Chapter 25 Constantine #3
President Barsetti said nothing as he looked up at Darius, stone faced.
I turned to Rocco. “Go now before he puts that noose around Barsetti’s neck.”
“Bend the fucking knee.” Darius took a step closer before he looked up at the bodies that hung above. “Or become bird food.”
President Barsetti didn’t have to resist, because Rocco fired his automatic rifle into the sky as he stepped into the square with his men.
He’d limped and grimaced with me in the hospital, but now, he showed no signs of weakness, ready to draw Darius away from his men so I could take the shot.
“You’re not a king, but a fucking terrorist. A plague on your own country and your own people. ”
President Barsetti turned to see Rocco, then pulled himself away from Darius, taking the opportunity to get the fuck out of there.
Darius hesitated as he looked at Rocco, his eyes narrowing as he took a moment to understand who was dumb enough to provoke him.
The recognition descended on his face, but not an ounce of fear.
“Was just about to stop by the hospital and bring you flowers. Glad to see the surgery went well.” He seemed to completely have forgotten President Barsetti, who continued to crawl away until he got to his feet.
But one of Darius’s men stopped him and shoved him back to the ground like the execution would still be taking place.
Darius took several steps into the middle of the square, staring Rocco down like some kind of minor distraction.
I was tucked around the corner of a building, and I lifted the sniper rifle over my shoulder and focused on the lens.
Rocco was flanked by men of Cosa Nostra, but there were only five of them, while Darius had an entire army behind him. He was the king who’d cleared the board, had taken all the pawns, knights, and bishops and kicked off his own queen.
I watched Darius in the scope, but he happened to stop right behind one of our guys. “Come on, move.” I kept the gun trained on my target, but I could only get the corner of Darius’s shoulder.
Darius trailed his gaze slowly up and down Rocco’s body. “Must be on a lot of painkillers.”
“Nah, I passed,” Rocco said. “Don’t want to numb anything—especially the high from killing you.”
Darius smirked before he released a laugh. “That’s cute. Unless you’ve got a bomb strapped to your chest and you’re about to kamikaze this shit, I don’t think that’s going to happen. But to be real, I’d respect you for it.” The smile remained.
“Jesus Christ, fucking move!” I knew Rocco couldn’t keep this up for more than a few minutes before Darius got bored, so I shouldered my gun, ran around the building to the other corner, my heart racing and my lungs aching to get there fast enough.
I dropped to my knee and grimaced slightly when the cap hit the concrete.
I didn’t bother with stealth, so I knew his men had probably noticed me.
I didn’t even take a chance to check. I put the gun back on my shoulder, looked through the scope because I couldn’t afford to miss even when I was relatively close.
This wasn’t how I imagined this moment would be.
I’d wanted to capture him and torture him until he begged me to end his life.
Wanted bloody and violent revenge for my brother .
. . but I was prepared to let that go. To live for the future instead of the past. I aimed for his head and squeezed the trigger right when he moved his head, laughing at something Rocco had said or some other thought that had come into his mind.
I didn’t see the outcome because gunfire broke out, and I felt a bullet go straight through my arm. “Fuck.” I dropped the gun and sprinted away, ducking for cover behind a slab of concrete that comprised the nearby flower box.
I knew they were coming for me, so I ripped off a grenade and pulled out the pin before I tossed it overhead.
The second the explosion hit my ears, I ran for it.
Sprinted around the building and back to where Cosa Nostra had formed their line of defense.
Most of them had moved up to help Rocco when the gunfire started.
I’d just rounded the corner when Rocco ran into me and nearly knocked me to the ground. Blood dripped down his face from a head wound, but he didn’t appear to have been shot there.
“You all right—”
“You got him, he’s down.”
“But is he dead?”
“You hit him in the head. He’s gotta be.”
I wanted to see his body, to confirm that nightmare truly was gone from this world.
Rocco read the uncertainty in my eyes because he still knew me so well, despite our three-month estrangement. “When the gunfire ceases, we’ll burn his body.”
I nodded in agreement.
He patted me on the shoulder as the sounds of warfare continued. “Take back the Roman Empire, Constantine.”
Both sides were evenly matched, so all the windows of the restaurants and gelato shops were shattered, and glass littered the cobblestone streets. Bullets marked the Pantheon, adding to the graffiti that had already been painted over the Egyptian stone.
Rocco was already gravely injured without the head wound, so he hung back while I moved in with the others, shooting down the Skull Kings and the others dumb enough to fight me.
Luca arrived from the rear with his men, shooting my enemies in the back while they were distracted by me in the front, littering the ground with the traitors who’d chosen a tyrant over an emperor.
The second the battle shifted in my favor, so did the surrenders.
They dropped their guns and took a knee—and I walked up and shot them each right in the fucking face.
Luca watched me from where he stood, and after he leveled me with a hard stare, he gave me a nod in approval.
I’d never been the merciful type.
Some fled through the streets, and Luca’s men chased them down. The men whom I knew were close to Darius were hung from the Pantheon to choke until death, swinging from side to side and bumping into others that had been dead for hours.
There were so many bodies, probably hundreds. Blood filled the cracks between the cobblestones, and the Pantheon witnessed another battle at her steps.
I searched the men for Darius, looking for his black T-shirt and dark hair, turning bodies over when I thought they could be him to get a good look at their faces. But none of them was ever Darius, and I continued my search, kicking every man over to be sure.
“Searching for a loved one?” Luca asked, coming to my side with a cigar hanging out of the corner of his mouth like the shoot-out had been a mere hookup to him.
I looked at the sea of dead men, losing their lives in a battle that never should have been fought in the first place.
The Skull King should have been eliminated a long time ago—and I should have been the one to do it.
This was all my fault, and not because I’d sacrificed my reign for a woman, but because I didn’t kill him sooner. “Darius.”
Luca took a drag before he released the smoke in a big cloud. “I’m sure he’s around here somewhere.”
“Rocco said I shot him in the head, but I need to make sure.”
Luca continued to survey the dead like he’d seen it all before. “If he managed to crawl away, he probably bled out in an alleyway somewhere. And if he managed to survive, he’s gonna lie low. He’s lost his men and is painfully aware of the strength of your allies.”
“Fishing for a compliment?”
He took another drag before he dropped the cigar on a dead guy’s chest. He raised his boot and smashed it against the body to put out the fire and smear ash into the cotton. “It’s good to have friends in high places . . . all I’m saying.”
“What you’re saying is I owe you.”
He gave a shrug.
“Even though you’re here because you owe me.”
He gave another shrug. “I just gave you back your empire. The debts are not equal in value.”
“Instead of owing each other, perhaps we should forge an alliance. It’s in our best interest to maintain our respective republics. Not an easy job.”
“It’s an interesting prospect,” he said noncommittally as he looked into the distance.
“I’m sure it’ll be even more interesting the next time the Fifth Republic needs assistance.”
“We’ll require no assistance as long as I’m the First French Emperor. But whoever my successor is . . . they might need a hand.” He turned back to me.
“You’ve just started, and you’re already planning to leave?”
He was quiet for a while as he stared at me with a bored look, as if he wasn’t sure if he should even bother responding to my question. “I’ve met someone.”
I smirked. “I know how that goes . . .”
“Yeah,” he said as he looked off again. “My men have started to round up the gangs. Those who resist will be hand-delivered to you before we depart so you can choose how you want to handle it.”
“Thank you,” I said. “And even though you’re here to pay a debt, the Roman Republic will always come to your aid if you need it.
” Luca and his men had been critical to this movement, and now that the criminals I policed knew my power reached beyond our borders, there was far less chance there would be another pushback.
Even if the Republic was compromised, they would hold their breath and wait.
I needed to know that power was in my back pocket, and the best way to do that was to extend an olive branch to Luca—the most powerful ally I could have.
He stared at me for several heartbeats before he barely gave me a nod . . . and walked off.
I didn’t have time to call Aurelia, but I sent her a text. I took care of Darius and his men. Rocco and I are fine. Call you when I can.
Her reply was immediate, like she’d been sitting on the couch with Medusa, the phone gripped in her hand. Thank god.
I pocketed my phone and returned to where the cars were parked in the street. The police and the military had arrived, but there was nothing for them to do except help with the bodies.