Chapter 11 Matteo
Matteo
One Week Later
“Are you sure this is right?” I stared at myself in the mirror, and the tie just looked…off. Crooked or something.
Omar turned me toward him and examined my work with a critical eye. Then he let out a breath. “I have no idea what the hell I’m looking at. All my ties are clip-on.”
I swung at him. “Cabrón,” I muttered, before chuckling.
The last week of my life had been the most surreal experience I could ever imagine.
My father was dead; Felix Suarez was behind bars, remanded without bail until his trial, and it was looking less and less likely that he would ever see the light of day again.
Especially after I left a few anonymous tips about open missing persons’ cases.
The Everglades was the best place to dispose of a body, but the swamp had this way of preserving remains if they weren’t ravaged by the wildlife.
I might have made sure that a few made it through the elements.
Now, I had my sister back and brothers on top of that. Angel had taken me under his wing, and he had been pleasantly surprised by my skills in the sparring ring and the gun range. I could take on Omar and almost win; that was more than some of his guards could boast.
“What are you two idiotas doing?” Angel demanded. “If we don’t hurry this along, Lili might give this one the slip again.”
Fat fucking chance of that…but he had a point. “Does she have any idea what’s about to happen?”
Angel’s grin was sharp. “None. Lili thinks they’re getting dressed for an engagement dinner.”
I had proposed to Lili with a ring my mother had sent over by courier.
It had belonged to her mother and her grandmother before that, and was one of the only things she’d brought with her when she’d married my father.
It should have gone to my sister Lyse, but Omar had bought her a huge diamond wedding set, and she’d wanted Lili to have it.
It was to be the last bit of communication between us.
As much as she didn’t care for my father and wouldn’t mourn him, being a Rojas wife was all she knew.
My father had placed some assets in her name, unbeknownst to anyone, including my mother, and she now had a small inheritance that would allow her to live quite well.
She would likely remarry after a respectful amount of time—one of my tíos or primos—and she couldn’t risk that by staying in touch with her traitor children.
As to the rest of the legit Rojas businesses, I had no idea what would be left after the government was through with their investigation.
Lili had said yes to the proposal, but she wanted a long engagement so that we could plan the wedding of our dreams. Angel decided that a fitting punishment for the stunt she’d pulled was to support our marriage but make sure that the wedding happened the way he wanted it.
She was bound to be angry, to be sure, but the fuss of a ceremony and a reception didn’t interest me anyway. As long as she was bound to me for the rest of our days, I would be happy. “Is my tie straight, jefe?” I asked Angel.
“Hermano,” Angel corrected. “We’re brothers now.” He adjusted my tie. “Let’s get going before your bride catches on, yeah?”
I nodded. “Sí.”
The ceremony space was set up on the patio out back. Camilo was entertaining Miri and Felipe by telling them stories. He was settling into life at the compound like he was always meant to be here. His Tías Emma and Lyse doted on him, and his younger cousins adored him.
There had been only one moment of tension, when Manny came to visit.
Manny was eighteen, and to Camilo, he was the coolest person in any room and he wanted to be just like him.
Lili told me that Manny had been pulled out of school at fourteen, and he worked for Angel full-time now.
We agreed that Camilo would not be following that path.
It might be inevitable that he would learn what the family business was.
As the oldest male cousin, he was set to inherit everything from Angel, but Lili and I didn’t want to rush it.
With the Rojas organization falling apart at the seams without my father or Felix, the Castillos didn’t have much in the way of competition anymore.
On top of that…I looked at the small gathering sitting in the chairs that had been set up near the makeshift altar.
Lorenzo Vitali and his wife had traveled down for the wedding with plans to use la isla for a few days before returning to New York.
Their son, Aurelio, didn’t make the trip.
For safety reasons, he remained at home.
From what little I knew of the man, Lorenzo put his family’s safety first in all things.
It was a sentiment I never understood. Until now.
The dress that Isabella had on did little to hide the swell of her pregnant belly or the scars that marred her body.
Another little Vitali would be along soon enough further securing Lorenzo’s position.
Family meant legacy. Something else I’d taken for granted until I finally met my son.
Beside Isabella, Ademir from the Corazón Syndicate was sipping champagne and waving his arms while he told some story or other.
The alliances that Angel had built were something that my father could never hope to dream of and the Castillos didn’t have to offer everything they had to make connections.
Now, without immediate competition and with a tremendous amount of support power, Angel had the run of the southeast. That meant peace…or whatever the equivalent to that was for a family like ours. Soon enough, another competitor would be knocking at the door looking for weaknesses to exploit.
“Papa!” Camilo said when he saw me. “I’m still your best man, right?”
I nodded and put an arm around his thin shoulders. “The very best, and it’s time for us to get into place.”
Lyse and the Justice of the Peace that Angel hired got me and Camilo positioned just as Lili began screaming inside. “Emma told her,” Lyse guessed.
Camilo looked at me. “Is Mama going to run? Tío Omar has a bet going with some of the guys.”
“The guys” meaning Angel’s guards. The compound had been stuffed full of them all week, considering the guests that we were hosting. “She’s not going to run,” I said confidently. “She just may try to kill your Tío Angel.”
~Lili’s POV~
“You are the world’s biggest asshole!” I screamed at my brother. I waved Emma away, trying to stop her from finishing my makeup. “How could you do this to me?”
“What am I doing?” Angel taunted. “Emma and Lyse have set up a beautiful ceremony for you and Matteo. Why should you be anything but thrilled?”
Because it’s not what I planned, I wanted to snarl, but of course, Angel knew that.
I had already asked his permission to have the ceremony on the island in a year or two.
It wasn’t as if I wasn’t sure about wanting to marry Matteo—I was—but there was no reason to rush it.
“What’s the hurry, hermano?” I asked, and before he could open his mouth, I held up my hand. “Don’t lie.”
Angel grinned at me, and it was the kind of smile that made my stomach twist into knots. “You ran off with an enemy,” he said. “We were lucky that Matteo was already planning to flip on Felix Suarez, but you and I both know that he could have killed you and thrown your remains in the swamp.”
I hated how right he was. I was extremely lucky that things played out like they had. If Matteo had been anyone else, I would probably be dead. “Fine,” I said. “So, this is my punishment.”
“Yes, you get to marry your high school sweetheart,” he said blandly. “Poor. You.”
Emma smacked his shoulder. “Be nice.”
Angel gave her a wolfish look. “Absolutely not,” he said and pulled her in for a kiss.
It would make me gag, but the tender way my brother cupped Emma’s growing baby bump was too adorable to look away from.
Emma’s second pregnancy was going much smoother than her first. They would get to know the sex of the baby in the next week or two, and the bets had already started.
I cleared my throat. “We were in the middle of a discussion,” I reminded them.
Angel glanced at me. “He’s set to inherit all of the Rojas’s businesses.
No one will have laid claim to it yet, not with the Feds investigating.
After you two are married, and the investigation comes to an end, the Castillos will absorb all of the Rojas’s territory and enterprises—legal and otherwise.
Except for the human trafficking. That ends. ”
Knowing that my marriage to Matteo had a twofold purpose honestly helped to calm me down. “Okay,” I said. “I guess I’m getting married.”
Emma laughed at me, and I aimed a glare at her. “I’m sorry,” she said totally insincere. “You could stand to be a little more enthused, though. At least you’re in love with your fiancé.”
Angel nudged her. “It worked out fine for you, mi esposa.”
“True,” she gushed.
Okay, that’s enough of that. “Can I get married now, please?”
Angel and Emma escorted me out of my bedroom and down the stairs.
The patio had been lit up with fairy lights, and there was smattering of guests seated in chairs.
Angel had said that the Vitalis had come down for a vacation and to discuss what to do with the O’Connellys, who had become a thorn in Lorenzo’s side.
While that probably wasn’t a total lie, I chafed with the idea that my brother lied to me so easily.
It was becoming a real problem with this family.
Matteo and Camilo stood at the end of the would-be aisle next to a Justice of the Peace.
I wanted to be mad; this really was nothing like what I had been envisioning.
But seeing my boys waiting for me made all the irritation melt away.
I wanted to be Matteo’s wife; I wanted the three of us to be a family.
Twenty minutes later, Matteo and I were declared husband and wife, and he dipped me dramatically for our first kiss as a married couple.
It made Lyse and Emma swoon, and our son pretend to gag.
When Matteo stood me back up, I held onto my new husband and looked at our entire family.
Angel had Miri on his lap with Emma tucked into his side; he was smiling softly, in a way that he reserved for his happiest moments.
On the other side of the aisle, Omar and Lyse were trying to keep Felipe from flinging himself on the ground in a tantrum; it was past the little boy’s nap time, and he generally became a holy terror without it.
“Are you happy?” Matteo murmured in my ear.
I tipped my head back, and his lips were on mine. “Happier than I’ve ever been,” I said. “More than I ever thought I would be.”
Matteo’s mouth curved into a smile against my own. “Me too.”