Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Anya
We’ve finished our snack and have been talking for almost an hour in the breakfast nook of the kitchen by the time Matteo texts me. Aunt Irina sees my phone light up before I even do, and I swear she looks like she’s trying to resist stealing it from me as I hesitantly pick it up.
“Well, come on,” she encourages, leaning closer on the bench. “Is it him?”
“You’re so excited,” I comment, biting my lip. “It’s just a text. He says good morning.”
“Is that all?” she probes. Peering down at my phone, she reads aloud, “‘Good morning, Anya. Do you want to call or text today?’”
“You’re nosier than I remember,” I tease, tucking the phone to my chest in mock protectiveness.
Ignoring my comment, she grins widely. “Well, isn’t that nice. He asks you what you’d rather do.”
“I told you he was nice.”
“So you did, indeed.” She nods to my phone. “Well, are you going to answer him? Tell him to call you. I wish to meet this young man of yours.”
“He’s not mine,” I grumble under my breath. Moving my phone away from my body so that I can see the screen, I flick my gaze from it to my aunt. “I’ll tell him to call as long as you promise not to embarrass me.”
“Solnyshka, I would never,” she tells me in a vow, her voice going serious.
“Okay,” I breathe out, convinced of her genuine promise.
Anya
You can call now, if you’re not busy.
My aunt doesn’t even have time to sneak a look at my reply text before my phone starts ringing with a video call. She makes a girlish sound of surprise and claps her hands together excitedly.
“He’s eager to speak to you,” she says happily, patting my hand. “I believe I like this young man already.”
“He’s just quick with replying,” I mumble. “No need to read into it.”
Placing my phone against the flower vase in the center of the small table, I move closer to Irina and hit accept before she can say anything else. Our faces light up the screen as quickly as his does.
A look of surprise flashes over his face, his blue eyes widening as he sees that I’m not alone. Even so obviously shocked, he doesn’t take long to recover.
“Anya, you didn’t tell me that you have an older sister.”
My face feels like it’s on fire already, and the compliment is meant to be directed at my aunt.
Though he’s calling her young, it feels like he’s calling me beautiful.
There aren’t many people who are as pretty as Irina Morozov, so for it to be implied that we look like sisters?
It seems impossible, but warms my heart all the same.
“Oh, I can see why my husband doesn’t like you,” Aunt Irina says, amused as she looks at the phone screen then flicks her gaze to me. “He’s a charmer, isn’t he?”
Matteo’s face falls, his playful grin vanishing in an instant. “You’re Lev’s wife? I’m so sorry.”
I have to physically cover my mouth to catch the laugh that threatens to spill out of my mouth. He’s being sarcastic, but the genuine anguish in his apology to my aunt is so perfectly crafted that I can’t deny the humor it elicits from me.
“A jokester as well, it seems,” Irina muses, tilting her head. “A dangerous combination.”
“Well, I do like to live dangerously.” He chuckles. “I didn’t know I would be meeting anyone on this call. I would have brushed my hair. This is hardly a great impression I’m making.”
Arching a brow, my aunt teases, “Oh, so my niece is not reason enough to brush your hair?”
Before he can answer, I finally jump in. “Matteo, this is my Aunt Irina. She’s kidding.”
She flashes a pearly grin. “I am her Aunt Irina, but I’m hardly kidding. It’s nice to meet you though. My lovely niece speaks very highly of you, though my husband does not.”
Matteo laughs. “Yeah, he, uh, he didn’t seem to like me very much. I try not to take it personally. It’s pretty rare that someone dislikes me at first sight.”
“It is not rare at all for my Lev to dislike someone at first sight, so you’re right to not take it to heart. He’s a tough nut to crack. But if you’re relentless, you may wear him down someday.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Matteo tells her, grinning. “I have some experience with being relentless. I think I’m up to the task. What do you think, Anya?”
“I wouldn’t put it past you,” I tell him, feeling more shy than normal.
Introducing Matteo to my aunt feels like some kind of monumental step now that it’s happening.
We’ve only been friends for almost a week, and he’s already got me comfortable enough to video-chat on what seems like it could be a daily basis.
And now he’s charming my aunt like he’s known me for years.
“I hear that you often video call with the little Moretti-Morozov babies,” Aunt Irina says, sounding hopeful. “Is there any chance I could see them as well? I have yet to meet them, you know? I’ve only seen pictures.”
“Shoot, yeah, of course.” Matteo gets up and rustles around, and then a door opens. “Let me go steal a minute with them. They’ll be going down for a nap here soon, but I can catch them first.”
“It’s okay if they’re busy—”
He cuts me off before I can get the words out. “Pshh, never too busy to see their favorite uncle and their Anya. Besides, Irina is technically their great aunt or cousin or something. I don’t know how extended family titles work. We just use whatever feels best.”
“I will gladly take any title,” Irina replies, sounding excited by the prospect.
There’s more sounds of walking, and half of Matteo’s face vanishes as he moves around. “I’ll take this, thank you. I need to borrow this cute face, thank you very much. Be right back.”
“Matteo, you can’t hold them both and your phone at the same time,” a feminine voice protests.
“Ana, will you ever cease underestimating me?” He huffs. “I can bench press them and juggle their toys at the same time.”
“That doesn’t even make any sense—”
“Bye, I’ll be back in a minute,” he sings. More quietly he begins to talk to what I can only assume is the twins as he walks away. “Auntie Ana doesn’t know how silly she sounds doubting Uncle Matteo, does she?”
In a matter of seconds, the video becomes clear again. Matteo has his phone propped up out of his hands, on what judging by the background surrounding him, is the kitchen counter.
As if holding them up to display them for us, he has Isobella scooped on one arm and Cesar on the other. His black T-shirt has gone tight as they sit on his hips, the fabric stretching to account for their weight. And his large, muscular arms make them look even smaller than they are.
“Say hello, children, you’re on live.”
His voice startles me out of my staring and Aunt Irina immediately coos through the call. “Oh my gosh, they are absolutely precious. I wish I could reach through the phone and pinch their little cheeks, ugh. Isobella, isn’t it? She looks just like my Nadya did at that age.”
“Yes, Isobella and Cesar,” I answer for her, feeling warm and fuzzy as I watch Matteo kiss each of their heads. “Did they have a good day today?”
“Oh yeah,” Matteo confirms, rocking from side to side to keep them entertained. “Lots of fun today. We did water time, tummy time, and snack time all before the morning has even ended. Kids have so many times, don’t they?”
“They sure do,” my aunt agrees. “I’m so envious that your house is filled with such little babies still. I miss the baby days. My Nadya is twelve now, such a big girl. It’s so unfair how fast time moves in some instances and how slow in others.”
“Tell me about it,” Matteo agrees with a chuckle. “I feel like just yesterday Jade found us, and now she’s married with twin babies. And at the same time, I met Anya only a week ago and I feel like I’ve known her my whole life.”
My breath catches, hearing that he feels almost the same as I do.
“Oh, hold on,” Matteo says, spotting something out of the corner of his eye. “Mama has come to take the babies. I must hand them over or face the consequences. I’ll send some more pictures and videos that you can share with Auntie Irina though.”
“I like him,” my aunt mouths as he disappears from view.
“He’s hard not to like,” I confess in a blushing whisper.
Matteo comes sauntering back into view and I have to avoid looking at his full frame.
He’s so handsome and muscular, you can see it even when his skin isn’t visible.
I never thought much of men’s bodies outside of ballet.
Like, I understood there was a beauty in strength, but I didn’t find myself seeking it out to gaze at.
And once I developed my undeniable fear of men, there was no pondering their bodies at all. Still, somehow I keep wanting to look at Matteo. To appreciate his physique as well as his face.
It’s unnerving.
“Sorry that was such a short meeting. Cesar is actually calm enough for a nap today so Jade is making damn sure it happens.”
I laugh, nodding in understanding.
“Cesar likes to fight sleep,” I explain to my aunt. “He’s very interested in never missing out on anything that may be going on around him. He’s a curious boy. And sassy. You should hear how he talks. So sure of his words, even when they’re naughty.”
“Naughty?”
“Oh yeah,” Matteo agrees, grinning. “Didn’t that husband of yours tell you that he dropped the F-bomb at the wedding and Cesar mimicked him all too happily.”
“He did not,” Irina gasps.
“He did,” I confirm, hiding a smile. “Thankfully Uncle Lev didn’t teach him the word, just gave him an opportunity to show us that he knew it.”
“Well,” my aunt huffs. “I think I’ll leave you two to your talking so that I can go chastise him for swearing in the company of babies.”
“He’ll dislike me even more now.” Matteo chuckles, not sounding upset about it. “Nice meeting you, Irina.”
“And you, Matteo. I think I’ll be seeing much more of you in the future,” she tells him, moving out of frame to shoot me a wink.
I look away from her playful expression, trying not to blush at the implication.
Picking up his phone to move, Matteo keeps his eyes on the screen while he walks—presumably out of the kitchen. “You look happy today.”
I blink, processing what he’s just said. “Do I normally not look happy?”
“Happier,” he corrects. “Did you have fun with your aunt? She seems nice, nicer than her husband for sure.”
I laugh lightly at his joke and decide to pick up my phone as well, bringing it closer now that I don’t have to share the frame.
“Yeah, we had fun. We just did some yoga together and talked. She’s easy to talk to.”
Like you.
“Oooo, yoga,” he says, almost wincing. “I tried that with Jade and Ana once. It turns out that I’m not very flexible. I pulled a hamstring and was limping on it for a week.”
“You’re kidding,” I say, head shaking in disbelief.
“I know, I know. Hard to believe someone in such good shape could be thwarted by something as peaceful as yoga. But Ana was challenging me, and I couldn’t let her think she could best me at anything.
She’d never let me forget it.” He sighs, long and disappointed.
“She ended up being able to make fun of my limp anyway, so all my effort was for naught.”
“Ana is your sister-in-law right?” I ask, trying to confirm the image in my head.
Long hair as black as night, pale complexion, and slim frame.
She was Asian, but spoke with a British accent and had apparently been married to Matteo’s third oldest brother not too long ago.
She made a speech at Dmitri’s wedding, as Jade’s maid of honor.
It was lovely, and everyone seemed to agree with the rousing round of applause it earned her.
“Yeah, Cassio’s wife,” Matteo verifies. “She’s actually technically just my sister, not an in-law. They did a blood marriage. It’s an old family tradition that isn’t very common. But essentially, it made her family even more than a regular marriage would. We all treat her like one of our own.”
“Sounds interesting.” And complicated.
“She lost a lot of loved ones before she married Cassio. He wanted to give her more than a husband, so he gave her our family, too.”
“A big family,” I add, watching as Matteo’s hair bounces. He’s climbing stairs, I think.
“A huge family,” he agrees in a chuckle. “It seems like it gets bigger every day.”
“Not a bad thing.”
“No,” he agrees, looking at me with a small, soft smile. “No, not a bad thing at all.”
“I talked to my aunt about our fathers,” I mention, not sure what else to say. “She asked me if my dad went to visit there, if I would go too.”
“What did you say?” he asks, almost sounding hopeful.
“I don’t think I could,” I admit sadly. “Leaving the house again, maybe. Leaving the state again? I don’t think I’m ready for that. It was really difficult, honestly. I slept a lot the first couple days after coming home from the wedding just to recover.”
“Ahh, is that why you took several days to contact me?” he asks, teasing. He doesn’t try to convince me to travel, but lightens the mood effortlessly. It’s like his superpower, making me feel comfortable and amused all at once.
“Maybe,” I reply, half-honestly.
“Maybe, she says.” He grins, coming to a stop as he jumps into bed. He’d been retreating to his room, then. Perhaps I’ll do the same. “I’ll take it. What else did your aunt say? She didn’t try to pressure you, did she?”
“No,” I tell him quickly. “She’s not like that at all. She’s very patient.”
“Good.”
“She had a suggestion, though,” I admit, feeling my stomach bubble with nerves.
Matteo tilts his head slightly, curiosity lighting behind his eyes. “What suggestion might that be?”
I bite the inside of my cheek and exhale silently.
“She thought you might like to visit instead. Not any time soon,” I quickly add.
“But maybe you’d want to come eventually…
I think she mostly just wants to meet you.
I told her you might get bored just hanging around the house, since I don’t really go anywhere—”
He cuts off my rambling with three words. “I’d love to.”
“You would?” I ask, blinking at him in surprise.
“Of course,” he agrees. “It makes sense. Traveling isn’t your jam, and I’ve been riding around on private jets with my brothers since I was a baby. I like seeing new places as it is. And I doubt I could be bored hanging around your house. You’d be there.”
You’d be there.
He says those words like they’re the most obvious thing in the world. Like he couldn’t possibly imagine boredom as long as we’re together.
“Okay,” I say. “Some day, then.”
“Some day,” he agrees, smiling.
Maybe sooner than I know.