"It’s nothing," Matteo said instinctively, not liking the pinched, worried look in Alia’s eyes. If he told her the truth, he knew she would be blaming herself for causing him trouble. "I’m more worried about you. How are you feeling?"
"Don’t change the subject," Alia said firmly, tightening her fingers around Matteo’s wrists, preventing him from pulling away. After all they had been through, she wasn’t going to let Matteo wriggle out of answering her questions.
Besides, Matteo’s non-answer had told her more than anything else he could have said.
"This was because of , wasn’t it? That’s why you didn’t want to ask about it," Alia stated, her voice soft as she turned her gaze back into Matteo’s hands. Her fingers gently brushed against a freshly healed cut, the blue blacks of his skin swimming in her irises.
"You didn’t wear your gloves. That was foolish of you," Alia started with a quiet sigh. To allow his hands to suffer such frostbite, Matteo must not have cared much about his own well-being when he went out to search for her.
That very thought made her heart ache, yet it sparked a kindle of warmth in her.
"I did not," Matteo agreed placidly. "Then again, I have ten fingers, but I only have one of you. It stands to reason you’re my priority."
"That’s so..." Alia spluttered. She didn’t even know how she could respond to such a statent. "Your fingers are important! If you lost them, how would you do your job? How would you live?"
"If you’re dead, there’s no point in living," Matteo said simply. "And I’ve always fancied having robotic limbs."
"Don’t be ridiculous," Alia scolded, but her heart wasn’t in it.
She didn’t understand how Matteo could claim to love her so much when they’d only known each other for such a short ti. He had never said it to her face officially, but the things he did weren’t ordinary at all.
"Did you dig through the snow for ?"
"Technically, I was digging for your snowboard," Matteo pointed out. Since Alia still seed upset, he hastily reassured her. "I promise you, it’s not as bad as it looks. The damage was mostly superficial, and the doctors said the discoloration would go away with ti."
"I’m more concerned about you. How much do you rember?" Matteo asked instead, and Alia could only shake her head.
"Truthfully not much," Alia admitted, slightly sha-faced. "Andrea left on the advance slope and I walked down mid-way. The snow got heavier so I thought I should try skating down. Then I fell and smashed my phone― my phone!"
Alia then rembered that her phone was destroyed. "Matteo, did you see it? Was it left on the slope?"
Matteo shook his head regrettably. "I’m sorry, but I didn’t see it. I’ll get the staff to scour the mountain while I get you a new one."
"It’s alright," Alia hastily said, not liking the brief look of reproach on Matteo’s face.
He shouldn’t bla himself, and he had nothing to feel sorry for― without him, Alia would have been nothing more than an icicle for new tourists to marvel at, as well as a cursory tale for naughty children.
"I can afford a new one now," Alia said. "Out with the old, and in with the new, right?"
She did feel slightly sad that there were plenty of old photos of her and her father on the phone, but perhaps this was for the best. There were also plenty of photos of her and Caleb in their three years of marriage that she had not found ti to delete.
The pictures would remain buried in the snowy mountainside along with any happy mory she had of that marriage. It was a fitting end to her love with Caleb.
She would make new mories now, with the people she loved.
With Matteo.
As if he understood what she was implying, Matteo leaned in closer and pressed a tender kiss to her lips, taking her breath away.
"Alia, I promise you, nothing like this will ever happen again," Matteo declared. "Andrea has been dealt with accordingly, and I’ll make sure Emline loses her neck for this little stunt."
"...How did you deal with Andrea?" Alia asked warily. There was a vengeful murderous glint in Matteo’s eyes that didn’t bode well.
"You didn’t―" She made a slicing motion across her neck, "Did you?"
"Of course not." Before Alia could feel any relief at his words, he continued. "I rely made him wish I had. Andrea Brasico will find that he will never be employed to teach in any capacity ever again, and neither will he be allowed to compete in any snowboard contest more prestigious than a kindergarten talent show."
"Harsh, but I approve." Alia sighed.
Unbidden, she recalled the derisive and patronizing tone Andrea had spoken to her with and shuddered. Truly, one didn’t really know soone unless you were stuck with them on top of a perilous slope.
"He was in Emline’s pocket all along. I can’t believe she would do this..." Alia confessed, shaking her head.
"What happened to Emline in the end? Did she really fly back to Sol City, like Aiden claid?" Alia asked, half-expecting Emline to pop up behind the door like an evil witch. After all, Aiden claid Matteo was long gone, and here he was.
Matteo growled, that very na causing his mood to nosedive. "She’s gone. I would never let her step within ten feet of you after that stunt she pulled. She could have killed you!"
"Bet you anything that that’s what she hoped for," Alia noted dryly. "As murder plots go, I have to give her credit for her sche. She didn’t get her hands dirty at all. But I guess she’s not languishing in prison for attempted murder?"
"No, not for the lack of trying," Matteo said bitterly. "Emline, of course, denied everything and claid that Andrea was working on his own. And Andrea seconded it. So I can’t have her arrested."
"I highly doubt Grandfather would let her be arrested even if she did admit to it," Alia said frankly. "She’s also his granddaughter too. Not to ntion her parents would have stopped at nothing to get her out."
"And I’ll stuff her back inside no matter how many tis it takes," Matteo snarled. "She has no place in our lives."
Alia snorted at the ntal image. A yawn slowly overtook her, and Matteo imdiately stood up, ready to fluff the pillows.
"I should let you rest," Matteo said regrettably, but before he could leave, Alia instinctively grabbed his hand. Her hands gently ran across the discolored fingers, an ache spreading through her heart.
"Stay," Alia said in a breathless whisper before her cheeks colored at the brazen request. "I an, if you’re not busy and you have nothing in your schedule― I wouldn’t want to put you off work―"
"Alia, move," Matteo said, with the barest of smiles on his face, and Alia could only blink owlishly at him, not understanding his point.
"I’ll need space to crawl into bed with you."
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