Page 135 of Vows of a Mobster

She rolled her eyes again and left us with a sigh. I watched her walk away from us, in the direction of the playground. I turned to glance at Marcus.

I waited for him to say something since he was the one that wanted to talk.

“Brianna, you shouldn’t be around Mateo.”

Oh, God. Of all the things to talk about, he wanted to talk about his brother?

“Marcus, I really don’t think-”

“Listen to me,” he cut me off. “He’s not who you think he is.”

I raised my eyebrow unsure what he was getting at. “What do you mean?”

“He’s the head of the Italian organized crime family, the Famiglia,” he spat angrily.

I observed him in silence. Was he really trying to use that card against his brother?

“I know,” I finally answered, keeping it short.

“No, you don’t,” he continued. “He’s ruthless. He kills. People fear him. He’s not the type of man you should be with.”

“And who should Brianna be with?” Mateo’s voice startled both of us. Where in the hell did he come from?

“Not you,” Marcus spat bitterly at his brother. “Your rage almost cost me my eyesight.” He turned his sight back to me. "He did this to me. His own brother. He says family is everything, but if he did this to me, what would he do to you... to Emma."

I glanced between the two men. Mateo gave him that purple eye and that bump on his forehead? I didn’t even have to ask my future husband. Mateo was totally owning up to it; his eyes cold towards his brother. Mateo’s posture was relaxed, his hands in his pockets, but it didn’t fool me. He could pounce on Marcus in the blink of an eye and give him another purple eye.

I placed my hand on Marcus’s arm. “Listen, Marcus. Brothers fight. Sisters too. I really appreciate your concern but I can make my own decisions. I really hope you’ll come to the wedding,” I added. I felt horrible how I snuck that in but I wasn’t exactly an expert at easing out physical conflict.

“The wedding?” Marcus asked dumbfounded and inwardly I cursed myself. I thought Marissa already announced to the world, we were getting married. “You are marrying him?”

“Yes.” I was so uncomfortable, shifting from one foot to another. Mateo wrapped his hand around me, leaving his right hand free to reach for his gun if he needed. Now, that was unnerving. I swallowed hard. “Will you come?”

“You shouldn’t marry him,” Marcus muttered.

“And why not, brother?” Mateo’s voice held a hard challenge.

Don’t bite, Marcus. Don’t bite, damn it!

“Because you won’t make her happy.” I groaned at his response, feeling Mateo’s body stiffen next to me.

I snuck my hand under Mateo’s suit jacket and placed my palm against his back. His rigid, tense muscles relaxed under my palm and a shaky breath escaped me.

“We are happy, Marcus,” I spoke softly. “Please consider coming. No matter what’s happened, you are still family. But if you don’t, we’ll understand.”

I watched him turn around without another word and storm away from us. I glanced sideways at Mateo and found his eyes on me. He was completely unconcerned with his brother.

I waited till Marcus was out of earshot before I spoke. “Mateo, you shouldn’t have hit him. He’s your brother.”

“And because he is my brother, he’s still alive. Had it been anyone else, I would have killed them the same second they spoke one bad word about you.”

Marcus didn’t mean harm but sometimes he was too rash.

“You okay?” I asked Mateo. There was no sense in dragging out the discussion about his brother. They had some differences to address, that was for sure.

“Yes. Are you?”

I shrugged my shoulder. “He’s your brother.”