Ties of Blood (Book One)

Chapter 48 ~ Matteo

Matteo Moretti

Spending time with Gianna made me happier than all things in my life combined, it was clear she wasn't a hundred percent comfortable with me and that was ok, I was just happy to be close to her at all.

Yes, I did take the route with more traffic on purpose because I wasn't quite ready to let her go yet and she didn't seem like she wanted to end her talk what nursing school was like, so if you really think about it, I helped both of us.

But being with her, and lying to someone I cared about, or in her case, loved, wasn't something I wanted to do to Romano.

My mother's number burned a hole in the desk drawer I had placed it in when I couldn't decided if I wanted to call or not.

I hated the part of me that wanted a relationship with my mother.

I know what it's like to miss out on having a parent.

Her words stayed in the back of my mind from the moment they were spoken.

But if Gianna could give me a second chance, I would try to give my mother one too.

I picked up my phone and entered her number, it rang for one beat before she picked it up.

"Matteo?! You-," she sucked in a breath, "You called" she said like she couldn't believe it.

If I was being honest, I couldn't either.

Awkward silence passed over the phone, my mother speaks, "I heard you got married, congratulations,"

Gianna and I never got a legal divorce, so by law we were still together, which was something both of us just avoided talking of.

"Thank you," I say, my voice didn't even sound like mine, this wasn't something I wanted to talk about with my mother who abandoned me to raise my brother basically alone, despite her hardships.

"I'm glad you found someone who makes you happy, Matteo. You really deserve it, I'm sorry for what I put you through," she says quietly.

My jaw clenched, my mouth was sealed.

"Is Nico there?" She asks hopefully.

Nico hadn't left since my yacht date with Gianna 2 days ago, I hadn't seen him but I was sure Alonso knew where he was.

"I believe so," I say.

"Do you think he wants to speak to me?" She asks quieter.

"Perhaps." I say dryly.

Alonso, who was across the room, read my signal and left to presumably get Nico.

Seconds later, Nico walked in, he looked how he usually did, cheerful and smiley.

He sat at the chair by my desk and propped his feet up, it was a huge of mine when he did that but given the circumstances, now wasn't the time to complain.

"What's up?" He asks, he glances at my phone. "Gianna?" He mouths to me.

I shake my head a little as a questionable look falls over him.

I put the phone and speaker and slid the phone to him. He leaned over, still looking confused.

"Nico?" My mother sniffled.

His gaze quickly went from confused, to even more confused, he didn't seem to know who she was.

"Hello?" He says.

"Hello," she says on the other end.

Nico looked at me with a look that read he wasn't sure what to do and mouthed to me, "Who is this?"

But just as I was about to speak, my mother did it for me, "Hey, Nico, it's, uh, mom?" she says.

Nico freezes and visibly stiffens, he was quiet for so long and so still I would have thought he transformed into a statue.

"Nico? Are you there?" She says.

This was already a shitty way to tell Nico that his mother wanted to speak with him but had I done it any other way, he wouldn't have come, and it wasn't a conversation I knew Nico wouldn't even want to have with me, or anybody for that matter.

His lips thinned, "Excuse me?" He almost scoffed.

"I'm sorry, Nico, I've missed you so much, it's not what you think, please, let me explain-"

"I wasn't asking," he interrupted, sounding more serious than I ever thought was possible.

A soft sob bled through my phone and a soft sniffle, "Nico, I'm so sorry, you don't understand, but I want you to know that I miss you and your brother everyday,"

Nico look really overwhelmed and glance at me for a moment before saying, "Fuck this," before he stand up and leaves the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

As Nico stormed out, the sharp slam of the door echoed through the room, leaving a tense silence in its wake. My mother's quiet sobs filled the air from the speakerphone, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the door Nico had just walked through.

The weight of what I had done hit me hard, but part of me knew this moment had been inevitable.

"I-I'm sorry," my mother's voice wavered on the other end. "I didn't mean to upset him, I just... I wanted to try."

I clenched my jaw, conflicted. My relationship with her was fractured, but Nico was another story. He deserved the choice, however painful, to face the person who had left us both.

"It's not easy for him," I finally said, my voice strained. "You can't expect everything to be okay just because you want it to be."

"I know," she whispered. "But I had to try. You don't know how hard it's been—"

"Stop," I cut her off, sharper than intended. "This isn't about you. It's about Nico, and you don't get to dump this on him when he's barely had time to process your existence."

Another long pause stretched between us, her silent sobs barely audible now. I pressed my fingers to my temple, the weight of the whole situation bearing down on me.

"I don't know if he'll talk to you again," I said honestly, staring at the closed door. "But give him space. If he wants to, he'll find you. That's all I can promise."

She didn't respond for a moment, then, with a choked breath, she whispered, "Thank you, Matteo. For giving me a chance."

I didn't reply. Instead, I hung up, dropping the phone on the desk with a heavy sigh. I'd done what I thought was right, but the guilt gnawed at me. Nico's reaction had been worse than I'd anticipated, and I wasn't sure if I'd made things worse for him.