I sigh, lying on the bed. This week was one of the busiest of the month, and the two Russian men I saw at the café made it even worse. It doesn't matter how much I think about it; I can't figure out how they might have found us. I paid insane attention to every supplier I chose and made sure that every transaction I did was safe and untraceable. Moreover, I changed both mine and Nina's credit card when we arrived in Italy but I didn't deactivate the previous ones, so there's no way they could track down any of our payments.
I look at the clock, striking 9:30, and sigh again as I slowly drag myself towards the staircase. Our house is spread over two floors: on the first one there is the living room and the kitchen, divided by a meter-tall wall, on the second one there are our bedrooms and a bathroom.
"Morning!" I greet Nina, who's preparing breakfast, while I dive on the sofa and switch the TV on.
"Morning," she replies. Her voice feels like her mind is somewhere else, and I know her well enough to understand that it's not because she's cooking. Since that day, she's been quite thoughtful, as if something worries her. The TV isn't enough to distract me from wondering about what's on her mind; she's never been good at keeping secrets, yet she decided not to tell me what happened while she was alone at the flower shop. The volume of the daily news is increasingly confused with the sizzling of eggs, and an inviting flavor floods the whole room when Nina says that the breakfast is ready. I stand up from the sofa and get to the kitchen, where a steaming dish is already waiting for me.
"This smells delicious!" I say, attacking the fried eggs as soon as I sit down around the table. My expression is delighted and she looks like her worries have temporarily disappeared. Just like every other day, it hurts me not to be allowed to live with her as I did before, to love her as I used to, despite everything I can't get over a recent past that feels like a whole different life. The Russian men melt in her warm expression; I forget all the surroundings and enjoy my little happy world.
When we finish breakfast, we tidy up our plates and head outside, towards the car. When I'm alone, it takes me about a minute to get in the car and drive away, but Nina still has some troubles when she walks down the stairs from our doorstep to the ground since the steps are few but taller than usual. I lock the door and lead the way down the stairs, focusing only on the sound of Nina walking down. Then, all happened in a split second: I heard her feet trip and shout, "Watch your step!" With a worried sick voice and turn around, just in time to catch her mid air. I hold her against my body, trying to calm down and dissipate the terror I felt the moment before; most probably, she's able to sense my heartbeat through her back.
"Please, watch your step," I plead, still with a preoccupied tone.
I put her down beside me and carefully rearrange her overturned hair and hoodie, my expression is still somewhat upset. She tries to murmur something, but I don't get even just one of the words she's saying.
"Are you hurt anywhere?" I question, checking her from head to toe once again.
"I'm... Ok, thanks for catching me..." She mumbles in response, still scared and shocked by her near fall.
"Great then, let's go," I conclude with a low-key relieved voice. I glance at her again and again as she carefully steps down, this time without stumbling.
"Good job!" I compliment her, "I could wait for you, but Elisa would be mad if we arrive late, so give me your hand, that's what friends are for..." I add, gently taking her hand.
'That's what friends are for...' I mumble over these words, reminiscing about when I didn't have to come up with an excuse to take her hand.
Finally, we get into the car and leave, heading towards Theo's house. I pay attention not to speed too much, aware of Nina disliking excessive speeds.
"Nina, Alexey, you guys are finally here!" Theo welcomes us when we arrive. His son Simone had already jumped on Nina and she had already fallen for the second time, if I wasn't there holding her back once again. Soon after, Elisa, his wife, comes to greet us too, and as soon as I and Theo say that we're going off to get something to nibble on for lunch, she takes Nina straight to the kitchen, Simone running after them.
"When will Elisa understand that Nina is not made for cooking?" I ask Theo, chuckling as we walk away from his place.
"How come," he asks surprised, "you always say that you love the meals she cooks for you!".
"Of course I do; the problem is how she cooks those meals: If you heard all the incidents that occur while she is cooking, you'd think she is fighting someone!" I explain, joining Theo in a hearty laugh. However, it trails off quite fast, leaving room for a worried silence. We walk some minutes without saying a word, probably thinking about how to introduce the argument we both are thinking about. Theo, after taking a deep breath, opens and closes his mouth several times as if he wants to say something he's not sure about.
"So," he begins, "What did you want to talk about?". Most likely, he is perfectly aware of the matter I want to discuss, but this way, he managed to throw at me the tremendous weight of introducing it... Darn you Theo, you've always been too good with words.
"Well... A couple of days ago, while I was enjoying a good coffee at that café we both like... There were two Russian men in a black suit." As I say these words, I feel looking into Theo's eyes difficult; he's already helped us big deal, and it screws me to bother him with such bad news.
"I don't want to take for granted that they're linked to the Mafia, but it's not every day that you get to see two innocent Russian tourists sitting in a café wearing such a long suit despite the August weather..." I add. We spend some more moments walking silently, tension building up between us.
"We've had quite the stroll, should we head back home?" He asks suddenly, his voice suggesting not to say no.
"But what about the snacks..."
"Aw, come on, you really think that with an Italian wife, I have no snacks in my house? You're still a foreigner inside, It was just an excuse to get far from Nina," he teases me as he turns on his heels to go back home. I follow him right away, slightly disappointed in myself for not understanding this on my own.
"I guess you're worried for your shop, aren't you?" He questions as we walk.
"I'm worried for the whole city; this place isn't ready to witness an international mafia clash; it would ruin the peaceful environment that reigns in these streets." A group of kids runs past us, shouting at each other and laughing about something we don't get. "Don't you agree with me?" I add. Theo nods in response, smiling at the sight of the children laughing happily. He seems to think for a while, then he demands me: "Have you had any contacts with the local mafia yet?".
"No, not yet," I immediately answer, "not while I was at the shop, at least..." A vague idea begins to shape inside my mind: could it be... No, Nina wouldn't hide such a thing from me, and I would get to know if she paid an unusual amount of money to an unknown subject, since I'm in charge of shop's accounting. I shake away that thought immediately, upset for even just thinking that Nina could do such a dangerous thing. Yet, if that was the case, her behaviour in these last days would acquire a meaning... A small but insistent awl remains in my mind, a trail of a faded suspect that suggests me to pay more attention.
"Mh, I see. If you ever get to talk with them, get in touch with me as soon as possible, okay?" He doesn't give up till he manages to make me promise it, then he smiles warmly with a satisfied look in his eyes. A blurred outline of his house begins to appear straight ahead.
"We're in this together, like we've always been, and we'll get out of this together, like we will always do; right?" His eyes gleam of a determined light as he speaks, a detail I've always admired in him: it doesn't matter what happens and why, he always looks like he will find a way out of it.
"Right, bud," I reply, then add: "Damn, every time I finish talking with you about a concerning topic I end up feeling dumb for worrying about it!".
"You don't feel like you're dumb, you are dumb for worrying about it!" He mocks me with a grin on his face. We both burst in the second heartfelt laugh of the day, this one much more relieved than the previous.