend reality to scare us into line anymore, because the men who take the easy out will have usurped him.
I hate the idea of a world where Mateo Morelli is usurped. I hate the idea of playing any part in making that happen.
I hate it, and yet, what choice do I have?
Mateo hates me, and even if I warned him, there’s no guarantee it would change anything. Since Mateo has cut Mia off from talking to me, she would never have to know. He could simply eliminate the threats and continue with his plan to get rid of me. No one would ever know I helped him, and he would just kill me anyway.
Chapter Eleven
Mia
Two strong hands settle on my shoulders, competently working out the tension that’s been building all day.
I close my eyes and let my head fall forward, sighing happily as he kneads my muscles. “God, I love when you do this.”
The sound of Mateo’s low laughter rumbles in my ear, filling me up with affection. “Yeah? How much?” As he teases me, he lowers his lips to the nape of my neck and brushes them across the exposed skin. God, he drives me wild with the littlest things.
“You’ll be a very happy man tonight, let’s just say that,” I assure him.
“I’m a very happy man every night.”
After another minute of rubbing my shoulders, those big, strong hands move down the curve of my back, catching the hem of my sleep shirt. He hates when I wear clothing to bed, but I have not been feeling sexy tonight. Unaware or unconcerned, Mateo works the giant sleep shirt up my body and drags it off me, tossing it on the floor.
“Much better,” he announces. He’s still sitting behind me on the edge of the bed, but now that I’m naked, he turns me back to face him so I can watch his gaze rake over me. He still looks at me like I’m the most beautiful thing he’s ever had the pleasure to look upon, and it still makes my heart flutter.
God, I am a lucky woman.
With one hand firmly against my now-bare chest, he pushes me back on the bed and climbs on top of me. I’m not sure what to do with my legs for a second, but he grabs them and pulls them apart, shooting me a devilish smile before leaning down and leaving a hot trail of kisses along the inside of each thigh. He doesn’t waste time teasing me tonight; he latches onto my pussy and doesn’t stop until he’s wrung the first orgasm out of me and I’m writhing away from his skilled tongue.
No breaks, not with Mateo. Before I can catch my breath or recover my senses, his mouth is claiming mine in a hard kiss, one hand bracing his weight on the bed, the other caressing my breast.