Saturday 1:30am
Matteo's next three hours are filled with Vodka Red Bulls, lines of cocaine done in the bathroom, and trying to escape both Raisa and Allison at the same time. Vinnie is nowhere to be seen, still upset about Sophia (maybe), and Isabella and Valentina have been talking on one of the lounge chairs since they've arrived.
Everybody startles when Matteo catches the glass with his hand, saving his own head from being his by a glass. She doesn't say anything else as she marches up the stairs towards the bedrooms.
ValentinaSomewhere on the Balearic Sea, Spain – spring/summer 2020Saturday 01:15amThe first thing Isabella and I did as soon as we saw the open bar was get two gin and tonics. We sat down on two of the lounge chairs on the lower deck. They were facing the sea we're leaving behind, so we watched the sun setting over the horizon.We didn't realize how long we had been talking until they announced the cake.It's already dark by the time we're at our fourth round of G&Ts."Have you noticed that all the girls here besides the two of us are drooling over Matteo?" she asks."I have, actually."Gossiping with Isabella is different from doing it with Raisa. With Isabella it feels as if we're discussing something; with Raisa it feels more like talking behind someone's back."I bet you fifty right now that as soon as Ariana comes back to Hamilton, she'll be all over him.""Who? Vinnie or Matteo?""Matteo, of course. Why would you say Vinnie?""I don't know. I just thought she'd flirted with h
How would it feel?I feel like I already know"I'm in April 2001, so you should've kissed me you idiot!" Marco yells from his seat, and everybody laughs.I feel a weight lifted off my shoulders, like the air is breathable again."Alright, this one's good. We must go clockwise, saying one thing we have never done. Those who have done it have to drink. Matteo starts.""It's Never Have I Ever." Ariana explains when Matteo doesn't speak.He sits up in his chair, and I find myself following the way his muscles flex as he does so."I know that game, okay. Never have I ever..."
Saturday 8:45am, BarcelonaHe's telling me the story about trying to escape Raisa and Allison when Isabella saved him, suggesting the drinking game.He talks fast when he's on drugsI can still follow him though, and he appears to be able to keep up with how much I can talk, not minding it one bit and not looking bored. He looks like he's actually listening, only interrupting when he has something even better to add."I want a pizza because even though I'm not hungry, I can hear my stomach growling and I don't want to pass out."He's leaning back in his palms like he did back in the fountain, legs stretched and spread out, face pointed to the sky."Where from
Saturday 7:11pm, Matteo's kitchenHe goes into the wine cellar, and I wait for him in the kitchen, making us another round of coffee. I hear laughter coming from the garden, so I go over to the windows in the foyer. I see Aurora laughing as she lays on the grass with her phone to her ear.I wonder if she's talking to Adrik.I see someone cutting the roses a bit further away. When he turns his head, I squint.Romeo?He's our gardener when we're in Italy and when we're not, and he's been at our house for over five years now. I must be imagining things. They're wearing the same type of jacket, that's all."Got it."
MatteoPalermo, Sicily – June 1st 2020The initiation ritual doesn't take place on Sunday like Matteo had expected. His father came home in the evening, not at noon like he had said. He was in a good mood, despite their last phone call (he probably had more important things to worry about than his son's behavior) and didn't even talk to Matteo until the n
First, his grandmother formally introdues him to the rest of the men. The first people he's introduced to are Franco and Paulo, consiglieri and underboss, whom he already knows.Then his grandmother introduces Romeo, Vincenzo, Pablo, and Gianluca, the caporegimes – the captains. The ones who did all the dirty work, people who have killed other people.Romeo has always been around,
Palermo, Sicily – June 26th 2020It's grandma Angie's birthday today, so Lorenzo made an exception and gathered the whole family at her house for dinner. The 'family' meaning the extended family that includes the Barone and Altieri families as well.Grandma Angie lives in the townhouse next to their old house in Palermo. It's a one-story old building that