**

Day 50 after the accident – Outside Dante’s hotel – h. 7.36 p.m.

“Jenny, are you okay?” Tasha asks.
“Yeah”. I rub my eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just feel turned a bit upside down…”.
“Look, Dante knows what he’s doing. Believe me. Tasha chooses her friends carefully and if she says he’s gonna fix it, it means that he’s gonna fix it” Alice says, a bit harshly.
“Al…” Tasha admonishes her, “Be kind. Jenny didn’t have the time or the amount of information we had, and you can’t deny that what’s going on isn’t that easy to accept”.
Alice sighs.
“You’re right. I’m sorry, Jen”. She brushes my forearm.
“It’s okay. I’m just worried about Shane. She’s my friend and I wasn’t there when she needed me”. I feel a lump in my throat.
“Don’t say it”. Tasha’s eyes dart. “It’s obvious that Shane is keeping this story for herself, and that she’s doing everything on her own. The reason is that somewhere, deep down, she knows that she’s doing something wrong and dangerous. She wouldn’t get us involved with it anyway”.
“You’re right”, I agree, and right then a rumbling Dark Monster Ducati stops beside our car.
The driver lifts the visor and what I see is just a pair of deep green eyes.
“Ciao, belle signore” [“Hi, beautiful ladies”].
Alice punches him repeatedly on the shoulder, through the window.
“Hi monster”.
The man laughs through his helmet, then pulls it off.
“Are you saying hello to my bike?”.
Alice makes a face.
“No, to you, ‘cause your mean and ugly”.
“See?”, the man says amused to his passenger, a woman, “Don’t you think that Alice is becoming a little too effusive with me? Aren’t you jealous?”
The passenger pulls her helmet off as well and a cascade of red, curly hair goes down her back. She smiles, rolling her eyes.
“Hi guys”, she says then, politely, waving at us.

They both get off the bike right as we all get off the car.
“Jenny” Tasha says, “Meet Dante and his wife Cassandra”.
I stare at this good-looking guy with a bright smile and I wonder if he will be truly able to handle someone like Shane.
I don’t really know.
He shakes my hand gently and watches me penetratingly in the eyes.
“Hi, Jenny… It’s nice to meet you”.
His handshake is warm and firm. His voice, low and full. There’s no more fun, no more joke in it.
I don’t reply, I just stare at him, maybe a bit suspiciously.
“Are we ready to go?” Alice asks then, clapping her hands.
“Sure” Cassandra says, grabbing his husband’s arm.