CHAPTER THREE
“It’s a damn good thing I like Italian food,” frowned Alec, staring at the sheets of their itinerary in front of him. “I sure as hell don’t know what any of these places are.”
“Look, we’re all educated men. We know the history of Italy. Some. Well, the military history anyway,” frowned Wilson. “You all have travel guidebooks in front of you. Memorize those damn things and use the app that Sly sent us for language translation. This is our chance to see some pretty cool places as well. I mean, the Colosseum!”
“True,” nodded Tailor. “I want to see where those warriors fought to the death and fought lions and other animals.”
“We can’t emphasize those things too much,” said Wilson. “Remember, this trip is for the girls. If they want to shop all day, we shop all day. If they want to sightsee, then we sightsee. But we do it together.”
“Wilson is right,” said Ghost. “I want this to be a trip for the ages for Grace. It’s the trip that her daughters were going to take before they were killed. I know it will be hard for her, but it will also be good for her.”
“You’re right,” nodded Ian. He looked at a group of men in the back row and nodded toward them. “Are y’all sure you want to stay back?”
Sven, Matthew, George, Hannu, Otto, Teddy, Kegger, Pork, Doug, Miguel, Razor, and Bryce all nodded at him.
“We’ve all agreed that we should stay behind just to make sure nothing needs immediate attention at Gray Wolf. We had honeymoons, and we’ve done a little traveling. We’re good,” said Razor.
“Can’t tell you how much it means that you’re willing to do this,” said Gaspar. “What about the girls? Are they okay with staying behind?”
“They are,” nodded Pork. “Katherine has a full load of patients right now that she doesn’t feel like she can leave.”
“The rest of us are old enough to know this is where we should stay,” smirked Teddy. Hannu and George laughed at their friend.
“We’ll be just fine here,” said Matthew. “I don’t like to leave the property as much anymore, and neither does your mother. Don’t worry. I’ll be with you.”
Gaspar smiled at his father, knowing what he meant. He was always with them in ways that none of them understood. In fact, they might never understand it, but he was okay with that. He watched as his father turned toward Gabe, smiling.
“Gabriel, you know what to do, son. I’m available if you need me,” he smiled.
“Got it, Pops. We’ll be okay.” Matthew kissed his son’s forehead and walked out of the room with Hannu, Teddy, and George. Gaspar looked at his brother, a feeling of disappointment and jealousy washing over him.
“Gabe?” he whispered.
“I’m okay,” smiled Gabe. “I’m as alive as you and the rest of the room. Pops has been telling me things. Asking me to help with things and to try and understand what happened. I don’t know why, Gaspar.”
“I know why,” said Jean. “Because you have about the purest heart and soul of any man I’ve ever met. We’re all good men. Better than good, but there’s something about you, Gabe, that seems full of light and love all the time. I used to think it was Tory that changed you. But honestly, you’ve been like this since you were a kid.”
“Thank you, Jean,” said Gabe, nodding at his big brother.
“Alright, back to what we’ve been working on,” said Ian. “We’ll fly into Rome on our converted commercial jet. All of us together. The way it should be. We’ll spend a couple of days in Rome, visit the Colosseum, St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican, thanks to your mother, who is oddly connected to the pope.”
“Odd doesn’t even begin to cover it,” frowned Gaspar.
“We’ll do the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Catacombs, and plenty of shopping and eating in between. If the girls see the itinerary and want to leave something off, we leave it off. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” came the chorus.
“Okay, then we’ll head to Florence for two days, then Venice for a couple of days. Not much to see except water, boats, interesting buildings, and some art. I mean, it’s cool and all but not my cup of team,” said Ian.
“The girls might feel the same, but it was mentioned as desirable,” said Ghost.
“Alright, for a touch of romance, we have to do Verona and stand beneath the Romeo and Juliet balcony. The Amalfi Coast for a couple of days, Capri, Pompeii, and we’ll finish at Lake Garda. Torro’s father is pretty old now, but he’s offered to show us around the region where he lives as well.”
“Man, that’s a packed itinerary,” said Alec, looking at Tailor and Bull. “We need to start getting in shape.”
“I am in shape, asshole! You two carb-loading gorillas are the ones that need to get into shape. You drop dead of a heart attack on this trip, and I’m going to personally introduce your wife to a suave Italian,” frowned Bull.
“That’s not nice,” pouted Tailor. The others chuckled, shaking their heads.
“It may not be nice, but it’s true. You and Alec eat like there’s no tomorrow. There will be no shortage of food where we’re going, and if experience tells us anything, Italian grandmothers love cooking for big boys who love to eat. Don’t accept everything offered! You’ll get sick, and that will ruin it for Lena and Lissa,” said Wilson.
“We only got a week,” frowned Alec. “How am I supposed to be in peak shape in a week?”
“You should have been in peak shape all along,” frowned Gaspar. “You slept in for a lot of runs and shouldn’t have.”
“We’ll be okay,” said Tailor. “We just won’t eat dessert until we leave.”
“That doesn’t mean you can double up on entrees,” said Cruz. “Eat realistic proportions.”
“We do! This is a lot of body to fill with food, Cruz. I need more than the average man,” said Alec.
“You’re anything but average, Alec. I’m going to give the cafeteria instructions on what you two can have to eat until we leave. No carbs, no sugar, which means no desserts, and we’re cutting down on the red meat.”
“Don’t make me kill you, Cruz. I don’t want to leave my sister a widow.”
“Nobody’s killing anyone,” said Gaspar. “We promised, and we’re keeping this promise come hell or high water.”
“Well, that brings about an interesting question,” smirked Baptiste. “Weapons. Comms devices. Stealth vests. What are we bringing?”
Ian looked at Nine, who looked at Ghost, then back at Gaspar.
“I love my wife. I love my sisters and all of your wives, the women I consider sisters. I will not compromise on their protection and safety. I know we made promises, and I know we said that we wouldn’t do anything to start shit. But if shit should come our way, I want us to be prepared, and I want us to have what we need.
“I’m not going to lie to them. Not outright, anyway. Bring what you think you might need without being obvious. I’ll take the blame if they find out.”
“Fuck that,” growled Nine. “We’re a team, and we make decisions as a team. If they find out, we’ll take our licks like men. Albeit men with really pissed-off wives.”