Page 122 of Capuleto

No need, as she was about to redial, Irene's phone rang, and she showed me the screen. Seeing R's name made my heart skip a beat. He was there, on the other side.

I nodded for her to answer.

"Hi, sorry for calling so late. I just wasn't feeling well and needed to hear your voice after what happened the other day. I know I said I wouldn't come near you again, but I miss my friend. Are you okay?" She went silent.

"At the hospital? Did something happen to Aleksa?" My eyes questioned, wanting more information. "Uh, yeah, one of the guys told me. I stopped by to see him yesterday. Hey, Romeo, I keep going over everything, and it's really getting to me. Dante dead, what happened at the funeral, Aleksa shot... What if something happens to me?" She paused. "No, don't worry, don't put a guard on me, it's more the feeling of unease and, to be honest, it sucks that our friendship got ruined over a silly kiss and now I can only see you from afar. Your wife was right; I shouldn't have crossed the line. It's not easy for me to understand that you're not going to be in my life anymore even though I need you."

Irene whimpered and sniffed as if she were crying.

"So, is she okay?... What?! What happened to your wife?" I stared at Irene, realizing something had happened to my sister. "But is she okay?" Irene motioned for me to calm down when she saw my agitated expression. "An infection from a poorly treated wound, my God, what a scare... Okay, so they'll move her to a room and keep her in the same hospital as Aleksa until the fever goes down... Well, better, so she's monitored. And you'll stay there tonight, I imagine... Do you mind if I come by and chat for a while? Just as friends, I guarantee it'll just be a coffee or a tea, I really need to make things right with you... No, it's no trouble. I insist." Irene held her breath and signaled for me to stay calm. "From your voice, I sense you need someone to talk to, with Dante dead and Aleksa in the ICU, the options are limited... I swear I can just listen. Come on, say yes... Yes? Great, give me half an hour, I won't take long." She hung up the phone and gave me a conspiratorial look.

"You heard him."

"Let's go, I'll accompany you. While you take him to the cafeteria, I'll go check on my sister."

"I'm not sure that's safe."

"You don't decide, let's go."

Irene nodded, and I grabbed her arm and pulled her along.

49

Smoking kills

Andrey

If there was one thing I didn't expect to find when I snuck into Yuri's house for the second time, it was the golden goose that could save my boss from the chopping block. Irene was fucking Yuri, and that meant I had found the mole, or rather, the whore mole.

I had spent an entire day inside the house.

After Yuri sent his man away from me the previous day, I had thirty minutes to quickly scout the upper floor and place the micro-cameras I had camouflaged among the tools of the ENDESA guy. I wanted to ensure that everything happening on the upper floor would be recorded so that the Capulets would believe us when we presented the visual evidence.

I couldn't bug the entire house, so I left the lower floor for when I would sneak in at night, when the place was silent. Especially the office, the living room, and the kitchen, which were the most likely places for important conversations to take place.

I discovered that one of the rooms on the second floor was a kind of storage room filled with furniture and dust. It didn't look like a very frequented place, quite the opposite. Moreover, in the ceiling, there was a skylight that I could easily slip through by climbing the facade and lowering myself onto the table below.

I left it slightly ajar so it wouldn't be difficult to open it hours later. Just enough, barely noticeable. I was satisfied when I climbed down from the table, dusted off my pants, and grabbed the toolbox. I had left this room for last.

As I stepped out of the storage room, I ran straight into Kulkov, who raised his eyebrows at me.

"What were you doing in there?" he asked sharply.

"Doing my job, I found the source of the problem."

"In the storage room?" I nodded. "Show me."

I gritted my teeth; I didn't want to go back in there with this guy. He gave me a bad feeling, and there was also the matter of the skylight. If he noticed, I'd be in trouble.

Once inside, I led him to a junction box in the corner, which I had dampened with an empty gel bottle that I filled with water in one of the bathrooms. I pointed to the spot. The Russian felt around.

"Careful, you might get electrocuted," I warned. He pulled his hand out of the box and looked at me.

"It is wet."

"I told you, water and electricity don't mix well."

He wiped his fingers on his pants to dry them.

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