A convulsive cough shook the CPA. Barbara ran to the kitchen, but by the time she got back with a glass of water, the tempest had subsided. “I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry,” he said, wiping his lips with a handkerchief. “I never did like that Corrado. But Tatiana did.”

The bookseller lowered her eyes.

“Can I tell you a secret?” he continued. “No, I didn’t like him one bit, but he was important. Because I don’t have long to live. And knowing that Tatiana wouldn’t be left all alone was a source of happiness to me. In other words, when your times comes and you have the luxury to tidy things up, you want to leave things behind you in some sort of order, no?”

“Please, let’s not talk about this sort of thing, if you don’t mind.”

De Lullo laughed quietly, keeping his mouth shut. “What else would you expect from an accountant? It’s a depressing subject, but why not talk about it? That’s life.” He looked around the apartment. “I’m leaving her this apartment. Now that the papers are ready, she can receive a small pension. But the thing that keeps me awake at night is this. Can she find anyone to take my place?”

Barbara didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to answer that question.

“I mean it. For me, Corrado was a sort of insurance policy on Tatiana’s happiness. She deserves it, you know? She hasn’t had an easy life. All she’s done since she was a little girl is work. All she did was study and work. She brought home money and good grades.” De Lullo looked at his own face reflected in the empty cathode tube. “She deserved something more than an old, dried-out husk. You know something, Barbara? I’m so rotten that they don’t even want my spare parts.”

“Should I make something for you to eat?”

“No, I’ll just heat up a 4 Salti in Padella dinner. I have a box of gnocchi alla sorrentina.”

In the other room, Tatiana had heard every word. Along with the tears she was shedding for Corrado’s death, more tears ran down her face for the CPA. Then the two streams of tears joined together until they dried each other up. She got to her feet. She adjusted her blouse, pulled up the waist of her jeans, put on her slippers, and went into the kitchen to make dinner. If there was one thing her husband hated, it was 4 Salti in Padella.