Episode 29.3

Those words were enough to grate on her nerves.

"But then..." she didn't dare say it, but the memory of the worst time in her life returned and she felt bad, sick.

—Calm down, no... I don't want to scare you, but you must understand that this can happen and we must be prepared. Massimo is your only way out. And if something happens to me... Don't try to escape, he accepts help from him, in this country we are foreigners and the police will not be able to keep you safe.

A new identity, as the wife of that redneck, he would have what he wanted and then...

No, she was crazy. It was all crazy and she still didn't know why her brother was so nervous, so scared.

"Then you will return to Russia alone?" Will you leave me here with that stranger? Her voice cracked as she began to understand the truth. Her brother wasn't thinking of taking her, because he was dangerous, he didn't want to.

—Listen, this was not in my plans, I swear, I did not mean it to be like this. But Russia is not a safe place for me now, later I will return and if you want...

—Don't promise anything Nicolai, don't promise something you know you can't keep. And how do you expect me to agree to be a part of your plans to keep me safe?

—There is no other alternative, Massimo will give you his name, he will give you a new identity and in exchange, all you have to do is stage a farce, be his wife. For a while... Don't think you'll be tied but that time will be vital for you. You will be safe.

"Safe you say?" And why should I get safe, hide if I didn't do anything?

—Listen Irina, please stop asking questions, now I can't tell you anything, but I will, I promise, as soon as I resolve a crucial issue...

She always got away from him, but not this time, if something happened to her brother...

—Come here, you can't do this, you must tell me the truth. What have you done Nicholas?

"Nothing" she murmured. "I didn't do anything, that's not the problem, but I can't tell you what happened if I do, if they catch you and torture you into saying what you know, they will hurt you a lot Irina, they will kill you."

She moved away from her and she decided to go to the kitchen to eat something, she hadn't eaten for hours and she was hungry. She gulped down two dumplings almost without realizing it while she popped the top off a soda. She didn't want to go out with that man, let alone marry him, a guy she didn't like at all to begin with and also... She didn't think there would be any wedding, come on, no one knew each other and they got married after two days unless that he was crazy or very desperate.

And while she was eating a third empanada, she heard him call her. The Italian, "her fiancé".

She came out like she was on a spring and there he was looking at her with a smile.

—Hello... but how pretty you have become, Irina—she said and briefly touched her hair.

That gesture infuriated her and she thought she would tell him that she wasn't going out with him, but she didn't. Despite the rage she was scared, bewildered and she wanted to know, she wanted to know what was going on but would she really tell him? She didn't trust him.

They looked at each other for a moment and she finally extended her hand saying:

"Well come on, it's getting late.

And she let herself be guided, suddenly it seemed to her that it would be better for her to go out and get some air, that apartment was going to drive her crazy. The apartment, her brother disappeared from her and she was in imminent danger.

She looked around her in a daze. But apparently they wouldn't go alone... she Suddenly she discovered that a group of individuals, similar to the ones that sometimes accompanied her brother, were there, a short distance away and kept looking at them. Massimo didn't say anything, didn't flinch, as if it wasn't an important fact.

"But who are they?" Why are they there? she asked uneasily.

- Oh those? They are guardian angels, precious, but don't be afraid, they take care of all of us," he answered enigmatically.

Guardian Angels?

"Come on, get on, I'm not going to kidnap you... Well, not yet, the deal is to get to know each other, isn't it?" Her," she smiled at him mischievously as he helped her with her seat belt.

-It is necessary? I'm not five years old—she complained about the belt.

"Well, it's so you don't get away," he joked. "Besides, I drive very fast."

What she did not imagine was that as soon as they started, those guys would follow them in their cars. Guardian angels?

"Are you still very hungry, ragazza?" Massimo asked.

Her look made him laugh again.

"Relax, I'm not going to kidnap you, we'll just go to a more private place for dinner," he said.

"And it looks like we'll be bringing bodyguards."

"It's that we are very valuable, little one..." was her answer.

Irina didn't answer, she was scared, she had the feeling that that seat belt was some kind of rope and that that car was going at crazy speed, where would it take her? And why did she need to get away so much? No, it didn't seem like an appointment to meet her future husband, it seemed like an escape, a kidnapping... As if everything were a gangster movie, it wasn't real, she had the feeling that for some time now her life it had become a film, something that did not happen to her. Well, for his brother to arrive one day and talk to him about a deal with that Italian to whom he owed many favors and that in return for those favors he should be his wife (or so he gave him to understand) it still seemed absurd to him, so unreal... And she didn't want to be a part of it, it scared her because she sensed something wrong with that whole story.

She prayed in her language so that no one could understand or hear her, she prayed and asked for help because she suddenly thought "they are going to kill us, Nicolai and me... Maybe Massimo too because he is thinking about something illegal and he has enemies. Men like him end up shot in the head riddled in front of a crowded place and that will happen to me..."

"Calm down... nothing will happen precious, I know how to drive..." she heard her say before accelerating again.

She watched hysterically as they left behind buildings and busy streets, but she saw no sign of the "guardian angels."

The vehicle continued at a movie pace until it stopped at a restaurant.

"Well, here we are, my dear...

It was a very fancy place and packed with tourists, but she felt dizzy and scared, wanting to run.

"Come on, come on, what do you have?" Wow, does speed scare you?

Speed?

Before she could answer she saw the other cars arrive in a line, one after the other. There were four of them and they stayed nearby watching. Her gazes met.

—Calm down, they are my friends, I already told you about them, right? You are safe with me. You will always be..." After saying those words, she gave him a fleeting kiss and took her hand to take her to the restaurant.

They entered and occupied a table with a view of the street, but somewhat hidden.

—Come, sit down ragazza, come on... did you think she was going to kidnap you huh?

Irina obeyed and stared at him. He seemed very sure of himself, used to giving orders and she wondered if he was making fun of her or what.

"I'm twenty-one years old, I'm not a ragazza," he then said very calmly.

He held her gaze as if those words were a challenge.

"I'm sorry, does it offend you that I call you that?" What's wrong with it? Come on, you were scared, you kept looking like you wanted to memorize the streets.

She didn't answer him right away and he asked for the menu while she looked around her carefully.

They ordered a chicken salad in béchamel cream and mushrooms and pasta.

"Well, tell me why your boss took you home. Your brother was very upset," he said suddenly to break the silence.

— He only offered to take me, I don't understand why my brother got so angry.

—You know why, beautiful Irina.

The young woman held her gaze. —No, I don't really know, my brother never talks to me about his business.

He smiled and looked at her lips with desire.

—Better this way ragazza, much better this way... Sometimes it's better not to know certain things. I know he does it to protect you and he has asked me to take care of you if something happens to him. Let it be your husband.

Irina felt embarrassed, wow so now that man told another version of the deal.

"He asked you that, he asked you to marry me to keep me safe?" He is crazy. He can't make him…it's not really necessary—not knowing why she had blushed.

"You're wrong Bella, arranged marriages are all the rage; Haven't you read the newspaper? A lot of women from remote countries are forced to get married by their families and your brother has strongly asked me and I gave him my word that he would do it.

So it was true? She had a bit of a hard time digesting it again...

"Wow, I thought you were the one who badly needed a wife."

That suggestion made him laugh.

-Wife? No... But the idea of taking care of you ragazza pleases me, you have grown into a very beautiful young woman you know that, don't you?

Beautiful? How gallant those Italians were, they exaggerated of course, in that country any woman who was blonde and pretty was beautiful.

"And to think that I rescued you from a fucking pervert when you were only eighteen... You looked so much younger then, just a kid, but now you've lost that sad, abandoned puppy look that was skin and bones," he said suddenly.

That revelation left her puzzled and then upset. Was she reminding him that she owed him a favor from her? She stared at him and replied:

"I'm flattered that she thinks I'm beautiful, but I imagine she'll say the same to all the women you want to seduce."

Is.

—No, not all... When I say beautiful to a woman it's because I mean it.

-Really?

"I'm very serious, I'm twenty-eight years old ragazza, and it's true, I need a wife." I imagine that your brother will have told you... I need to get married, but my wife must be Italian. So if we get married she will need to change her identity, stop speaking Russian, and behave like an Italian woman... She can see them, they have a special way of behaving, dressing, shouting. She will have seen them in variety.

Irina smiled tempted, yes, she was right, Italian women used to have a lot of character, they made her presence felt, the way they dressed, walked, at least in the city they were like that.

—I'm afraid I won't be able to imitate... I wouldn't know how to do it, I'm very different.

He smiled, always smiled, would he play nice to cajole her?

"There's no need for him to pretend, just stop speaking Russian and forget about those pagan holidays and customs that…"

—Well, I didn't say that I want to accept the deal... actually it's my brother who hopes to convince me to marry you, but it all seems very strange, unexpected and...

-That's what you think? He wasn't smiling anymore, he was staring at her as if she wanted to read her thoughts.

—And what would you think if your brother forced you to marry a woman you don't even know? Would you do it?

The Italian smiled.

—Well, if he consoles you, my uncle and your brother make me, but I don't dislike the idea. I need a wife and I think you are very pretty, a beautiful, healthy and calm ragazza. With simple tastes and you know how to cook, you cook very well and... I know other things.

"And how do you know so much about me?" Did my brother tell you all that?

—No, it wasn't your brother... I've been in your apartment before, but you never looked at us, we were Nicolai's friends and you always saw us appear and slip away. I guess because you're so shy or because of the way we looked at you... What I mean is that I have a certain advantage in this.

"So you've been spying on me?"

Oh my gosh, how dramatic. She wasn't spying. I just want to get to know a beautiful woman a little more, nothing more. Actually, I have been away from Milan for many years, but when I knew that I had to get married soon, I decided to go back and find a wife.

"And you didn't find an Italian girl to marry?" I can not believe that.

—It's just that now I don't feel like marrying an Italian Signorina, I like foreigners, Slavs, blondes better...

Wow, that Italian really was frontal, sincere. He didn't know what to say.

"You haven't really changed much, you know?" You're still that scared sad girl who cried in that shed.

-Can I ask you something? Could you stop mentioning what happened over three years ago? Maybe for you it was fun to play the hero, but for me it was a nightmare, a nightmare that no... which I don't even want to remember. And I don't understand why you remind me of her all the time.

"A thousand pardons ragazza, I didn't want you to be upset, really... But I didn't play the hero then, even though I saved them both."

She didn't want him to tell her why she had done it, or what role she had played, thinking of that captivity made her feel sick. So she attacked her plate of spaghetti in a rage thinking about what the Italian had said. So he had been close to her spying on her. Why didn't he ask her out if he wanted to meet her?

"Surprised?" Her," she heard him say.

-Yes a lot.

"It shouldn't be, there are actually places where wives are bought." It seems that in this world everything has a price.

Those words bothered him. —It's not true, not everything can be bought. And I find it abhorrent that a man should pay to be with a woman.

"Well, I didn't make it up. Also, I'm not buying it, it will be by mutual agreement. Protection in exchange for her playing the role of her Italian wife for a while.

-Mutual agreement? My brother was the one who made that deal. And I don't know what you should protect me from.

He took out a cigarette and put it away, it wasn't a smoking room and frustrated he hit it against the box and took a deep breath.

—Your brother's days are numbered sweetheart, he is sad, but he knows it. He thinks he can escape, get out of here unscathed, but he's gone too far and... he won't be able to run, nor can you if you're caught by his enemies.

Irina felt shocked hearing that, but she didn't believe it.

"You're trying to scare me, aren't you, Massimo?"

—No, you're wrong, you don't know how someone could scare you. Everything is real, it's happening and some time ago your brother suffered an attack and he pretended... he said that he had an accident on a highway. They shot him and he escaped unharmed, he was lucky. The bullet grazed his cheek and arm, but could have been fatal. He is... A man of principles, an idealist and I owe him this out of loyalty and gratitude, because he worked for me for years, but he doesn't anymore. He doesn't work for me.

"You say they shot him, that they tried to kill him?" But why? Tell me please. What did he do?

—I can't tell you now, it wouldn't be prudent or... I'll just say that your brother didn't do anything wrong, but his job is somewhat complicated. I ask you not to insist or want to know more than that now. It's a reality, and all of us who have dealings with Nicolai are in danger, which is why he wants you to leave Milan, to disappear for a while and only come back as my wife, with another name, another identity. I know that you will find that strange, unusual and not... Well, I imagine that you do not want to know anything about it.

—It's true, I barely know you, I've seen you a few times, but I really don't know anything about you.

The sigh.

—Yes, you're right and the bad thing is that I don't have much time to convince you, little one. The hours fly by, amica... They are watching Nicolai and they will not rest until they kill him. You have to get used to the idea, I know it's hard, but you better be prepared. You don't know me very well, but he does know me, and your brother has asked you to trust me, to accept my help.