Matteo

CHAPTER 17

Palermo, Sicily, Italy – May 28th, 2020

When they were forced to move back home to Italy because of a global pandemic, Matteo didn't think about the fact that he would be spending more time with his father, which meant that he could see first-hand how much work Matteo was putting into his studies.

His father kept asking about exam dates and upcoming projects, and it all came down to Organizational Psychology, which was the only course where he didn't have someone who could help him pass.

Well, he knew he had Valentina. And he realized that begging her to come would be his last resort.

During the early hours of Thursday, May 28th, a private jet departed from their landing strip outside Palermo and set off towards Moscow, where it would pick up Valentina at 8am. By the time Matteo wakes up at 12:30pm, Valentina has already texted him that she'll be landing in 30 minutes.

He gets into the shower quickly and lets his siblings know that Valentina's coming over to take the exam. Their parents have been out since yesterday and Matteo has no idea when they'll return. At least there's a little peace and quiet in the house, save for the chef and the maid during the day, who barely ever make themselves known anyway.

A black SUV pulls up in the driveway in front of the house and Matteo watches Valentina climb out, carrying two bags. She says something to the driver before walking up the pathway leading to the main door.

Soon enough, the doorbell rings throughout the house.

"We have to write an essay?" Matteo groans twenty minutes into the exam after copying all multiple-choice answers from Valentina. He decided to take the desk because Valentina insisted on sitting on the couch by the window with the sea view.

"It's not that complicated." Valentina reasons, leaning back into the cushions. "Just write what you think creates the most efficient work environment. You're the one who runs a club, you should know this."

Matteo thinks about the people who work at the club.

"So...money then." He concludes.

She scrunches her nose.

"What? Is there something else that can make people want to work?"

She crosses her arms over her chest and leans back into the cushions. "Yes."

"What?"

"Purpose."

"Purpose." He repeats.

"What else?"

"Money."

"Is that why so many people are unhappy with their jobs? Someone who works because they like what they do delivers better results." She argues. "If money were the answer, there wouldn't be any unhappy workers."

"We're talking about work efficiency. Not life satisfaction."

"Someone who doesn't like the work performs worse than someone who does."

"That means they aren't getting paid enough. People will do anything for the right amount of money."

She decides to give up on the conversation and focuses back on her screen.

Matteo argues his point of view in writing, and the word count is reached fifteen minutes later.

"There, it's done." He says, turning back to look at her.

Valentina nods but doesn't look away from her screen, still typing.

Matteo looks out at the Tyrrhenian Sea shining in the sun behind her and thinks about how he's never had a girl in his bedroom just sitting on her laptop. It feels strange but comfortable at the same time.

Maybe it's weird because it's not weird.

"Okay, I'm done too." She says as she looks him in the eye and smiles.

Matteo clicks on the button to turn the exam in and shuts his laptop, happy to be done with exams for the semester.

"How did you even get through the rest of your exams?" Valentina asks, following him with her eyes as he stands up from the desk and goes over to open the balcony doors.

"I paid off a professor to pass one, Vinnie helped me with two, and Raisa another one."

"Did you fly her in too?" She sarcastically asks, making fun of him going to such lengths just to pass his exams.

"I called her."

She looks at him, annoyed. "And you didn't think to suggest that when you called me?"

Valentina does this sometimes – pretends to be displeased with something he did because it's fun for her.

He grins at her. "You didn't either."

She follows him outside without saying a word and sits down on one of the chairs against the wall. There's a round table in between two chairs, so Matteo sits down across from her and takes out a cigarette.

He holds out his pack to Valentina, but she waves him off and stands again. "No, thanks."

"You quit smoking?" He asks, but she already walks back inside.

She's holding a Marlboro Gold pack when she emerges on the balcony again. "No, I brought my own. You smoke truck driver cigarettes."

Matteo lets out a surprised laugh. "What?"

"The Marlboro Red ones? They're the strongest. They're what, a ten?"

Matteo shrugs and lights up his cigarette before offering her the lighter. He watches her face as she looks down at the cigarette between her lips.

They smoke their cigarettes in silence while watching the sea, even though Valentina seems to be in her own world.

"If I had this view every day, I would never have any worries, ever. Just listening to the waves, feeling the sun." She says after a while, exhaling the last bit of smoke. He watches her put the cigarette out in the already filled ashtray

"Ha. You think that, but it's not true." Matteo answers, also putting his cigarette out.

Valentina turns her head to him, surprised. "Why wouldn't it be true?"

She bends her right leg up on the chair and hugs it by the knee.

Matteo suddenly gets the urge to roll and smoke a joint, so he tells her he'll be right back and stands up to go inside. He finds his rolling stash in its usual spot in his nightstand and brings it outside.

"Yes, good idea." Valentina smiles.

Matteo rolls a joint as she struggles to take off her hoodie and tie her hair up.

"It's like thirty degrees here. Back home it's raining." She pouts and watches his fingers skilfully rolling the paper into a joint.

Matteo looks up into her eyes as he licks the paper. "What were we talking about before?"

"You said you're sad even though you basically wake up in an ocean view room every day."

Matteo cocks his head and lights the joint. "I didn't say that. I just meant that people who live here also have problems and worries. Everybody does. When you're used to the same view since you're born, it can get...boring. Not extraordinary."

He takes three long drags before blowing them out and passes the joint to her. She takes it and turns back towards the sea, closing her eyes at the sun.

Her face shines in the sun and Matteo feels like he can't look away for some reason. He feels like he's seen this exact image before, even though he knows he hasn't.

"Are you bored?" She asks, letting out smoke towards the sea.

Matteo shrugs, turning to the water.

"I don't know. Sometimes, maybe."

"If being bored is your biggest problem, it means I made life too easy for you, Matteo."

That's what his father always used to tell him every time he would see Matteo in a bad mood. He'd ask him what's wrong, and Matteo would tell him he's bored. His father never seemed to understand that being bored was bordering burnout and depression. Matteo's almost certain his father doesn't have any feelings. Always looks detached from everything and everyone, and there's nothing that moves him, nothing that can break him.

"If being bored is the problem, then you have it easy."

Matteo looks at Valentina, almost shocked. "What?"

She shrugs and takes another drag before passing the joint. "That's what my dad says to me every time I complain."

"So...you understand." Is all he says and leans back into the chair, looking out at the sea.

"Being bored? Yes. I think it's one of the worst things to be in life. And what's even more absurd, I actually feel guilty about it."

"Why?"

"Because rich kids shouldn't complain about anything, right? We can have anything we want."

Matteo smiles at the way she says 'rich kids', like the two of them aren't exactly that. But he gets it. When you have all the money you could ever imagine, even more than you could ever imagine spending, things that once seemed extraordinary become ordinary.

"When you have everything you could possibly want, nothing is exciting anymore. Eventually, there's nothing to want anymore." Valentina adds and takes the joint Matteo is holding out. "It's sad."

"That's why you think this view would make you happy, because you don't have it every day." Matteo concludes, proving the point that started the discussion in the first place. The conversation turned deeper than Matteo expected.

Valentina rolls her eyes. She doesn't admit when he's right and she's wrong during class, and she won't admit it now either.

They sit in silence once again, listening to the sea create small waves crashing against the cliffs below.

"Do you think it's possible to keep life exciting?" He asks her out of nowhere.

"Yes."

"How?"

Valentina opens her mouth to answer but Matteo's phone starts ringing. It's Isabella Facetiming him.

"Hi."

"Are you done with your exam?" She asks in Italian. Matteo turns the camera to show Valentina. She waves. "Valentinaaa! Are you in Sicily? This is perfect! Let's talk about Vinnie and Pia's birthday because for some reason she thinks I should be helping her with it."

"Don't be mean." Matteo tells her in Italian, then switches to English. "Didn't she say she wanted to do something in Ibiza?"

"Yes, but everything is closed because of the new laws. She was crying when she called."

Matteo snorts and looks at Valentina, who is too focused on the sea to even listen to their conversation.

"I think I have an idea." Matteo says after thinking about it for a minute. "I know some guys on the island, I can arrange a yacht."

"Yacht party?! She'll love that. I'll tell Vinnie too."

At this, Valentina turns her head to look at the phone.

"I'll call them now." Matteo says and Isabella ends the call.

Valentina passes the joint and watches Matteo look up someone in his contacts before holding the phone up to his ear. He knows Marcus from the last time he was in Ibiza.

Marcus knows his father because he's been helped by their company before (Matteo doesn't know the details), and has sworn his loyalty to their family, telling them he'll help them anytime when they're on the island (with anything they could possibly need – and that includes illegal shit)

"Ciao Matteo!" He answers in Italian.

"Hi, I need a favour."

"Anything."

"My friends' birthday is tomorrow, and I can't find anywhere to celebrate it. I need a yacht with a staff and a DJ."

Valentina looks at him with a look that makes Matteo feel weird, but then he realizes they're both high. After all, he has access to the best weed in Italy.

Marcus tells him to wait on the line while he makes a call, so Matteo looks down at his slides, listening to the song that plays while he's on hold. His eyes travel to Valentina's ankles, and he raises his eyebrows when he spots a small tattoo.

"Okay, it's done." Marcus says and Matteo can hear the pride in his voice. "There's a yacht waiting for you in Port Eivissa tomorrow at eight pm. I'll be waiting with a bus at the airport tomorrow, just let me know what time."

Matteo smiles and passes the joint. "Perfect. Thanks, Marcus."

The line goes dead and Matteo places the phone down.

"What? Is it done already?" Valentina asks, surprised.

"Yes."

Matteo texts their Italian group chat about the details. All of the Barone kids, his own siblings, as well as Isabella and Ariana are in the group.

"You're coming too, right?" Matteo asks when he reads the message.

Valentina shrugs. "When is it?"

"Tomorrow."

"Matteeeoooo." Aurora sings from inside.

"Out here." He answers her in English.

"We're going to Ibiza- oh, hello." Aurora says, stopping in her tracks when she sees Valentina. She looks at Matteo for a second, then back at her, smiling. "You're coming too?"

Valentina looks down at her shirt. "I only have this outfit with me. I planned on going back today."

"I have an entire closet full of clothes, you can borrow mine." She offers, waving it off. Matteo frowns at her. Since when is Aurora nice to anyone?

Valentina is looking at him questioningly, silently asking him if it's okay.

"You can stay here until you want to leave, we have enough guest rooms." He answers.

"Great, then I want to have a shower, like, now." She says, standing up. "Show me to my room?"

Aurora takes the joint from her and sits down in her place, crossing one leg over the other. "I'll be here."

Matteo leads Valentina to one of the guest rooms down the hall, the only one that has a bathroom and a closet.

"Thanks. Do you have towels?" Valentina asks as she looks around the room before going over to the bathroom. "Never mind, I see there are towels here. Thanks."

She looks genuinely happy to be staying over, and it's nice to have someone stay over for a reason other than to fuck him. On the other hand, why doesn't she want to? He's never had a girl stay over without sex being implied and it throws him off a little. He's also never met a girl his age who wasn't attracted to him.

Matteo returns on his balcony, where Aurora is currently sitting with an extinguished joint between her fingers. He sits down in his seat and takes it from her fingers, making a point of lighting it up.

"Since when are you two friends?" Aurora asks, unnecessarily wiggling her eyebrows.

"Since- I don't know." It occurs to Matteo just now that he first became aware of her last summer. "Last year? She's Isabella's friend."

"Why is she here?"

"I already told you, she helped me take an online exam. I flew her in from Moscow."

"Hm."

"How do you even know her?"

Aurora looks like she panics for a second, but she quickly composes herself. "I've seen her around. I like her."

"You don't like anyone."

She ignores him and goes on to talk about why she's even on his balcony. "I just graduated from high school on a random Thursday, no ceremony, nothing. I think I might just die if I don't have some human interaction with someone who isn't my family." She dramatically changes the subject.

"We're going on a trip to Ibiza tomorrow, I don't think you should be whining about it." Matteo finds himself saying, feeling not like himself but like his father.

"You sound exactly like dad." Aurora jokes and rolls her eyes. "Have you even seen him today?"

Matteo shakes his head.

"Can I get some clothes?"

The two of them look towards the door, where Valentina's standing with a towel around her body and wet hair.

Aurora stands up and waves her hands excitedly. "Of course. I'm going to make you look like you were born to live here."

Valentina throws Matteo a confused look, but all he can do is smile and shrug, having no idea what Aurora even means.

Aurora comes back eventually, long after Matteo finishes the joint.

"You haven't moved?" She asks, dropping down on the chair.

Matteo doesn't even know how much time has passed since he's been sitting in the chair he usually sits in, looking out to the sea.

He can't even remember the last time he just sat here, simply staring out where the water meets the sky. He's been trying to figure out what makes Valentina so sure she would never be unhappy with this view that he hadn't even realized he hasn't gotten bored by just sitting there.

"What else am I supposed to do?"

"We should go out tonight. It's nearly six."

"We're on a national lockdown, Aurora." Matteo reminds her.

"Yes, but I'm going to lose my mind if I have to stay in this house for one more day! Dad comes and goes whenever he wants, why can't we?"

Because dad has the police on payroll, Matteo thinks, but doesn't say.

"Pia also wants to. Come on, let's convince Vinnie and Isabella and let's all go out! We can show Valentina around, we can't just keep her inside until tomorrow."

"What about me?" Valentina asks, stepping outside. She's wearing a short white satin dress Matteo has seen Aurora wear around the house before.

"I was just telling my brother that we have to go out tonight, we can't just keep you inside instead of showing you beautiful Palermo."

"I wouldn't mind." Valentina says and sits down on the bench by the stone railing, facing the two of them. "But isn't Italy on lockdown because you have the highest death rate in the world or something?"

"Exactly, so the streets are going to be empty, even better!" Aurora concludes.

"What about the police?"

Matteo looks at Valentina and nods, agreeing with her question. Aurora waves it off. "Eh, no worries. We'll deal with them if it gets to it. I'll text the group chat."

Aurora leaves after that, and Matteo lights up a cigarette.

"Do you know each other?" He asks Valentina, who's typing away on her phone. She looks younger than usual in the white dress and semi-wet hair.

"Who? Me and your sister? Not really. I just know she's your sister."

"Hm."

"Why?"

"No reason."

Valentina doesn't ask any further questions, so Matteo also focuses on his phone.

Matteo thinks about his father for a moment. If he'd hear them complain about being locked in a giant mansion by the sea with a pool and everything they could possibly want, he'd laugh at them and tell them to come back down to earth.

But Valentina's right, when you have everything, nothing feels exciting anymore. Living in lockdown during a pandemic in a nine-bedroom house can become depressing, especially if you know, deep down, that you should be more grateful about where you are and what you have. Matteo never realized he'd been bored and burnt out until Valentina came to Italy. Every day has been the same, but he's gotten used to it. Just went through each day without feeling anything other than just meh.

Being home months at a time hasn't happened since before he went to boarding school. He never appreciated the sea before either.

"Don't your parents mind you being in Italy during an international pandemic?"

Valentina looks up from her phone. "I just texted them. They're not excited about it, but they'll deal. My dad travels for work anyway."

"He owns a business, right?"

"Right." Valentina answers, with a hint of hesitation in her voice.

Matteo doesn't mention it, but he remembers her telling Isabella about how her parents are trying to keep someone dying a secret. He also remembers his first instinct saying mafioso, but then she explained that her father is a businessman and that they were just being secretive about it.

Sometimes Matteo forgets that although his reality does exist, there are very few people in the world who are in it as deep as he is. Born into it, stumbling upon the truth when young, doing jobs that get more serious and dangerous each time, using drugs to make money to buy other drugs, and so on.

Also, he tried googling her name to find her dad, but all he got was a link to her Instagram and Facebook. She didn't post as much as the other girls Matteo followed, and she definitely looks better in real life than in photos.

"What are you thinking about?"

Her question anchors him back into reality. He's never been asked that directly. He also can't really answer the question truthfully.

"How things aren't always what they seem."

She lights up a cigarette and turns around to watch the sea, smiling up at the sun. Matteo looks back at his phone screen.

Pia asks if it's okay to meet up in front of their house in twenty. Matteo sends a thumbs up emoji before deciding to go change out of his tank and shorts into something more appropriate for going out. He finds a pressed white linen shirt and clean jean shorts in his closet.

Good enough.

"Let's go get the wine first." Aurora speaks as soon as he appears in the downstairs foyer.

They go down to their wine cellar, stocked to the brim with wines produced by their own company, some of the bottles being ever older than Matteo.

"Il Giudice 2010?" Valentina reads off a bottle she picks out. Matteo walks over and takes the bottle to read the label.

"Yes, it's the batch from 2010. It's good wine, I think. I prefer spirits."

"Yes, but Giudice? Wait, are all these Giudice?"

"It's our family winery."

Matteo doesn't tell her that you can find this type of wine in every supermarket selling alcohol in Sicily, if not all of Italy.

"Do you sell it?" She asks anyway.

"Some of it." Matteo answers and picks out a random bottle. "Let's go."

Matteo

Chapter 18

They take Matteo's convertible, with Vinnie sitting in the passenger's seat holding a bag containing two bottles of wine. Pia, Aurora, and Valentina are sitting in the back, already sharing the bottle from 2010. Marco and Eddie chose to stay home and play FIFA, and Isabella is waiting for them in front of the restaurant in the city.

The drive takes fifteen minutes because there's not even one car in sight, and the city feels different when it's deserted. The sun is setting behind them and the silence is eerie as Matteo parallel parks in front of their closed restaurant.

"It's weird, right? The silence." Aurora says in English, hopping out of the car without even opening the door, then grabs a bottle from Vinnie's bag.

"Shouldn't we at least be wearing masks?" Valentina asks, looking around.

"Don't be a loser." Pia laughs and shakes her head, taking the bottle from Aurora's hand. "There's no one around. Salute!" She raises the bottle and takes a long sip from it.

"Yes, that's the spirit!" Aurora cheers her on and goes to throw an arm around her shoulders.

Matteo and Vinnie look at each other. It's obvious, to Matteo at least, that the two of them are trying, for some reason, to show off in front of Valentina. They would never be this excited about drinking wine in the streets of Palermo. The boys have done it numerous times before, but Pia and Aurora were never with them. Is this what they think Russians do for fun?

Isabella shows up five minutes later with a smile on her face. She hugs Valentina first, and soon enough they just settle on aimlessly walking around the city drinking the wine. Matteo and Vinnie trail behind Aurora and Pia, who in turn are following Valentina and Isabella a few steps behind. They share a joint as they walk, completely unbothered about the thought of someone looking out the window and seeing them.

Half an hour later, when the sun has completely set and the moon is slowly starting to show, they find themselves in front of the Port, with two out of five bottles already empty.

"Let's just sail to Ibiza now." Pia points to a boat in the marina, slurring the last part of her sentence.

They all sit down on the benches facing the boats, sharing two opened bottles between the six of them.

"I can't believe you live here." Valentina says to no one in particular as she looks around.

"You've never been to Italy?" Pia asks with the same condescending tone she talked to Valentina earlier. But Valentina doesn't even seem to care, nor notice.

Instead, she smiles.

"I have, and every time I come here, I feel like I belong."

"Too bad you were born in Russia then."

Matteo and Isabella exchange looks. Okay, so Pia is being meaner than usual.

"Shit, police!" Aurora says and stands up when she sees two Carabinieri walking towards them. They don't even notice their group until they're running away, following a laughing and screaming Aurora.

The two men yell something as they chase them up the street.

"Do we even know where we're going?" Valentina yells from behind him, and before he even thinks about it, he turns left and then right, running down on two small streets.

He doesn't stop until he knows where he's running to, finally coming to a halt in Pretoria Square, sweating and out of breath. When he turns around, he sees everyone else is in the same state, except Aurora and Valentina, who have smiles on their faces.

"What is this?" Valentina asks after everyone's had a moment to breathe and the bottles are doing the rounds again.

"Piazza Pretoria." Isabella answers and points towards the fountain in the middle of the plaza surrounded by old buildings. "And that's the fountain."

The Pretoria Fountain looks even more beautiful at night, when the streetlights around it shine on the statues and reflect in the water.

Valentina walks up to the black fence surrounding the stairs leading up to the first level of fountains. "Can't we go see the top fountain?"

Isabella tries the gate, which is usually opened during the day. "It's locked."

Valentina takes a gulp from the bottle, closing her eyes and scrunching up her face as she does so, before handing it to Aurora.

"Help me up." Valentina says. "The fence isn't even that high."

Everyone looks at each other, hesitating. Save for Isabella who doesn't even question it before giving Valentina a boost over the fence.

Everyone except Pia ends up jumping the fence. Aurora goes first, followed by Marco and Eddie, then Vinnie, and finally, a sighing Matteo.

They follow Valentina up to the second level of the fountain.

"Have you talked to Sofia about Ibiza tomorrow?" Pia asks Vinnie from where she's now leaning against the closed iron gate.

"I tried calling her for the past three weeks, but it goes straight to voicemail. I think she's ignoring me."

Isabella huffs and takes the bottle from him.

"I had a dream about this two days ago." Valentina says and kneels on the concrete. She places the palm flat on the water, as if she were testing its temperature.

Isabella looks away from Vinnie, trying to fake excitement. "About being in Palermo?"

"No, about swimming in a fountain. Also, I'm drunk."

She takes off her sneakers and steps into the fountain.

"Dio mio!" Aurora screams in an excited tone, walking up closer to her.

Valentina laughs and takes the bottle from her, before walking backwards and finally sitting down in the water.

Aurora joins her without saying anything else.

"You're not allowed in the fountain." Matteo points out.

He's getting paranoid about the Carabinieri returning and arresting them for being outside their homes, not to mention hopping over the fence and basically violating a historical monument.

"Like you ever give a shit about the rules!" Aurora laughs at him in English, and he flips her off.

"Oh, come on Matteo. No one's around to judge you." Valentina mocks, standing up and walking in his direction with a mischievous grin on her face.

"Don't you even think about it." He says, stepping back.

"You live here and you never got into this fountain?"

"Why would I want to get into the fountain?"

"You asked me how it's possible to keep life exciting." She cocks her head. "The first step is doing something new every day." She smirks, knowing she just won the argument that had started this morning.

Matteo knows she's right, and what's fair is fair. He toes off his sneakers, then his shirt, then throws his wallet on the ground before getting into the fountain.

"I can't believe my eyes!" Isabella exclaims and tells the three of them to get closer to each other so she can take a photo. Vinnie also laughs as he takes photos, and Matteo finds himself laughing along. Maybe it's the wine, maybe it's that he's seen this fountain a hundred times before but never once thought about swimming in it until today.

"It's kind of nice." Aurora says as she swims over to Valentina to take the bottle.

Matteo leans back against his palms and looks up at the sky. Everything seems to stop for a few moments, and it's just him, the sky, and the water. He smiles, feeling a wave of unfamiliar happiness wash over him.

"Merda!" Pia's voice loudly echoes through the square, and Matteo's surroundings suddenly turn into red and blue flashes. He watches the police car pull up in front of Pia, and two different men get out.

They order the five of them to come down this instant, threatening them with prison time and high fines for breaking lockdown in the first place.

Matteo sighs and stands up from the fountain, already forgetting those few seconds of complete peace and serenity as he looked up at the stars while drunk on wine.

"What's the problem?" He asks them in Italian after grabbing his wallet and walking down the steps barefoot. He stops on the other side of the fence from the police and Pia.

"The problem is you're trespassing and you're breaking a nationwide lockdown. May I see all of your IDs? Also, can the blonde come out of the fountain before we call for backup and take you all to jail?"

Matteo takes out his driver's license and a 100 Euro bill before handing them over to the guy who just talked. He motions to Aurora to get out of the fountain.

"If you think this will work you're mistaken, Mr..." the officer trails off as he reads his name, voice trembling at the end. "Oh. Mr. Giudice?"

"Yes, and that 'blonde' is my sister, Aurora." Matteo adds, pointing to Aurora, before placing both of his hands in his pockets and relaxing.

The other policeman double checks his ID as well, looking at him then at the photo about five times before handing the ID back to him. The 100 Euro bill didn't make it back, of course.

"Have a good night." The first to talk smiles at him, before bowing his head and going back to the car.

By the time they leave the Square everyone is out of the fountain and over the fence anyway, mood ruined. Vinnie hands his jacket over to Valentina, who obviously didn't think that getting herself wet while wearing a white dress would be a bad idea.

"Let's just go back to the car, I'm bored." Pia groans after not having said anything for ten minutes while the rest of them finished the bottles.

"I drank, I can't drive." Matteo says.

She rolls her eyes and looks away, crossing her arms over her chest. "Then let's order a taxi."

"Why are you in such a bad mood today?" He snaps at her.

Her cheeks turn pink, and she looks at him with an angry look on her face without saying anything.

"There's a taxi station a few streets away."

"What did you tell the police to make them go away?" Isabella asks him once the two of them and Valentina naturally end up a few steps behind the rest of the group.

"I gave them a hundred and showed them my ID."

"They recognized the name, obviously." Pia says, not turning around.

"Do they know their names?" Valentina asks her and Matteo knows she's asking a question she already knows the answer to. What he doesn't know though, is why.

"Vaguely." He answers for Pia.

"Why?"

Aurora interrupts their conversation by calling over a free taxi van coming down the street in their direction.

They all pile inside and Vinnie hands the driver two hundred Euros, apologizing for them dripping over the seats. They drop Isabella off first before they set off East towards Aspra. Pia is sitting between Vinnie and Matteo while Aurora and Valentina each lean against a window, contently smiling as they look out of them.

"Did you have fun on your first ever day in Palermo?" Aurora asks, turning her head to look at Valentina.

"Yes, I did. I'm sure it's even more fun when the city isn't locked down." She makes eye contact with Matteo as she says it, and neither of them break it until Aurora sits up straight. The car stops in the middle of the road, across from the gate leading to the Barone residence, a hundred meters away from their own home.

"See you tomorrow, the plane leaves at six thirty!" Matteo yells after them.

Five minutes later they're already walking down the long driveway leading up to the house.

"I love the smell." Valentina sighs and looks up at the trees as she walks.

"What smell?"

It literally smells like nothing.

"The smell of the sea...it smells like summer. I want to live here."

"Why would you want to live here?" Matteo laughs, not intending to sound judgy. They stop in front of the door and the girls wait for him to unlock it.

"Why wouldn't I want to live here? The air is...different. I feel like everything is different. I even like the people here more than I do back home."

"You've only met us, though."

Valentina looks up at him with a smile as she struggles to take off her sneakers by the door.

"I've been vacationing in Capo d'Orlando for over ten years. There's a clear difference in the personalities of people who grow up in sunny places and those who grow up in places where it's mostly bad weather. I notice the difference between the people in Russia and people in Italy. Especially the boys."

Matteo rolls his eyes. "Italian boys being a thing is just a stereotype though. I can name a few who would be worse than your Russian boys."

"Yes, but you know what I mean."

"I do."

Aurora is just standing there, looking between the two of them as they talk. She grabs her stuff and slips into her house slippers.

"You can have the matching pair, Valentina." She says and points to the matching white slippers. "I'm going to bed, see you tomorrow."

She hugs them both and kisses Matteo on the cheek before hurrying up the stairs. They walk upstairs in silence.

"Do you have pajamas?" Matteo asks her when they stop in front of his door, since it's the first one right by the stairs.

"Yes, Aurora gave me some."

"Alright."

He places a hand on the doorknob and looks at her one more time.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

He takes a quick shower with his playlist on shuffle before he changes into his sleeping briefs. Just as he's about to go out on his balcony to smoke his end of the day cigarette (he's too lazy to roll), there's a knock at the door.

Valentina is standing there in his sister's cotton pyjamas holding up a cigarette and a lighter.

"I wanted to smoke my goodnight cigarette, but I realized I don't have a balcony and I didn't want to smoke out the window." She explains.

Matteo steps aside and she waltzes in, asking if she can take the half-filled water bottle from the desk.

"Just take a new one out of the fridge." He answers and points to the minifridge in the corner.

She joins him outside and sits down where she first sat down this morning. The only light on his balcony is the one above them, and he can see her lips are dark red from the wine she's been drinking.

They smoke in silence for a couple of minutes while looking out into the darkness. Matteo thinks about everything that happened today, and how different it felt from the past two months, which have gone by on autopilot.

The Italian rap song that was just playing inside changes to PPP by Beach House.

"I love this song." She smiles and closes her eyes.

Matteo listens to it for a while. The song feels like getting home after a long day at the beach, feeling content. He used to feel like that when he was younger and everything around him seemed easy.

"Why did you play stupid today?" He asks out of a sudden.

Valentina turns to look at him, surprised but still relaxed. "When did I play stupid?"

"When Pia was trying to belittle you and you didn't play into it."

"Ah." She waves it off, the bracelets on her wrist making that sound they always do. "Whatever that was about, it's not about me. I don't even know her, so that's her problem to deal with."

"What about when you asked if the police knew our names?"

"Sometimes my instinct tells me when it's better to be underestimated."

Matteo puts out his cigarette and watches the small orange spark fade into darkness. "Do you ever do that with me?"

She tilts her head and blows out smoke, her tongue poking out between her teeth as she smiles. "What do you think?"

There's a spark in her eye that he noticed the first time he saw her back in Taormina but hasn't seen again until now. He smiles and looks back down at the ashtray, feeling a bit dizzy from the wine, the cigarettes, and the joint he smoked with Vinnie earlier.

"I think you're way smarter than you let on."

She playfully squints at him and puts out the cigarette without breaking eye contact. "Which tells me the same thing about you."

Valentina smiles at him once more before standing up and grabbing the bottle. "I had fun today, thank you."

He nods and looks at her bare legs for a split second before looking back at her face. She looks tired now, but her eyes still look the same like they always do.

"Goodnight."

She waves as she leaves the balcony without looking back at him.

"Goodniiight." She sings.

The door to his room closes a few seconds later.

Matteo chain-smokes two more cigarettes as he looks out into the darkness, listening to the waves and the song playing in the background, thinking about nothing. He goes to bed ten minutes later, his mind blank.

When he closes his eyes, all he sees and feels is that endless moment when he was in the fountain, the water up to his neck as he looked up at the sky.

He falls asleep without anything playing in the background for the first time in months.