Thursday, May 15, 2023
Demien's Apartment, Bergamo
7:44 PM
The phone buzzed against the kitchen counter for the third time in a minute and they both heard it from the couch where the television was on low, and Demien looked toward the kitchen once before looking back at the screen.
Sophia glanced at him. "You're going to have to deal with it at some point."
"Not tonight," he said.
"It was fine saying that at noon," she said. "It's been six hours."
The phone buzzed again and this time it didn't stop after two pulses — it ran and ran, which meant a call rather than a message, and the name on the screen when he finally walked over and picked it up was Marco Benetti.
He took it into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed while the door stayed half-open.
"Marco."
"Demien." Marco's voice was composed in the way it always was when he was working, which was most of the time. "How are you feeling?"
"Good. Still processing."
