my online lover

as if

The sun out of the window surrounding the bar is filtering against the glass, hitting my face and pushing me to look somewhere else to not be annoyed by that. It's early morning and I am sitting waiting for Daniele to come for our meeting. I have no idea how it will go and if he will help. I have asked myself what if he won't accept? I needed a plan B but never thought about it. The only thing we could do is to try with the police. Maybe there will be someone helpful to hear us and catch Joe with his dirty hands.

It's a really cold day and I am waiting for Spring so badly. January seems to be the longest month ever and no matter how many layers I wear, it appears to never be enough to warm my body.

I spin my eyes around until I meet Kevin's. He is sitting not so far away from me and when he catches my gaze, he smiles, warming my chest as the dimples appear on either side of his mouth.

Every time he smiles at me like that makes my stomach flattering and my heart racing.

I didn't want him to join the conversation from the beginning; I need to see if Daniele was ready to let him in the plan because Kevin was the key in all of this. And I am hoping for all of this to work.

«Enede Robertson?» A male voice calls me and makes my head lift to face the man who just reached the side of my table. I wonder how he recognised me but maybe my dad's feathers are pretty visible.

«Yes, that's me,» I smile at him and nod to the chair in front of where I am sitting so he can take place.

Daniele does it making a big noise with the chair but apparently not caring about that. He is wearing sunglasses that cover most of his face and his expression is fully blank. He has probably the same age as my father but he is skinnier and has a thick beard with some white hair in it.

«I am Daniele, nice to meet you in person,» he presents himself while offering me the hand.

I shake his hand before letting it go. A waitress comes across us, asking what we want. I catch Daniele taking off his sunglasses and it seems like he has had better days. He orders a beer and that confirms my theory because it's early in the morning and not a very common time for a drink.

«I'll have a cappuccino and an empty brioche, thanks,» I declare with a gentle smile before the girl leaves us. I had to eat something. Kevin is checking if I eat regularly and if I don't, he basically forces me to do that. I am trying to be good to myself and feed my needy body even if my mind doesn't want to.

«So,» Daniele started with a deep breath. «Spill the tea.»

I look nervously at my fingers. Now that I have him in front of me I feel like the whole idea is stupid and with no sense. He is a professional and I am just a twenty-one girl trying to save someone from his own family. I snap a quick look over Kevin that has never left my figure. He gives me a comfortable gaze before I focus back on Daniele. «I know you mostly work on injustice and corruption cases, that they are the ones that you are more affected by,» I mumble before clearing my throat. «And I need help for one of them focusing on a Mafia family, the one leading Milan right now.»

«Kid, it has been years since I worked on a Mafia case. Believe me, it's a one side road. Whenever you get close to catching them, either you risk death or your proof suddenly becomes useless.»

The way he says those words make my hopes slowly fall because it seems too personal. He probably has worked so many times on cases like this and has never been able to accomplish them and I totally believe his words. It's pretty known how hard is to catch a mobster.

But we have an important key in the pocket. And when I am about to say it, our orders arrive so I shut quickly my mouth before saying something someone shouldn't listen to. I patiently wait for the waitress to leave our stuff on the table where she places the stamped paper with the table number and then walks away.