34. Chapter 34

Jade

When I get back to my room, my hopes of crawling under the covers and sleeping until I can't sleep anymore are crushed in an instant. Even if I didn't have to skip Deception class to sleep, I couldn't do it now. I'm not alone here.

Matteo is sitting on my bed, arms folded across his chest. "What on earth are you wearing?"

"Umm, funny story," I awkwardly say, trying not to cringe.

"Oh, I'd love to hear this," he drawls, looking me up and down. "How exactly does my little sister end up in a man's uniform with a funny story, hm?"

"Well," I clear my throat. "It started when I fell in a pool."

"What?" he blurts, less suspicious and more worried. "You fell? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I insist. "Not a scratch on me, I promise. I just fell in and my uniform got all wet."

He nods, calming down. "So whose clothes are you in?"

"My friend Ivan was there and gave me his spares?—"

"Ivan?" he asks, confused. "You have a friend? That"s a man?"

"Well, yes?—"

His nostrils flare as he sucks in a surprised breath. "What? Who is this guy? Why don't I know about him? It's Ivan Morozov, isn't it? Is that why you asked about him? You've been sneaking around being friends with him? Did he beat up that guy for you?"

"I asked about him before I even met him," I say firmly. "I literally asked you the first night, if you remember. And I was just curious?—"

"Curious because you think he's cute or something? Why are you friends?"

Oh lord, somebody help me.

"Matteo, you really need to slow down with the third degree. I can't keep up."

"Yeah? Well, I can't believe my baby sister has been hanging out with some guy! How have we missed this? Are we not watching you closely enough?"

"If you watch me any closer, you'll never leave my side," I retort crisply.

"Sounds perfect," he snaps back. "Since apparently alone time is when you sneak around campus to meet up with strangers!"

"He's not a stranger, he's my friend! You said I could make friends."

"Girls!" he snaps out. "Girl friends are what I meant. Men cannot be trusted, Jade. We're awful, all of us."

I frown. "That's not true."

"It is," he insists. "How do I know you're not doing unsavory things with this Ivan kid, huh? Or that he doesn't want to every time he's with you?"

God, if you only knew the half of it.

"Matteo, please," I beg, taking a steadying breath. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but I didn't want you to freak out."

He shakes his head. "Well, you see how well that worked out."

"Ivan really is my friend," I reiterate. "Please don't ruin this. I promise, cross my heart, that I'm not sneaking around with him."

It's not a complete lie. Sort of.

"If he's really your friend, then you wouldn't care if Dad and everyone else knew," he argues stubbornly.

"Of course I'd care," I refute. "You're all so crazy protective, I didn't want him to run for the hills screaming because of you guys."

"Are you embarrassed of us or him?"

"Oh my god, neither," I groan, dropping my head back and rubbing my face. "Would it make you feel better to hang out with us once? I'll introduce you, and you can see that we're just friends."

He pauses, seemingly to consider it. "I don't know…"

"Your opinion means a lot to me," I say truthfully. "If you can do it without trying to fight him, I'd like for you to meet him. I think you'll like each other."

"Why should I like him?" he scoffs.

"Well, he's nice?"

"So are pets, I'll get you a dog."

"He's funny?—"

Matteo huffs. "So am I, so why do you need this punk?"

"Please," I whisper, expression falling. "Can't you do this for me?"

"Oh no," he says, shaking his head. "You can't use that face on me. It's not fair."

"I'm not using any face," I sniff, denying it.

"Put your bottom lip away," he pleads. "You're going to make my heart all mushy and sad. I do not do my best brothering with a mushy, depressed heart."

"Brothering?" I echo.

"You know what I mean," Matteo claims.

"I do," I affirm. "So, you'll meet him? And let this be our little secret?"

He groans, tipping his head back.

And eventually…

"Fine, I'll meet him, but I'm only keeping your secret if I believe he's really just your friend after the fact."

Good enough for now.

‘For now'doesn't last very long when Matteo demands we use our free day to hang out with Ivan immediately. Thankfully, I'm able to give him a quick warning before Matteo ambushes him.

"I need you to hang out with me and Matteo today," I whisper to him hurriedly in the line for pancakes at breakfast. My brothers are too busy filling up their own plates at other stations to notice us.

"He knows?"

"Just that we're friends," I admit. "He caught me in your clothes."

"I'm not going to not hit him back if he attacks me," Ivan warns.

"Jesus," I groan. "No one is attacking anyone. He has to see that we're not fooling around to keep it a secret, so we have to hang out today. Any ideas?"

He pauses, considering it. "Bring him to the pool after lunch."

I frown. "Swimming is not going to help our case." Matteo will flip if the first activity Ivan suggests has me in a bikini.

"We're not swimming."

He doesn't have time to explain before we have to part.

Matteo is his normal self at breakfast, stealing a good portion of my plate and demolishing his own. I'm grateful that he isn't drawing suspicion by being moody or strange. Armani would pick up on it immediately and demand to know what's up.

Speaking of Armani, he dips out of breakfast early, apparently having scheduled some tutoring today. He's not the only one that disappears, Remo and Nico are apparently hiking in the mountains today. I'm almost glad that all I have to do is pull off a hangout with Ivan and Matteo without letting anything about Dmitri slip up. Hiking and gun training sounds like a terrible way to spend free time.

After lunch comes and goes, Matteo reluctantly follows me to meet Ivan.

"All I'm saying is following this stranger's orders?—"

"He's not a stranger," I remind him for the umpteenth time.

"—is irresponsible, and I don't like being told what to do," he finishes.

"Well, maybe Ivan doesn't like being bossed around by my overprotective guard dog, either. You picked the time—last minute as fuck, if I might add—so he gets to pick the place."

"Did you just say fuck?" Matteo asks, grinning like a loon. "Okay, potty mouth."

Rolling my eyes, I smack his shoulder. "I've sworn in front of you before, dramatic much?"

"You're sassy lately," he declares. "I'd blame it on this new friend, but I like it so he doesn't get credit for it."

"Matteo, if anyone taught me to be sassy, it"s you."

Pleased, he dips his head. "Good."

Ivan's already waiting for us in the pool room, sitting on a bench in his regular school uniform. When he sees us walk in, he stands.

"Oh, so you do know where your clothes go," Matteo calls out immediately. "Surprised you aren't wearing Jade's since you two are buddy-swapping outfits now."

"The skirt doesn't go with my legs," Ivan snarks right back.

Matteo doesn't laugh, but I do.

I have to cough to cover it up, and my brother is not pleased to have someone else make me laugh in front of him. Off to a great start.

"Funny," Matteo drawls, not at all meaning it.

"Are you feeling left out?" Ivan clicks his tongue. "If you want to get in my pants, well…"

My eyes bulge open.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm celibate."

I'm even more gobsmacked by this response. Even if he wasn't celibate for the semester, Matteo isn't into guys. At least, he's never implied as much. Not even when we talked about it.

"Well, we have that in common then," Ivan says matter-of-factly.

Matteo looks affronted by this. "Bullshit."

Giving him a shrug, Ivan doesn't care about his doubt. "I'm a second son, Matteo. I'm sure you know what that means for my family."

Rearing his head back, he looks between Ivan and me. "That shit is for real? Dude, you're a bullet magnet for your brother? That's fucking fucked up."

"Eloquent," Ivan mutters.

"Hey," I protest, pinching Matteo harder than I normally would. "Don't call him that. You said you'd be nice!"

"Ow, motherfucking ouch," he bites out through a wince.

"Be nice, or I'll tell Dad I have a friend myself just so I can tattle on you for being mean to him!"

My brother scowls. "Traitor."

Ivan sighs painfully. "Should we just clear the air then?"

"By all means," Matteo huffs.

"I have no ill intentions toward Jade. I don't drink, do drugs, or have sex. I'll never marry, so you don't have to worry about me trying to woo her. We're friends. She's funny, smart, and powerful. Not because she's a Moretti but because of what she's survived. She's a warrior, and I'm going to continue to be her friend. Not even your objection will stop it, so you might as well get on board."

I hold my breath, my heart so warm it could just melt. I wish I could run over and hug him right now, but I'll do it later.

Eyes gentle as ever, Matteo peers down at him. "You told him? About before?"

"I did," I whisper.

"If you can trust him with that… fine," Matteo sighs, patting my shoulder. "I won't object to him. But if he does anything, and I mean anything, I'll kill him so fast Nico won't even get to torture him. I mean it, Jade, I'll drop this motherfucker."

Breathing a sigh of relief, I throw my arms around his middle and hug him tight. "Thank you, Matteo."

"Yes, yes, I'm the best, I know. Sing my praises, little sister."

"Not quite the best," I correct. "You could have left out the murder bits."

"No, I couldn't."

Of course not,I snort.

I turn back to my best friend, beaming with a smile. "So now that we've got that squared away, what are we doing here?"

"Right this way," he answers ominously, nodding to a mysterious door.

Matteo and I follow, finding an old cement staircase.

My brother shudders, peering down the steps. "Goodie, an evil lair, should we expect a villain monologue sometime soon, or?"

Ivan arches a brow. "Scared of a basement?"

Groaning, I rub my temples. "Oh my gosh, enough with the snark, you two. I want to know what Ivan has to show us."

Without so much as another comment, the three of us descend the stairs. I take my steps slow, making sure that I won't trip. It isn't pitch dark, but the lighting is low and difficult to see. As we get to the bottom, the whole room is glowing with new light.

"There's a movie theater here?" I squeak, fully floored by the massive set-up.

Old but still in good shape, couches and recliners are spaced out along the wood floors, facing a huge projector screen. The title page for Coyote Ugly is already up, and the faintest smell of Cola and popcorn floats around the air. There's a big basket of blankets as well, sitting off to the side for anyone to grab.

Matteo crosses his arms, unimpressed. "He knows your favorite movie?"

"I know her blood type, too," Ivan jokes.

I laugh. "I don't even know my blood type."

When my brother doesn't laugh, too, I pout.

"Come on, Matteo, there's an underground theater here, literally hidden under a pool. Don't ruin it by being pouty."

"Fine," he relents. "But we're sitting together, and I'm not sharing my popcorn."

I grin. "Deal."