Nadya’s head whips toward him and her mouth drops open. “You think we look like twins?”
Telling a twelve-year-old girl that she looks younger but identical to her supermodel mother has got to be one of the most charming things he could possibly do.
“Oh yeah,” he confirms. “And I’m qualified to make such a statement. You know, I have two sets of twins for brothers.”
Nadya blinks in surprise. “You do?”
“I do.” He nods. “Elio and Emilio, and Nico and Remo.”
“Whoa.”
Matteo chuckles. “If you think that’s whoa, I can’t imagine anyone has told you that I haveeightbrothers total. Not to mention my sisters.”
“Eight?” Nadya exclaims. Turning to her parents, she puts her hands on her hips. “Why couldn’t I have that many?”
Aunt Irina chokes on her drink, coughing to swallow it down. “You don’t even have one sibling and now you wanteight?”
Nadya seems even more perturbed at her mother’s question. “Why does he get to have eight and I get none?”
Matteo laughs, finding my young cousin hopelessly amusing. “I don’t know if you know how lucky you are, Nadya. Can you imagine having to share all your stuff with eight other people?”
Eyes flaring wide in a scandalized gasp, Nadya gapes at him. “I wouldn’t have to share with them. They’d have their own things!”
“You’d think that, wouldn’t you?” Matteo chuckles, shaking his head. “Siblings love stealing each others’ things. Even when they have their own. My brother Armani likes taking my shoes, for instance. He doesn’t even want to wear them, he just thinks they’re ugly and he wants me to wear better ones.”
Nose scrunching, Nadya looks down at his feet. “He’s right.”
A startled laugh bursts out of me before I can smother it, and Aunt Irina gasps. “Nadya! That’s rude, you shouldn’t say such things out loud.”
Matteo, to his credit, only laughs along with me. “I should thank you for the honesty, but these aren’t even a pair my brother would call ugly. Or at least, he wouldn’t throw them away.”
“They’re boring,” Nadya decides seriously, glancing back down at Matteo’s all-white trainers. “They should be shiny, or black like my papa’s.”
“Armani would probably agree with that,” he tells her, nodding. “He likes fancy shoes too. I prefer something I can run in.”
“For going to dinner?” she asks doubtfully. “Why would you need to run at dinner?”
Matteo offers a light shrug. “You can never be too prepared. Your papa doesn’t like me very much, what if he decides to chase me off?”
“He can’t chase you off.” Nadya rolls her little eyes, crossing her small arms. “You’re cousin Anya’s friend. Mama won’t let him be that rude.”
Seeing her sassy side come out is startling but endearing all the same. She was always such a sweet young girl, albeit a bit spoiled when I would see her years ago. I don’t remember ever noticing this level of determination and confidence from her, though.
“I hope that’s true,” Matteo muses, giving me a conspiratorial smile. “We might need back up, though. What do you think? Do you want to be on my side with Anya in case your papa decides to try and scare me away? I bet you have even more sway with him than your mama.”
Tapping her foot, her hip pops to one side as she hums and considers his proposal. “How much money do you have?”
“Nadya,” Irina and I gasp in unison.
“I’m so sorry,” my aunt adds on, looking toward Matteo with an embarrassed flush. “Lev has been teaching her aboutnegotiations and she’s somehow turned everything into a sort of blackmail situation. Which is why she was almost kicked out of ballet camp.” She gives her daughter a stern look, as if to remind her that what she’s doing isn’t okay.
“I’m very proud of her,” Uncle Lev grunts.
“Hush,” his wife scolds.
“I have no idea what twelve-year-olds think is a lot of money,” Matteo jokes. “Will fifty bucks work?”
“Don’t encourage her—” Aunt Irina starts.
