Page 141 of Matteo

I pace around the apartment after that, debating whether to go to the bar or not.

It's tricky, and yet, not.

I need to think with my head, not my heart. Just like Mama did. I need to push aside my biased opinions of Vlad.

I don't know the guy, but Elizabeth thinks highly of him, so I need to trust her judgment, and let my assumptions fall to the side. Our constant bickering has shown our worst sides, and I hate that. This mini-vacation was supposed to be stress free and uncomplicated, but it’s turning out to be anything but that.

I need to fix it. I need to be the bigger man and put Elizabeth at ease, because I don’t want her fretting over this awkward situation like she has been. I don't want her trying to placate Vlad and me.

I decide to go to the bar, so I make my way downstairs. As soon as I walk in, I see them. They're sitting at a table, and Vlad is holding Elizabeth’s hand in his. They’re laughing about something. It's a far cry from how she and I have been lately and something twists in my gut. I force myself to breathe through it.

They're just friends.

I walk over.

“Hey.” I rest a protective hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder, rubbing it gently with my thumb.

“Hey.” She looks up at me, a little tentative, but smiling. I slide into the empty seat opposite them, then feel my body relax when Elizabeth comes over and sits next to me. I relax even more when she snuggles against me, and I take her hand in mine. I want to salvage our vacation, for her sake, more than mine.

“Good of you to show up. I’m looking forward to getting to know you,” says Vlad, putting out his hand. I stare at it, confused.

“Let’s start again, shall we. I’m Vlad, Vladimir, but I prefer Vlad.”

I shake his hand. “Matteo. Just Matteo.”

I can’t quite decipher the look he gives me. It’s not cold, but a warning of sorts.

“What are you drinking, Just Matteo?” He signals for the attention of a waiter.

“I’ll have a beer, thanks. This is an amazing hotel. What do you do for a living?” I jump straight in, not wasting any time.

“This and that,” he says vaguely. “I made my money in crypto, but I have other ventures. Tell me, what line of work are you in?”

“I’m in tech and cybersecurity,” I reply, noticing that he deflected quickly.

“We’re not so different after all.” He lifts his glass of water as a toast. I tap my bottle against his. “That explains why you have this little genius working for you,” he says.

I squeeze Elizabeth’s hand and stare into her eyes, hoping she’ll forgive me. “Yes. She’s amazing. Super smart. She’s the only woman on the floor and she’s better than all the men.”

“She was the only woman in our group,” Vlad says.

Our group? That’s something I never knew before. “She worked for you?” I turn to Elizabeth. Because she’s never mentioned it, and I figure that’s a normal thing to mention in the context of how they met.

“We met through an online forum. I already told you that,” says Elizabeth, wearily. Something about her tone is off.

Vlad chuckles. “Those were the days.”

“You’re a computer whizz, too?” I ask, wanting to extract as much information as I can from him, to fill the holes that Elizabeth deliberately left out.

“I dabble.”

“Let’s talk about the wedding,” Elizabeth says to Vlad. “That’s why we’re all here. Tell us about the events you’ve got planned.”

He proceeds to tell us that he and his fiancé are hosting a small dinner this evening for the guests who’ve arrived already.

I’m even more interested in going now, hoping to unearth some more information about this guy. He tells us that there’s also a barbecue at a cliffside venue tomorrow evening, followed by the wedding the next day, and then a couple of days spent with the newlyweds after that. He mentions something about a yacht trip along the Adriatic.

It sounds glamorous, and I’m not too keen on spending this much time with everyone, but I will go wherever Elizabeth wants to go. My hand slips and rests on her thigh, and she turns to me, her eyes curious and searching.