Chapter Twenty Two
A pall falls over the Morelli homestead.
It starts slow, with Mia serving Mateo at dinner. It’s unprecedented so no one entirely understands what it means, but we all know it can’t be good. Vince definitely knows it can’t be good. He’s been paranoid about Mateo trying to break them up to begin with, but now this? It’s aggressive. It’s intentionally embarrassing for Vince, and even though I know Mateo isn’t fucking Mia, it makes me wonder if he’s about to.
I try to avert the crisis I may have partially triggered. I try telling Mia it will be fine, to just keep her focus on Vince. I know Mateo can be pretty damn convincing if he sets his sights on something, but I hold out hope that he doesn’t really want Mia, he’s just playing some kind of ultimately harmless game. I hope Mateo is only baring his teeth, only threatening. I hope he won’t really bite anyone, but he dashes those hopes in grand fashion.
I tell myself he must’ve already intended on doing something like this. He isn’t so easily influenced or impulsive that my drunken advice about moving on would’ve pushed him to do something with so many aftershocks. It’s not my fault Vince is a mess. It’s not my fault Mia is hidden away in Mateo’s bedroom.
It feels a little like my fault, though.
Mia stops showing up to dinner. I guess she probably can’t face Vince, which I sort of understand. I can’t go see Sal much anymore, because Mateo still comes, and we’re all so stressed out that I’m afraid to step out of line. He’s probably distracted with her since he likes new toys, but no one actually sees them together, so it’s impossible to know.
Until Elise comes to find me before she starts making dinner.
“I need to ask you a favor.”
I blink in surprise. “Sure, what can I do for you?”
Clearing her throat, her gaze darts away from me. She brings it back, but it seems to take some discipline. “I need you to tell Mateo I changed my mind about Adrian. I want to go with him when he leaves.”
I’m not shocked that she changed her mind, but I am shocked she’s not jumping all over a chance to talk to Mateo alone. Maybe she thinks if she’s in front of him, she won’t be able to stick to it. Maybe she just wants to start conditioning herself to be loyal to Adrian. Either way, I approve.
“You don’t want to tell him yourself?” I ask, failing to hide my surprise. I would worry about embarrassing her, but it’s not like her crush on my brother is a well-kept secret. Anyone can see it if they spend more than five minutes watching her around him.
Elise shakes her head a little sadly, her eyes dropping. “I don’t want to be alone with him.”
I nod my understanding. This probably wasn’t an easy decision for her to come to, but maybe seeing him steal Mia from Vince was a wake-up call. Maybe she finally sees there’s no future for her with him—not that this affair with Mia is likely to last, but it probably makes her jealous. Elise has been here under his nose for years, longing for him, and now Mia shows up, not even available, and snags his interest.
“For what it’s worth, you’re making the right choice,” I tell her. “Adrian is a wonderful man and he absolutely adores you. I know you like Mateo, but—”
“I don’t like Mateo anymore,” she states, more resolutely than I’ve ever heard Elise before. Her blue-eyed gaze rises to mine, a little fire behind them. “You know he’s hurting her in there, right? She’s not in his bed because she wants to be. He’s raping her.”
My stomach bottoms out and I start shaking my head before I’m even aware of what I’m doing. “What? No. No, he wouldn’t… he wouldn’t do that.”
Her eyes widen and she nods. “I changed the sheets. I saw her. She’s not in good shape.”
“I’m sure you misunderstood,” I attempt again, refusing to believe this.
“She made it pretty clear. She wanted me to know what he was doing to her.”
Elise doesn’t stay and try to convince me since she needs to go start dinner, but her words linger long after she’s gone. I can’t tamp down the horrible imagery her words inspire. Memories more than imagery, I guess. I know first-hand what sexual violence feels like. Mine was with someone I at least chose to be with, but my heart beats irregularly in my chest as I try to wrap my head around Mia in Mateo’s bed, and him hurting her.
I know my brother is a bastard, but a rapist?
Anger and adrenaline mix together. I’m tempted to go check on Mia, but I can’t. I’m too cowardly to face her if Elise is right, and Mateo may be a liar, but he’s not one to shirk accountability, so I go straight to the source.
Adrian is in the room with him, but no one else. I shouldn’t blow up at him with witnesses, but at this point I’m feeling so much pressure smoke should be coming out of my ears; I couldn’t stop myself if the Pope was visiting.
He opens his mouth to greet me, but I don’t even let him speak. “Did you rape Mia?”
Out of my peripherals, I see Adrian rock forward, covering his face with his hands. I hold Mateo’s gaze though, and he holds mine. He doesn’t say a word, and that’s answer enough. He should be offended by such a question. His face should show signs of disgust that I would ever think such a thing, let alone insult him by asking.
It doesn’t. His face remains guarded, but impassive.
“You really did, didn’t you? What is wrong with you? What the hell is wrong with you?”
Ordinarily he might cut off my anger, interrupting with an authoritative “that’s enough,” to let me know not to push. He doesn’t now, though. He laces his fingers together across his torso and keeps watching, like he’s waiting patiently for me to unleash the rest of my anger on him.
I’m furious at the burn of tears behind my eyes. “This is unforgivable. There was no reason for you to do something like this. What were you thinking? If you wanted her, you could’ve easily seduced her. You know that. I know that. Fuck, Vince knows that. Instead you chose to hurt her? You’re a monster. Is this because you wanted to break them up? Please tell me this isn’t because of what I said.”
I don’t mean that literally, because I don’t imagine he would give me that kind of assurance, but he does at least surprise me by saying levelly, “Of course it’s not.”
I should feel relieved, but I don’t. My chest is too thick with the knowledge of this crime against Mia. I feel like throwing up. My own brother…
“I’m so disappointed in you,” I tell him, but I’m out of steam. I’m going to break down crying if I stand here for even another minute, so I turn and leave, slamming the study door shut behind me.
I don’t take the time to tell Sal I’m coming over, so when he comes to the door, he is understandably alarmed.
“Francesca?” His gray eyes sharpen as he comprehends my emotional state. His arms open wide and I walk right into them, securing my arms around him tightly and burying my face in his chest. “What happened?” he asks, alert. “What’s wrong?” He pulls back to look me over again, as if he’d see evidence of whatever’s hurting me. “Are you okay?”
“Mateo did something horrible,” I state, burying my face in his chest again.
“To you?” Sal asks, his voice rising with anger.
“No, not to me. To Mia.”
I feel him relax. I want to tell him that’s not fair, just because she isn’t me doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve his anger, but I guess I understand his relief that I’m all right.
“Vince’s girl? Did he finally kill her?”
“What?”
I pull back, alarmed at the sound of Mark’s voice. I hadn’t even looked past Sal to see he wasn’t alone, that Mark was sitting on the couch, but now he’s halfway across the room to me.
“No, he didn’t kill her.” I stop though, unsure how much I want to say. I don’t know why I didn’t consider that since I wasn’t coming over, Sal probably had other plans. He doesn’t really hang out by himself; he’s always with someone.
Mark is as alert as Sal was just a second ago. “What did he do to Mia?”
I’m hardly comfortable telling Salvatore what Mateo did, but I certainly can’t tell Mark. It wouldn’t be fair to Mia. It’s not my place to share her experiences with the whole world.
Oh my God, poor Mia. I feel so horrible for her. I don’t know what to do about it, though. Right now I just hug Sal and let him comfort me.
I want him to save me. I want him to whisk me away from the dysfunctional house I grew up in. I wish I could make a real home with him.
At least I have this escape though. At least I can come to him for shelter from the storms my goddamn brother unleashes under our roof.
---
I don’t know why I don’t expect Mia to come to family dinner on Sunday. I guess since she stopped coming to the other ones, I assumed she was relegated to his actual prisoner now. Maybe he’s not stowing her in the dungeon like Dad used to do, but he’s adopting a slightly softer version of Dad’s bullshit habits.
Mia shows up in the kitchen alone, but Mateo comes to check on her—to make sure she showed up, I think. My heart sinks for her, having to endure his presence, but she barely glances at him, then she goes right back to chopping peppers. I probably wouldn’t have given her a knife if I knew he’d be coming to the kitchen tonight.
Once he catches my gaze, he nods for me to join him out in the hall.
I’m still absolutely disgusted with him, but I’d rather get him away from Mia than be difficult, so I follow him.
“What?” I ask, shortly.
“She only serves me now.”
For the millionth time, my stomach sinks with dread. “You’re taking that from him, too?”
Mateo rolls his eyes. “I’ve already taken everything else, why not?”
“She shouldn’t have to serve you at all after what you’ve done to her,” I inform him, firmly disgusted that he’s adding insult to injury. “She’s not your woman, she’s your prey. Just let her serve Vince and I’ll bring you yours.”
“Nope.”
“You’re a sick bastard.”
“I know,” he says, unconcerned. “Just tell her so she knows—unless you’d rather I go tell her myself?”
Resentment bubbles up inside as I cross my arms defensively, but I shake my head. I don’t want him going anywhere near her, and he knows it. “I’ll enforce it if that’s what you want. I don’t understand why you made her come to dinner at all.”
“I’ve given her all week to herself. Time to get back to normal.”
“Normal is her with Vince,” I state.
Cutting me a look of mild annoyance before he turns away, he says, “Not anymore.”
“Why are you being so awful to her?” I demand, causing him to pause. “If you like Mia, this isn’t the way to show it. If you don’t, this is just a horrible thing to do. That girl hasn’t done a damn thing to deserve your wrath.”
“We’ll see,” he says cryptically, then continues on his way.