Chapter 6.2 - Valentina

"He's coming over here, I'm dying." Raisa says and I shush her as we both watch Isaac making his way over to us.

"You look familiar." He tells me and I exchange glances with Raisa.

"We used to go to the same middle school."

"What's your name again?"

"I never told you my name." I tell him, not falling for his little trick. "Valentina."

"I saw you at the club in Manhattan a few months ago, that's why you seem familiar." He says, snapping his fingers and smiling.

"Maybe." I smile at him. He's still attractive and he's got that sort of baby face with the jawline that I like when it comes to guys.

"You know Matteo Giudice?"

I shrug. "I guess."

"I know him." Raisa interjects. "Why?"

"He's a friend of mine, I think it was his party."

"How do you know him?" Raisa asks.

"We were classmates for two years in high school after I moved to New York."

"How come I never saw you?" Raisa asks, leaning forwards and taking over the conversation.

"Uh...I didn't really attend school." Isaac says, not taking his eyes off me. I pretend to look down at my drink to let them talk, even though I can feel him watching me.

"And what do you study now?" Raisa asks, even if we both know the answer.

"World Economics at NYU."

The conversation drifts off after that and I pretend not to notice that Isaac is going out of his way to make conversation with me while Raisa obviously wants his attention. Two hours after midnight I get bored and decide it's time to go home. Raise decides to stay and keep partying with Isaac, but my entire body is telling me to just go home and go to sleep, so I listen to it.

I get home around 3am and the house is dead silent. My parents usually have a few friends over on New Year's, but it looks like that has already ended. I know Adrik is with some friends, so I don't even bother checking if he's awake as I make my way to my room.

"What are you going to do about the situation?" I hear my mother's voice down the hall. It's coming from my father's office. There's light coming from under the door, and I take off my boots so I can walk closer without being heard.

"I don't know. I don't want to repeat history again."

"Was it a misunderstanding?"

I don't hear what my father replies, so I step even closer, only a few steps away from the door now.

"They're saying we instigated it." My father says and I squint, making up a scenario in my head so I can have the slightest idea what he means.

"Did you?"

"Not as far as I know. We didn't send any men out to Europe during the holidays." "What did you tell their families?"

"We told them that they got lost at sea."

So, someone did die.

"Does it have the potential to become dangerous?" my mother asks, I can tell by her tone she's getting worried.

"I think we'll sort it out soon enough. I'll reason with them."

The conversation drifts to small talk, which means they're going to finish soon, so I turn around and tiptoe back into my room. I fall asleep wondering who died and why my parents were talking about it.

***

We fly back to New York three days later on Saturday the 4th with the company private plane, which always takes us from the private airport outside Moscow to the private landing strip near Albany, where a car would be waiting for us to take us to Hamilton College.

Adrik takes the seat in the corner closest to the door and puts his headphones on before we even take off. It was a nine-hour flight, and even though we left at seven in the evening, we would be arriving in our dorms around eleven pm local time. I'm trying to be smart about jet lag and not sleep until I get to my room.

Raisa chooses to sit across from me in the left corner and Aleksi takes the space across the aisle from us, busying himself on his laptop. As soon as the plane is off the ground I busy myself with a new book by Paulo Coehlo, but Raisa gets bored scrolling on her phone soon enough so she starts up a conversation.

"Did you hear about what happened in Sicily?" she asks, crossing her legs and leaning back in her chair, ready to talk.

I close my book, already knowing that it won't be a short conversation if it involves Matteo. But as long as it was distracting me from thinking about a hundred different scenarios of my parents being involved in a crime, I didn't mind.

"No, what?"

"So apparently someone called the police on the party saying there were drugs involved and everyone got busted. Matteo, Vinnie, Eddie and Marco were taken into custody with like half a kilogram of cocaine and weed."

"Oh shit." I say, genuinely feeling worried about Vinnie, especially. "Where are they now? What happened?"

"A friend told me that they took them down to the station and let them go thirty minutes later."

My mouth falls open. "What? What about the drugs?"

Raisa shrugs. "I don't know. I think the police kept it."

"Are they under investigation?"

"Not as far as I know." She says, looking at Aleksi, who also seems interested in the conversation. "What do you know?"

"Just that they're fine. Nobody pressed charges."

Raisa looks at me in a knowing way. "See? I told you they were mafia."

I roll my eyes but then I also see Aleksi nodding. "Wait, you believe that shit too?"

"I do."

I look at him incredulously.

"It's sounds made up but they are in the mafia." Aleksi states. "I've seen their bodyguards, I've heard stories."

"Plus, they own the police and that's why they never get into trouble."

I still seem reluctant, but Aleksi looks at me with a serious look. "Valentina, you have no idea how deep and dark these things can get."

What's that even supposed to mean?

"Anyway, I'm pretty sure he hooked up with Allison. She posted a photo the day after that from his house in Palermo, and I could see his cat."

Aleksi doesn't seem interested in the discussion anymore, probably because he doesn't want to hear his sister talking about some guy she's having sex with.

"How long have you been sleeping with him?" I ask.

"Uh...since Halloween?"

"And how often?"

"Every weekend, almost. Whenever we're in the same place we go to his place afterwards."

I nod. "Well, from what I hear, he just likes sleeping around and having fun. I don't think he's got anything serious going on with Allison. Or anyone, for that matter." I'm slightly hinting at the fact that she's one of those people.

"I know." She says with a hint of sadness in her voice. "But there's just something about him that makes me want to go back."

"Do you guys get along?"

"Yeah. He's funny, and he's smart. And very good in bed. I get tingles just thinking about it."

"If he gives you tingles down there, then you're definitely fucked." I tell her, not even trying to make a joke.

"I know, right?" she exclaims, excited that I'm sharing this with her. "So when did you last have sex? Have you ever had anyone else except Jamie?"

I shake my head. "It was last year and no...I haven't."

"Jesus, Valentina. I would've bet you have at least five by now!"

I shrug. "I don't know, I just-I don't know. I want it to be...spontaneous, you know? Like I want it to be exciting and I want someone to impress me- I don't know."

"You've never had a one night stand?"

I shake my head.

"So you've only ever seen one?!"

"No, I've done...stuff with other guys, but I haven't had sex sex." I explain, looking around to see if Aleksi or Adrik are listening. They're not, thank God.

"But if you had to choose one, who would you choose?"

"What? Out of who?"

"All the boys you know." She says, smirking.

I think about Vinnie first, because I've always thought he's cute and attractive, but I never really considered him as a real option because he also never seemed interested.

"I don't know, maybe Vinnie?" I say.

"Oh my God! I thought you would've said Marco."

"Adrik's friend?" I ask.

"He's friends with Adrik? He's Matteo's brother."

"Yeah. I've known him for a long time. Why would you say Marco?"

I look in Adrik's direction, but he looks like he's already asleep.

"Because he's obviously into you and you two seem cute."

"When did you even see us?"

----

My update plan is 5-6 parts a week, Tuesday through Sunday :)

To see more about the story/chapter photos/previews you can follow the story account on I*******m @gamesweplayseries

You can get in touch with me on:

- I*******m: ronniebennett94

- TikTok: ronniewrites

- G***l: ronniebenett22@g***l.com (with just 1 'n')

xoxo,

Ronnie