236
Matteo’s POV
The phone buzzed on the counter for what felt like the hundredth time today. Emilia. Again. I wasn’t sure she was able to take a hint. Or she saw it and was just choosing to ignore it.
I stared at the screen, my jaw clenching tight. She has been trying to reach me for about two weeks now, her name popping up like a bad habit I couldn’t kick. Each time, I swiped left or let it go to voicemail. I wasn’t ready to hear her excuses or her apologies-if she even had any. But today, the buzzing irritated me more than usual, and before I could talk myself out of it, I grabbed the phone and answered.
“What do you want, Emilia?” I asked, my voice sharper than I intended but I didn’t particularly care.
There was a pause on the other end, and for a moment, I thought she might have hung up. But then her voice came through, soft and hesitant. “Matteo… finally. I’ve been trying to talk to you for weeks.”
“Yeah? And maybe I didn’t want to talk,” I shot back, pacing the length of my kitchen. “But apparently, you don’t get the hint.”
Her sigh crackled through the line. “I deserve that. I know you’re angry, but I just-”
“Angry?” I cut her off, my grip tightening around the phone. “No, Emilia, I’m beyond angry. You have no idea what you’ve done.”
She fell silent, and for a split second, I almost felt bad. Almost. But the image of Gianna walking out of my life only made the anger bubble up again.
“Matteo, I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” she finally said, her voice laced with guilt.
“Didn’t mean for what, Emilia? To ruin my relationship? To humiliate Gianna? Because that’s exactly what you did,” I snapped. “You acted like a… like a self-righteous watchdog, judging her before you even gave her a chance.”
“I wasn’t trying to ruin anything,” she defended. “I was just-”
“You were just what? Protecting me?” I let out a bitter laugh. “You didn’t protect me, Emilia. You embarrassed me. And now Gianna won’t even look at me. She won’t return my calls, my texts-nothing. Do you have any idea how much that hurts?”
She tried to interject, but I wasn’t done. Weeks of frustration poured out, and I didn’t care that my words were sharp and cutting.
“Gianna is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and you couldn’t handle that, could you? Because God forbid I find someone who makes me happy.”
“That’s not fair, Matteo,” Emilia protested, her tone hardening. “I didn’t judge her-I just-”
“You just?” I barked. “You didn’t even try to get to know her, Emilia. You sat there, cold and dismissive, like she wasn’t good enough for me. And then you implied it, didn’t you? Subtly, sure, but Gianna felt it. She knew exactly what you thought of her.”
“She’s not wrong for noticing you’re my younger brother,” Emilia said, her voice rising. “And she’s my age. Do you know how that looks?”
“Yeah, I know exactly how it looks!” I slammed a hand down on the counter, the sound echoing in my kitchen. “It looks like two adults in love. That’s it. You’re the only one who seems to have a problem with it.”
“Matteo, I was just concerned-”
“Concerned about what? That I couldn’t handle myself? That I don’t know how to pick someone who’s right for me? Newsflash, Emilia, I’m not a kid anymore. I don’t need your approval or your damn concern.”
Her silence was deafening, and for a moment, I almost felt the bad for what I’d said. But then she spoke, her voice softer now, tinged with sadness.
“I didn’t mean to push her away, Matteo. I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Well, you did,” I said bluntly, leaning against the counter. “You hurt both of us. And now I’m paying the price.”
“Can’t you talk to her? Fix things?” Emilia asked, her voice trembling slightly.
“I’ve tried, Emilia. God knows I’ve tried. But she doesn’t want to hear from me. And honestly, I don’t blame her. She doesn’t deserve to be dragged into our family drama.”
“Matteo…” she started, but I shook my head, even though she couldn’t see it.
“No. You don’t get to ‘Matteo’ me right now. You crossed a line, and you need to own that.”
She let out a shaky breath, and I could almost picture her sitting on the other end, guilt etched across her face. For a moment, we both didn’t speak and I was so close to hanging up on her when she finally talked again.
“I’ll make it right,” she finally said, her voice barely above a whisper.
I scoffed. “How, Emilia? How are you going to fix this? Because I don’t see a way. Gianna’s gone, and it’s because of you.”
“I… I’ll talk to her,” she said, desperation creeping into her tone. “I’ll apologize. I’ll explain-”
“You promised that the last time and guess what? You didn’t follow through with it,” I snapped.
“Matteo I mean it this time-”
“No,” I said firmly. “You’ve done enough. The last thing Gianna needs is you showing up and making things worse.”
“But I-”
“No,” I repeated, cutting her off. “You don’t get to fix this, Emilia. This is my mess now, thanks to you. And honestly? I don’t even want to look at you right now.”
Her sharp intake of breath hit me like a punch to the gut, but I refused to back down. She needed to hear this. She needed to understand the damage she’d caused.
“I’m sorry, Matteo,” she said softly, her voice cracking.
“Yeah, well, sorry doesn’t fix this,” I muttered before ending the call.
I tossed the phone onto the counter and ran a hand through my hair, my chest heaving. The anger was burning hot in my veins, but beneath it all was just a crushing weight of sadness and loss.
And no matter how much I wanted to blame Emilia, a part of me wondered if it was already too late to fix anything. That maybe I didn’t try enough to keep her.