Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
Matteo
Waiting to go see Anya after such a good day with her is painful. I almost wish I insisted on staying with her back at the hotel with her uncle. She needed some time to regroup and check in with her therapist, but I wanted to stay with her all the same.
Holding her hand, hugging her, kissing her face…
I was fucking spoiled with Anya’s presence and her touch today.
So much so that I almost embarrassed myself by getting a fucking boner in an alleyway.
Part of me is glad that she didn’t ask me to kiss her lips, because I might have come in my pants like a fucking pervert if she did.
I may never have been able to stop kissing her either.
The other part of me is disappointed that she didn’t ask me to press my lips against hers. I’ll take anything she wants to give me. Hugs and hand holding, whatever scraps of affection she’s willing to share with me, I’ll gladly accept. But I won’t deny wanting more.
At this point, I think it’s ridiculous to pretend otherwise.
While Anya has been regrouping at the hotel, I’ve been spending time with some of my siblings and the babies.
I fear if I didn’t take this time to see them, Jade might get suspicious of where I’ve been all day.
Plus, it’s no hardship to be with my family, even if I’d rather Anya be here with us, too.
As the time nears closer to me needing to leave, I’m silently debating my exit strategy.
I’ll likely make up some excuse to leave with Nico since he’s appointed himself as Anya’s stalker/security.
He refuses to tell me why he’s become attached to Anya or when it happened, even.
Despite his stubborn unwillingness to share, I’m thankful that she has another Moretti looking out for her. An undeniably lethal one at that.
I’m about to text him and ask if he has a plan to get out of here when Apollo, Rayna, and Yordan come gliding into the room. Yordan is practically skipping while Rayna huddles close to her husband, almost looking nervous.
Jade notices them as I do and perks up happily while I contemplate running away before anything they can say interrupts the day. They look like they have news, and given that they’re just waltzing into the house without an obvious reason, I assume they must have something to say.
“Hey, what are you guys doing here?” my sister asks, smiling excitedly. I don’t echo the excitement. I want to leave to go eat dinner with Anya, and I have a feeling that Apollo and Rayna are about to ruin my plans. “Are we doing a group dinner tonight?”
We better not be.
“If Martha doesn’t mind,” Rayna says, folding her lips in to hide a smile. “We have some news that might be nice to celebrate.”
Oh, goddamnit.
I try poorly to hide my disappointment, knowing that I’m about to be forced into a family dinner that will spoil my night with Anya.
Apollo takes his wife’s hand and announces, “We’re having a baby.”
“A boy,” Yordan tacks on, barely getting the words out before the whole room explodes with congratulatory cheer.
Well, now I can’t even be mad at them for ruining my night. It’s great news. An heir for Apollo, another grandchild for Dad, and another cousin for my nieces and nephews.
But fuck if I don’t wish this happened last night instead.
Eyes filled with unshed tears, Martha asks, “How far are you?”
“Twelve weeks,” Rayna replies, looking down at her flat stomach. “The doctor said I should start showing more soon.”
“You haven’t been married for twelve weeks,” Yordan says, eyebrows crinkled in the middle as he looks down and makes a show of counting on his fingers.
A sharp cackle burst out of me, despite my disappointment.
With my head thrown back, I let the humor take me over until it eventually calms. “Marriage doesn’t make a baby, bud.
And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this family is fertile as hell.
Apollo probably just breathed on her—and boom, pregnant. ”
“It was the first time,” Rayna confesses. Apollo’s face transforms into the definition of smug and she rolls her eyes at him.
“I’m pregnant, too,” Jade suddenly blurts out.
Gasps sound all around the room and my eyes widen.
She didn’t tell me?
I guess I can’t be too upset. There’s plenty of things I haven’t told her recently as well. But my heart still seems to clench at the news.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” she apologizes, half covering her mouth with her hand.
“I didn’t mean to say that out loud and cut in on your moment.
I’m only six weeks, I’m not supposed to say anything yet.
I’m just so excited to have a pregnancy buddy this time around.
” Jade is practically bouncing up and down with enthusiasm, like she can barely contain it.
“You didn’t cut in,” Rayna argues softly. “That’s such amazing news, Jade. I’m honestly so excited to have someone to go through this with.”
“Oh thank God,” she replies in a rush, pulling Rayna in close for a long, hard embrace. “I didn’t mean to blurt that out, I swear.”
“I’m glad you did,” Rayna assures her, hugging my sister in return.
“We definitely have to celebrate,” Ana pipes up with a gleeful smirk. “Two of the prettiest Morettis are pregnant, which means two beautiful babies are on the way.”
“Hey,” I protest. “I think we all know, I’m the prettiest Moretti.”
The joke lands, of course it does, but I’m not laughing. As thrilled as I am for Jade having another baby on the way and for Apollo having his first incoming, I’m so disappointed that this news is throwing a wrench in my plans.
More surprisingly though, this news doesn’t have me second-guessing my plans to join Anya in California for a while. I always assumed that for Jade’s next pregnancy, I would want to be there for her as much as I was for the first one. But I want to be there for Anya even more.
Discreetly separating from the group, I whip my phone out to update her.
Matteo
I just found out Jade and Rayna are pregnant. An impromptu family dinner is being thrown together right now to celebrate. I couldn’t get out of this if I tried. I’m so sorry, I would invite you to come but I know you don’t want to meet everyone yet.
Matteo
I’m so fucking glad we went to a matinee so we got to enjoy the ballet uninterrupted but I wish we could have kept our plans for dinner. I can try to dip out of the dinner after a couple hours and meet you at the hotel?
She replies quickly, almost like she’s been waiting for a text.
Anya
I’m so happy for them, that’s great news. If you think you can still come see me tonight, I won’t turn you away. Uncle Mikhail and I will get room service for dinner since you can’t come.
Anya
Are you planning to stay here now? To be with your family during this time?
My fingers fly over my screen, typing fast.
Matteo
Would you judge me if I said HELL NO? My plans aren’t changing in the slightest. I already packed my bags. I’m coming with you unless your father shoots me down.
Anya
Our texts are a judgment-free zone, remember? :)
Matteo
You’re the best. And I’m coming with you, I don’t care what else is going on. I’ll tell my dad our plan after dinner, and I’ll call yours after I come see you. I don’t want to waste anymore time, even on a phone call.
Anya
You’re the best too. See you soon.
I somehow manage to sneak out of the house less than two hours later and make it to the hotel quickly after.
The luxury building Dad put Anya and Mikhail in is one of our best properties that’s close enough to the house for special guests to stay.
And of course, we put them in the best, most secure suite.
They have their own rooms, and a shared living space, kitchen included.
Anya and I end up putting a movie on in the living room, while Mikhail does some work in his bedroom—with the door wide open to keep an eye on us. Though there’s a movie playing, we spend almost every minute of our time together talking.
She asks about Jade and Rayna, wondering about how far along they are, and how the celebratory dinner went.
I ask her more about how she’s been spending her time since coming home from the program.
We talk about the ballet, and she asks me what my favorite parts of it were. She asks if I’ve ever been to a show before, and I tell her that was my first one.
“I thought so,” she muses, smiling almost smugly about being right in her assumption. “I was wondering why your family had box seats if you’ve never been though. Does anyone use them?”
“Well, I…” I almost wince, figuring out how to reply to that. “My dad’s mother used to keep box seats there, but she died young—before any of us ever met her. So no one had used them in over a decade when I called to ask if we still had access to the seats.”
Anya’s brows drawn in confusion. “When did you call?”
“When you sent me your first text,” I admit, trying not to blush like a loser. “I thought it would be nice to have them on standby if you ever came to visit. Even if you never came to visit me, you’d have somewhere to take Isobella and Jade for a little girl’s day or something.”
Her eyes go dewy and I swallow hard.
“You’re the most thoughtful person I’ve ever met, Matteo Moretti.”
“It’s not hard to be thoughtful when it comes to you, Anya Morozova.”
Her breath catches and her cheeks tint pink as she looks back at the television screen, hiding her face from me with her brilliant honey hair.
“I’m glad I was brave enough to come here,” she murmurs, peeking over at me once more. “I’m glad you want to come back with me, too.”
“So am I.”
So glad in fact, that I put off calling her father for permission for hours after leaving her for the night. I spend far too long being worried that he’ll turn me down, that when I finally pick up my phone to call him, I’m sweating.
It takes a few moments before the ringing comes to an abrupt end.
“Matteo,” he answers, voice raspy with what sounds like fatigue. “Why are you calling me at one in the morning?”
“Sorry,” I say with a wince. “Did I wake you up? Isn’t it only ten there?”
He lets out a quiet huff. “You didn’t wake me up, but you would have if you called five minutes later.”
“Well, I’ve been trying not to call for the past hour so I guess my patience gave in at the right time, then.” I shake my head, wincing at the stupid comment. “Wait, you knew it was me when you picked up. Did you save my number even though you didn’t give me yours?”
He grunts, making some kind of old man noise like he’s getting up. “Yes. Now, what is it? Is Anya okay?”
“She’s great,” I assure him quickly. “I left her with Mikhail a couple hours ago. We saw Swan Lake today, did she tell you?”
“Yes,” Anton mutters. “I know you’re not calling me to tell me about your day with my daughter. So what do you need?”
“I can’t be here while I know she’ll be out there without me,” I finally confess, throat going tight. “I know you don’t hate me anymore, but I’d be really fucking grateful if you liked me enough to let me come out there.”
“What?” he questions, voice full of daze and confusion.
“Anya,” I say, feeling my heart ache, wishing I was by her side again already. “I don’t want to be away from her anymore. So, please, tell me I can come back with her.”
“You’re allowed to visit,” he replies, misunderstanding me completely. “You know you are, we’ve been over this.”
“I don’t want to visit,” I emphasize. “I want to stay. I’m going out of my mind here, Sir.
I used to think that I would have a hard time being away from Jade and the twins, but now I think I might actually have some kind of major health event if I don’t start seeing your daughter every day.
Like a heart attack or I don’t fucking know but my chest hurts—all the time. I—”
Suddenly the tiredness is gone from his voice. “Are you asking me to move here?”
“Yes,” I say immediately before I shake my head to myself. “No, I don’t know. Maybe not live, but stay for a long time. I just found out that my sister who I love more than I love myself is having another baby, and all I can think about is your daughter. I don’t want to be anywhere that she isn’t.”
“Have you told your father this?”
“I told him I’m asking to come back with Anya. I haven’t mentioned how long I want to stay,” I admit, not wanting to lie to the man as I’m asking for a favor from him. “But I will, eventually.”
It’s quiet for a moment, and then he grunts again.
“You can come. We’ll take it a week at a time, but our deal still stands. If you do anything to hurt my daughter or her continued recovery, I’ll kick you out of our territory and kill you if you dare to come back before I allow it.”
My body finally relaxes, the tension fleeing me at once. “Thank you.”
“You’ll live at the house Dante bought, or a hotel. If you’re in my daughter’s room, her door stays open. And I don’t want the two of you alone wherever you’re staying. Irina, Lev, Mikhail, or I will be with her if she goes to see you instead of you coming to the house.”
A bit dramatic for ground rules, but I don’t even care.
“Yes, Sir.” I nod to myself. “Thank you again. Fuck, I feel like I can breathe now.”
“Well, I don’t,” he grumbles. “You were supposed to be her friend and you went ahead and fucking fell in love with her.”
My stomach drops, hearing the words from his mouth.
“I—”
“I don’t want your excuses. I’ll see you tomorrow. Go to bed, Matteo.”
“Yes, Sir. Thank you again, I—”
He hangs up before I finish speaking. And despite the fact that he called me out for being hopelessly in love with his daughter, I can’t help smiling.
Tomorrow can’t come soon enough.