Chapter 16 Constantine
Constantine
I woke up the next morning with Medusa beside me.
Opened my eyes and saw her head on the pillow next to me, snoring quietly right in my face.
I’d slept like shit last night. Kept checking my phone to see Aurelia’s location.
She remained at my mother’s house, not that I expected her to go anywhere.
They were in the kitchen a long time, so I assumed my mother had cooked a feast that my woman could never possibly finish.
I reached for my phone and immediately checked her location. She was already at the restaurant, prepping in the kitchen for the throng of tourists that would burst through the door the second they opened.
She hadn’t texted me last night or this morning.
I knew we’d get through this, but it still fucking sucked.
I knew I deserved this too. I’d always been secure in who I was, but I quickly learned, with Aurelia, I was an extremely possessive man.
I’d barked at Enzo when he’d come to her apartment, even though I never felt threatened by him.
It was just the principle of the matter, that he stepped on my turf, that he came close to my woman.
So if this situation had been reversed and she’d gone on a date with some guy even though it meant nothing to her, I would have reacted worse than she did. There would be a pile of bones in my wake.
Medusa stirred when I moved around, and she opened her eyes to look at me. She inched a little closer, wanting to cuddle the way we used to when it was just the two of us.
I rubbed the back of her ear. “I miss her too, baby girl.”
I hit the gym but couldn’t really focus. Music blared through my headphones, and I watched myself lift in the mirror, but both my mind and body weren’t invested. I eventually ditched the attempt and hopped in the shower instead.
I headed downstairs in my sweats and had a cup of coffee. I would normally turn on the TV, but I continued to glance at my phone, like she might text me during her shift. I checked her location over and over, seeing her move around the restaurant.
She’d better come home today. Otherwise, I’d lose my fucking mind.
A message from Tommaso popped up on my phone as I was staring at the screen. Gina said she enjoyed your company.
I released an irritated sigh and closed out of the message. A wave of guilt hit me when I read those words. If Aurelia saw that pop up on my screen, she’d stay at my mother’s for another week.
Guess I was an asshole.
Guess I really did fuck this up.
I opened the message and quickly typed a reply. Didn’t feel it. Wish her the best. Then I went to delete the message but stopped before I wiped it from my phone. If I had to delete something, that meant I had something to hide, and if I had something to hide, then I’d done something wrong.
I felt like shit.
I’d betrayed my woman for a debt I owed.
I didn’t delete the message. Instead, I went to Aurelia’s message thread and texted her.
I’m really fucking sorry, and I really fucking love you.
I sent it off without thinking twice about it.
I didn’t expect a reply, not just because she was at work, but because she probably still didn’t want to talk to me.
But then the dots appeared right away, like she’d taken off her gloves to pull her phone out of her pocket to see if I had texted her. I fucking love you too, Constantine.
I read her words and felt a wave of reassurance I didn’t know I needed so badly.
I put the phone to my chest and sighed. “Oh, sweetheart.” Please come home today so I can breathe again.
It was just a fight, but it killed me as if it’d been a breakup.
Killed me as if she’d packed her bags and headed back to Rome.
I waited for the three dots to appear.
But they didn’t.
I sat on the couch with Medusa and waited for the hours to pass.
I was tempted to have lunch at the restaurant so I could watch her work until her shift was over and then beg her to come home.
I had no self-control or restraint. I should just give her the space she asked for and be patient, but patient wasn’t in my vocabulary.
Elio texted me. President Barsetti is outside the gate. Should I let him in?
I had to read that message two different times because I didn’t understand it. My mind had been on my woman at work, and then I was snapped back into a world I’d left behind for good. It took me a second to compose my thoughts before I pulled up the camera feed on my phone.
I could see a short line of black vehicles outside the gate, two Range Rovers with a car between them.
It was definitely him. Yeah, let him in. I felt a flush of irritation and unease when I watched the gates open and the vehicle enter my property. He wouldn’t have come all the way here if it weren’t absolutely dire.
So whatever news he had . . . it was bad.
I got to my feet and slid my phone into my pocket. I was barefoot and in just my black sweatpants when I walked to the front door to let him inside. I unlocked one side of the double doors and opened it.
Crow stepped out of the back seat of the car and buttoned the front of his suit.
Tom Ford sunglasses sat on the bridge of his nose, and he looked like a billionaire CEO from Manhattan.
His private security moved with him as he walked toward my house, but he raised his hand when he approached my front door. “I’ll be done in fifteen minutes.”
Private security would normally search me and my residence for weapons and threats to the president’s life, but because it was my home, it was a guarantee they would find all the things that shouldn’t be there. So, it was pointless.
President Barsetti entered my home as he removed his sunglasses and dropped them into the front pocket of his midnight-black suit. Designer quality, perfectly tailored to his build.
I shut the door behind him, and we were alone.
Medusa approached, taking her time because her leg was still sensitive to her weight.
I made a fist to my chest, telling her to heel, that he was a friend and not an attacker.
Crow slid his hands into his pockets as he looked at Medusa. “Beautiful dog.”
“Beautiful? She’ll bite your fucking face off.” I took the lead and walked to the rear of the house with the spectacular view and the terrace. “Want anything to drink?” I treated him like a guest I’d invited rather than the nuisance he actually was.
“Wine, if you have it.”
I uncorked a bottle and poured two glasses before I nodded toward the terrace.
We headed outside and sat under the large open umbrellas, submerged in the cool shade.
I sat across from him in fucking sweats while he stared at me in a suit.
I didn’t apologize for my attire because he was the rude one who’d shown up uninvited.
He stared at me for a while, like he didn’t know where to start.
I still couldn’t believe he was here. I’d become so absorbed in my new life that I’d forgotten my old one. Shed my previous identity like dead skin from a snake. Let my scales change colors.
He took a deep breath before he began. “It’s bad, Con.”
“What?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “You haven’t watched the news?”
“Nope.” I never turned it on and had disabled notifications on my phone. I’d buried my head in the Mediterranean sand, focused on my woman and impending fatherhood.
“Well, it’s bad.”
“Yeah, you said that.”
Irritation flashed across his eyes. “This isn’t a joke.”
“Did I laugh?” I snapped. “Whatever state Rome is in is not my responsibility.”
“You’re the emperor—”
“Not anymore.” I felt no obligation to the place I used to call home. Home was now a person and not a place.
“Then let me enlighten you as to the changes Darius has made.” He straightened in the chair, moved to the edge of his seat.
“He’s reinstated the black market for organs and expanded its distribution.
Not only is he trafficking people for resources, but he’s also selling them as a product to third parties.
The number of missing persons reports has skyrocketed—and it’s mainly women, but even children.
All the graffiti you removed? It’s back and worse than ever before.
You should see what they’ve written, Constantine.
Death to the Emperor, Flames to the Empire.
It’s everywhere. All the criminal organizations rejoice in your exile as they flood the streets with drugs, terror, and crime. ”
I kept a straight face as I listened to my worst nightmare. But inside, I felt my heart be crushed under an invisible weight. I felt a wave of guilt and nausea . . . and shame. Under my rulership, the Roman Empire flourished in every way imaginable, and now it was just rubble.
“And it’s only been six weeks,” Crow continued.
“Darius is egregiously violating the laws of the EU and selling weapons to enemies as well as allies, with absolutely no discretion or loyalty. Putting guns into the hands of people who want to burn us to the ground. Pope Zephyrinus has tried to speak with him, but Darius refuses a conversation. Vatican City and the papacy seem to be the only things that Darius respects, because he’s left both untouched. ”
“Because the only man he fears is God.”
Crow stared at me hard, eyes dark like mine, full of irritation and hostility. “Constantine.”
“I’m sorry to hear all of this. Truly, I am. But I’m not the emperor anymore.”
“As long as you live, you’re the emperor.”
“No.”
“You came to the council at the Pantheon and convinced us to give you this power. Promised to protect the Republic and the empire. Vowed to give your life for the Eternal City and its people—”
“Yes, I remember all of this.”
“Then honor your vows.”
“You know I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
“You wasted your time coming here, Crow,” I said simply. “I’ve made my choice, and that decision can’t be changed. I may have been the emperor, but many men also served me. You still have Rocco and those men who were loyal to the empire. This is their problem now—not mine.”