Page 136 of Devious Love

“Look,” Matt says, “if you two get back together, don’t expect Mom to be very enthusiastic.”

I take a drag and tip my head back, blowing smoke rings. “I don’t care.”

“I just?—”

“Man, I love you, but shut it,” I grit out. “I don’t care what anyone thinks. My only concern when it comes to Monica is making sure she isn’t a disrespectful bitch to her own daughter. If she even looks at Mia wrong, I’ll put her in her place without any regrets. It’s something I did a long time ago, and I’ll gladly do it again.”

He nods. “Good.”

The front door finally opens, and Luna steps out, Mia close behind her. She’s got earbuds in, and her open laptop is perched on her palm.

“Ciao Antonia, come va?” she says. Her eyes are glued to the screen as she walks behind Luna. “Uh-huh…Si…Grazie, anch’io sto bene.”

She stops in front of us, taps the touchpad, and looks up. “Sorry, I need to be on this call. I can work in the car at the spa while you guys do your thing and come in when it’s over.”

Matt eyes Luna then takes a step back. “Sure.”

“Then let’s go.” Luna gives Mia a quick hug then winks at me. “Good luck.”

“I’ll need it,” I mutter as I open the passenger door and help Mia climb inside. She’s engrossed in her meeting when I lean over and buckle her seat belt.

“Is this okay?” I ask, leaning away.

She nods and fixes her focus on the screen again.

Though I need her attention for my plan to work, for now, her being distracted might make things easier. With any luck, it’ll take a second before she notices we’re not heading to the spa with everyone else.

I’ve got my hand on the driver’s side door handle, ready to pull it closed, when Matt calls out to me from his SUV.

“Dom?”

“Yeah?”

He gives me an apologetic look. “I just want to say I’m sorry.”

Eyebrows drawn together, I study him. “What for?”

“For not telling you everything.” He looks at Mia then locks eyes with me again. “If you end up talking abouteverything, you’ll know what I mean.”

With that, he climbs into his SUV and drives away.

For a moment, his cryptic words replay in my mind, but I push them aside. I have more important things to focus on.

As I drive, she continues speaking to her colleagues, switching between Italian and English. Eventually, her side of the conversation is in English only. From what I can tell, testers found a bug on the map of the latest version of the game they’re producing. They’re scrambling to get it fixed, and it’s a tight deadline. She’s quiet for a moment, her knee bouncing. Then, when someone with a very high-pitched voice joins in, her lips twist into a scowl. Even I flinch, and I can only hear it through her earbuds.

“Sure, I understand,” she says. “No, it’s not a problem… Yes, my team and I will fix it… Okay… Thank you…Ciao!”

She taps on the touchpad, closes her laptop, and sighs.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, glancing over quickly.

She rests her head against the back of the seat. “I don’t think I can go to the spa after all. I need to work.”

“Aren’t you on vacation?”

“I am, but I’m a team lead, and when there’s a major problem like this, it’s all hands on deck, especially so close to release.” She shrugs. “Sorry. If there’s a café along the way, maybe drop me there? I can work while you meet up with everybody else.”

I trap my bottom lip between my teeth and then look at her and say, “Actually, we’re on our way to Monterey. I never planned to take you to the spa.”