Matteo

Chapter 29

Taormina, Sicily – July 8th 2020

Matteo doesn't know what came over him when he first kissed her. All he knows is that the moment he saw her coming down the stairs, and the way her eyes sparkled when she made the cigarette comment did something to him.

He's never thought about kissing her until the moment Isabella pushed their heads together and their lips touched. The sound she made in that moment rang through his entire body and made him want to do it again.

Now, as they enter the room where the rest of their friends are sitting and drinking, it's all he can think about.

"Speaking of the devil." Isabella says and looks between the two of them.

Matteo wonders if she can tell what they did.

Valentina sits down next to her and takes the drink out of her hand. She seems to be in her own world somewhere inside her head, so Matteo tears his eyes away from her and goes to sit next to Vinnie.

If he glances in her direction more often now, he doesn't notice. Suddenly it's like he's very aware that she's in the room, sitting on the couch across from him.

"Your birthday is also in July, isn't it?" Isabella asks her as she refills their glasses.

Valentina nods, eyes flickering to Matteo for a split of a second. He only catches it because he was looking at her first.

"The 22nd." She answers.

"Are you going to be in Italy for it?"

"Yeah, probably. I've already talked to my mother about it."

"And we're all alone in that big house." Isabella whines. "We should all do something."

Valentina hesitates and looks around the room. Everyone is watching and listening to their conversation now, and she looks intimidated.

"Maybe she doesn't want to invite us." Pia says with a mean hint in her voice.

As usual, Valentina doesn't react. She just smiles at her then looks somewhere else, which only seems to annoy Pia even more.

"It's not that, I have fun with you guys. I'm just not sure about the 'being outside if it's illegal' thing." She rambles.

Vinnie motions to the room. "I mean, we're all here now."

"Yeah, but my parents aren't that-"

"Oh God, who even cares what their parents think?!" Pia groans in Italian, rolling her eyes.

Valentina looks confused. "What did you say?"

Pia plasters a fake smile on her face. "Just that I love your outfit." Then she adds 'you fool' in Italian.

"Are you okay? Why are you being so rude?" Matteo snaps back in Italian.

Pia looks embarrassed now, just like she did when they were in Palermo and Matteo called her out.

Isabella shoots Matteo a curious look, probably surprised that he cares enough to get involved.

"I'm bored, I'm going to go to sleep." Pia decides then. She downs her drink and slams the empty glass on the table.

"She loves drama." Vinnie says once the door shuts behind her.

"Maybe we should go too." Valentina suggests. "We have a train in the morning."

Vinnie looks sad. "To go where?"

"Back to my house in Capo."

"Yes, we're going to have a few weeks just to sit in the sun and do nothing." Isabella smirks, downing her drink as well.

"Why don't you stay for a few more days, and then we can all go back together?"

"Because I want to be surrounded by female energy, gossip, and drinks, not you smelly idiots with your awful jokes." Isabella smiles, then turns to Valentina. "Let's go."

Valentina agrees and stands up, placing her drink on the table. "Goodnight."

Matteo watches the two of them leave the room.

With Ariana being the only girl left, she quickly grabs everyone's attention. Her sights are obviously set on either Vinnie or Matteo and they're all way past tipsy.

Eddie and Marco are in their own world, talking on the couch in the corner and laughing at something only the two of them would find funny.

At some point, Vinnie brings up Sofia again, which makes Matteo groan and roll his eyes. Vinnie is sitting one of the chairs at the table now, and Ariana has taken his place on the bed next to Matteo.

"I think something happened to her."

"Like what?" Ariana asks, leaning into Matteo. "Something bad?"

"Or maybe she's just ignoring you." Matteo suggests.

"I'm going to go over to her house next week."

"That's a bad idea man."

"Why? She can't just ignore me forever."

"Maybe she just wants it to be over." Ariana butts in. "And yes, going over to her house is a bad idea. She might get a restraining order."

"Are you serious? I haven't done anything to her! If anything, she did something to us at that New Year's party." Vinnie argues.

"Exactly. Just take the win and move on. There's plenty of other girls." Matteo says, eyes drifting to Ariana to prove a point.

Vinnie rolls his eyes at the insinuation. "I can't leave things unfinished like this."

"Maybe she's your karma for what you've done to other girls." Ariana grins.

Matteo points at her. "She has a point."

Ariana winks at him then, and that's when Matteo knows he could sleep with her tonight if he wanted to.

"Whatever, I'm going to sleep." Vinnie mumbles, turning his head to Eddie and Marco, who are still talking. "You two, go chat shit in Marco's room."

"What about me?" Ariana pouts, looking at Matteo.

"You can sleep in my room tonight. Or with Pia."

"Okay." She doesn't clarify where she wants to sleep, but Matteo intuitively knows what's about to happen.

Marco and Eddie are the first ones to leave the room, and Matteo follows Ariana, closing the door behind them.

His own room feels cold, so he goes over to the air conditioner to turn it on and make it warmer. Ariana is sitting on the couch, typing on her phone.

"You cold?" Matteo asks as he sits down across from her so he can roll a joint.

"Not really."

The conversation feels a little forced, like it's a very bad scripted foreplay before what they both know is most probably going to happen happens.

She watches him roll the joint, the occasional nails typing on the screen and the AC being the only sounds filling the silence. Her lips curl into a smile when his tongue darts over the paper so he can roll it shut.

He nods over to the JBL speaker in the corner on the windowsill. "Put some music on?"

"Sure."

She plays some Italian rap everybody knows while Matteo lights up and pulls the ashtray in the middle of the table.

He passes her the joint after a few long drags.

"Did you enjoy your birthday?" She asks when she passes it back.

He nods. "Yeah, you?"

"Mhm. I always have fun when I'm on a boat." She lets out smoke through her nose and pauses for a second before speaking again. "I didn't know you were that close with Valentina."

Matteo finds it weird that she brings her up. "She's more Isabella's friend, but we get along. I like her."

Ariana smiles, but Matteo can tell it's forced. He wonders what Ariana could possibly have against Valentina. Pia also has no real reason, which means that they probably feel threatened that they're not the only good-looking girls.

"Does she bother you?" He asks.

Ariana shakes her head. "Oh, no. I was just wondering. She's alright."

Matteo nods, not really buying it.

"How come you didn't invite Raisa?"

Matteo makes a face then. "What? Why would I invite her?"

She rolls her eyes. "Because you sleep with her?"

"So? I don't have to invite every girl I fuck to my birthday."

The way he says it doesn't seem to faze her. "She was at Vinnie's birthday though."

"That was Vinnie's choice."

"She has a boyfriend now."

Matteo raises his eyebrows. He can see through her act, but it's late and the weed is making him horny. "Good for her."

"I think she liked you."

"Good for me I guess." He smirks, running a hand through his hair as he takes a few more drags.

"Bad for her." Ariana chuckles, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

"Why is that?"

"Because you're a fuckboy."

He's not offended in the slightest. He knows he has this reputation, and the truth is, he has had sex with more than a handful of women, but he has never given them false hopes or told lies to get them into bed. They're the ones that choose to do it, willingly, and then get bitter because they catch feelings he doesn't return.

"Why are you here then?" He daringly retorts.

She doesn't seem to shy away from it, and smirks instead. "For fun, why else?"

He puts the joint out in the ashtray and stands up. Ariana watches him walk over to the bed and take off his shirt before sitting down at the edge of it.

She nods to herself before following his lead, taking off her dress on the way to the bed. Their eyes meet as she straddles him and places her hands behind his neck.

Her lips are soft, and she tastes like weed and alcohol. She kisses with way less tongue than Matteo would like, but she's hot and kind of nonchalant in an attractive way.

The sex ends up being better than average as she lets him do most of the work, but when he falls asleep that night, he feels satisfied with the way his birthday turned out.

***

Taormina, Sicily – July 18th 2020

Vinnie, Pia, and Eddie ended up leaving five days after his birthday to go to their home in Capo d'Orlando with their parents, which left Matteo and Marco alone in Taormina for a few days.

They got bored three days in and decided to go back to Palermo, but their father called Matteo just as they were about to leave, instructing him to stay in Taormina because he was on his way.

As usual, he didn't give any details as to why Matteo had to stay behind and Marco was free to leave, but Matteo suspected it had something to do with the Organization.

For the first couple of days his father just had meetings in his office without paying attention to him. This annoyed him even more, because he was just supposed to wait around with no explanation whatsoever.

He tried passing the time by playing video games and occasionally texting Ariana, but at some point, he got bored of that too. Ever since they had sex on his birthday, she's been texting him and sending memes, which, okay, does entertain him a little.

She doesn't care about how it looks that she's the one texting first. She also doesn't seem to mind that she's the one initiating a conversation 90% of the time, which Matteo finds refreshing.

Sitting in his room playing FIFA online with Vinnie, Matteo decides he's had enough.

"I'm gonna take a break." He says into the headset.

Vinnie agrees on the other end and Matteo shuts the TV off before he stands up. His father has been in the office with Romeo all day today, and now it's nearly seven. He's going to ask why his father insisted he stayed here, since he hasn't said much in the past few days.

The office is at the end of the hall, the wooden double doors closed, as usual. He hears hushed voices talking behind them, so he hesitates to knock. He knows his father doesn't like to be disturbed, but that doesn't mean Matteo has to waste his time doing nothing.

"This is serious." His father's voice comes from the other end of the door.

Matteo's hand is already raised, ready to knock.

"Are we sure?" Romeo asks.

"All the signs point to it."

Paulo Barone is also here then, not in Capo with his family like Matteo had assumed.

"I've gone through the security footage of the last two years, and there is no sign of a rat." Romeo says then.

The blood in Matteo's veins goes cold.

"We're going to ask our informants to keep an eye out. For now, no one else knows about Siracusa but the three of us. Let's keep it that way."

Matteo hears a chair scraping against the floor, so he quickly knocks.

"Yes, Matteo?"

He opens the door and walks in. "Why did you ask me to stay in Taormina? I've been bored for the past few days."

His father is sitting at the desk with a cigar in his hand. Paulo is in the corner by the drinks table, and Romeo was just about to leave.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow. Right now you need to drive Romeo to the landing strip."

"You asked me to stay behind so I can be your driver?" Matteo groans. "You have other people for that, I'm sure."

"Don't be a smartass and do as I say."

Matteo rolls his eyes and waits for Romeo to leave the room first before following him out.

***

His father calls him into the office the next day before noon. He's alone, standing in one of the corners by a giant painting of Enzo Giudice.

"It's time for your training." Is all he says.

"What training?"

"You'll see."

"I thought Luca was supposed to train me."

"He's going to show you the ropes when you're in New York, yes. But right now, you'll do it with us."

Before Matteo can ask who 'us' is, his father pushes on the right edge of the painting, and the wall in the corner moves. Matteo is speechless.

"What is this?"

His father doesn't answer as he steps through the door. Matteo follows him and watches as the door closes behind him, leaving them in complete darkness.

A few seconds later, a light turns on to reveal a spiral staircase descending into darkness. He follows his father down a few flights of stairs, nearly getting dizzy at how fast they're going.

When they stop in front of a black door, Matteo's pretty sure they're one or two levels underground now.

"There's three people who know about this room. You're the fourth."

His father pushes the door open, and Matteo's breath dies in his throat. It's a fucking armoury. The three walls in front of him are filled to the brim with guns: everything from pistols to handguns to proper machine guns.

Paulo is looking at a gun hoisted up on the wall, turning around when he hears the door open.

"What is this?" Matteo asks again.

"This is our Scogliera armoury." Paulo answers, hoisting a bag that was on the table in the middle over his shoulder.

"Is it even legal to have these guns?"

No one answers, so Matteo takes it as a very blunt 'no'.

"Why are you showing me this? Are you going to train me to shoot?"

His father nods and hands him a pistol from the wall. "Take this and follow us."

Matteo doesn't even know what to say as they leave the room once again, the door closing behind them with a thud.

Somehow, they end up in the garage, then out in their back gardens. They silently walk through the iron gates separating the back garden from the woods on the cliff, and after a few more minutes, they're in an open field that can't be seen from anywhere inside the house.

There's a short stone wall in front of them with bottles and cans on top of it, and Matteo immediately recognizes it as a shooting range. They stop a good fifty meters away from the wall.

Matteo's palms are sweating around the gun when Paulo drops the black bag on the ground. When he opens it, Matteo can see a bunch of smaller guns inside, alongside two machine guns.

"So by training you meant shooting training."

His father nods, then points to the bottles on the wall. "Try to take one out."

Matteo points the gun towards them, but nothing happens when he presses the trigger.

"You have to take the safety off." Paulo explains, and before he can step closer to show him how, Matteo pulls on the small silver switch at the end of the gun, making it click.

Paulo and his father exchange looks with raised eyebrows.

"Alright, now point it to the-"

He pulls the trigger, and the gun barely makes a sound. The bullet misses the bottle he was aiming at.

"It's not loud at all." Matteo notices, looking at the gun with a scorpion engraving in the leather handle.

"It's a silent gun." Paulo explains, before he comes closer and teaches him how to properly hold it, one hand over the other. "Now look right above the barrel. Don't rush."

After two more tries, Matteo finally hits a bottle. On the next try, he knocks over a can.

"Good." His father speaks for the first time since he's started shooting. "You're better at this than expected."

"Why are you teaching me how to shoot? Does this have anything to do with your conversation yesterday?"

"What conversation?"

Matteo drops the hand holding the gun to his side. "I overheard you talking about a mole."

"We don't have moles, Matteo. We have rats."

The way he says it is cold, like there's no worse thing in the world than being a rat.

"What does that even mean?"

His father and Paulo exchange looks. "It means someone is leaking information to our enemies."

Matteo wants to roll his eyes but doesn't. He knows better than that. "What enemies?"

"Other families. Families that have wronged us in the past."

He's being avoidant. "Wronged us how?"

"Killed our men, for example."

"Who was killed? Last thing I remember, we were the ones that had to hide a body about a month ago."

"It doesn't matter who was killed."

"When did it happen?"

"It also doesn't matter."

"How can you even be sure? This is-"

"We have informants."

"But Romeo said there's nothing unusual on the cameras."

"We don't have video proof, but-"

"Then how can you even know for sure?"

"They know about some of our drop off zones and times, and our secret storage spaces that only the closest people in our family know of. It's information that couldn't have come from anywhere but inside this family."

"What happens to rats?"

Paulo takes clicks the safety of his gun and points to one of the bottles lined up on the stone fence before taking it out. Matteo watches in awe then turns back to his father.

"Who is it?"

"We don't know for sure."

"I don't want to kill anyone, especially if you're not sure!"

His father's face is stern. "You took an oath."

Matteo's heart starts beating faster. "That wasn't in the oath! You told me I wouldn't have to shoot people!"

"I didn't tell you that."

Matteo takes a step back. "Fine, grandma told me then. It doesn't matter because I don't want to kill anyone."

His father doesn't answer as he takes the machine gun and holds it out for Matteo to take.

"Try this one now."

Matteo exchanges the pistol for the machine gun, which is heavier and harder to handle. There's a lens at the end of the barrel, so he squints an eye as he points it to a bottle. He takes it out on the first try.

"Good, now take twenty steps back and try again."

He does as asked, taking two more bottles off the wall. "This one's easier."

"And deadlier. But you're a natural." Paulo adds, a proud look on his face. His father nods along, and it's the first time in ages that Matteo has seen him so obviously proud.

"What's in Siracusa?" He asks when they're done an hour later, on their way back to the house.

"We planted a fake story to weed out the rat, and Romeo is over there right now to set it up. If it all goes well, we'll have our rat by the end of August."

***

Taormina, Sicily – July 20th 2020

His father leaves the next day, saying that he has some business to take care of in New York with Paulo, but not without telling him to be in Taormina at the beginning of August.

Matteo finds himself alone in the house when he wakes up, so he gets some coffee from the kitchen and goes to sit on the upper terrace overlooking the sea.

His mind takes him back to what Valentina said about never being sad if she were to live at sea. He isn't sad, but he's bored, so he texts Vinnie, Ariana, and Isabella, asking each of them what they're doing.

Vinnie's reply comes first.

Matteo rolls his eyes and doesn't even bother replying. He's over the whole thing already.

His phone vibrates again just as he lights his second cigarette.

Isabella's texts come in then, so Matteo switches to that conversation.

She sends a photo of herself holding a half-empty glass in her hand, sunglasses on her nose. Valentina is sitting on the lounger behind her, reading a book. Images of the kiss against the wall come into his brain, then of the one on the boat.

He'd be surprised if Valentina invited Ariana, and even though he doesn't want to admit it, he'd also be a bit...disappointed.

He goes back to the conversation with Isabella.

Before Matteo can go back to the conversation with Ariana, Isabella is facetiming him. He absentmindedly runs a hand through is hair before answering.

"Yes?"

"She said yes!" Isabella says, moving the camera so it shows Valentina.

She lifts her head up from the book she's reading and looks at the screen. Her eyebrows rise and she smiles. "Hi."

"So, you're doing something for your birthday then?"

"Hello to you too." She sarcastically answers. "But yeah, I was thinking about a pool party here."

"Who did you think about inviting?"

"You're invited Matteo, if that's what you mean."

Matteo rolls his eyes. "I meant in general. I know I'm invited." He grins.

"I guess I kind of have to invite everyone who heard me talking about it." She says to Isabella.

"You don't have to invite anyone you don't want." Matteo says.

Isabella scoffs off camera. "You wouldn't understand." Her face comes back on the screen. "Anyway, what are you up to?"

"I'm insanely bored. Can I come a day early?"

"You mean tomorrow?"

"I mean right now."

Isabella turns her head to look at Valentina, and Matteo can't tell what she's doing, but Isabella rolls her eyes. "Yes, you can come over. Everyone will be coming tomorrow night anyway I guess."

Matteo smiles. "Great, I'll take a car and drive down there."

"Can't wait." Comes Valentina's sarcastic voice from off-camera before he hangs up.

Matteo's mood has shifted now, and he's happier than he's been in days just at the thought of getting out of here and going over to Capo d'Orlando.

He goes upstairs to pack a bag with some clothes and swimming trunks. Isabella sends him the location and he checks Waze to see how long he'll be, then texts Isabella his ETA.

He finds the keys to the Mercedes in the hallway, then checks the conversation with Ariana.

Matteo gets into the car and presses the button to start the engine.

Matteo

Chapter 30

He beats the GPS by fifteen minutes, but the gate is closed when he arrives, so he calls Isabella. The gate opens a couple of minutes later and he drives the car all the way up to the front of the house.

A feeling of peace and happiness settles in his stomach as soon as he gets out of the car with sunglasses on his nose and the bag in his hand.

The girls greet him by the door. Isabella is in her bathing suit and Valentina's wearing an orange sundress. She looks tanner now than the last time Matteo saw her, and she's not wearing any makeup.

She looks good.

"Well, here goes our girl time." Isabella groans but goes to hug him anyway.

"Where can I drop off my stuff?" He asks Valentina after they also hug. She smells like the perfume she always wears mixed with the sea.

"You can stay in Adrik's room, since he didn't want to come."

Matteo looks towards the stairs. "Thanks, but I don't know where that is."

"Up the stairs and to the left, then down the hall and the first door on the left."

When he returns downstairs, the girls are nowhere to be seen, so he goes into the kitchen first, where he finds a glass filled with Aperol Spritz. He grins as he grabs it and heads outside to check if they're by the pool.

He hears laughter coming from the beach, so he follows the narrow path paved with stones, where he finds the two of them. They're lying on two lounge chairs under an umbrella, with a table between them. There's another identical setup right next to them, so he goes over and takes a seat, setting his drink down on the table.

"So...what do you do for fun?" He asks after a few minutes of silence.

Valentina lets the book fall on her thighs, and Matteo notices she's taken off the dress, leaving her in a yellow bikini. He can see some small tattoos he didn't know she had on her waist, her ribcage, and behind her ear. He remembers talking about their tattoos back in Palermo a month ago.

"We just exist." She answers, pushing the sunglasses on top of her head. Her voice is monotone, like she's annoyed, but there's that twinkle in her eye that lets him know she's playing.

They get into the water fifteen minutes later, because Matteo can't sit still for too long. The girls bring their glasses into the water, giggling about the two guys playing catch with a ball in the water a hundred meters away.

The whole beach, as far as Matteo can see, is divided by stone fences, each house on the coast having its own private area.

"Who are they?" Matteo asks, swimming over to stand next to Isabella so he can drink out of her glass. She groans in protest, but he presses a kiss to her temple and drapes an arm around her shoulders.

"They're our neighbours." Valentina answers. "I think they moved in this summer; I haven't seen them before last week." She turns her head to look in their direction again. "How old do you think they are?"

"Old enough." Isabella wiggles her eyebrows.

"Do you know them?" Valentina asks him before she takes the glass up to her lips to take a sip.

Matteo rolls his eyes. "Yes, because all Italians know each other."

Valentina flips him off and takes another sip.

"Don't drink all my alcohol, you should've brought your own!" Isabella protests when Matteo goes in for another drink, slapping his hand.

He turns to Valentina then, whose eyes widen as she takes a step back. She raises her arm to put some distance between them. "Don't you even dare."

Matteo grins. "You know I have to now."

Valentina squeals when he makes a sudden movement, giving Matteo the perfect opportunity to grab her glass. She watches him down the entire glass and splashes him right in the face.

"You have to go inside and get us all drinks now." She concludes, swimming over to Isabella for refuge.

"Yeah, I'm not going to do that."

She shoots him an annoyed look, which only makes him smirk.

"I'll go. I have to go to the bathroom anyway." Isabella says, turning around to face the beach.

"Just pee here." Matteo tells her.

"I'm not a degenerate like you." Comes the answer, and they both watch her swim to the shore with two glasses in hand. Isabella grabs Matteo's glass as well and makes a point of downing it before walking up to the path, disappearing behind the tall living fences that shield the house.

Then it's just the two of them. Matteo is suddenly aware of the fact that it's the first time they've been alone since they kissed. He looks at her, only to see that her eyes are trained on his bicep tattoo. When she looks up, she knows she's been caught checking him out.

"So..." She starts, absentmindedly weaving her arms through the water. "How have you been?"

"Are you trying to make small talk with me?"

"What if I'm genuinely interested?"

"Are you?"

Her jaw clenches but her eyes remain playful. "Did anything interesting happen on your birthday after we went to sleep?"

Matteo thinks of telling her about Ariana but decides against it. "We drank, then went to bed." It's not lying, per se. But for some reason he doesn't think it's relevant to bring up sleeping with Ariana right now. "It was a fun night."

The sentence changes something in her brain, and he sees the exact moment her mind goes back to them kissing that night.

She swallows. "Yeah."

He takes a step towards her, and she brings a hand up to her mouth out of reflex. She's biting her nail to hide a smirk as she glances up at him, her stare following him as he comes even closer. She's looking at him with an expression that says they shouldn't be this close, like she's contemplating whether she should do something that hasn't even happened yet.

Her hand drops from her mouth when Matteo touches her waist underwater, bringing their chests together.

"What?" He asks, looking down at her. He sees the right side of her mouth twisting up into a smile.

She shakes her head, smile spreading as she tries to stay indifferent to their closeness. "Nothing." Her nails scrape across his belly underwater, and she bites her bottom lip in a daring way.

It ignites something in Matteo's core which makes his blood flow directly to his crotch. "Stop."

"Or what?" Her mouth opens, grin widening because she knows she's in control right now.

He kisses her without a second thought, hands moving directly to her ass.

She exhales into his mouth, making that sound as she grabs his face to deepen the kiss. Matteo presses their bodies together before lifting her up, her legs wrapping themselves around his waist underwater.

The way she kisses is incredible; it's deep and dirty, like she's enjoying it, and it's exactly what Matteo likes. It's turning him on so much it's almost ridiculous, and his brain goes to her saying she's never had sex in the sea.

The thought excites him even more, so he tangles one of his hands in the back of her hair, gently pulling at the roots. She moans, and unlike before, it's an outright moan that points to pleasure.

"Fuck, don't do that." She says into his mouth.

He smiles. "Why?"

"It turns me on."

Her blunt answer makes the insides of his brain collapse, but she continues kissing him and grinding herself against him. Matteo could swear his knees just went weak, so he tries to compose himself.

She suddenly pulls her face away and untangles her legs from his waist. "Shit."

Matteo turns his head to where she's looking, and they see Isabella appearing from behind the bushes, focused on carrying three glasses at once.

He lets go of her and takes a few steps back, nearly tripping over himself.

"I've got refiiiills!" Isabella yells. "Come get them while they're cold!"

Valentina starts walking towards her without sparing another look in his direction. He stays put and tries to think of literally anything else but her, so the effect she had on him wouldn't be visible once he gets out of the water.

When he finally sits down on his sunbed, the two of them are talking about going and chilling by the pool. He watches Valentina sipping on her drink, purposely avoiding his eyes. When she finally looks in his direction, their eyes meet.

She looks flushed from what has just happened and also a little guilty, which makes Matteo raise his brows and daringly smirk at her.

They spend the next half hour by the pool in silence, Matteo and Isabella on their phones and Valentina reading.

"I'm out again." Isabella whines from where she's laying on her stomach on a towel next to Valentina. They said they wanted to get that afternoon tan, but Matteo remained on the sunbed, hiding from the sun.

"Me too." Valentina agrees.

"It's your turn to make drinks."

Matteo realizes they're both looking at him. "Wha-me? Why me?"

"Because we were incredibly generous and took you in." Comes Valentina's answer. Matteo cocks his head in response.

"I want Mojitos now; I'm bored of Aperol." Isabella says then.

Matteo raises his hands in defense. "In case you forgot, I'm new here. I don't even know where the drinks are."

Isabella turns to Valentina then, who groans and stands up from her towel. Matteo smiles and stands up, gesturing towards the house. "Lead the way."

He watches her ass as she walks ahead of him into the house, stopping next to the fridge and pointing at it.

"This is the fridge."

He looks down at her. "Thank you."

Her lips look soft, and her cheeks are pink, obvious against her sun kissed face. Her eyes are lighter than he remembers, almost like dark honey, and Matteo takes a moment to just admire her beauty.

She coughs as she takes a step back, almost hitting the wall behind her. "What?" she asks and pushes the damp hair out of her face. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

He shrugs, unable to hold back a smile. "You look beautiful."

Valentina rolls her eyes then. He places his left hand on the wall beside her head, her eyes following the motion before she looks back at his face.

"Why are you rolling your eyes?"

"Does that line usually work on girls?"

It's his turn to roll his eyes. "Why would I need a 'line'? You already kissed me."

Valentina crosses her arms. "To get me to have sex with you? I guess." Matteo laughs at that, which annoys her even more. "What's so funny?"

"You think that's what I'm trying to do here? Get you to have sex with me?"

"What else then?"

"What if I just like kissing you?" he mocks her accent.

Her eyes flicker to his lips for a split of a second before coming back to his face.

"You're full of shit Matteo." She says, but her smirk gives her away.

"Like you aren't."

Her eyes widen as she tries to feign innocence. "I'm not the one who initiated this." She gestures between their chests.

His eyes stop on her cleavage, at how incredible way her breasts look being pushed up by her crossed arms. "Are you saying I forced you?"

She looks annoyed now because she definitely caught him looking. "I'm saying you started it."

"And you were happy to continue."

She cocks her head. "Oh really?"

"Mhm. And I also think you actually enjoy it."

"How could you tell?"

He slips his hand between her legs, catching her off guard and making her gasp in that really sexy way that turns him on.

"You're wet." He concludes.

She doesn't push his hand away from its place. "Oh please. We just got out of the pool, this doesn't prove anything."

"Why don't you mind me touching you then?"

She seems distracted because she answers back with a 'hm?'.

"You haven't pushed my hand away." He says, slipping his hand inside her bikini. "And you're definitely wet."

"I read this book." She starts, stuttering when his middle finger enters her. "That said that...fuck."

Their faces are closer now than they were when they first started talking. "That said what?"

"That the body reacts to sexual cues even though the mind isn't turned on. It's like a reflex."

Matteo licks his lips and tries to slip another finger in, which makes her grip into his arm to steady herself.

"We're- Isabella could walk in."

"So?"

Valentina makes a face. "I don't want- "

"Then let's be quick."

"You don't honestly think you can make me cum just like this." She bluntly states.

"Who said I wanted to make you cum?"

Her nostrils flare, signalling annoyance. "You wanna know what I think?"

"Do I?"

"I think you're really overrated, and I also think that most of the things said about you are just exaggerations."

"What things?"

He starts moving his fingers in lazy up-and-down motions, only to see what it would do to her.

"I don't know, about how the sex is incredible and you know exactly what-ah, what you're doing. Because-" she stutters when he pushes his fingers further in "-because I don't think you do."

He sarcastically pouts. "Don't I?"

She shakes her head. "I think you get girls in bed with your cheesy lines and make them fall for you to the point where they can't tell average sex and good sex apart anymore."

"You seem to have thought about this a lot, hm?"

She shrugs. "Just an opinion."

Her legs unwillingly shake when he curls his fingers towards himself and keeps rubbing them in a constant rhythm. Her eyes flutter as she bites down her lip.

"I've never heard any complaints." He cockily continues as he picks up the pace, rubbing his fingertips against the same spot over and over again.

"Fuck." She breathes, her grip tightening against his arm.

"What's that?" He asks, stopping his movements.

"You can't just..." She lets out a frustrated moan.

"You like it then?"

"Don't make me say it."

"Oh, but I want you to say it."

"You're a fucking- "

"Valle? Matteo? Helloooo?" Matteo pulls his hand out instantly. "Where's my Mojito?"

Valentina ducks out from under his arm and rearranges her bikini just as Isabella enters the kitchen with a smile.

"I couldn't find the ice." Matteo coughs and goes over to the fridge.

"It's probably in the freezer." Isabella says and walks over to the other side of the counter. Matteo turns his back to her, hoping his she doesn't notice him trying to hide a boner.

Valentina is leaning against the counter, looking out of breath and a little shocked.

"Are you okay?" Isabella asks her while Matteo looks through the cupboards for alcohol and soda.

"Yeah."

"You look out of breath."

Matteo smirks to himself as he places the empty glasses on the island counter, trying to think of things that would make his hard-on go away faster. Looking at Valentina doesn't help.

"Yeah, I think I'm getting...I don't know. It's hot outside and I've had too many Aperols without any water." Valentina rambles, purposely avoiding Matteo's glare.

"I guess you're not used to Italian heat combined with drinks."

"Yes Valentina, it's from the Italian drinks, those are the strongest!" Matteo sarcastically adds as he pours the rum in the ice-filled glasses.

Valentina looks at him and he smirks as he takes his fingers up to his mouth, licking them clean. Her eyes widen and she turns her head to Isabella, cheeks turning pink once again.

"What, you mean the Aperols we just drank?" Isabella asks, oblivious.

"Yeah, those overrated Aperols." Matteo grins.

Valentina flips him off, which satisfies him even more. "They're overrated because they're good."

"Just make those mojitos already." Isabella groans, motioning to the half-filled glasses.

Matteo obeys and pours the soda, adds some mint, then pushes a glass towards Valentina while Isabella grabs hers. "Salute!" She says, lifting her drink.

"Salute!" Matteo repeats, eyes locking with Valentina over the counter as he takes the drink to his lips.

The girls leave to go back to their towels, and Matteo remains by the counter, checking his phone. Ariana texted him something about the party tomorrow, but he can't seem to focus on it.

He looks in their direction again. Valentina's on a towel, laying on her stomach next to Isabella, chatting and laughing. The sun is bright up in the sky which makes the pool water look like glitter. He feels thirteen again, where even the wind got him popping a hard-on. He's hornier than he remembers feeling in months, maybe even years. Maybe it's from the three Aperol Spritzes they drank while on the beach.

It's like ever since they kissed, the dynamic between them has shifted. She's much more comfortable calling him out and commenting on the dumb shit he says or does, and he's not holding back from saying exactly what he thinks. In a weird way, they're more comfortable with each other now, and there's a tension in the air that makes him unsure whether it's only in his head.

He's only known her for a year now, but looking at his best friend sitting there with her, laughing under the same sun they've always known, awakens a feeling in him. He feels like they've been doing this since the beginning of time, like he belongs exactly here with Valentina and Isabella and no one else.

Matteo realizes he feels at peace, like he did in that fountain that night.

---

Chapter 16 will be up tomorrow! Let me know what you think :)

xoxo,

Ronnie