Happy new year everyone!!

Here is the new chapter. And I'm sooooo excited about the next one and then the ones after that omg

Happy reading :D

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Matteo

Altieri residence, Sicily, IT - March 30th, 2021

It's a random Tuesday and I'm still in Sicily. I haven't left since I've been back for Aurora's birthday. Luca had decided to stay in Sicily for a while to try and look for more clues about the person who killed his uncle, so it was only natural that I stayed too.

The worst part of the situation is that he's insufferable, but I still must include him in as many activities as I can to keep an eye on him.

Isabella sets freshly pressed orange juice in front of me and sits at the other end of the table.

"They're going to reopen clubs in New York. We should go."

"When?"

"In two weeks."

I shrug. "We'll see."

"You're boring."

"No, you're just bored."

"Have you talked to Valentina recently?"

Her bringing her up in this context will probably make me uncomfortable for some time to come.

"No. When she was at Raisa's wedding."

"What did she say?"

"That Raisa's father-in-law is an asshole we both know."

"Who?"

"You don't know him."

She impatiently huffs. "Tell me anyway."

"Yuri Pavlov."

"The Russian who owns those casinos?"

I'm quite sure it's Valentina's family who owns it, but I don't tell Isabella that.

"Yes. How do you know him?"

"He's on the news a lot."

I don't watch the news. Never have, at least on purpose.

"Why?"

"Most recently because he kept an underground casino open despite restrictions." She pauses. "Your father doesn't talk to you about this?"

"I haven't talked to him in weeks. I don't follow American news."

She shakes her head just as my phone rings.

It's as if he heard me talking about me that he calls.

I answer, hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"Luca's in Capo d'Orlando."

I look away from Isabella so she won't notice me turning down the volume.

"What?"

"He's been asking around to see where the Levins stayed. He knows Romeo worked for them."

There's no way Valentina is in Italy, so the house must be empty.

"Let him think it's the Russians then." I say.

"If he does something that can be considered an act of war on our behalf, it will affect us all."

"What do you want me to do about. It?"

He grunts. "I don't have to help you figure out everything, Matteo. Just take care of it and get back to me. This is a chance for you to prove yourself."

I look at Isabella, then back towards the trees in Isabella's garden.

Calling Luca right now would be too obvious. If no one's home there's a slim chance he'll try to enter the house the first time he sees it. The solution is obvious. I have to get Luca out of Sicily.

Now.

"What happened?" Isabella asks.

"Nothing."

I wait about five minutes before I finally put my plan in action.

"So, New York?"

Her eyes light up.

"Do you want to go?"

I nod. "Sure. Which club did you have in mind?"

Giudice private plane, above the Atlantic Ocean – April 1st, 2021

Two days later, we're on my father's Gulfstream back to New York. My siblings, Vinnie and his siblings, Isabella, Luca, and me.

Convincing Luca to come wasn't hard, especially not when my father personally called him and requested him for a high-profile job next week. Some Spanish mobsters coming in to negotiate Mediterranean territory rights on neutral soil.

I'd be going along, of course, and so would Calo. Because the babysitter also needs a babysitter.

He's sitting across the aisle from me, reading the same book he always does. The 48 Laws of Power.

"Did you see that Valentina's friend got married?"

For a second I don't think Luca is talking to me, but after a few moments of silence I start feeling like all eyes might be on me.

"Raisa Volkov, yes."

"Raisa Pavlov now."

"So, you know her name." I dryly state. The two months of break I had from him made me forget how obsessed he is with her. From asking too many questions about her to outwardly admitting he wanted to kiss her on New Year's, my skin crawls time I hear Valentina's name coming out of his mouth.

"Why are you always so defensive about her?"

The quiet in the cabin is uncomfortable. I can see Pia shaking her head in a knowing way from where she's sitting a couple of rows in front of me.

Vinnie looks between the two of us, trying to think of ways to ease the tension.

"I'm not defensive, just annoyed."

"It's so easy to rile you up when it comes to her, yet you say you've never fucked her."

Vinnie and I look at each other in disbelief, and I'm sure everyone else is thinking the same thing.

What the fuck?

"She's my friend." I calmly say.

"What club do you want to go to tomorrow?" Isabella chimes in from behind us as she stands and walks down the aisle until she's between us.

"There's a new club we haven't been to in Soho." Aurora replies, nodding her head. She throws me a look like she knows something I don't.

"That one's sold out tomorrow, I could only get tickets for Marco's birthday next week." Isabella sits down on the armrest of my seat. She turns her head to look down at me. "What about RedLight?"

"Not until May." I answer.

She groans, then perks up. "What about the one in West Village? With the terrace?"

"Bloom?" Pia asks.

Isabella claps her hands. "Yes! Yes, let's go to that one."

"I think it's full." Vinnie joins the conversation, a little too eager to take that club off the list.

"Isn't the owner's daughter obsessed with you?" Pia smirks.

Vinnie rolls his eyes. "She's not obsessed with me."

"She messaged you twice in the past two months trying to get you to go to the club."

The reality of what's about to happen once the city opens again washes over me. Too many people our age knowing who we are and trying to get our attention because of our last names. I've gotten so used to only being surrounded by people I choose to hang out with that I've completely forgotten what our social lives used to be like before lockdown.

"Talk to her." Isabella says, but there's something in her voice that doesn't make her sound like her normal self. "She'll definitely find a table for us."

"I'm not going to use some random girl to get us a table at the club."

"I'll text her." Eddie pipes up from all the way in the back of the plane next to Marco. "She must know who I am if he's obsessed with Vinnie." I don't have to turn around to know that he's got a shit eating grin on his face.

West Village, New York, US - April 2nd, 2021

The guy who owns the club is Italian, apparently, and his daughter has an entire roped-off VIP section right next to the DJ booth. Her name is Camilla, and she texted Eddie back almost instantly, happy to accommodate our party of eight.

The VIP section has velvet couches and hardwood tables with gold accents stretching over their surface, which makes me think that they're trying too hard to come off as a high-end club.

"She's hot." I say into Vinnie's ear as he opens the second Vodka bottle of the night.

"Then go for it." he practically begs me, eyes desperate as he looks at me.

I laugh. "Since when do you not like the attention?"

I hold my glass out for him to fill it. He shakes his head as he does. "I'm just not interested in her."

Isabella appears next to me, also holding out her glass. "Me too."

I watch as Vinnie fills her glass as well, and it looks as if he's avoiding her eyes on purpose.

He excuses himself (something he never does) and steps between us to go over towards where Camilla's table is located.

I glare at Isabella as I lean in so she can hear me over the music. "What is going on with you?"

She knocks her glass against mine in cheers. "What do you mean?"

"You guys are weird. I mean you don't...get long, but you do get along. You barely interact with each other but when you do, it's unusual, I don't know. Something's up."

I don't even know what to say to her or how to explain it, but I just know they're being fishy.

I stare at her. She's bullshitting me and I can see it all over her face. There's nowhere to hide, not when I've known her all my life.

"He mentioned Sofia to me again a few weeks ago and I snapped, Matteo." She yells into my ear, a little too loud.

I pull my head back. "You 'snapped'?"

"Yes, I fucking snapped. I cannot do this anymore."

Hair falls into my eyes as I shake my head. "You're being a little dramatic, don't you think?"

Her jaw hits the floor like it always does when somebody speaks facts she doesn't like. Her hand comes to her chest.

"Um, no?!"

"It's Vinnie. Like you don't know him. He'll eventually get over her."

She looks confused so I lean in once again, repeating what I just said. She shakes her head and pulls away.

"I think he'll never get over her as long as she's alive."

"It's Vinnie. Leave it be."

"I can't. I've tried but I can't."

My face contorts in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

She impatiently huffs and downs all of her drink in one go. I am confused and a little scared, because she's acting like she's on the verge of a breakdown.

Her eyes dart around the room, unfocused, and I see that she's trying to gather up the courage to tell me something.

"I'm in love with him, Matteo. I've been in love with him for a long time."

It's...not surprising. She's searching my face to see what I'm thinking. I take two large gulps that empty my third glass of the night.

"And is that why he's also being fishy?"

"No, he doesn't know."

Isabella looks over my shoulder, probably at my best friend, and I can see it in her eyes. It's there, that gut wrenching longing, a gaze full of hope and helplessness, and I wonder if she's always looked like this and I just never noticed.

"Oh my God. You are in love with him."

She shushes me by slapping a hand over my mouth, as if anyone could even hear us over the Jason Derulo song that's piercing my ears. I lick her palm and she lets go of me, her face scrunching in fake disgust.

"Who else knows?" I ask as I refill her glass.

"Valentina."

"Just her?"

She looks at me for the first time in a couple of minutes. "Yes."

"Is he the reason you never hook up with anyone, ever?"

She shrugs. "I've never thought about it." I watch as she brings the glass up to her lips. "Maybe."

Then it's like a switch flips, and she gets that mischievous glint in her eyes. "Is she the reason you haven't flirted with anyone this year??"

It's my turn to avoid the reality of the situation by drinking.

Her eyes immediately shift from my face to someone behind me, and I know who it is now that makes her look like a sad little girl.

She walks over to Aurora and Luca, who are in a conversation with the waiter.

"You haven't tried to pull anyone yet." Vinnie observes as he leans over to take a RedBull from the ice bucket. "You've been standing here by yourself for the past ten songs.

"There's no one here I like."

He shakes his head, not accepting it, then moves me by the arms in the direction of Camilla's table.

"What about her friend?" he asks, slinging his arm around my shoulders.

His mood has changed, and I know him well enough to know he did coke with Camilla during the block of time they were both absent about an hour ago.

"What friend?"

He nods over to the brunette sitting down on the couch. I've already made eye contact with her a couple of times throughout the night, and yeah, she's attractive. But there's something about the fact that she's been sitting and scrolling through her phone for most of the night that's incredibly unattractive.

"She's exactly your type."

"I don't have a type."

"She looks like Valentina."

I snort. "She doesn't look like Valentina."

"Valentina from Shein." Marco joins the conversation, because why not get more people talking about this?

Luca also spawns next to Vinnie.

"Hey, it's okay you know." Marco starts. "To like her, I mean. Valentina. No one is judging you for it, I mean, what's there not to like? I know her brother, he's cool. And although she might be a little out of your league, I think you have a shot."

I'd be offended if I weren't genuinely happy to hear him say these words.

"Just because dad doesn't like the fact that she's a Russian orthodox instead of a catholic Italian, that doesn't mean we don't like her."

Vinnie and I exchange looks. We both know that's not the reason my father dislikes the thought of Valentina, but it's not something to advertise.

"You have my blessing." Marco ends the shortest speech in the world.

"And mine." Vinnie agrees.

"And mine." Luca grins, and I swear if he mentions her name one more time I'm going to punch him straight in the face.

Luckily he doesn't, because the waiter brings the tray of shots Aurora and Luca must have ordered.

Everyone's attention turns to the table, but Vinnie finds me amid the chaos.

"I agree with him, Matteo."

"Weren't you the one who was insisting it would be a bad idea?"

"Yes, but Isabella's okay with the idea and I'm getting the impression that you wouldn't just sleep around with her."

"No, I wouldn't."

He pats my back.

"Just don't fuck it up before it even begins."

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aaaaahhhhh sooo excited for the next chapterss

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see you next chapter!

p.s. any feedback is appreciated and welcomed as everything i post is the first original draft!