Episode 24.3

Irina left the building on the crowded avenue and met with her brother's driver, she was nervous, she kept looking at her cell phone to see the messages. Hell, she didn't want to leave, she wanted to stay in Milan, why was her brother so insistent that they should leave the country in a few hours? She didn't want to leave or return to Russia, not after what had happened or...

She felt panic, she was tired of living on the run, of living in fear, why couldn't they be calm? What had her brother done, what dangerous business was he involved in? And why did he never tell her the truth? She was no longer a child.

Nicolai had a lot of money, that apartment where they lived must have been worth a fortune, well he was a scientist and in Russia he had had great recognition and a good position until the laboratory that had hired him closed. In Italy he had managed to work for an important laboratory of chemical products, they lived in a luxurious apartment, with great security. He had a very expensive car, a driver and they lacked nothing, but... It hadn't always been like this, as soon as he arrived...

Irina pushed those memories from her mind as she always did with the unpleasant, her life had changed. She had taken business courses, learned Italian, and followed her brother's advice to stay away from boys who wanted to ask her out. "Try not to mess with the Italians Irina, and be careful if you make friends, no one should know about us. Italians are curious, they always want to know things, stay away... "her brother had told her and she followed her orders to the letter because she suspected that she was hiding something. So much money, so many security guards, they had never had so much before, in their country they barely had enough to eat. The last few years had been very bad for her family, her father without a job...

The voice of his brother's driver caught his attention, he had to get into the vehicle without delay and return home.

A new alarm signal.

As she watched the streets speed by she wondered again why. What was Nicolai up to, and why did he say they had to leave that city in a few hours?

He had gotten used to Italy and it had been quite an achievement for her to get that job and her brother approved because she insisted that he wanted to have her own money.

He had looked at her with her big brown eyes and told her: "remember what I told you, Irina. If they ask you something about your family, your country or me, don't answer, don't let them extract information from you". She couldn't talk about her past or her brother's job.

And that man who couldn't stop looking at her. Her boss, had asked her a lot of questions as if she suspected something…

She sighed at the thought of that rich young man used to seducing her minions, playing with them and then forgetting them and she believed that she would enter into her game. But he wasn't the only one hoping to take her to bed. Those Italian boys were very in love and vehement, and handsome... Only for them it was a game, their brother had already warned them and they knew it was true, however, at times, sometimes they wanted to... go out with boys like girls her age did and she didn't know why her brother wouldn't let her do it, why he was so afraid of her getting tangled up with someone.

She suspected that he was involved in something dirty, dirty and very lucrative, because in just three years she had become much richer than expected. He earned very well at his job, yes, he had a salary that in his country would have been impossible to get, but... There was something else: something secret and he thought that this was the reason why he was keeping her away and he seemed quite annoyed that work and because of that... More and more frequently he called her and forced her to return to the apartment for no reason.

Like that day, but that day she was furious.

Upon entering the apartment, she noticed that she had visitors and all her anger, directed at her brother, vanished, because she could not make a scene in front of strangers.

"You've finally arrived, Irina. Come, I want to introduce you to some friends.

She approached intrigued, sometimes her friends would show up, chat with him alone and leave. Nicolai had always been sociable, from her homeland and since she was the only girl of four brothers she got used to playing with them as a child, even though the games and fights were sometimes wild, he always loved her. had defended. But that day she noticed him strange, something in her eyes...she seemed restless as if something aroused her anxiety.

—Irina come, I want to introduce you to Massimo Visconti, an old friend. He wants to meet you.

She came closer uncomfortable, it was not the first time that those Italian friends of her brother wanted to meet her, they did not stop looking at her, they were womanizers by nature, they were always looking at women, they chased them, they said compliments and they went too far. When she was studying, she received many invitations, nice words, and there was even one who began to follow her until

her apartment, but upon finding out about her, her brother beat her up and never bothered her again.

He himself spoke ill of all of them. Nicolai was faithful to his country, to his family, Italy for him was his job, a better life, fun, that's why he was surprised that he tried to bring her closer to one of his friends whom he had never seen before, or at least he didn't remember.

"Come sit down, you look tired... My sister works with the firm of Mazzini and Clio" she explained.

Irina obeyed, uncomfortable as she was being watched by that group, especially by that tall man with very dark hair and almost black eyes. She hated being in a room surrounded by men, but the most embarrassing thing happened later when she was left alone with that stranger while her brother joined the others in another room because she had the unsettling feeling that this Italian was taking an X-ray of her body. : muscles, bones, charms, no detail was lost, to then look at his eyes.

"You've grown, little Irina," said the subject suddenly.

Grown up? Her grays expressed confusion. What was that Italian talking about?

"You don't remember me, do you?" And actually I wouldn't have been able to recognize you either, it's been so long and you... You were a skinny teenager and with long legs, blond hair down to her waist and very brave.

The young woman looked at him alarmed, thinking that she liked that man less and less. He didn't like her saying that he had met her before, the way he looked at her and talked to her...

"Who are you and where do you know me from?" Her," she finally said, intrigued.

He approached and looked at her strangely, he smiled and looked at her hair, her eyes without missing a thing.

"Pretty, I saved you three years ago when you came here because some Russian son of a bitch promised you a job and a better life, remember?" And he put them in a network of human traffickers," she replied.

Irina began to feel bad, the memory of those days: the darkest days in her life returned and she wanted to escape, hit that man. But was it him? She couldn't believe it.

"I don't remember... I can't remember," she confessed, agitated, and walked away slowly.

—Well, it was a long time ago, you have changed, you don't look so helpless anymore, you are a strong ragazza, beautiful.

She stared at him then, no, she didn't remember him at all. She had never seen him or had she? Was she part of that group of Italians who met with her brother in secret and did not entirely legal business?

She panicked that this was true. Her mention of her bumpy arrival in Italy made her feel bad.

Not knowing why she felt in danger, she wanted to get away from that man.

"Excuse me, I'm a little tired. Nice to meet you Mr. Massimo.

He smiled and said: "see you soon Irina, nice to see you."