“Why the fuck is Lito coming home?” The other man at the table starts forking food onto his plate as one of the chefs pours him a coffee. He looks to be older than Mateo by a few years, and he’s not as handsome. His hair is lighter, and his dark eyes don’t have the same striking sparkle to them as Mateo’s. He might be a brother, but I doubt it. “Like we don’t have enough trouble?” The man gives me a pointed glance, then returns to his plate.
Who is Lito?
“He thinks we need his help.” Mateo snorts a laugh and reaches around me to begin cutting up a waffle on his plate.
“He thinks we’re going to win a war with art?” The other man shakes his head. “I love him like a brother, but he is about as useful as a screen door on one of our drug submarines.”
“I’m aware, Sonny,” Mateo deadpans. “Quit stalling, tell me the real news.”
Now this sounds promising. Real news—as in, what’s going to happen now. I want to know if my parents are going to do anything about this situation. From what happened at the wedding, I doubt it, but I’m grasping at any straws I see.
Sonny drops some sugar into his coffee. “The Cavalleris are pissed. They’re talking about having a meeting just to address what we did at the wedding.”
“As we suspected.” Mateo brings his fork to my mouth.
I shake my head.
“We should’ve killed Sarita when we had the chance. She’s going back to her father to drum up a war over what we did to her sons.” The other man slurps his coffee.
Sarita, I know that name—she’s Horatio’s mother, the woman who was wailing at the wedding.
“We knew she would. And no, we shouldn’t have killed her. What we did yesterday pushed the fucking envelope, but killing her would’ve turned the families against us with no way back. We have to let this play out. Stick to the plan. We’ll have her head soon enough.” Mateo reaches up with his other hand and grips the back of my neck. “Open your fucking mouth.” His voice is more of a growl than anything.
I open despite myself.
He shoves the piece of waffle onto my tongue. “Chew. I can’t have my beautiful Fontana bride going hungry, now can I?”
Sonny points his fork at me. “You fucked her yet?”
Mateo tenses.
I keep chewing even though my cheeks flame red and my discomfort kicks up another notch.
“I’ll do whatever the hell I want with her, Sonny. If that’s all right with you?”
“Jesus, I was just asking.” Sonny spears a piece of sausage. “Legally speaking, consummating a marriage is part of the deal. I thought you’d …” He shakes his head and eats the sausage.
“You have something you want to say to me?” Mateo cuts another piece of waffle and presents it to me.
My stomach is already churning, but I know refusal isn’t an option. I open and he presses it into my mouth.
“I thought you’d be happy, is all.” Sonny throws up his hands. “We finally did what we said we’d do, and you seem … pissed. What the hell is going on? Is it her?” He moves his gaze to me, his stare hard as I chew and try to keep the food down.
“It’s not her. She’s just a fun little toy.” Mateo sighs and leans back. “I hate to say this, but you’re right.” He shrugs. “I guess I’m just coming down from the high of slaughter.”
My stomach turns, and acid bubbles in my throat. When I blink, I see Horatio’s body and the bodies of his brothers. Blood pools all over the floor and coats my dress. And no one does anything. No one stops it. No one comes to my rescue. I sure as hell couldn’t rescue myself: not from the life my family forced on me, and not from the man who took me. After all, I’m just a ‘fun little toy’ that Mateo will break sooner or later. Because no matter how tough I try to be, I’m not strong enough to withstand the sort of cruelty he’s capable of. My stomach sours further.
“It was beautiful.” Sonny takes a loud drink of coffee. “The blood. It felt good to get back to our roots.”
“It really was. The screams.” Mateo chuckles. “The theater of it all.”
“The look in your father’s eyes when he heard my offer of double.” Mateo grabs my chin and turns my face to his. “Did you see it, princess? The greed? I did. He couldn’t wait to auction you off. Couldn’t believe his luck that I showed up and offed the lower bidder.”
He thinks I don’t know what my father is. But I know him far better than Mateo does. My father agreeing to Mateo’s offer was the least surprising event of the day.