“This week?” I ask, eyes widening. “She’s only even met Vince one time, and barely.”
“Does she know who he is?”
I pause, awkwardness creeping up over me as I shake my head. No, weirdly enough, I did not tell my mother that the guy I was sort of seeing was from a mob family.
I can’t tell whether or not that news pleases him. “Friday night works best for me.”
I know she works until two this Friday, but I don’t know if she’s doing anything after. I guess she might be willing to cancel her plans for a dinner with Mateo Morelli. “I’ll ask.”
Adrian comes back and settles in at the side of the table opposite Mateo, I wonder about the order of things here. Vince said the core people were all Morellis, so I assume Adrian is, but he doesn’t resemble Mateo. Alec does—a watered down, less attractive version with a slightly bigger nose, but you can tell he’s a Morelli. Francesca has the same coloring, the pitch-black hair and chocolate brown eyes. She’s really very pretty, and like me, she’s wearing a black dress tonight.
Adrian, though, has smaller eyes, a different nose, hair a little lighter than chestnut—none of the same coloring. Only half his face is scarred, and I wonder if he’d look as intense without it.
Until Elise approaches him again to deliver his salad, then his whole demeanor softens.
I make a note to ask Vince about that whole situation later.
I’m surprised when Cherie comes through the doors next, holding two baskets of bread. She places one at each end of the table, then leaves again, coming back with two little dishes of dipping oil.
I frown, confused. Once she slips away again, I turn to Vince. “Is Cherie a maid?”
“Uh, sort of,” he says. “Her mom’s a maid. Maria. Cherie helps out.”
“So, she lives here?”
“In the servants’ quarters,” he says with a nod, reaching for his wine to take a sip.
“There are servants’ quarters?” I question, watching him with wide eyes. Now that he’s had a drink, I think I might, too. I thought maybe Elise poured it by mistake, but Mateo doesn’t seem to care.
Biting back a smile, Vince says, “I’ll take you on a tour after dinner.”
“I have so much to learn,” I say, under my breath.
“That’s an understatement,” Adrian murmurs.
—
After dinner, Vince gives me the tour, as promised. There’s an indoor pool for when it’s too cold to swim in the one outside, a gym, an obscene number of suites for family members to live in, a library, a movie theater room, and so many other rooms that many of them are practically empty. When we get to the servants’ quarters, it gets homier. I wasn’t sure what to expect of a servants’ quarter, but it’s basically a house within a house. There’s a separate hallway behind the kitchen leading to it, and like a house, it has a living room, dining room, and kitchen all in an open space. Down a hall there are four bedrooms and two bathrooms, all occupied.
“Who all lives here?” I ask him.
“Marie, Cherie, Elise, and Mateo’s nanny, Ju.”
“Mateo’s nanny?”
Nodding, he tells me, “He has a daughter, Isabella.”
“She wasn’t at dinner,” I say with a frown.
“She takes dinner with the nanny.”
“Well, I didn’t even realize he was married. His wife wasn’t at dinner?”
“He’s not. They were never married, but Beth isn’t around anymore.”
I wonder why, but I don’t ask. He goes to lead me out, but I glance back, noticing a staircase. “What’s upstairs?”
“Mateo’s dad.”
My eyes widen in surprise. “He keeps his dad with the servants? Isn’t he the actual boss of the family?”
“Until he dies,” Vince verifies. “There’s no love lost there. Mateo’s… Mateo, but his dad was a real lunatic. He didn’t even want anything to do with this life when he was younger, but he ended up married to a woman who didn’t love him and she eventually cheated on him, got pregnant, no one knew who the dad was—I guess the whole situation sort of made him… cruel. I could tell you horror stories about what he did to her and Mateo’s mom, but I’ll spare you. Suffice it to say, they’re both dead, and Mateo’s mom killed herself just to get away from him.”
“Jesus,” I whisper, feeling an unexpected swell of sympathy for Mateo. “How old was he?”
“Five. And he found her.”
My stomach starts to feel ill just trying to picture what that must have been like for such a young child. Sadness washes over me, sort of ruining me for the tour.
“Why don’t we do the grounds outside tomorrow after dinner?” I suggest, knowing that’s next. “I actually do have some homework before bed, and I’d kind of just like to chill out for a little bit. It’s been a long day.”
He tucks me into his side, dropping a kiss on top of my head. “Yeah, it has.”