THIN ICE |BOOK I |BWWM|

•ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 26, ᴘᴀʀᴛ II•

•SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA•

Julia's POV

"Want some white zinfandel?" Matias titled his head slightly to look down at me.

"Yes, please." I sighed, my eyes meeting his edged jawline.

Mat firmly pressed his warm lips to my temple and wiggled from under my hold. He hopped up from the soft-cushioned sofa sectional, as I adjusted the blanket we were under.

After the encounter with my ex this afternoon, I was feeling overly anxious. Not to mention the blow out with Olivia and I after I confronted her about withholding information about Andres' whereabouts.

I called Matias, simply telling him I had a rough day, and he invited me over for a movie and dinner. He insisted I bring Nicolai so that he could bring Danny, but I wanted time to decompress.

I hid in that restroom for nearly an hour while waiting for the all-clear text from Andres, and after school he called me again. Apparently, I was supposed to know that he and Adrian would be in San Francisco on business. He claims to have sent me a text that night- the same night I left my phone with Olivia.

I clearly needed this time alone with Mat and away from everything- away from today, away from Olivia, and away from the fear that evil demon reinstalled in me from just a glance of him.

"Hey babe, are you coming to Danny's game this weekend?" Mat questioned from behind the kitchen island as he reached up for two wine glasses from the hanging rack.

"Is your whole family gonna be there?"

"....Yeah."

I turned around and sat up on my knees, "Your dad too?"

Matias poured the wine quietly as his gaze twitched between me and the glass, "Yeah."

A stiff sigh slipped out as I laid my head on the top of the sofa's back and chewed on my lower lip. Mat power-walked back to the couch, setting the drinks down on the stone coffee table and rested his hand on my knee.

"I don't think so." I answered.

"You don't have to come, but it would mean a lot to me and Danny if you did.

I snagged a glass from the table and took a long sip, almost emptying the glass.

"Will you think about it?" Matias kissed my cheek, "Please?"

I made the mistake of glancing into his alluring honey-colored irises. Even when I thought I was looking away, I wasn't. I downed the rest of my wine, setting the empty glass alongside Matias' full one.

"I'll think about considering it."

All thirty-two teeth in Matias' mouth nearly popped out as he smiled and hugged me tightly.

"Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can we finish watching the movie now?" I snaked my arms around Matias' torso and raising my leg to rest on his hip.

"Any excuse to snuggle me, huh?" Mat chuckled as he unpaused A Quiet Place, pulling me close.

As a couple more scenes in the movie played, a metallic jingle followed by the beeping alarm sounded throughout the room.

I skyrocketed out my seat, sending Matías crashing to the floor as I tried to get away from the noise.

"...yeah, but I kinda liked the other place in San Francisco better. It's still nice though." Sebastian explained as him and Emilio stepped through the door and turned the alarm off.

Matias burst out laughing while watching me cower near the windowsill, bundled in the blanket.

"What are you doing here? I thought you'd be at the house tonight." Mat asked Sebastian while strolling over to me.

"What am I doing here- I live here. What are you doing here?" Sebastian questioned and glared at me as Emilio picked up one of the fallen wine glasses.

"We're having a movie night." I muttered.

"In my apartment?"

"Technically it's our apartment, we just let you two live here, and you know we couldn't go to my house." Matías snapped.

Sebastian cooly slid his hands into his jean pockets as he smiled blankly.

"You're right, my fault. Excuse me, Matías, but would you mind talking with us in the office I use but you own?"

Matías rolled his eyes as he rubbed my shoulders and winked, "I'll be right back. Don't start it again without me."

My mouth twitched into a wry smile as I nodded and watched them go down the hallway. I didn't expect a greeting from Sebastian, but it was Emilio's disdainful silence struck me.

I flopped down on the sofa resorting to my favorite past time of picking at my nail polish as my eyes tacked onto the empty space where Mat and his cousins stood.

I'd never been one to snoop. Living in the Maniscalco household taught me lessons I only needed to learn once. That fact didn't keep anxiety from eating at my insides until I had a pile of nail polish shavings sitting in my lap.

What if I just went to the bathroom and happened to hear them?

"That works for me." I said lowly to an empty room.

I followed the path the men took and it wasn't long before I could hear their raised then hushed then raised voices.

I tiptoed to the door and pressed my ear against it.

"...and then you bring her here?"

"Seb is right, Mat. Why are you still involved after what she told you -what you told us...?" Emilio questioned.

"What I told you hardly means she's a danger to us. Have you forgotten Veronica's father was actually trying to kill my father at one point?"

"Does Don know?" Sebastian asked.

"No! And he's not going to find out."

"You want me to lie...to your father?"

"Omit." —Mat heaved a heavy sigh— "I don't know what it was that I felt last night, but I don't think she's maliciously lying..."

"Well then why do you think she's lying Nancy Drew?" Emilio sassed.

"She's running from something or someone, but I don't know what."

"You got all this from her story?" Sebastian's tone almost seemed surprised.

"No, I got this from..." —Matías cleared his throat— "I grabbed her arm—hard—and she froze. If she's in trouble I want to help her."

Seb groaned softly, "Look, I get where you're coming from, I do, but you can't save every damsel in distress from another man's hand just because you weren't able to save your mother from Zio's.

I'm hardly a damsel.

"That has nothing to do with it!" Matías' voice creased.

"No? Okay, then go in there and break it off. Tell her to leave and never come back." Emilio dared.

Silence.

"You can't, can you?"

"He doesn't want to." Sebastian corrected.

Sebastian scoffed, "You have her around your kid, in your house, in your bed? Eventually someone's gonna get hurt—killed. And it'll be your fault."

A/N:
Okay Character Info for Next Chapter:
• Jesse- Matías's uncle, Don Vincent's brother
•Terrance Ricks- Julia Maniscalco's father
•Giuseppe Mancini- Don of the rival family

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