“I’m sure he was downright cheerful when he started working for Mateo,” I mutter.
“He’s pretty cheerful now, when he’s not working. Elise just had a brand new baby. A little girl this time.”
I don’t fucking care if Adrian had another baby.
“Francesca’s coming for Easter dinner,” Alec says, when the Adrian update fails to entice me into speaking.
That catches my attention. “And Sal?”
“Of course. She was real excited about it. Apparently Sal’s mom wanted them to…”
Alec continues to fill the car with an explanation of how Francesca and Sal managed to get out of Easter dinner at Sal’s mom’s house, but my attention turns to Carly as she sinks back into the seat. Now we’re both dreading seeing ghosts from our past.
After a purgatorial car ride, we arrive at the restaurant. Mateo wanted to meet somewhere public, but private enough that no one will cast funny looks when Adrian inevitably pats us down. Alec already did at the airport—and that was after we went through fucking security, like I could possibly get a gun through airport security—but Mateo is always thorough.
I feel sick. I hold Carly’s hand more tightly than I mean to, and I feel so weird about bringing her. For every reason. The worst is the tiny corner or my mind that conjures up the thought that I wonder if it will bother Mia that I brought a girl with me.
My stomach is a cyclone of anxiety. I think I would rather die than go to this dinner.
I look over at Carly as we stand in the elevator, traveling up to the floor where Mateo’s private room is. Carly looks beautiful. She’s wearing a long sleeved black lace shirt—modest, except for the fact that the lace is mostly see-through. A black and gold skirt is wrapped around her hips and she has on black heels.
She definitely doesn’t look like an escort.
I wonder if Mateo knows she was.
He probably does. If she worked for Sal, it wouldn’t take a whole lot of cross referencing once he found us to figure out where she came from.
“Who all is here?” I ask Alec.
He glances over the shoulder of his cranberry jacket. “Just you guys. Mateo, Mia, Adrian, and you guys.”
“Hell. Got it.”
Carly rolls her shoulders and releases a breath that makes me feel like an asshole. I’m so wrapped up in my own clusterfuck of emotions, I’m hardly even present for her.
I’ll make it up to her later, provided we live that long.
“He’s not really going to make us eat, right?” I ask.
Alec smirks. “Man, a few years away has done you good. It’s like you’ve never met him.”
I roll my eyes. Of course he will. Fucker will sit there, completely unconcerned with the discomfort of everyone at the table, and enjoy his fucking meal.
Carly speaks up. “Are we going to take care of the funeral stuff after dinner? I mean, if we can get it all taken care of quickly, we might not even have to stay for Easter dinner.”
“Yeah, no,” Alec says, shaking his head. “Cherie already knows you’re coming and Maria is excited. You’re staying.”
The elevator dings and the doors to Hell open. For every wild beat of my heart, a new memory hits me. Alec escorts us across the room and I see the table. Adrian stands in front of it, waiting. Mateo stands beside him. My heart stalls as I look for Mia, but I don’t immediately see her, so my gaze drifts back to Mateo.
He stands there with his arms crossed in his well-tailored suit, a no-nonsense look on his face. When I meet his gaze, though, a gleam of humor enters his eyes and fills me with distrust. What’s amusing? What could possibly be amusing him? Is he laughing at me? Is it because he knows Carly was an escort and thinks I don’t? Is there some other horrible fucking surprise waiting for me? Maybe Mia’s pregnant. Alec gave me updates on various people, but he never mentioned Mia once.
My shoulders are so tense, I can already feel an ache coming on.
Now I look over at Carly, realizing she’s seeing him for the first time, too. I remember the first time Mia met Mateo. It was forced, like this, but I wasn’t even there when she first laid eyes on him. Cherie filled in blanks, but she didn’t want to alarm me, so I don’t know how accurate her recount of the meeting was.
I can’t tell what Carly’s feeling. She looks guarded. Good. She needs to be guarded. Every guard she possesses needs to gather around her gates and work as hard as they fucking can to keep my family out.
I can’t believe I brought her here. I shouldn’t have. I should have left her home and faced this week on my own. She would’ve been my safe place to go back to after Mateo rips me to shreds again.