Liss
To be honest, I didn’t expect Matteo to choose an art museum for our first date, but I guess it’s just another surprise on this bizarre day. I mean, I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that we are on a date. Who would’ve thought, huh?
Although I can’t say I didn’t plan to lure Matteo into spending more time together… but I definitely didn’t expect it to look like this.
“Do you like it?” Matteo steps a little closer to me, pulling my attention away from the painting I’ve been studying for the last few minutes.
The mingling of florid lines and bright colors left me completely lost in thought, and it takes me a moment to blink out of it and glance at
Matteo. He seems to be genuinely curious, tilting his head and studying the painting with obvious attention, his gaze tracing the intricate patterns left on the canvas by a student’s brush.
The painting is part of an annual student exhibition, and if only I remained in my art studies, my work could’ve been here as well-but, alas.
“I do,” I say after a moment with a mindless smile on my lips, raising my head to look at the painting up and down. “I think she has a lot of potential.”
“She? Do you know her?”
“Oh, no. I just read it.” I chuckle and point at the plate with the artist’s name, major, and the name of the painting. Flowers of the City. Isn’t it beautiful?
“Ah, of course.” Matteo huffs, smiling with a hint of self-reprimand, and shakes his head. “I didn’t think about that. But don’t you know some of these artists? They must’ve been studying with you or teaching some of your courses.”
I blink in surprise and glance at him despite myself. Does he remember that I used to study art? I mentioned it only a couple of times, but I guess he remembered. Wait, is that why he chose this museum in the first place? The thought makes my heart bloom with pleasant warmth, bringing an unwanted blush to my cheeks, and I can’t help but smile to myself, looking away from Matteo to hide it.
“I know some of the names,” I admit after a second, walking to the next installation. It presents some kind of a sea creature made of clay resting on the bottom of a plastic water container. Deep see. Creative. “But I don’t know them in person.”
Matteo hums, following me, and I feel oddly satisfied to see that he’s genuinely listening to me. “Have you ever had any of your works in an exhibition like this?”
“Ah, I wish.” I chuckle, glancing at him and catching his gaze for a moment. God, why do I feel so delighted all of a sudden? “But I changed my major before I got a chance to present my paintings.”
“Paintings?” Matteo repeats with a note of surprise and wonder. “I’ve never heard you talk about your paintings.”
Ah, yes, I don’t really talk about them a lot. Why would I? That part of my life is in the past.
When I turn to look at Matteo, I catch a glint of adoration in his eyes that immediately makes my heart beat faster. But maybe it’s just the glare of lights in the room, right? I mean, the lamps here are quite extraordinary.
“Yeah,” I murmur, unable to hold back a shy smile, and look away to the next installation. “I used to do a lot of painting in high school-which was why I chose to study it in the first place.”
It’s been a while since I talked to someone about my life and my interests, but with Matteo the words slip out of my mouth naturally. I can
see that he’s listening to me, and whenever I ask him something, I enjoy his calm and detailed answers as well.
I don’t even notice the passage of time as we walk from one exhibit to another, telling each other stories of the past. I tell Matteo about my interest in expressionism, the death of my desire to be an artist, and my decision to focus on teaching children instead. It’s hard to explain it without mentioning, you know, my determination to kill him, but I think the story of doing volunteer work in an orphanage makes it believable enough.
Matteo, in turn, tells me about his life in his early twenties, how he was the only one in the family who wanted to go to college and study
technology, how it never worked out because he had to be dragged into the family business, and how he hopes to give Romeo the life he truly wants. Matteo very delicately avoids the explanation of what exactly his family business is and what he’s been doing since then, but I can’t blame him. I don’t tell him the whole truth about myself either, so it makes us even.
To my pleasant surprise, Matteo doesn’t hurry to get out of the museum-like all of my past dates did-and we take our time going through the rooms and discussing the gorgeous, unusual, and often weird exhibits. And I have to admit, it feels like the best date I’ve ever had.
Matteo is so caring, intelligent, and effortlessly charming that I find myself feeling warm and giddy in his presence.
I don’t even know at what point of our tour around the museum it happens, but by the time we decide to turn back to the exit, my hand is tucked firmly against Matteo’s elbow and my shoulder is pressed to his with a layer of intimacy. It dawns on me only when we leave the museum, met with a clear afternoon sky and summer wind, and I instinctively squeeze his arm tighter with a happy smile on my lips.
“Isn’t it nice?” I look up at Matteo and catch him already looking at me, a gentle look of adoration even clearer in his eyes now. Ah, why is he looking at me like that? I bite my lip from inside, trying to hide my smile, and I look away, the fresh air cooling my warm face.
“It is nice,” Matteo murmurs in the meantime, and it feels like he’s not talking about the weather. “So what’s next, Miss Liss? Your turn to choose.”
I hum and look around, thinking about it for a moment. What would be the perfect continuation of the day?
“You know what?” I look up at him with a smile. “I wouldn’t mind an early dinner.”
Matteo grins, and it looks like we share the same thought. The museum has taken a lot more energy than I expected, and besides, I kind of want to have a nice and quiet place to spend time with Matteo-all for the sake of getting closer to him, of course.
You know, when Matteo kissed me in his office, I was so caught off guard I didn’t even know what to do. My thoughts and desires got mixed,
and at some point I just got scared that having sex with him would put the whole operation in danger-so I pushed him away and ran out of the office with the goddamn bottle in hand.
I just…I couldn’t bring myself to poison him after such an open and heartfelt kiss, even though I regretted taking the poison away as soon as I did it. I mean, it had been my best chance to kill Matteo right then and there. How could I be so weak? How could I ruin my own plan? I couldn’t even use the poison anymore, and now I have to go back to Giovanni and
explain my own failure.
So I told myself that I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
Instead of running away from Matteo and ignoring his attraction, I have to use it and get as close to him as possible. But what I decided to ignore instead were my own confusing feelings that have only been getting
stronger and more complicated with every passing day.
But I can keep myself in check, right? I have everything under control.
“So I asked Louis to open the door for him, but what I didn’t realize was that it’d started raining outdoors. So Dolce runs inside, all covered in dirt and grass, sees Louis, and immediately jumps on him! God, you
should’ve heard his shriek.”
Matteo chuckles with a low, husky note in his voice, and I laugh, feeling his gaze on me and reveling in the pleasant warmth that it sends through my body. Our hands are touching with just the tips of our fingers, and the sensation makes my heart beat like crazy.
Okay, maybe not everything is under control, but at this point I don’t know if it matters. Whether my flirtatious smiles and intimate touches are fake or not, I know that I’m too deep in my own play to see the difference.
I feel drunk, and it has nothing to do with the empty glass of wine next to my plate. It’s the live band playing on the other side of the patio, the dim lights illuminating the early evening, the ambiance, and the enchanting darkness of Matteo’s gaze. He wants me, I know it, and the sweet tightness at the pit of my stomach speaks for itself. It’s been so long since I craved someone so badly.
“You should meet him someday,” Matteo adds after a moment, inconspicuously moving his fingers closer to mine. “I’m sure my brothers would love you.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” I chuckle, casting my gaze on the table. Is it a good idea to get deeper into my enemies’ circle? If I accidentally slip in their presence and say something weird, I don’t want the whole Messina family to call me suspicious. Besides… “I’m just a nanny. Wouldn’t it be weird?”