Page 16 of Ruin Me With Lies
He pulls up as close as the cart allows.“Go on in.”
“You’re not coming?”
“Nah.”He gets out a cigarette, lights it up.“Need a smoke.”
I slip out of the cart and amble up the sloped path to the house.A golden cross glints above the front door.I knock and wait.
When a full minute passes, I test the handle.It’s open.
As I step inside, a sharp chime sounds overhead.The suddenness of it makes me wince.
The door clicks shut behind me just as a stout, middle-aged woman emerges from the left, drying her hands in a dishtowel.
She speaks in Italian.“Good morning.You must be Raya?”
“That’s me, yes,” I reply in her language.
“Ah.”She smiles warmly and beckons me to follow.“I’m Cora.Come, come.”
Despite the house’s sleek, modern exterior, the interior is warm and cozy, Mediterranean style.
Cora leads me down a long hall lined with ancient Roman paintings, stopping in front of a dark-wood door.
She presses her thumb to the security lock.It beeps green.“Wait here.”
She goes in, door clicking shut behind her.Half a minute later, she’s back.“Have you had breakfast?Can I get you anything?”
“Just coffee, if possible.Thanks.”
“Black or…?”
“Black’s fine.”
She nods.“Okay.Go on in.”
I walk into what looks like a gamer’s den.Bathed in RGB light, a long red desk bolted to the wall, four massive, curved monitors glowing.
“Come,” Lorenzo says, attention fixed on one of the screens.He gestures vaguely.“Sit.”
The only other chair is a white version of his high-back red gaming chair, stationed between him and the wall.He doesn’t even bother to swivel, forcing me to squeeze past.Something tells me he enjoys making people uncomfortable on purpose.
“Good morning.”
“Goes without saying, whatever happens in this room stays in this room,” he replies, still focused on the screen.“Confidentiality infidelity is punishable by a bullet to the head.”
“That’s fair.”
Only then does he finally look at me, as if he expected a different response.“You’ve seen some shit, haven’t you?”
“You could say that.”
He snorts and turns back to the monitor.“Some people canspeaka different language but get lost when natives talk to them.That you?Can you speak it but not understand it?”
“No.I learned through immersion.I understand just as well as I speak.”
“Good.”He nods at the monitor in front of me.“We just did an arms deal with the Russians.They’re new, so we don’t trust them.We bugged the meet spot, set up surveillance.Showed up late on purpose to give them time to talk out of turn.Test them.”
“But you don’t speak Russian.”
