Page 63 of For Pleasure Or Worse

My lungs jammed into my ribs, nervous energy buzzing. “It’s okay, they’re literally trained for this.”

In a flash Sam reached out and pulled the gate completely open, shocking the person on the other side as Tyler in all his big boy glory dropped his shoulder and pummeled him into the ground. We heard the air leave the man’s body in anoofas Mateo and Frankie crowded around the intruder who was splayed out like a pancake and groaning toward the sun.

“Oh fuck,” Mateo cursed. “Shit.”

“Babe, are you okay?” I yelled down.

“Yeah, are you okay?” Bella shouted all girlish and high-pitched. She nudged me with her elbow. “Ask Chris Hemsworth if he’s okay.”

“He does look like a Hemsworth,” Mia agreed. “Good one.”

Mateo helped Tyler to his feet before dusting the chest off the guy on the ground and offering him a hand to stand backup. I squinted, recognizing the stranger in his NY Yankees hat, a golden cross around his neck that matched the one Mateo always wore, and a beaten-up black suitcase still caught in the fence gate behind him.

“That’s him.” Camilla sighed in relief. “That’s the guy.”

“That’s my fucking brother-in-law you absolute idiots.” I ran down the steps directly to Angelo’s side where he was still catching his breath from having the wind knocked out of him.

“So sorry, man.” Tyler clapped him sympathetically on the back. “Our intel was wrong, it seems.”

“Angelo, oh my god.” Under his ball cap, Angelo’s green eyes were pinched and he rubbed his right shoulder, rotating it. “Are you okay? Can I get you something? Ice? A beer? A restraining order against my sisters? I can’t apologize enough.”

“On it.” Ophelia rushed to my side with a cold pack straight out of a medical kit and handed it to Angelo. “Is anything broken?”

“I mean, he’s a big fucking guy, but I got some meat on my bones. I can take a hit,” Angelo said lightheartedly. His disposition calmed my worry and he smiled at me, a bright boyish smile that wrinkled his nose. Then I was pulled cheek to hard chest and wrapped in a strong hug. “Hey, sis. Looking too good for my brother, I’ll tell you that much.”

“He’s fine.” Mateo punched out a laugh. “You’ll be a cheeky fucking bastard on your deathbed, Ang.”

My sisters ambled down the stairs with their heads dipped a bit lower than usual. “In our defense, we had no idea who you were,” Camilla offered with an apologetic wince. “I’m Camilla, by the way.”

“Bella,” Isabella piped up, waving her fingers at him.

Mia cleared her throat. Her oversized designer sunglasses were covering half her face and she outstretched a hand to him. “Mia.”

“Nice to meet you, Mia.” Angelo reached out and took her palm in his. A grin sprouted on his lips. “I’m Ass-licking Incel.”

chapter twenty-one

Mateo

It was going about asgood as I'd expected it would. My brother was laid up on the couch beside me with an ice pack on the back of his head from his smack on the pavement. I wouldn't have wanted to be tackled by Echo if it won me a million dollars. There was a reason he was who he was to us in Delta.

An honest misunderstanding, though. Natalia's sisters were dramatic, but it wasn't entirely unlikely a schmuck would have seen a trio of women walk out of an airport with a train of designer bags and not identified them as an easy target.

We moved past it. The beer in my hand kept being replaced by another, the music was loud, and the mood lifted substantially. What I couldn’t shake was the conversation that had been interrupted between Tally and me. Had I known she was so unhappy with the way the wedding planning was playing out, I would have done something sooner, stepped in somehow. It felt like yet another thing I was falling short at.

Ophelia bounced out of the kitchen with a tray of snack foods and dips, setting them on the large coffee table in front of everyone in the living room. "I was joking to Natover Christmastime about throwing a joint bachelorette for her wedding one day, and now here we are."

"I remember you specifically saying how awkward it would be to do it alongside Frankie after you fucked him, though," Tally recalled.

"So awkward." Frankie swooped in holding a tray of champagne glasses and kissed Ophelia’s cheek.

"Look at you now," I said, gesturing around the room at the decorations Frankie had helped set up for the weekend. "Martha fucking Stewart."

Ophelia put a hand on her hip. "He's a man of many, many talents, Mateo. You should know this."

Frankie plopped onto the couch beside me and whispered smugly, "And I know only one of us is getting laid right now."

"Cheap shot," I scoffed.

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