THIN ICE |BOOK I |BWWM|

•ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 15•

A/N: I don't usually put my A/N in the beginning, but you if you play the song above when you see this symbol [🔈] and read along with the music. It'll make it 20x better. I promise.

•SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA•

Julia's POV

"Pasta e Fagioli? Okay. That's a shame I didn't get to make it for you this time. We're in the process of....relocating." Matias cheesed as he dug into the cotton candy he got from a stand a few minutes ago.

"It's okay. Next time. Okay your turn." I squeezed my eyes shut as the blueberry blast slushie made its way to my brain.

"Ah, hmm, okay. I guess I'll get a little personal."

One eye popped open, skeptically looking at Matais.

"Calm down, I'm not gonna ask anything crazy. Just want to know about Nicolai's dad."

I paused mid-sip, "What about him?"

"Where is he?"

No doubt I was getting more comfortable with Matias, but I wasn't an idiot.

"Dead. Next question."

Matias' eyes narrowed as he pursed his lips and I hoped he would just drop it. It was probably a dumb idea to play Twenty Questions in the first place, but in my defense, I hadn't been on a date in forever so I panicked.

"Actually, it's your turn." He smiled while his doubtful gaze still lingered.

"Eh, it's okay. You can do another."

"Okay... how do you know Olivia?" He asked as he tore a piece of bright pink cotton candy and popped it into his mouth.

"We grew up together as kids. Our dads were best friends."

"Your dad is friends with Stefano?"

"Was. He was killed when I was like eleven."

I sighed and stirred my straw as we neared a wooden table and sat down. Matías distractedly picked at the fluffy treat in his hand as a thoughtful stare captured his face.

"So... you're father was Terrance Ricks?"

"Mmmmhhhhmmmm."

"Huh." He breathed out as if coming to a realization.

"What? You knew him too?"

"Not personally. Um, just curious. When you said the other night that you'd heard stories, ya' know, about my family, what," -he paused- "What stories have you heard?"

"Really? This is supposed to be a date and you want me to tell you why I don't want to be with you?"

"I thought I was allowed to ask questions too."

I pulled some cotton candy into my mouth and cleared my throat as I smiled.

"Well, I heard that um... Joanna, Don Franco's wife... was killed by your family."

Matias' face paled as his jaw tightened.

"Who told you that?" He spoke through clenched teeth.

Olivia.

"I don't remember, it was something I just heard around."

"Hm." His suspicious pupils studied my face for a moment before he leaned back.

"What?"

He silently shook his head as he chewed on the inside of his bottom lip. I sipped on my drink as silence joined us for the next thirty minutes. Between the screaming kids and soft glances I would toss to Matías' furrowed brow, it was actually pretty nice.