Page 69 of Bound in Blood
Mateo’s fingers curled around his empty glass, shoulders tensing. “I don’t need a babysitter. I’m not going to walk into the sun over a falling out with my brother.”
“I know,” Alexei said simply. “But I am as sick of New York as you are of listening to your brother have boring sex through the walls.”
Mateo barked out a laugh before he could stop himself. “Never talk about my brother’s sex life again.”
Alexei only smirked, raising his glass in mock cheers before draining the last of the clear liquid. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
Mateo exhaled sharply, drumming his fingers against the counter. “Fine. But if you come with me, you get your own place.”
“Naturally,” Alexei replied smoothly. “I don’t want to hearyouhaving boring sex through thin walls, either.”
“Mm. I’d say the same for you, but you’re a virgin,” Mateo deadpanned.
Alexei pretended to think for a moment, then nodded, “For at least one lifetime, I have been. What can I say? I’m waiting for marriage.”
Mateo exhaled sharply, letting the last of his irritation settle somewhere deep, where it would be easier to ignore. He turned his empty glass in his hands, watching the way the dim light of the bar caught the rim. “So, we should leave tomorrow, then.”
Alexei hummed, casual as ever, but there was something certain about the look in his eyes. “No time like the present. Or, the very immediate future, anyway.”
Mateo huffed, rolling his shoulders. He felt wired, still half a second away from starting a fight he didn’t need. Oh, well. He’d find a human man on the way home for a snack and a quick fuck, and maybe he’d feel a bit better. Leaving was the first thing that had made sense to Mateo for a long time. “You got shit to pack?” he asked, turning to Alexei as he stood.
“Not much.” Alexei adjusted the cuff of his sleeve, smoothing out a wrinkle that didn’t exist. “You?”
“Even less.” Mateo flicked a glance toward Paddy, who was busy with another patron. No use bothering him with a goodbye. “Sun’s up in a few hours. I’ll check the train schedule on my way back to the house and we’ll leave tomorrow at sundown.”
Alexei nodded. “Efficient.”
Mateo slapped some extra cash on the counter as he stepped away from the bar. “I have to be useful somehow.”
Alexei shot him a knowing look as he rose to follow. “You’re doing the right thing, you know.”
Mateo scoffed, shoving his hands into his pockets as they stepped into the night. New York always smelled like piss and desperation. Mateo hoped Boston would be at least a little better. “Yeah? Didn’t realize you were my moral compass.”
Alexei smirked, adjusting the collar of his coat. “Mateo, you and I both know neither of us have one of those. I’m just saying. Sometimes you do everything you can for someone, but it is not enough.” There was that weird, knowing expression in Alexei’s gaze again. “What is that stupid expression about horses and water?”
Mateo shook his head. “Do I look like a cowboy to you? What the fuck would I know about horses?”
Alexei hummed in agreement. “No. You are nowhere near manly enough.”
Mateo rolled his eyes, shoving his hands deeper into his pockets, but he didn’t reply. They walked in silence for a while, the city’s ever-present noise filling in the spaces between them. Mateo wished he could be sad about leaving. Maybe, in a way he was. But he’dbeenmourning the loss of his brother for a long time, this was merely the burial.
When they were children, Mateo and Marco’s Nonna had slowly started forgetting everything. It started small, like which twin was which, and ended only when she’d passed away years later. The in between, when she called them by their father’sname, or couldn’t speak all together, or regressed back years in time, Mateo had grieved. He grieved the memories they’d had, the Nonna she’d used to be. By the time she’d finally died, she’d beengonefor a long time.
Mateo felt the same way with Marco now. He’d been grieving his brother for five years. It was time to throw his flower on the casket and go. Still, he found himself asking aloud, “Do you really think we’re doing the right thing?”
Alexei’s smirk softened. Not quite a smile, but something less sharp than usual. “I think it’s the next thing. When something bad happens, you keep moving forward. We live too long to fret on what could have been.”
Mateo huffed, kicking a loose piece of gravel down the cracked sidewalk. “Guess so.”
The streetlights buzzed overhead, casting long shadows as they passed. The scent of rain lingered in the air, clinging to the pavement from a long-passed storm.
Tomorrow. Boston.
Mateo wasn’t sure if he felt relief or something else entirely.
Either way, he wasn’t turning back.
* Go fuck yourself.
