Page 23 of Lost Room Lawyer
“Well, if I think about it … I’d say I know a lot of people and have many acquaintances. That comes with parent-teacher meetings, I suppose. But in that sense … no, they’re not my friends. Viktoria … She’s a good friend.”
“Your wife?”
“Yes.”
With every word, I felt myself edging further into the sidelines. Yet, it was all legitimate. Viktoria was my wife, my closest ally for almost twenty years.
“A good friend?” he asked, clearly baffled. “If she’s your wife, isn’t she also your best friend?”
“Yes, of course.”
I was confused. I generally avoided thinking about such things. With the secret I had been carrying around for years, I had enough to deal with. In my job, I focused too often on such details, so I didn’t want to trouble myself with these nuances in my personal life.
“Where are we staying, by the way?” Nico asked as we drove into St. Moritz.
“Honestly, I don’t know yet. Linda was supposed to let me know during the day. For now, we’ll head to Canonica’s house and start looking for documents.”
And that’s what we did.
The house was spotless, but the archive was a chaotic mess that made all my nightmares and worst fears come true. It was just like the photos Gerry had taken in Vevey. Cardboard boxes bulged and towered all the way to the ceiling, while countlessbundles of paper seemed to be piled up in front of the boxes to keep them from toppling over.
“Is this where we’re supposed to find something?” Nico asked, both horrified and amused.
I just stood there, swallowing hard. A queasy feeling spread in my stomach, and I had an urge to get the hell out of there. “Shit,” I muttered.
“At least it’s not dirty,” Nico said, stepping into the middle of the two-hundred-square-foot room, which smelled of stale air and old paper. “Don’t those belong in the trash?” he asked, pointing to some bundles.
“Canonica assured me that this isn’t just scrap paper.”
“So we’re looking for documents or receipts dated June 26th?”
“Exactly.” I couldn’t help it. My body was reacting to the chaos with a sweat outbreak, my pulse was racing, and I suddenly felt sick due to the disorder. “I … uh … I’ll be right back.”
I spun around and hurried down the hall to the spacious kitchen, which offered a stunning view of the mountains. I washed my hands at the sink with soap and took deep breaths to steady myself. After drying my hands on a kitchen towel, I felt it wasn’t enough, so I washed them again. Still unsatisfied, I washed them a third time.
Damn, calm down.
I didn’t want to return to the archive, but unfortunately, I had no choice. I’d be stuck here for the next few days—with Nico.
“Everything okay?” he asked as I stood in the doorway by the light switch, staring at the floor to avoid looking at the chaos.
“I have a hard time with a disorder,” I admitted, wringing my hands.
“We can search the stuff in the living room,” Nico suggested casually. “With a view of the mountains. Or is that not allowed?”
A huge weight lifted off my shoulders, and I was grateful for the suggestion. A nod was all I managed. Meanwhile, Nico grabbed four bundles and carried them into the living room.
It didn’t take long before we had settled in and spread out. Documents were piled on the floor, and drinks were on the coffee table. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, we could literally watch the sun travel from one side of the mountain peaks to the other.
Not that the work wasn’t a hassle, but Nico seemed to become more attractive with each passing hour. At least that’s what my mind was convincing me. I watched him covertly: his chiseled jaw, the Adam’s apple in his throat, his shoulder-length bleached hair, and his dark eyebrows. He had a strikingly angular face. And those lips.
God, just concentrate.
But that was easier said than done. As if he weren’t sexy enough, he was wearing a salmon-colored sweater at shoulder height, orange-red at the belly, and reddish-brown at the hips. I was awestruck and irritated when he removed his jacket. No man in the world would dare to wear such a thing. But he did. And it suited him perfectly. Seductive and elegant—even though I doubted that was his intention.
The conversation we had in the car came to mind.
“We have fun together, then everyone goes their separate ways.”
