Chapter 2.1. - Matteo
2012 Words
She looks confused to see me here out of all places, so I raise my eyebrows to let her know that I’m just as surprised to see her here as she is.
Luca looks over at her then back at me. “Who is she?”
“She’s a friend.”
“She’s hot.”
The way he says it makes me grit my teeth. “Yes, she looks good.”
“Is she single?”
I want to say yes, but the truth is, I don’t know. And I also don’t want Luca to get any ideas. It would make things too complicated; it’s like there are two worlds that shouldn’t collide.
When I look back to see what she’s doing I don’t find her at the table, and she’s close enough to hear us when my eyes meet hers again.
She’s wearing a black dress that goes right above her knees and definitely hides the body I remember from a couple of months ago. Her dark brown hair is a little bit shorter than the last time I saw her, but she still looks beautiful up close.
“Hi.” she says, checking me out. I still can’t process the fact that I know her from school and she’s here in this world, associated with shootings and billionaire hotel owners. I have no idea how to act around her given the circumstances and given the fact that she was right next to Romeo when I shot him, so I look at my shoes.
“You look handsome.”
“You look good too.” I say. She looks at me with a sarcastic look that says ‘really?’, so I add “and I’m not saying it just because you said it.”
She smiles. “I know.”
Luca leans over to me. “I’m going to the bathroom.”
“Who is that?”
I look at Luca as he walks away.
“It’s my partner. Luca.” I notice that her glass is full “Looks like you’re struggling.”
“I don’t even like champagne. It doesn’t taste so good and it takes liters to get drunk.”
“You’re drinking it though.”
“What am I supposed to do? Not drink at these events? It’s the only way I get through them.”
“Do you go to these types of events often?”
“My parents make me go.”
I lean against the bar so we can be at the same eyelevel. “What are you doing here?”
“I told you, my family.”
“I meant, why did you come over?”
She rolls her eyes and tries not to smile. “I want to get a proper drink, and to say hello.”
The bartender is already looking in our direction so I whistle at him to get his attention, waving him over when he acknowledges me.
“What does the tattoo mean?” she asks.
I don’t want to lie to her, but I also don’t want to open the subject. I’m about to order two gin and tonics when I remember that I called him over for Valentina.
“What do you want to drink?”
“Gin Tonic, obviously.”
Turning back to her, I take a moment to read her face. The way she looked when Romeo started spitting up his guts all over her is something I can’t forget. She didn’t look shocked or scared, she looked like couldn’t understand what was going on. Then she (…)
I’m curious to find out how it affected her, because it’s not what I would’ve expected from someone in her situation.
She fidgets. “What?”
The way it comes out with her accent makes me smile inside. “How are you?”
“I’m good, why?”
“I haven’t seen you since-“ I catch myself before I slip “Since your birthday.”
Valentina squints at me in a playful manner, and I’m not sure whether I’m playing it cool or not.
“What?” I smirk, trying to mimic the exact way she said it.
“How are you?”
I laugh at the way she just tried her best Italian impression.
“Also good. A little bored.”
“What are you even doing here? I thought this is a Russian event.”
I uncomfortably shift. “My dad’s security company was hired for the event a while back.”
“So, you’re supposed to be from security?”
I nod.
“Do you have a gun?”
The nonchalant way she poses the question takes me by surprise. “I do.”
“Have you ever shot someone?”
My stomach sinks. “No.”
“Why are you lying?”
“Because it’s not something I like to talk about.”
“I think it’s interesting.”
I tilt my head. “Why?”
“I don’t know. It’s just interesting. The circumstances, the story behind it.”
“Why do you think there’s a story?”
“There’s always a story.”
“I’m not going to talk about it though.”
“That’s alright.”
Any normal human being would be terrified to talk about guns after someone got shot right next to them, right? Although I remember being alright after seeing Luca’s dad get killed right in front of me more than a decade ago.
“Anything interesting happen to you?” I ask, unable to let it go.
“Not really. We had to stay inside for the past month.”
“Why?”
I want to see if she tells me about it.
“Covid.”
Luca appears in my line of vision.
“What does she want? Why is she still here?”
“Do you have a problem with her? Be nice.” I tell him, eye drifting to Valentina to see if she’s paying us any attention. She pretends to be doing something else while I talk to him.
“Are you going to f**k her or can I do it?” he grins.
I don’t like it when guys talk about Isabella like that, and I’m not enjoying him talking this way about Valentina either.
“I think that’s up to her.” I tell him, a little harsher than intended.
“Nice seeing you here.”
We both turn to look at a very smiley Raisa before she leans over to kiss both of my cheeks as a form of greeting. Her lips linger on my cheek longer than they should, and I remember Ariana telling me that she has a boyfriend.
“I’m Raisa.”
Luca takes her hand and brings it up to his mouth, pressing a kiss to the back of her palm.
“What are you doing after this?” Luca asks them, and I can see that he’s looking at Valentina. She doesn’t look impressed as she opens her mouth to answer, but Raisa is quicker.
“Nothing yet. Why?”
“Maybe we can get some drinks after?”
Valentina and I make eye contact.
“Maybe.” Raisa smiles, then turns to Valentina. “Your father is looking for you.”
“I’ll go.” She looks at me again. “Have fun.”
“You too.”
We watch them walk away, and I can’t help but notice how Valentina’s hip sway with every step she takes. I peel my eyes away from her when Luca leans into me.
“She’s hot, who is she?”
“Which one are you talking about?”
“The one in black.”
“They’re both in black.”
“The one who came up first.”
My jaw clenches. “Valentina.”
“Valentina.” He repeats, drawing out the last syllable. “She looks like she has a room here. Do you know the other one?”
“Yes, I’ve slept with her before.”
“What about Valentina?”
“We haven’t had s*x, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I’ll take her then.”
“She’s not yours to take.”
“Who is that?” I ask, trying to change the subject. She's talking to a man who looks familiar.
“I don’t know.” I really don’t, but I know I’ve seen him somewhere before.
“Matteo and Luca, you can move to Room 28 in the basement.”
The voice in my right ear nearly startles me. I press the button on the receiver. “What’s going on?”
“There’s a private poker game scheduled, and the host requested security.”
I spare one last look at Valentina and the man as we move across the room towards the door leading to the basement.
The room is dimly lit with a poker table in the middle. There’s a guy arranging bottles at bar in the corner who asks us to set nine chairs around the table.
The first three men who come in as we arrange the chairs are smoking cigars and loudly talking in a foreign language. I’ve been around enough people today to know that they’re Russians. The one in the middle is the loudest one, his head in the shape of a pear, face red from all the laughing he’s doing.
Two other men are right behind them, also not bothering to look in our direction as they head directly to the bar. I notice that there’s five of them but there are nine chairs.
The door opens after a few more minutes, and the man from earlier walks in, followed by Valentina. The way she’s holding his arm means they’re either related or dating. He looks old enough to be her young-looking father if I’m honest.
“What is she doing here?” pear-face asks in almost perfect American accent.
Does the man Valentina’s with not understand Russian? Who is he?
He answers pear-face in Russian, which makes my father-theory even stronger. The guy doesn’t like the answer because his back straightens.
I take a step in his direction. “Is there a problem?”
“No.” they both answer.
As they take their seats at the table while the dealer comes out, I notice that two seats are still empty.
The man sitting next to Valentina looks at us. “Would you like to join?”
The question is music to my ears; it means I can play poker instead of just standing around for God knows how long.
“No, thank you.” Luca answers.
I grin. “Sure.”
I take the seat right across from Valentina. It’s incredibly fun to look at her face, which has shock and surprise written all over it. She looks at me so I mimic her expression.
Let’s see what you can do.
“There’s a ten thousand dollar buy in.” pear-face tells me in a condescending tone.
I don’t look away from Valentina as I reply. “That’s alright.”
“You’re a security guard and you have ten thousand dollars for a poker game?”
My head turns to look at him now that his tone annoyed me. “It’s worth it if I end up taking more home, isn’t it?”
“Cash or card?” the dealer asks.
As I hold my phone against the card reader, I’m excited to see how the game is going to turn out. And most of all, I’m curious to see how Valentina plays.
--
I know I forgot to update on Sunday but here I am!
I have some work to do and I'm settling into a new apartment so that's why I haven't had that much time to write. I will post the next part on Friday!
But I am officially announcing that I won't be able to 100% stick to the 3-part per week schedule. From now on, I hope to get at least two parts updated a week :)
see you on Friday!
xoxo,
Ronnie
- Writer
