Chapter Nineteen
Meg
This is maybe the most stressful night of my life.
I hear Rafe tell Alec to come out and get me—doesn’t trust me, he says.
I walk inside the bedroom where I used to sleep, the bedroom where I fell in love, the bedroom where two of my three children were conceived. I feel emotionally removed, in a sense, like I’m visiting the movie set of my favorite show in the middle of a production. The magic is gone. The heart is gone. Whatever connected me to the show I loved, whatever I felt viewing it, it’s all gone now.
But there’s danger. So much danger. My gaze is automatically drawn to the grappling men on my left. Mateo looks at me like he wants to kill me—which he does, so I guess at least right now he’s not lying. Dante’s eyes are wild, his adrenaline pumping as he fights with his brother. Alec is just along for the ride. He doesn’t hate Mateo or covet anything he has, he just looked at each side and picked the team he predicted would win, I guess.
So did I, I guess.
I wish they had done this part without me. Bringing me up here was Dante’s idea. Apparently Dante’s thirst for vengeance outweighs that of any other member of his family. He hates Mia, so he assumes I hate Mia. He thinks I’m bitter because I’m a woman. I couldn’t possibly just be equally as done with the relationship and happy for two people in love. I must be stewing and obsessing over it as I knit scarves in a rocking chair with my Mrs. Claus glasses perched on my wart-covered nose and 35 cats gathered on the floor around my feet.
It’s like none of these assholes have seen what great legs I have.
Probably wouldn’t influence Dante. I don’t have a man now, so why bother living? He’s a hardcore sexist, but I don’t hold it against him. He’s saving my life, so whatever floats his boat.
I hate everything about this, though. I hate seeing Mateo’s muscles straining as he’s betrayed—again. I hate seeing two men I have lukewarm feelings for winning, and the one I actually like… well, he wants me dead though, so I guess this is the only way.
Then there’s Rafe. My gaze swings toward the bed—I know before my eyes even land on them that’s where he’ll be with Mia. Men. It’s a struggle not to roll my fucking eyes, but there he is with Mia pinned beneath him on the bed. Of course she’s all lovely and vulnerable in a white satin robe that’s half falling off her. She’d let him sink his fangs into her soul and suck out as much as he needed. Fucking emotional vampire.
She spots me, and boy is she confused. It doesn’t hit her right away that I’m here with them. For a minute, she doesn’t know what to think. Rafe caresses her jawline, but her gaze remains locked on mine. I watch as it lands, see the horror transform her pretty face.
I look away. It makes me uncomfortable, the way she looks at me, like I’m the bad guy in the room. Not the impressive kind, just the wormy, sneaking into bedrooms while people sleep to betray them kind.
Which I guess I am.
I take a single step closer to where the men are, but then my gaze drifts back to the bed. Mia has changed modes. She’s focused on Rafe now. He was on top of her when I came in, but not like this. Now she’s soft beneath him, touching him, inviting him into her bubble. Her hips move against his like they were meant to. He looks at her in the unmistakable way of a man who wants to fuck a woman. One of her hands disappears between their bodies and my eyebrows rise.
His head drifts back just slightly, his eyes closing. Is she…?
What the fuck is she doing?
Oh, shit. She’s trying to turn him. With her hand on his dick. And he’s already helped her once.
Shit, shit, shit.
I tap Alec on the shoulder. “Hey, we might have a problem.”
He swats my hand away. “Not now.”
“I’m not trying to sell you fucking Girl Scout cookies,” I snap. “It’s important.”
He’s aggravated, but he spins around, his dark eyebrows rising expectantly. “Well? What is it?”
“Mia.” I point to the bed.
Alec’s gaze drifts to the bed but he rolls his eyes and immediately looks away, dismissing the scene. “Yeah, Rafe’s copping a feel; how shocking.”
“Who hasn’t?” Dante adds, similarly unalarmed.
They are not adequately threatened by her crack nipples.
“Are you both fucking stupid?” I ask.
Dante levels a glare so cold my body temperature drops a few degrees. I swallow and immediately mutter, “Sorry. I didn’t mean… Obviously you’re not stupid.”
They’re both stupid, though.
But they aren’t listening to me.
I look back at the bed. Mia’s foot is working its way up Rafe’s leg. Her big blue eyes are all soft and sincere, screaming, “please help me, you big strong man,” while the rest of her body promises his cock a hefty reward for his service.
God, she’s good. I wish they could teach that shit in a book. I have game, but not that kind. Mia could take over the world with her vagina. No wonder Mateo never lets her out of the house.
Rafe’s a much harder read. I’ve spent five years with Mia; I know her deal. Rafe, not so much. I can’t tell if this is working, or he’s just enjoying the physical contact since she’s going to hate his guts within the next few minutes. I could never fully believe that he was on one side or the other until this happened, and even now I’m doubting his holding power. Even if she can’t turn him in time to save Mateo, if he’s planning to keep her as his pet, he’s going to sink into her the same way Mateo did. He’ll think he has a pet, the world will think he has a pet, even Mia might think she’s a pet—but she’ll be the one holding the leash between those pretty thighs of hers.
What if this ruins Mia? What if Mateo’s death turns her dark? She knows I’m here with them; she’s never going to forgive me for this. Rafe only needs me alive for a brief period of time and he doesn’t much like me anyway… what if Mia goes vengeful? Maybe she doesn’t hold a grudge when she’s married to a man like Mateo because it suits her lifestyle, but for this? I’m helping them take her whole world away from her. Mateo is her world. He’s the moon and the stars, the one she snuggles up to each night, and the reason she wakes up in the morning. They’re insane, but they’re so wrapped up in one another at this point, I’m not even sure one can exist with the other gone.
But regardless of the state of her heart, Mia isn’t going anywhere, because she already has her next protector lined up. What if she focuses her rage and sense of betrayal on me and seduces Rafe into killing me anyway?
No, Mia won’t think of that. Right?
A ruckus with the men drags my gaze from the softcore porn scene unfolding on the bed. It’s hard to keep track of how many people might want me dead, but since Mateo is the one being wrestled to the floor, that’s the one I focus on now.
“Any last words, brother?” Dante asks, his tone droll.
Mateo laughs. It looks dark (and okay, a little sexy) with that bloody, split lip. “Fuck you.”
Alec flicks a glance at Rafe and Mia on the bed, then nods at Dante to prompt him. “Come on, do it.”
“You know what?” Dante says, suddenly inspired. “Let’s let Meg do it.”
“Huh?” I ask, dumbly, as Dante suddenly holds his gun in the air for me to take it. “Oh, no, I’m good.”
“Don’t be a pussy,” he challenges. “Take the goddamn gun. Shoot the fucker who wasted your time.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that’s… I’m okay, you can do it.”
Flicking a glance at Alec, Dante says, “Remind me why I want to keep her again?”
“Hey now.” I take a nervous step forward. He holds the gun up again.
Fuck.
Mateo glares at me. Of course he fucking glares. He can’t even turn a little apologetic when I have a gun within reach and I’m literally being directed to shoot him in the face.
“Well, I guess he has been a dick,” I state.
“There you go.” Dante doesn’t sound like he cares one way or the other, but he moves the gun toward me and this time I take it. My hands are unsteady. Flashes of memories run through my mind of the last time I held a gun—it was pointed at Mateo then, too. In his dungeon. I was there wrongfully that time. He aimed it at his heart and handed it to me.
“If you still want to kill me, do it now.”
I didn’t then, and I don’t now.
My stomach twists. I take a couple of steps forward and lift the gun. Its weight is so light, for all the destruction it is capable of.
“Meg!”
Mia screams at me, her eyes wild. She twists like she’s going to move to come after me, but she can’t since Rafe still has her trapped beneath his weight.
“Don’t you dare!” Her voice shakes, but there’s force behind it. Fire. Her voice doesn’t hold up under the weight of her emotions, but that utterance comes from somewhere deep within her. Hatred I’ve never seen before gleams in those blue orbs, and my stomach sinks.
I look away.
She cries out again, warning me one last time.
I ignore her. I steady the gun. I look at Mateo and my legs threaten to give out on me. He jerks and snarls at me, but Alec keeps his shoulders down.
“Hurry the fuck up,” Alec barks.
“I’m sorry,” I tell Mateo, my own voice wavering. “I’m sorry for everything. I never wanted it to be like this.”
He watches wordlessly as I fit my finger against the trigger.
“I’m Meg.”
“I heard. And you’re my surprise?”
“And here I thought you were mine.”
Tears sting behind my eyes. I feel betrayed when they well up, when I know he can see the telling glint.
“I’m gonna buy this place. Watch. I’ll name it after you.”
“Meg’s Place?”
A tear slips over the rim of my eyelid and tracks down my right cheek.
This is humiliating.
Before I have time to change my mind, I swing the gun and fire at Dante’s head.
The whole room goes silent.
Nothing happened.
Alec’s jaw drops open and Dante turns his head, still with all his brains on the inside, and says, “Huh.”
My hand shakes again. I squeeze the trigger again, more desperately this time.
Why isn’t it…?
Alec eases off Mateo’s shoulders, sits back on his heels, and does the strangest thing. He pulls out his wallet. Yanks out a fifty dollar bill. I’m still standing here with shaky hands and a useless gun, Dante is still sitting on Mateo’s hips.
Alec gets up, walks over, and tosses a fifty dollar bill at Rafe. “I think you interfered.”
My gaze jumps to Mia, who is as openly confused as I am.
Now Dante rises. I take a step back, since I just tried to shoot him. Twice.
He pulls his wallet out, too. “Didn’t see that one coming.” He walks over and also tosses Rafe a fifty.
“What the fuck is going on?” Mia demands, since fifty dollar bills are raining down on her.
The closet door opens and Adrian steps out. I expect him to grab his wallet too, since that seems to be the thing to do, but he looks surly. He approaches Rafe, but not to give him money—to glare at him until he gathers his winnings and gets off Mia.
“What the hell were you doing in the closet?” Alec asks, apparently unprepared to see him.
Adrian rolls his eyes. “Picking out shoes. Why the fuck do you think I’m here?”
Dante nearly smiles, looking down in private amusement. “Aw, you mean my big brother doesn’t trust me? How hurtful.”
Now Mateo stands, miraculously recovered from the beatdown. I back myself up against the wall and stare at him, eyes wide. His gaze remains trained on me as he reaches out an open hand for the gun. I give it to him, but I’m so fucking confused. My mind puts together the pieces, but I can’t quite believe it.
There’s no way he’s been playing me, right?
No way.
“I’m going to bed,” Alec states. “Sorry about all this, Mia.”
With that, Alec abandons us all to our dysfunction.
Mia’s gaze jumps to Dante, still mind-boggled.
“I’m not sorry,” he tells her. “I wasn’t even lying. I would’ve definitely sold you.” Turning to Mateo, he adds, “I’ll be by tomorrow for my bonus envelope.”
Dante heads for the door, but I call out, “Wait… Why?”
Dante shrugs. “What do you mean, why? My brother takes the long way when the short way works just fine, but he’s the boss, isn’t he?”
“I just… tried to kill you,” I say, a bit numbly.
“You thought I was a disloyal fuck who turned on the head of the family. I’d have done the same thing.” With that, Dante departs, as well.
“Oh, my God.” Mia buries her face in her hands. “It was all fake. You did it again.”
Mateo sits on the bed beside her and pulls her into his arms. He kisses the top of her head and she turns, wrapping her body around him and sobbing into his shoulder.
After watching for a minute, Rafe shoves his hands in his pockets and asks Adrian, “So… is now a good time to collect that $50?”
Adrian cuts Rafe a hard glare, but nonetheless extracts his wallet. “I’m with Alec; I think you interfered.”
I throw my hands up in the air. “Can someone please tell me what the fuck is going on? This was all some kind of bet?”
“Nah, the wager was an add-on,” Rafe states. “Beside the point, really. Just making things interesting.”
Mateo’s voice is the one who finally answers. “It was a loyalty test. Not the kind I’ve ever put you through before, but Mia’s been there. They’re not much fun, but the information I glean from them is pretty much incomparable.”
“A loyalty test?” I echo, in disbelief. “So, if I would’ve shot you…?”
Mateo merely raises his eyebrows, like that question is too stupid to dignify with an answer.
Holy shit.
“You’re insane,” I tell him, eyes wide, head shaking. I try to collect my wits, but the reality I’ve been living has just been ripped out from under me and I’m having a hard time finding my footing. “Insane.”
He shrugs. His tone lacks any trace of remorse. “I had to see what you’d do.”
I didn’t even know what I would do until I did it! If not for my fear of Mia’s brain-eating, man-controlling siren powers, I may have actually….
My gaze drifts to Mia. The intimidating, potentially vengeful, brimming with rage Mia is gone now, replaced with Mateo’s soft Mia. She obviously wasn’t in on any of this either, so she should be spitting mad at him. She should want to kill him for real, for putting at least her through all of this. Me, okay, he was planning to kill me anyway, but why do it to her?
A horrible wariness passes through me. I feel like I’m walking across the crooked floor of a funhouse and I can’t trust anything.
Meanwhile, Mia sucks in a shaky breath, then grabs Mateo’s face and pulls him in for a kiss.
She’s so fucking crazy.
Rafe and Adrian watch Mia wrap herself around the man who just tormented her—again—and have different expressions of awe. Adrian has seen it before, so he just shakes his head. “He’s sure lucky he found her.”
Rafe is more baffled. “Why isn’t she…?”
“This isn’t her first rodeo,” Adrian explains. “We should probably clear out of here and give them some privacy. They will proceed whether we stay or go.”
“But he just…”
“Don’t try to rationalize it,” Adrian advises. “Just leave them be.”
Mateo pulls away from Mia’s mouth, so she trails kisses down his neck. “I want to see you both in the study. Just give me…a half hour.” Mia climbs in his lap and wraps her legs around him. “Forty-five minutes. Somewhere around there.”
We all head for the door, leaving behind Mia’s sighs of pleasure as we step into the hall.
Rafe pauses, looks at Adrian, and indicates the now-closed bedroom door with his thumb. “Is that gratitude sex? He gets thank you sex after what he made us all do?”
Adrian sighs. “Let’s go have a drink.”
“Wait, what about me?” I ask, since they’re just treating this like business as usual.
Adrian turns to look back at me. “What about you?”
“Where do I go? What do I do?”
“I’d go to your old room,” Adrian suggests. “You can see if Ju’s awake—she has Roman for the night. Didn’t want to wake him up with all this shit. He does not sleep at night, so she might be happy to see you.”
I’m torn between amusement and sympathy at the mental image of Adrian coming to help Mia with the baby since Mateo probably stayed in bed. He wasn’t much of a helper with Rosalie. It didn’t matter so much since we had a nanny and a housekeeper, but he certainly wasn’t the, “You sleep, I’ll get this one” type of dad.
Adrian adds, “I’m sure he’ll come to talk to you, so I wouldn’t get too comfortable.”
“So… I don’t need a guard anymore?”
Adrian raises an eyebrow. “Do you think you need a guard?”
“No,” I answer quickly, shaking my head. “Nope, I don’t. No interest in misbehaving. None whatsoever.”
“Good.”
“So… killing me is definitely off? That’s not happening, just so we’re clear?”
“Seems that way. Unless you pull a Meg, jump the gun, and fuck something else up.”
I grimace. “Must we refer to doing a dumb thing prematurely as pulling a Meg?”
“I like it,” Rafe states. “Has a nice ring to it.”
Something just occurred to me. When I didn’t fire at Mateo but tried to shoot Dante instead, everyone gave their money to Rafe.
“Hey.” I narrow my eyes suspiciously. “You bet on me.”
“Don’t read too much into it,” he advises me. “No one else would, so I took one for the team. I figured it was going to lose me fifty bucks, but… well, I can afford to lose fifty bucks. Couldn’t make the bet at all if someone didn’t take the long shot.”
“Yeah, seems like you’re developing a real knack for drawing that short straw,” I say, lightly.
Rafe shrugs his shoulders, then follows after Adrian as they head for the study to wait for Mateo.
Rafe’s words that first night after family dinner suddenly return to me. At the time, I took it as him being an asshole, but if he’s been playing a part, acting out a role in one of Mateo’s productions, maybe he wasn’t being an asshole when he said certain asshole things to me. Maybe he was trying to warn me.
Maybe Alec and Adrian are right about Rafe.
Maybe he interfered.