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Dario pursed his mouth. "No. This time you're moving in for a transitional period. For my sake, you can come to the club and help me out there if you don't feel like sitting around here all day."
I had the feeling that he would not let me out of his sight for the time being, no matter what. So today not only scared me but also him. Whether or not that was reassuring
"First, I'm going to go to bed with painkillers and try to forget about the day. Sometimes I think I can still feel the explosion in my bones "
Dario reached into his first-aid kit, unearthed a packet of pills and dropped them in my lap. "Help yourself."
After he had put the bandages away again, he came back. This time he held out a smartphone to me. "Your old one may have broken in a spontaneous fit of rage. But I'd like you to reach me whenever you need to."
I looked at him, then at the cell phone, and then let his succinct explanation run through my head again. So he had purposely destroyed the smartphone that he had given me only a short time before?
"You're a weirdo, you know that?" I asked and reached for the smartphone. It was already set up and, like the old one, had a bunch of contacts stored in it. At the top, of course, was Dario.
"Sure. And you think you don't deserve all this. But I see it differently, and you'll have to get used to that," Dario replied.
Meanwhile, he was packing up a few things, which looked quite like he was preparing for another fight.
On the one hand, I was interested in what kind of lead he had uncovered. I had gotten to know enough new sides of his life for one day. It satisfied my need for a while. Sufficiently.
"How long do you think you'll be gone?"
Part of me longed to feel his warm body next to mine as relaxation entered my limbs. Special circumstances called for special measures, didn't they? Because I could not explain this sentimentality any other way, and that did not please me at all.
"I don't know. Depends on how much discussion there is and what Vince throws at our brother. If the others get involved, too, it could be a few hours before we even get going. And the lead... who knows where it will bring us."
"There are more of those guys in the country, right?"
Dario looked at me perplexed.
"What, it's not that hard to put two and two together. You wouldn't care half as much if it didn't involve some idiots."
"I want them all out of Italy or dead," he replied. "I don't want any of them to think they've ventured into new hunting grounds here."
So he would see to it that none of them survived and got the idea of asking questions or starting a kidnapping again. There were a lot of young women out there and if they were so set on their plan that they would do anything to put it into action....
I stared into his eyes. "Then I hope you won't show any mercy."
"I don't plan to,micina."
* * *
"Doyou mind if I go to sleep?" I asked Casimiro. He had shown up here about an hour ago, just before Dario had left to join his family.
We had been talking for some time, but eventually my attention had shifted to the TV because I just wasn't up for having a conversation.
His presence put me at ease, and the knowledge that there were two other men positioned downstairs with nothing to do but ensure my safety also helped me feel remarkably more secure.
Instead of standing firmly next to the apartment door and staring into nothingness, Casimiro had sat on the armchair tonight after pulling it close to the front door.
He was doubtless always listening to the surrounding sounds with one ear. Despite the activated alarm system and the other two men. I had already found him likeable before, but today he collected a additional points.
After a few seconds, he turned his gaze to me and raised his shoulders. "I'll be here to keep watch, even if you sleep like a rock. Just like the other times."
His warm voice calmed the nervousness lurking in my chest. I nodded and rose, having scraped together the strength to do so.
"Please wake me up if there's anything, will you? I don't want to be asleep in my bed while all hell breaks loose outside." Glancing at the pack of pills in front of me on the table, I made it clear to him I wasn't planning to go to sleep without them.
My jaw ached, my head still throbbed, and my foot pulsed in time with my heartbeat. I wouldn't mind sinking into a deep sleep for a few days and waking up refreshed. Without the panic and especially without the fear that had attached itself to me.
