Page 95 of Matteo
“You know that’s not a shot glass, right?”
He shrugged.
“I can hold my liquor.” He downed it in one go, then slammed the glass on the bartop. “So, are we going to talk about it?”
Gabriel made a noise of frustration. “Talk about what?”
“Amara’s cold shoulder and those diabolical twins glaring at you.” Nikola didn’t miss anything when it came to others, but insight into his own life… blind as a bat. He turned to me and pinned me with a stare. “And can’t you just move on from Arianna? I mean, the women look… well, identical.”
I let out a sardonic breath. If only it was that simple.
“The sisters couldn’t be more different. Ari is my missing piece and the only one for me.”
Silence thickened the space. Gabriel could relate, but Nikola looked like I’d just spoken Greek to him—not that I could speak Greek.
I could see it in his expression the exact moment he decided to give up trying to understand the words I’d just uttered.
“Sounds heavy.” Nikola yawned. He fucking yawned, then his eyes lit up and I could see an idea flicker in that pale gaze. “Tell her you’re dying,” he suggested, dead serious. “Terminal disease or some shit like that.”
No. Fucking. Words.
“Yeah, nothing works as efficiently as faking your own illness,” Gabriel muttered. “It’s exactly what he’s going for. Pity.”
Nikola shrugged. “Pity fuck is better than no fuck.”
“I can’t fucking wait until you’re in love, because I swear to God, I’m going to?—”
“Let me stop you right there.” Nikola raised his hand, his palm in Gabriel’s face. “Love is not in my vocabulary. Foreplay, on the other hand, definitely is, and let me tell you, women love it.”
Gabriel stared at him in disbelief. “Are you fucking with me right now?”
“You’re not my type.” He directed his next words at me. “Listen to me, buddy. If you’re insisting on not marrying Hannah, go all out with Arianna—stalk, leave a beating human heart at her doorstep, kidnap her. It worked for my uncle Sasha. Think of it as…”
I stopped listening, but as I left a babbling Nikola behind, I couldn’t shake off a thought. Damn crazy Russians and their ideas.
First, I’d do things the right way. If that didn’t work, Ari would get a taste of exactly how far I would go for her.
For us.
I found my pa in his office with Uncle Massimo. It was like déjà vu, except that everything had gone to fucking hell.
“Nobody is as good as Nico at following a digital footprint. We need his help to get to the bottom of this.”
The whole belles thing was weighing on Pa, and me if I was honest. If there was any chance of those medieval auctions resurfacing, Francesca would be first in line for the taking.
Uncle Massimo snickered. “Are you sure it’s wise to ask Nico for help after his daughter sucker-punched your son?”
“She didn’t,” I stated, taking a seat opposite my uncle and father.
“That’s right, you accidentally fell into her fist,” Uncle stated dryly.
“Which accidentally broke your nose,” Pa added with a grim expression.
“None of it would’ve happened if you hadn’t set me up with thewrong fucking sister.”
Uncle Massimo whistled. “That sounds like quite the pickle.”
I glared at him.
