“Did he look scared? That’s a lot of women under one roof.”
“He can handle it.”
“I couldn’t.” Mateo took a big bite of chicken and rice. “Cam wanted them to move in with me, but me and Ju would kill each other.”
“She’s not the worst ex in the world, bro.” I said it without the bitterness I felt. It wasn’t Mateo’s fault his baby mama was a legend and mine was a—
Nope.
Not doing it.
I’d made it this far without calling Ivy’s mum shitty names, even in my head. Wasn’t going to start now.
Mateo finished his food. Took my plate and his to the sink and washed them.
When he came back, he poured us both a parental measure of rum, signalling that he didn’t have any plans to get back on his bike anytime soon.
I shot him a curious glance.
He shrugged. “Nash said you were kipping over, and we’re on the rig at dick o’clock anyway. Might as well keep you company. While we’re awake, at least.”
“You left your husband to keep me company?”
“He’s with Cam and the rest of the brainiacs. Dragging out the bullshit from earlier.”
“Not your scene?”
Mateo grumbled. “What’s the point of having the same conversation a thousand fucking times. Viktor invited us to war. We said no. That’s all there is.”
Had he? I hadn’t been present for that part of the set-to with Viktor, but Mateo sometimes spoke without thought when it was just him and me, and I’d learned not to react.
“They’re worried,” I said with caution. “Makes sense to have the clever ones hash it out. Was Alexei there?”
“Not while I was. Fucked if I know where he is now.”
With Folk, I hoped. Or maybe not if their escapades ended in death.
I changed the subject. “When’s Embry’s surgery?”
Mateo blew out a sigh and lit a cigarette. “It was supposed to be in a week or so, but the hospital cancelled it. Fucking nurses on strike or some shit. Why can’t they just pay ’em properly?”
“That sounds like a letter you should write to your MP.”
“Right. It’d be a new century by the time I’d scratched out anything legible.” Mateo snorted a dry laugh before he sobered again. “It’s just killing me, you know? To see him do everything right and still feel like shit. It ain’t fair.”
I couldn’t argue with that. I got up and poured more rum, just a little. “I’m here for you, brother. If you need help with the kids. Or you need me to take some work off your plate.”
Mateo gave me the same look Orla had. “You couldn’t work more if you cloned yourself. But I might take you up on the babysitting. Lili’s freaked as hell about Em being cut open. Being with Ivy might help distract her.”
It broke my heart that I couldn’t guarantee I could make that happen. That my relationship with Ivy’s mum was so broken and toxic there was no way on earth she’d ever bend to help me out.
All I could do was give Mateo a one-armed bro hug and let him talk it out until he changed the subject.
He told me about his youngest kid, Hope, eating her first solid food. Coming on the back of a conversation about gang wars and death, it was an unthinkable twist, but we made it work, and I found myself captivated by the wonder in his scarred face. It was the same awestruck expression he got when he talked about Liliana, and it made me think about the horrible night Lauren told me I wasn’t man enough to love a child that wasn’t mine. To love the boy who’d called me Dad every day until she’d told him not to.
There wasn’t enough rum in the world for how that made me feel.
Mateo pressed a fist to my arm. “Sorry, mate. You’re so easy to talk to I don’t realise I’m rubbing your face in my perfect life.”
