Chapter 1.2 - Matteo

"Valentina." Matteo says, drawing out the "i".

"And you?"

He raises his eyebrows. "Matteo."

Valentina nods in acknowledgement and looks around. "Is this where you live?"

Ariana looks at Matteo questioningly, like she wants to see how he'll react.

"Yes." Matteo answers and takes the plate back once it's done the rounds. Just then, Aleksi comes into view. His eyes fall on Valentina and he freezes.

"Alex? I thought you weren't coming tonight." Valentina says, as if they've known each other forever. The way she speaks and accentuates her sentences make her sound like she's either from Russia, Poland, or somewhere is Eastern Europe. Maybe Romania.

Matteo makes eye contact with Aleksi, who looks like his mother has just caught him dealing drugs.

"I invited him; thought he'd change his mind." Matteo interjects and then stands up to walk over to him. He holds the plate up to his chin. "Would you like a line?"

Aleksi looks at Valentina, as if to ask for permission, which annoys Matteo even more, for no reason at all.

When Valentina shrugs and smiles, Aleksi takes out his little spoon.

Matteo's phone starts buzzing in his pocket again, but the vibrations are different, which means it's his father calling.

He hands the plate back over to Vinnie and tells the group that he'll be right back.

He walks through the door at the end of the hallway, which opens into his parents' side of the villa, and then straight ahead into his father's office. "When you talk business on the phone, always do it in the office, and always through our private line." his father would tell him when he heard him talking to someone about a shipment in the kitchen one day.

He didn't explain why, but Matteo figured that the offices in every one of his father's properties were the only rooms where no one could plant bugs in, because he would always know everyone who stepped through the doors.

"Yes?" he answers once he's inside the office, not bothering to close the door.

"Is it done?" his father asks.

"Yes. The guy brought the exact amount and everything went smoothly."

"Are you having a party?"

"Yes."

"Romeo is on the staff floor if you need anything."

"Yeah, thanks."

Romeo has always been their housekeeper. "Housekeeper" in the sense that he's sort of like a guard dog, who also takes care of the personnel in their Italy homes and keeps the houses in check. So yes, he's a "housekeeper". At least that's what their balance sheets say.

Matteo looks out the window for a second after hanging up on his father, then decides he needs another line. As he closes the door to the office, he sees Valentina at the other end of the hallway.

"What are you looking for?" he asks in an accusatory tone.

She raises a brow at his tone. "The bathroom? The one in your room is occupied."

"It's the door across from my room."

Valentina nods before she turns around and walks away. Matteo watches her back for a second, eyes wandering down just for the fun of it. A small tattoo is peeking out from under the dress.

When he gets back, Marco and Eddie are out of the bathroom, sipping their drinks in a corner of the room and talking about something in a hushed tone.

"Let's go do some shots by the pool!" Ariana suggests, standing up from the bed. She straightens out her dress as she says something to Vinnie.

The energy suddenly shifts, and Marco and Eddie both stop talking when Valentina enters the room.

"Anybody up for shots?" she asks, looking at no one in particular.

"Sure." Marco responds, and Matteo watches his brother throw a smile in her direction. Eddie also looks at her in a way that doesn't indicate attraction, but rather respect. Everyone in the room acts like they know who she is and like she's always been a part of their lives, and yet Matteo feels like she never really existed up until this point.

They all leave his room and return to the pool area. Matteo grabs Isabella's arm on the way to the bar. Isabella has been the one girl friend in Matteo's life that he's never had sex with and who also knows him inside out.

She never liked Allison and kept telling him that she was way too toxic because she was jealous of their close friendship. When they broke up, Allison ended up telling Matteo that one of the reasons she acted crazy was because "there was something going on between you and Isabella". They still laugh about it today and she'll never let go of the fact that she was right.

Having a girl best friend has turned out to be a blessing for Matteo, because he can understand women better and can get input from someone who has his best interest in mind. And even though at the beginning of her "spirituality, everything is energy" phase Matteo had insisted she was high, her whole belief system about how the laws of the universe works started rubbing off on him too. (He would never admit it to anyone though.)

"What?" she asks, looking towards the group that just left them behind.

"Who's that girl, Valentina?"

"She used to be my roommate in boarding school." she explains. "We're going to be in the same dorm at college too. I like her, we get along."

"Yeah, but like who is she? Have I seen her around before? She looks like she knows everyone here."

Isabella looks at him confused, then shakes her head and smiles. "Ask her yourself, I don't know her life story."

She's obviously lying. Matteo squints at her. "Oh, but you look like you do."

"It's not my place to tell other people's stories. Why do you care anyway?"

"I feel like I don't trust her. She's got one of those resting bitch faces."

Isabella looks annoyed with him. "I trust her. And not everything in the world revolves around you, you know."

He lets go of her arm and she pats him on the head, before turning around and hurrying towards the bar.Vinnie is taking out glasses from the bar and Matteo sits on the last empty chair next to Isabella. Ariana is sitting between her and Valentina, who's sitting next to Marco.

Aleksi is chatting to Eddie behind the bar when his sister comes up to them and stops right behind Valentina, placing her hands on her shoulders.

"Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you." Raisa smiles. Valentina smiles back and scoots a bit further on the chair to make room for her. "Aleksi? What are you doing here?"

"I decided to come after all." He answers, making eye contact with Matteo for a moment. Something's weird about the whole interaction, but Matteo can't quite place what or why.

Actually...it's definitely the drug thing.

"What did you come with?" Raisa pushes.

"Where were you?" Valentina jokes and gently places her arm around Raisa's shoulders.

"I met one of my friends from school, James." Raisa explains and Valentina looks at her unimpressed.

"You didn't."

"I didn't, I promise!" Raisa laughs.

"Who wants Tequila, who wants something else?" Vinnie asks.

Valentina, Ariana and Matteo choose to drink Tequila while the rest of the group chooses Vodka.

"You're Russian and you don't drink Vodka?" Raisa jokes, looking at Valentina.

Raisa Volkov, who Matteo sort of had a thing with at the end of summer (they had sex after a party), who is also Aleksi's sister, also knows this Valentina. It seems so coincidental that Matteo can't wrap his brain around why it's unusual.

The thing that really bothers him though, is that he had never noticed her before even though he knows she looks familiar, and suddenly it seems like she's everywhere.

----

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