•SAN FRANCISCO, CA•

Matias's POV

My bare back laid warmly against our cotton sheets with Julia's thigh draped across my waist as bits of the conversation with my cousin, Emilio, from last night ran on repeat.

"Mancini is in Sacramento." Emilio's raspy voice informed me.

"How do you know?"

"I picked up a tip from the aviation ground crew at SMF."

"He flew commercial?"

"Yes. Which I thought was strange. If he wanted to keep his visit hush-hush he-"

"-He would've flown privately."

"Right.....Why would he WANT us to know he's in our territory unannounced?"

The dawn's indigo-orange light painted the room as my stare floated in and out of focus.

I glanced down at Julia's sleeping face-her mouth gapped open- and kissed her forehead before cautiously slipping from under her embrace and stepping out of the bedroom.

"Perché sei qui Giuseppe? (Why are you here Giuseppe)" I mumbled to the ceiling and quietly closed the bedroom door behind me.

As my fleeting thoughts zipped to and fro, I strolled downstairs to our kitchen. Last night's weight still heavily lingered, but I knew my daily dose of caffeine would give me a boost.

While the coffee maker brewed the Argentinian ground coffee beans my mother bought for me, I rested my palms against the white marble island and wracked my brain for an explanation to give my father as to why Mancini would be here.

"Olivia isn't good.....Problems with her dad. I need you to talk to her."

Julia's words from yesterday reran in my head as I tugged on my bottom lip with my thumb and forefinger.

"Come fai a svegliarti così presto dopo la notte che abbiamo passato? (How are you awake this early after the night we had)" Sebastian groaned as he sauntered in wearing his paisley boxer and robe set.

"Non ho davvero dormito." (I didn't really sleep)

"Ahhh."- he nodded and grabbed two mugs from the cabinet-, "You and Julia do a lot of 'making up'?"

I rubbed my face, massaging circles into my eyes, "Hardly. She was still pissed."

"That's the perfect time to bend her over and-", Seb bit his lip, put his hands out in front of him, and twisted his wrist as if grabbing someone's hair.

"Sebastian." I sternly called out.

Alright alright." -he held his hands up before pouring two cups of coffee-, "So what was it then?"

"Mancini's here...in Sacramento."

Sebastian abruptly paused mid-sip, "Why?"

"I don't know."

"What are you gonna tell Zio?"

"I don't know. I'm sure he's already been told and is just expecting an entire run down of intel from his good lil' underboss."

Sebastian's neck snapped to the clock over the stove which read 6:02, "Well you have an hour before your AM call- better find something."

"I think it might be related to Stefano's shooting...like maybe he's here to finish the job." I rambled as I nibbled on the side of my nail, a habit Julia had been trying to get me to break.

"That was two years ago though; Mancini hasn't done anything else to Stef since then."

"But Giuseppe's a slow burn. He'll strike, then let things ride before striking again."

"Hmmm. Questo è vero." Seb took another sip.

I absentmindedly grabbed my mug, taking a swig and immediately wrenching from the bitter flavor.

"Seb, I thought you put cream and sugar in this." My teeth attempted to scrape the taste from my tongue and I marched to the fridge.

Sebastian, whose gaze was now cold but questioning repeatedly ran his tongue over the front of his teeth.

"Giuseppe ain't wild enough to hurt Liv, right?

"He's a man in this business just like us. He's capable of anything." I shrugged.

"You need to call-"

"Buongiorno!" A bouncy voice rounded the corner of the arched doorframe followed by a stretching Julia.

"Buongiorno." I greeted.

My tired cheeks lifted as I opened my arms, inviting her to an embrace. Matching her bouncy mood, Julia skip-stepped toward me and twirled, finally falling into my lap.

She hung her arms over my shoulders and clasped her hands behind my neck.

"How'd you sleep?" I nestled my lips under the cartilage of her ear, peppering kisses over her jaw and neck.

"Eh, okay."

Julia stroked my face with the back of her fingers and pushed a few stray hairs from my forehead.

"I can tell you didn't sleep at all. Your eyes aren't clear."

"I'll be okay. Just need to get through this day."

I molded my hand around the curve of her hip as a previously silent Sebastian bolted out of the room.

"I'll see both of you later. I need to check somethin' out." He blurted and practically threw his mug to the counter.

We both eyed my cousin curiously as I set Julia back to the floor while keeping a couple of her fingers in my hold.

"I probably need to get started too. Gotta call Pops in less than an hour. Is everything good between us?"

"Mhm, we're good. I think I was just...having a moment last night." She calmly explained while further tangling her fingers with mine.

"Just remember we're a team- you can talk to me. Okay?"

With a pursed smile, Julia nodded before releasing my grip and sauntered to the fridge to grab the eggs and bacon from inside.

"I'll make more of an effort to remember that."

"Speaking of remembering, I just remembered I didn't tell you that Danny's coming back with me when I leave the meeting today."

"Oh. Okay. G-Good!" A quivering smile formed on Julia's face while she stood beside me preparing to crack an egg.

An airy chortle puffed from my nose. At the same moment, I rose from the stool and effortlessly glided my fingertips around her stomach from behind, "I know. It's not ideal, but he-

"Don't." -Julia shook her head with understanding and peeked over her shoulder-, "You don't have to say anything. Danny needs to see his father. I wouldn't dare stand in the way."

I tugged Julia closer, resting a thankful kiss in the crook of her warm neck.

"Grazie, Mariposa."

"Prego, mi amore."

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Julia's POV

Matías came back for breakfast after the call with his father. He tried his hardest to keep the air positive, but he zoned out one time too many for me to ignore how much the conversation bothered him.

Even when I had my time with Mat, even when I had him within arm's reach; he was still miles away. When he finally got up to leave, I bit my tongue. He was right. Everything Matias was doing was for us- it would be worth it.

I distractedly scrubbed harsh circles into the glass dish before a dollop of suds splashed onto my cheek, shocking me out of my own carousel of thoughts.

"Ugh." I grumbled as the revving of the mail truck's engine sounded from outside.

I hurriedly wiped my hands off on my pajama shorts and ran out of our front door, attempting to catch the mailman before he drove off.

A week ago, I'd come to the house to pick up the mail accompanied by feelings similar to last night. Sebastian and I had an argument that morning, in which he called me a "dolore ai testicoli". I know he didn't mean it.

Maybe he did, but it's not the worst I've been called; so I really didn't care. Either way, we'd had an argument and I was especially missing Mat. When I came back to the house, I was puffy-faced with bloodshot eyes to match. The mailman, Hector, gave me the cupcake he was planning to eat at lunch to cheer me up.

I jogged to the mailbox, pushed open the side entrance of the gate in front of our driveway, and watched the truck drive off.

I just wanted to thank him.

As I gathered the envelopes of junk mail- my eyes still watching the disappearing vehicle, wondering if he'll come back around- my vision caught sight of an onyx-colored Jeep parked a few yards away.

No one in our family owned a Jeep, and our closest neighbor was a mile away. My brows furrowed while I harshly stared at the out-of-place visitor. As I tucked the mail under my arm, prepared to confront the owner, our gate alarmed and slowly opened.

I took a few steps to the side and watched Mat's Aston Martin elegantly cruise down the driveway- stopping in front of me. Matias rolled his window down, his wet curls freely falling over his forehead as the rounded 70's-style sunglasses he wore showed my reflection in the glass.

"You gonna be okay until I get back?" He asked, his eyes peering over the rim of the frames before taking them off.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I have a student at noon and another one at five. More than enough to keep me busy." I chuckled as I leaned my arms on the window sill of his car.

"I never tell you this enough, but I'm so proud of you for going back to teaching."

"Grazie. I needed something to keep my mind occupied. Otherwise..." -I craned my neck to check on the black Jeep, only see it missing from where it was once parked. 

"Otherwise....?" Matias prodded for the completion of my sentence.

"O-Otherwise...I'm um, j-just bound to overthink."

"'To think too much is a disease.'"

A wired smirk wiggled itself around my lips, "Sounds like you've been digging though my library."

"I needed something to read on the plane; and expense reports from Sebastian wasn't gonna cut it." Mat shook his head and sighed.

"Just put it back with no pages bent this time, please."

Mat's phone buzzed with a text message as his mouth gapped to respond, "I think I can do that Mariposa. I gotta go. Duty calls."

A somber nod bobbed my head as Mat nimbly tacked his fingers to my chin and covered my mouth with his. The upper half of my body rested into the car as I held firmly the nape of Matias's neck.

He teasingly tugged on my lip with his teeth and my free palm roamed his chiseled chest. I groaned softly allowing myself to get pulled in more and more before his phone- as if on queue- again buzzed.

"Accidenti....I gotta go baby."

"Okay." I mouthed hesitantly slipping my hand from his and stepping back from the car.

"Te quiero." He smiled.

"Te quiero."

As Matias drove off, I turned around again, glaring at the still empty spot on the street as eager thoughts picked at the back of my brain.

No. No overthinking today.

No overthinking today.

A/N: I'm honestly surprised at the rate that I'm getting these updates out. Anyway, my coworkers threw my food out of the shared fridge....very upset🙃.

AnyANYways...hope you all enjoyed the update. Btw....y'all think Mat is cheating? 🤨