I’m sitting on the couch, Carmen’s head resting on my lap. I am brushing her long hair absent-mindedly but lovingly.

Dante stands still, in the middle of the room and stares at us. His eyes are sad and full of remorse.

“Marshall is dead”, he says, simply. Quietly. Painfully.

For a second, I can’t catch my breath. Carmen gasps abruptly and sits up in shock, covering her mouth with her hand. Her eyes are already glimmering with tears, her face is growing paler and paler. I look at her trying hard to blink and I know I can’t. I look at her, then at him, trying to say something, anything, and I know that I just can’t. This is just too much for me to process.

The pain hits me strongly, together with anguish and fear, it squeezes my guts with its frozen hand, my heart starts hammering in my chest and I just. I just can’t believe that what he’s saying is true.

“What…? What are you… saying….? Marshall….?”, I finally stutter in disbelief, under my breath.

Nothing changes on Dante’s face. Not a muscle he moves. He just gazes at me, then at Carmen, and repeats what he’s already said. In a weaker voice, this time.

“Marshall is dead. They assassinated him. He…”, he swallows and bites his lips, and I can see his chest raising and falling rapidly, like breathing is becoming an extremely difficult thing, for him.

“…He…”, and his eyes move around the room, frantically, looking for a shelter, a handhold, looking for I don’t know what, “…I think he’s been assassinated five, maybe seven days ago, judging by the conditions of his… body, he… He’s still in his office. I couldn’t call the police, I couldn’t call anybody, I couldn’t even move him or… help…. help him, you know I couldn’t and maybe… maybe I should have known that… That maybe he was in danger too, and -”.

Carmen jumps off the couch and crashes on him, enveloping him in a strong hug.

I don’t feel any jealousy, seeing them like that. I know what that hug means. I know Carmen, I know Dante, and I know how Carmen and I are together.

Dante leans forward a little, bends down as Carmen rests her arms around his large shoulders. The palm of her right hand slightly brushes the nape of his neck. Dante places his hands carefully on her back, rests his bearded chin on her shoulder and his green eyes stare at me. Like he’s asking me if he can do what he’s doing.