I turn to glance back at Mateo, but Mia catches my gaze first. She’s watching my proximity to Meg with no small amount of concern. Her blue eyes beckon me, but this time I swear it’s on purpose. Maybe she’s afraid I am about to do something stupid.
I glance back at Meg, torn. She’s right, though, I can’t say much to her in full view of the cameras. Even if I tried to fish and see if she’d be open to more conspiring, if Mateo watched the footage later, he might believe it. Even if he didn’t, he could pretend to and use it as an excuse to kill me.
“I see you found a new Mia,” Meg remarks, before I can get away. “Does Mateo have a warehouse of blue-eyed blondes somewhere? Just fires one up and dispatches her whenever he needs to?” She cocks her head, regarding the couch again. “Though, this time he seems to have called on a brunette model.”
I frown in confusion, then turn back to look at the couch. The only brunette she could possibly be referring to is Laurel, sleepily resting her head on Rafe’s shoulder.
My gaze is in her vicinity, so it drifts back to Mia and Dom anyway. Since her first eye-only attempt didn’t work, now Mia adds in a smile and crooks her finger, beckoning me with more adamancy.
I barely glance back at Meg. “It was nice catching up. I’m gonna…”
Meg smiles and nods. “Go ahead.”
I don’t like sitting this close to Mateo, but she’s still in the floor at his feet with the babies. Roman is sitting up, smashing cloth blocks against the floor. Dom is lying on the floor in front of Mia’s curled up legs, eating his fist and smiling.
I do my best to ignore my proximity to Mateo and drop down on the floor with Mia and the babies. “How’s he liking Easter?”
“Well, he’s not in love with the gear,” she states.
Right now he and Roman are wearing matching tan suits, Roman with a pastel blue shirt underneath, Dom with a bright teal. It’s cute as hell, but probably not the easiest thing for him to move around in.
“He really digs the eggs, though.” She holds up a shimmery blue egg and shakes it. It must have beads or something in it because it makes a rattling sound and Dom reaches for it.
His eager little kicks further sell it as Mia holds the egg just out of his reach. She caves quickly and hands it over. He holds it and stares at it once it’s in his hands, but he’s not quite sure what to do with it.
Roman reaches over and grabs it right out of his hand. Dom jerks in surprise, then starts screaming. Roman shakes the egg, unconcerned with his screaming brother.
“Roman, you have to share,” Mia tells him, plucking a different colored noisy egg from Dom’s basket and trying to give it to him to replace the one Roman stole.
Dom will not take the egg. He continues to cry his little eyes out.
Mia sighs, her narrow shoulders drooping.
I take the yellow egg from her and reach over to fix the problem myself, plucking Dom’s egg out of Roman’s hand and replacing it with the yellow one.
Roman eyes me up for a few seconds like he can’t believe my gall. I can’t muster any remorse. Mateo’s son is already an asshole. Pointing my finger at him, I tell him something Mateo probably never will. “Don’t take what’s not yours.”
Dom quiets down once I give him his egg back, but now I’m feeling protective. I don’t even want him in the floor with Mateo’s little brat. Without asking Mia this time, I scoop Dom up so I can hold him. His little face is still slightly red from crying, tear stains on his cheeks. I know they’re just babies, but it still fires me up. I wipe his cheek dry with the back of my finger.
“Don’t let him push you around,” I tell Dom. “He will, if you let him.”
Mia scoots forward, looking a little uncomfortable. “They usually play nice. Well, sometimes. They’re just babies.”
Dread moves over me and I look down at Dom. Now he’s happily gnawing on his egg, but just this brief interaction stirs up fears for his future. Truth is, Mateo and I didn’t like each other even before Mia happened, and our dads didn’t get along either. Raising Mateo’s son and my son as brothers seems like a terrible fucking idea. This isn’t how it should be. I should be around. Mia obviously loves him more than anything, but she’s too loving and soft, she tries too hard to see the good in people. How is she going to be Dom’s champion when Mateo’s other kids are his competition?
This isn’t right. Mateo can’t raise my fucking son. I need to be here for him. He’s going to get walked all over without me here to teach him to stand up for himself. He’s already sweet and happy—that may have worked for Mia, but it sure as fuck won’t work for him.