Chapter 19
LUCA
When I walked inside the bar, he was already there, seated in the booth facing me, arms on the table, sleeves pushed to his elbows, his bright-blue eyes the only kind feature he possessed. Dimly lit with hardly anyone there at one in the morning, the place felt like it belonged to the two of us.
With frustration already heavy in my heart, I sat across from him. He had already ordered a drink for me. I sank into the back of the booth, scanned the room I already knew was empty, and then looked at him again.
His stare was as cold as mine.
I grabbed the glass and took a drink.
“You want to start, or you want me to start?” Bastien asked.
“You already know the answer.” I didn’t want to be here. Didn’t want to be interrogated. But there was no dodging Bastien when his sights were set.
“Why are you being this way?”
“What way?”
Irritation flashed across his eyes even though he’d probably expected the conversation to go this way. “Like a cunt.”
I gave a quiet scoff then took a drink.
“I told you everything about Fleur from the day I met her, and you’re keeping me in the dark about Aliénor but telling her I’m like a brother to you.”
“I didn’t ask about Fleur. You told me about her.”
“Because you’re my brother.”
“Because we’re different men, Bastien. You’ve always been a talker. Always been good with words and expressing yourself and shit. I’m so far the opposite.”
“Really?” he challenged. “Because I remember sitting in Holybelly with you while you told me how much my retirement has bothered you.”
My eyes flicked away.
“That you miss me.”
“I never said those words.”
“Whether you did or didn’t, they were implied.”
I grabbed the glass and took another drink, falling deeper into this prison.
“But you won’t tell me a damn thing about Aliénor. I had to find out from Carvel.”
“He only knew because he was there.”
“I don’t give a shit whether he was there or not. Why am I hearing about this important relationship from anyone else but you?”
I sighed. “We aren’t chicks—”
“We’re family,” he snapped. “But I walk into Holybelly and see you two together, and you stab me with the knives in your eyes. I’ve seen you with women before, and you never give me the cold shoulder like that.
So what the fuck is your problem, Luca?” Good thing there was no one in the bar because of how he raised his voice. “Tell me.”
My eyes flicked away as I massaged my knuckles.
He turned silent, but his eyes continued to press me.
I withdrew my elbows from the table and took a breath. “I don’t know what’s happening…”
Bastien continued his hard stare, but the sharpness in his eyes dulled.
“I don’t know what’s happening,” I repeated, unable to find better words to describe it.
Bastien withdrew his anger and relaxed in his seat, leaning back in the booth with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Hard to talk about something you don’t understand.” Aliénor had hopped into my Range Rover late one night, and then my life was forever changed. Every day had been more different from the previous, more chaotic. I said things I didn’t think I’d ever say. Felt human when I’d only been inhumane.
Bastien gave a slight nod like he understood, but he probably didn’t understand at all. “I think you understand more than you’re ready to admit.”
I didn’t disagree.
“There had been a lot of women before Fleur. At the bar, the brothel, those pretentious parties with champagne and shrimp toast…one after the other. And then I met her on a random night, and …it was done. If she had been anyone else, I would have snuck out the next morning, and that’d be it.
But she wasn’t anyone else. She was it. I think I knew it even then. ”
“Let’s not jump the gun—”
“It’s different, and you know it’s different. How many women had there been before Aliénor who never mattered? You stuck out your neck for this girl with the Oath. Gave her money. A place to live. You’re taking her to Holybelly, for fuck’s sake. How many girls have you taken there?”
I wanted to refute all of it, but I had no ammunition to fight it.
“And you know what?” He tilted his head slightly. “That’s okay, Luca.”
My eyes flicked away.
“Don’t ruin it because you’re scared—”
“I’m not going to ruin it. And I’m not scared.”
“Then why have you been acting like this?” He leaned forward again, the conversation becoming heated.
“I guess…” I wasn’t sure. “I wasn’t looking for this.”
“I get it,” he said with a nod. “I wasn’t looking for it either.
I didn’t want to give up the job. Didn’t want to give up my life.
My fidelity. My freedom. Marriage and babies and bullshit.
You know who I was before her. But she was worth it.
She was worth it the moment I set eyes on her.
And then it became easy because she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
Don’t fuck it up because you’re scared or stubborn or promiscuous.
A good woman who changes your life comes once in a lifetime. ”
“I’m not going to fuck it up.” The relationship had already deepened. The commitment was ironclad. “I was the one who asked to be monogamous. I was the one who asked her to dinner. I was the one who invited her to stay for the weekend. I don’t even know who the fuck I am, man.”
Bastien smirked slightly. “Embrace it.”
“I won’t fuck it up.”
“Damn right, you won’t.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing, and that’s been hard.”
“It sounds like you’re doing all the right things, Luca,” he said.
“Keeping a woman happy is easy if you do these three things.” He extended one finger.
“Don’t stick your dick in other people.” He lifted another finger.
“Always text her back. With lightning speed.” He lifted the third.
“And make her feel secure.” He dropped his hand. “That’s it. Done.”
I smirked. “How do you make Fleur feel secure?”
“I’m all over her all the time. Have eyes only for her. Don’t do that hot-and-cold shit. I never want her to question where I stand at any given time. I was all in with her from the start, and I told her that.”
“Thanks for the advice.”
“She’s a beautiful woman.”
My eyebrow rose.
“Just because I say she’s beautiful doesn’t mean I’m attracted to her. Fleur is the one who said she’s a hot piece of ass.”
The smile that stretched across my mouth was involuntary.
“Will you tell me about her now?”
I grabbed the glass and finished it. “Guess so.”
“What do you like about her?”
Words didn’t come to me, but flashes of memories and sensations of emotions.
The way she pushed back every time I gave attitude.
The way she begged for help and hated herself for doing it.
“I don’t care about people often, but I’ve cared about her since the moment she jumped into my car.
” Cared about her tears when they fell. Cared about the years she spent surviving on her own.
Cared about her before I even knew her. “When she left and moved in to her apartment, I thought about her constantly. Thought it would pass in a couple days, but it just got worse. Was free to stick my dick anywhere I wanted, but there was only one place it wanted to go.” I’d received invitations by text.
While I was out on the town. I turned down all the offers.
“That’s why you came to the party alone.”
“I guess…” I’d never gone to one of those things solo, but I didn’t have it in me to bring someone. Almost didn’t go to the damn dinner at all.
“Are you going to destroy whoever killed her family?”
“I don’t know. That was before the Fifth Republic was founded. Technically, they didn’t do anything wrong at the time.”
“Yeah,” he said with a nod. “Technically.”
“And she’s free now. Seems a bit reckless to squander that for revenge that won’t bring back her family.”
“So, she hasn’t asked you to do anything?”
“No,” I said. “And I don’t think she will.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve already done so much for her. She doesn’t try to take advantage of my generosity. That’s something I respect.”
Bastien gave a nod. “We should all have dinner together sometime. You know, that way, she can see that we’re actually friends rather than enemies.”
I scoffed. “Her initial assessment was right.”
He chuckled. “Asshole.”
“Luca.”
I sat across from Jerome at the table and worked on the transfer. “In a minute.”
Carvel came to the table and stood over me.
I worked on the transactions with Carvel leering over my shoulder like a goddamn gargoyle. “You want to make out?” I gave him a shove.
“Luca, we need to talk now.”
I looked up at him and gave him a glare. He’d interrupted me in the middle of payment with one of the gangs, when tensions were the worst. No one liked to watch their wallet get cut in half.
He gave me a glare back before he walked off.
I shut the laptop with a snap. “We’ll finish this tomorrow. The distributions don’t leave the facility.” I grabbed the laptop and followed Carvel to the other room, our armed guards with rifles moving with us. “What the fuck was that, Carvel?”
He ignored me and left the building, heading to where the SUV waited. He hopped inside first and scooted over so I could take the other seat. Then we took off down the empty street.
My eyes fired bullets into his face.
He launched into his explanation. “The Roman Emperor is at headquarters.”
It took a second to process that information. “Why is he in Paris?”
“Because he’s pissed about the Vatican Museum.”
“Why the fuck does he care about that?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “Wouldn’t say anything else. Only wants to talk to you.”
“This should be fun…”
Fifteen minutes later, we arrived at one of our headquarters, pulled into the underground parking garage, then entered the building. The previous owner had defaulted on their payments, and once it belonged to the Republic, President Martin gifted it to us to use for business.
I passed through the armed guards and headed upstairs to the main room, rugs and couches everywhere, along with tables that held product that hadn’t been moved yet. There was also a sea of computers on the surface because it took an entire team of accountants to keep track of all this shit.
Constantine was seated in the armchair, knees planted apart, smoking a cigar like this was his house. His eyes found mine as the smoke left his mouth. Dressed in all black with heavy boots, he had ink creeping up his neck like it did with Bastien. “Emperor.”
I stepped forward. “Emperor.” I glanced at my men who lingered against the walls. “Leave us.”
They dispersed, heading to the stairs in the other room.
“Where are your men?” I sat in the armchair that faced him.
“What do I need them for?” He puffed on his cigar and let the smoke coat his tongue.
With dark hair and eyes, he looked like a man who belonged in the Mediterranean, his tanned skin having a hint of olive.
“The pretense of this meeting is friendly. At least at the moment.” He crossed one ankle over the opposite knee and let the smoke leave his mouth.
“That could change pretty quickly, depending on your level of cooperation.”
“Don’t come to my city with bullshit threats.”
His tone darkened. “Don’t come to my country and hit my church.”
“I did no such thing.”
“But as the French Emperor and leader of the Fifth Republic, you know exactly who did.” He pulled the cigar out of his mouth and put it out on the table, right into the wood, not in an ashtray.
“The Vatican is a sacred place. The birthplace of Catholicism. The home of our beloved Pope. And your people tarnished that holy place with their mud-trodden boots and their lack of respect.”
I could feel his anger hitting me in waves, could tell this was somehow personal to him. “My job is to ensure no innocent life is affected by criminal affairs. No one at the Vatican was hurt, as far as I’m aware.”
“It’s your job to defend the Fifth Republic and defend the purity of your city.
Because France is in your heart, your soul, and your blood.
” His hand tightened into a fist and thumped against his chest. “Just as the blood of the Romans runs in mine. You don’t get to come to my house and take our artifacts and our history. ”
“As far as I’m aware, the objects they took are of French origin.”
“French, Italian, Greek, I don’t give a fuck. They were ours—and you took them.”
“Stop saying you like it was me,” I snapped.
“You represent all the gangs of Paris, including those psychopaths, the Aristocrats. So yes—you.”
So, he already knew who did it. The same people I assumed were behind the hit.
“I want everything stolen returned to the Vatican Museum. And I want the heads of those who thought they could steal from Rome.”
Any issues I had to resolve in my line of work resided in Paris. This was the first time an international affair had become my problem.
“If you refuse, Italy is prepared to start a trade war with France. That means no pharmaceuticals, no luxury furniture with Italian craftsmanship, no shoes, none of the fashion brands you love so much. And what you love above all else, our steel.”
I couldn’t believe this had escalated in such a manner.
“You aren’t the only one chummy with your president, Luca.”
“Did he ask you to handle this? Is that why you’re here?”
He leaned forward in his chair. “I’m here because that country is my home, and I won’t let some pretentious French fucks desecrate it. You can’t just come in and take whatever you want, not while I’m running the place.”
This was not a problem I wanted to have, not when I had so much on my plate already. Not when I had a woman in my life who needed my attention as well. Even though there were four of us, I felt stretched thin. “I’ll handle it, Constantine.”
“Define handle it.”
“The Aristocrats have been problematic in the past. While they don’t violate the law of the Fifth Republic, they’ve caused issues in other ways.
They aren’t like the rest of the gangs in Paris, which are focused primarily on profits.
They are focused on culture and hereditary preservation to the point of madness.
While we value our history and our culture, we don’t agree with their aggressive approach. ”
Constantine stared at me in silence for a few seconds. “You sound like a politician because all you said was a bunch of bullshit.”
“I said I’ll handle it, Constantine.”
“So, I can expect every piece to be returned, along with a couple heads on platters?”
I didn’t know how I would handle it, but I had to placate him for now to figure this out. “Yes.”
“Good.” He was on his feet right away. “I’ll wait for your call, Luca.”