And Carmen’s eyebrows furrow, I see that small dimple between her eyes and I smile and exhale a long breath on her skin and she starts closing around me, her whole body shaking, quivering, fluttering.

“God, yes…”, she whispers, prolonging the “s” for more than necessary, breathing in her orgasm.

Strands of hair covering my forehead and my eyes and still I can see every inch of her skin shivering. And I am not about to stop. I just started making love to her. I am not going to stop soon. I love the way she melts into my hands and I am not going to stop soon.

End Flashback

“Shane?”.

My wife is calling me, her arms folded, her shoulder resting against the doorframe.
I am smoking a cigarette, laying on my back on the bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking about the time when nothing terrible was happening. I turn my eyes to her and she smiles what is meant to be an unsuccessful, reassuring smile.

“Come here, Carm”, I murmur, opening up my arms.

She chuckles, slightly, and kneels on the bed. She lays right beside me, her head resting on my chest.

“Are you okay, babe?”, she asks me after a long sigh.

“No. I am scared. And I feel guilty”, I reply quietly, honestly.

“Why?”, she whispers.

“Maybe if I didn’t lose my mind with that Sanders guy, one year ago, now we wouldn’t be going through this mess”.

Carmen starts playing with my silver necklace.

“You don’t have to feel guilty. You did nothing. And I am sure Dante will figure out what’s happening. Nothing bad is going to –“.

“Carmen, two people died in Milan, because of that explosion. And Cassandra has been kidnapped. And there was a bomb into our backyard. You have to admit that something bad is already happening”, I cut in, firmly.

She doesn’t reply.

“What are we doing now?”, I asks, after a while.

She just shrugs.

“We are waiting. There’s nothing else we can do”.

“I still can’t believe it”.

“Same here”.

“Where’s Dante?”.

“He is still in the kitchen”.

I rake my fingers through her hair, absent-mindedly.

“Is he alright?”.

“No. He just seems alright. But he’s not. His pregnant wife has been kidnapped, and she is in danger”.