25
The house was empty when we filed in. Lea had called Mike on our way over and told him to bring the kids to their house so we could talk to Matthew and Nina adults only. I had only smarted a little. As much as I didn’t like Lea making decisions about where my kid should or should not go, she was right. This wasn’t a conversation for children, that was for sure.
“Thanks for ratting me out, by the way,” Matthew said once we had filed around the dining room table like we were about to start massive negotiations.
Joni and Marie were at the other end, already sniping at each other as if nothing was wrong. Kate and Lea were helping Nonna in the kitchen.
I frowned. Is that what he thought? I barely knew anything about him and Nina. Honestly, I was a little pissed he hadn’t said more.
“It’s not like I would have wanted to talk to them myself about losing my job, Frankie.”
Oh, that’s what he meant. Okay, yeah, I’d told them the news. But what did he expect? He certainly wasn’t going to say anything, and he deserved his family’s support. Particularly when he had supported so many of us.
“I don’t know, would you?” I replied testily. “You’re about as proud as it gets, Mattie. It took you weeks to even tell me when you started taking shifts at Envy last fall.”
I didn’t add that he had genuinely worried me during that time, having fallen into such a deep depression, I wasn’t sure he would ever come out.
Matthew just frowned intensely, ignoring Nina’s confused expression next to him. “Still. How would you like it if I dropped the bomb that you ran into Xavier a few months back and didn’t tell anyone, huh?”
My eyes popped open. No, no, no, he wouldn’t.
“Xavier?” Lea said as she popped into the kitchen, followed by Kate.
The look on Kate’s face told me she was eager—too eager. She was as tired as I was of holding on to the secret of Xavier’s appearance.
Minutely, I shook my head, hoping she would understand.
To my relief, her expression shuttered.
“Thanks a lot,” I muttered to Matthew.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Joni said brightly. “Isn’t Sofia’s dad named Xavier?”
It took a superhuman effort not to bury my face in my palms.
“Brilliant,” Marie was saying. “She really cracked it this time!”
“Shut up, Marie,” Joni snapped back at her.
“It’s really none of your business,” I told all of them.
“No freaking way,” Joni said at the same time Marie said, “You’re joking.”
“Frankie, maybe—” Kate started.
“No,” I said, cutting off that thought at the knees.
“Who is Xavier?” I heard Nina ask on Matthew’s other side. “Other than Sofia’s father, I mean. I gathered that.”
She honestly just sounded thankful to have a reprieve from the rabble. Here we were. Her out of one frying pan, and me flipped right into the fire.
“He charmed Frankie’s socks off before leaving her high and dry with a kid on the way and no one to contact,” Lea said as she entered the room with a plate of boiled and quartered artichokes. “He’s the kind of man who leaves people in the lurch. Sound familiar, Nina?”
“Hey,” Matthew barked even as Nina laid a hand on his arm. “For real, should we just go?”
I breathed a sigh of relief. I felt bad for Matthew now, but I wasn’t really into being the object of interrogation. Particularly since I wasn’t sure how well I would hold up.
Unfortunately, I had no such luck.