“Anya, it’s okay—” Matteo starts but stops as soon as I whirl around to look at him. He must see the determination on my face because he immediately closes his mouth.
“Get out,” I snap again, glaring up at my uncle.
“Lev, love.” Aunt Irina grabs his arm softly. “Go walk it off.”
“Fine,” he snaps. Not at her, not at me, not at anyone really.
I turn back to Matteo and make him let me look at his face, feeling devastated by the red mark that’s already blooming on his jaw.
“Hey, I’m okay,” he insists, blinking down at me. “I’ve had worse, trust me. It’ll probably bruise, but I’ll live.”
My heart sinks. “This isn’t funny.”
“Come on, let’s get some ice on it,” Dad says, nodding to Matteo. “We need to talk.”
“If you hit him too, I’ll never forgive you,” I vow, the venom in my voice almost unrecognizable.
“I’m not going to hit him,dochen’ka,” he assures me, his tone gentle and forgiving despite the way I just snapped at him. “I’ve been expecting this to happen, Anya. I’m not angry with him, nor am I upset with you. Okay?”
Seeing the sincerity written all over his face, I give in. “Fine.”
“I’ll be back soon,” Matteo says, pressing his lips to my temple before following my father back into the house.
Once my aunt and I are alone, she steps closer to me. “I’m sorry for?—”
“Don’t apologize for him,” I interrupt, too tired to be angry with her. “You didn’t make him do that.”
“I couldn’t stop him either,” she replies, almost wincing. “I called for your father as soon as Lev saw the two of you, but I wasn’t fast enough.”
“I don’t blame you,” I mumble, dropping back down into my seat. I want to go inside, but I think I need to breathe in the fresh air and calm down some more before I do.
Aunt Irina sits next to me and sighs sadly. “Your uncle is very hard on Matteo, and he has his own reasons for that, but he shouldn’t have hit him.”
“What reasons?” I ask stiffly. “Matteo hasn’t done anything wrong. Uncle Lev has hated him since the wedding and Matteo was nothing but respectful that night and every day since. He just told me he loved me,in Russian.He learned how to speak Russian for me,tetya.”
“That’s lovely,solnyshka.” She forces a smile, looking almost guilty that her husband just ruined such a moment. “I know you may not understand his aversion to Matteo, but it’s complicated.”
“I don’t see how it could be.” I huff, shaking my head. “He shouldn’t have hit him. Matteo didn’t deserve that.”
“He shouldn’t have,” my aunt reiterates sadly. “I wish I could tell you that he’ll regret it, but I doubt he will. Your uncle can be a difficult man to understand, and sometimes he uses force when it’s not necessary.”
“I wish Matteo hit him back,” I mutter bitterly.
Aunt Irina laughs under her breath. “I’m sure he didn’t want to upset you by getting into a full-on brawl with your uncle. I doubt he wanted to make matters worse, and I could tell that Levjust needed to go away to cool off. He would have stormed away eventually whether you ordered him to or not.”
“I still don’t understand why he got so angry, anyway,” I tell her sadly. “We were only kissing, and it wasn’t even a long one. If he gets punched for giving me a peck on the lips, I can’t imagine he’ll want to risk doing more.”
“Oh, Anya.” She exhales, taking my hand to hold in hers. “Matteo would take endless punches if it meant being with you, I’m certain of that. I didn’t know that you were considering doingmore, though. Is that something you’ve been thinking about? Something that you think you’re ready for?”
“Maybe.” I don’t bother to expand on that, knowing that the only person I want to share my thoughts with on the matter is in the kitchen icing his jaw.
“I don’t want it to seem like I’m defending your uncle?—”
“So don’t,” I cut in sharply.
She smiles regretfully. “But if you want some insight into his issue with Matteo, I…I might be able to explain some of it.”
My eyes search hers, confused by her change in tone. “You said it’s complicated.”
