Simon Rilye.

The work at the base ended four months ago, at which time Simon was discharged for refusing to cooperate with corrupt recruitment practices. It was difficult to cope with his attachment to and the absence of that routine he knew so well.

When the threats came because of his inside information, he had no choice but to leave Italy and stay at his younger brother Viktor's apartment. With an urgency he didn't understand, he begged him not to leave his room until noon because he didn't want visitors to know he wasn't living alone. Nonsense.

He was too sleepy the next morning to pay any attention, grumbling as he lamented being in these circumstances and craving a freshly brewed coffee, so he went to the kitchen after his shower and, between yawns, made it. It didn't take him long, but as he was heading back to the bedroom with the cup in his hand, he stopped dead in his tracks because a female figure was standing in the middle of the hallway.

"Dannazione..."

He groaned at the start, but contrary to those words, his eyes quickly settled on the half-dressed woman, barefoot and wearing one of his brother's shirts, who now looked alarmed. He tilted his head slightly forward and scratched the corner of his eye; this had to be unbelievable. It felt inappropriate to look at her, and it was too difficult to look away.

"Are you walking around like that in an apartment with no curtains?" he asked gruffly, pointing to the window behind him that offered a clear view into another. "I'd think twice about it."