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“Took some vacation time.” Diego had never been good with lying and it was clear by the way his eyes slid around the room that he was doing that right now.
Mateo let it go. “So, do you know what babe you’ll be walking down the aisle?”
Sylvia insisted that there was a bridesmaid on each of their arms when they walked up the aisle on her big day.
Dante would walk with his new wife, Emelia, he’d be walking Lily, his cousin Michael McKenzie’s wife, which left Diego, Kasey and Aiden. He’d overheard Kasey talking about the ‘babe’ he was set to walk with so no doubt he’d be doing more than just walking.
“I’ve no idea but Sylvia said she was a curvaceous beauty. Not sure if Sylvia was serious or teasing. In truth, I’m not all that bothered as long as Sylvia and Eric are happy. It’s their day.”
“I hear you.”
Diego sat forward, arms on his thighs and met his gaze. “Can I ask you something? And will you be honest with your answer?”
Mateo kept his brother’s intense gaze and nodded slowly. “You can ask me anything.”
His nerves jumped and he fought the urge to run before the question was asked. He had a feeling about what the question was going to be but he didn’t want to know what was going on in Diego’s mind…at least not about her.
“What’s really going on with you and Caprice?”
Anything but that.
Mateo closed his eyes and sighed. He couldn’t be honest, not right now, or ever. “Caprice and me…” he paused as he tried to come up with an answer. It wasn’t easy because he wasn’t sure anymore what was going on between them. He scowled as he continued, “we’re complicated. You’ve no idea how much I wish I could tell you everything but I can’t. Not yet anyway.”
“Hmm.” He sat back. ”I’ve been on to you for a while, but I’ll leave it…for now,” he drawled.
“Just like I’m doing with you,” Mateo commented.
Diego frowned, but then nodded as silence descended on the room. They sat like that, each one lost in their own thoughts until Kasey joined them.
“You two know that Mom will go nuts if she catches you with your feet on the coffee table, right?”
“Mom’s out,” Diego grinned.
“No, she isn’t,” their mom countered, walking into the living room.
Kasey laughed as both him and Diego quickly dropped their feet to the floor. They might be adults, but their mom was still the boss.
“It’s so nice having my boys under the same roof, chilling out together.” She moved and kissed each of them on their heads, something she did even before his birth mother had died, or so he’d been told.
Lucia, his stepmom, had known him since he was born…known his parents even longer. She’d been his mom’s best friend for years. When his mom had been dying, she’d begged his father, Emiliano, to marry Lucia, who’d been pregnant with twins, Emelia and Diego, at the time. Needless to say, everything had worked out in the end, which was why he’d grown up calling her mom. His elder brothers, Dante, Eric, and Aiden still called her Lucia, but he knew that she meant everything to them as well. They’d been older when everything had happened so they found it more difficult to suddenly call her mom with their actual mother being fresh in their minds.
Lucia had fit into the family, although there’d been times when he was younger that he’d have given anything to have his mom back. But Lucia, mom, didn’t miss anything and even with age, they still couldn’t get things by her. Except Caprice, his mind whispered and he cursed silently. The guilt of lying to his family for so long overwhelmed him again…the sooner he ended things, the better for everyone.
“So, Mateo,” She sat next to Diego, who got tapped on his thigh for the smirk he hadn’t concealed quickly enough, “a young lady in town was asking if you were home.”
He frowned because he hardly knew anyone in town anymore. He’d lived in Dallas for years and he’d fallen out of touch with friends from high school. “Are you going to tell me who?”
“She was interested in knowing if you were alone or if your fiancée was with you.” His mom frowned and her eyes filled with worry. “I don’t like Allie, she’s no good for you.”
That’s all he needed.
He’d dated Allie all through high school and he’d seen her a few times since for old times sake but he had no interest in her anymore. She liked money, which was why she tried to hook back up with him, but he’d seen through her. The majority of his hook-ups wanted to be with him because of his name. They saw dollar signs instead of the man behind the name.
“Don’t worry. I’m well aware of what Allie is like and I’ve no interest in her. I never really had any to begin with.”
“It was more about what she’d give him,” Diego snickered.
Mateo narrowed his eyes at his brother as Kasey hit Diego over the head on his way out of the room.
