Chapter 16 Constantine
Constantine
I arrived at Quirinal Palace, the residence of President Barsetti in the heart of Rome. I bypassed all the security checkpoints because I didn’t have to waste my time with that. I was the only person in the world who could meet with the president armed.
I walked down the long hallway comprising Roman arches, sculptures, and artwork from the palace’s private collection, and then I was let inside the double doors to his private office.
He was seated behind his desk, one arm propped on the armrest of his chair, talking to someone through the earbuds in both of his ears.
Wearing a look of distinct indifference, he stared at me and then tried to wrap up the call.
“I’ll look into it. I’ve got another meeting, so let’s circle back to this.
” His phone was on his desk, so he tapped the red button to end the call, then pulled the earbuds out of his ears and tossed them aside.
“Another day at the office, huh?” I dropped into one of the two comfortable armchairs that faced his desk.
He ignored what I said and straightened in his chair.
“One of the perks of my job—no meetings.”
“What do you call this?”
I shrugged. “If you break open a bottle of scotch, I’d call it lunch.”
His lips didn’t smirk, but his eyes filled with mirth at the suggestion. He left his chair, grabbed one of the bottles from his private bar, and then poured two glasses.
“Here we go.”
He came to me and handed me a glass before he dropped into the other chair, wearing a dark-blue suit and a black tie, a black Patek watch on his wrist. He crossed his leg on the opposite knee, his pant leg rising up to reveal the black sock underneath.
The youngest Italian president to ever hold office, he was somewhere around my age.
The previous legislation required the candidate to be at least fifty years old, but after enough money and lobbying were thrown at the problem, that rule was amended.
I clinked my glass against his before we both took a drink. “How’s the family?”
“Pissed that I don’t come home enough.”
“Tuscany is just a short flight away, especially in a private plane.”
“Unlike everyone else in this world, I don’t have the luxury of working from home.” He took another drink before he looked at me. “Not when my citizens are disappearing off the streets and their body parts are being harvested from operating tables.”
“I knew this was coming.”
“You said this would be handled by now.”
“I’m working on it.”
“Are you? Were you working on it during your trip to Taormina?”
No, I was busy getting hooked on the best pussy I’d ever had. “Rocco had it covered.”
“Did he? Because I’ve seen no progress.”
“Crow, I’ll handle it, okay? Vladimir knows I’m onto him, so he’s changed his tactics.
He laid low when I was right on top of him because he’s smart.
But he’s started up again, which means he’s probably changed his mode of operations.
I have Rocco tapping into health networks and evaluating names on the transplant lists to see if we can get information that way. ”
Crow looked away and took a drink.
“Have I ever failed you before?”
Too stubborn to concede, he ignored me. “I spoke with Prime Minister Foster this morning. He provided some intel from MI6. There are whispers of a terrorist act here, Paris, or London. Don’t know when or where or how.”
“Well, that’s helpful.”
“You keep your arms guys on a tight leash.”
“A leash so short it chokes them a little.”
He took another drink of his scotch before he set it on the table between us.
Tall, slender, and ripped like a soccer player, he was the most popular president Italy had ever had.
Not just because he was young and intelligent, but because women described him as a beautiful man.
He was well spoken and articulate, but he also didn’t settle for less than the best. He was passionate about the security and well-being of his country.
I liked him a hell of a lot more than his predecessor.
He accepted my position without reproach, understood the criminal underworld like he was already well acquainted with it.
“I’ve dispatched our military to our most congested posts throughout the city.
In case something happens, we need some kind of backup. ”
“And you need to send a message that you know what’s coming.”
“Exactly.”
Roberto dropped me off outside, and I entered the bar, American alternative rock music playing overhead, every chair and table occupied.
I found Rocco seated at a table for four, his back turned and propped against the brick wall as he watched the TV in the corner that showed a replay of the football game that had happened earlier that afternoon.
I dropped into the chair across from him, and he ignored me.
But the waitress didn’t, and she came over in a flash. “Hey, Con. What are you in the mood for?”
“Whiskey and Coke.”
“I was hoping you had something sweeter in mind.” She winked, then headed back to the bar.
She ignored the other patrons and delivered my drink right away.
We’d hooked up a couple of times, super casual.
She was a cute girl with blond hair and big tits, good in the sack.
Nearly ten years younger than me, she was getting her degree in art history from the university, so she’d never had commitment on her mind—which was perfect for me. “Free tonight?”
Rocco’s eyes were glued to the TV like he didn’t even hear the conversation.
I could just tell her I was busy and that’d be the end of it, but I was incapable of lying, whether it was outright or by omission. “I’m seeing someone.”
“Oh,” she said, clearly surprised my dick was spoken for. “Well, maybe some other time.” The second she knew she wouldn’t get laid, she paid me no further attention. She focused on the other people at the bar because at least she might get a tip.
Rocco shook the ice in his glass before he took a drink. “So Aurelia is still in the game.”
“Yeah. She reached out a couple days ago.”
“That’s good news.”
“I helped her move her stuff out of that asshole’s apartment.”
“Did you see him?”
“Yeah.” I took a drink. “She’s totally out of his league.”
“Then he’s either gay or stupid.”
“The other woman moved in with her two kids, so it’s gotta be the latter. Guy’s a fucking idiot. Mark my words—in a couple weeks, he’ll reach out to her. When the last tendrils of the dream clouds start to fade away.”
“You think she’ll take him back?”
“Not a chance. She can’t go from a stallion to a pony.”
“Are you the stallion or the pony?”
I fought the smirk from hitting my mouth. “Fuck you.”
He laughed then took a drink. He also had dark hair, but he was a lot burlier than I was, choosing mass and muscle over cut. He watched the game on the TV for a while before he addressed me again. “Glad things worked out. I know you’re into her.”
“Well . . .” That wasn’t really the situation, and I could just stay quiet about it and keep it to myself, but I didn’t have a filter with Rocco. If I were to have a best friend, it would be him, but I wouldn’t say that pussy shit to him or anyone else. “It’s complicated.”
He turned back to me, his arm resting on the table as he waited for an explanation.
“She knew I was involved in organized crime before, but I painted a crisper picture for her.” She’d been a bit skittish when I’d mentioned it in Taormina, but she was able to quickly move on because we were in paradise. “I can tell it freaked her out.”
“This is the life we’ve known for so long that it’s easy to forget how normal people live.”
“Yeah.”
“What are you going to do?”
“She says she needs to heal and all that, so I’ll just take it slow. I know she needs time to adjust to the emperor thing, so taking it easy is really my only option at this point.”
“What’s the rush, Con?” He turned back to the TV, his head resting against the brick wall.
“Not a rush per se.” I shook the ice in my glass before I took another drink. “I just miss what we had. Ever since we got back, she’s been focused on her shit with Enzo and work and her friends.”
“You mean, like a normal person.”
“Why are you always a dick when there’s a game on?”
“Because I’m about to lose a mill on Manchester.”
I gave a slight shake of my head. “Could have bought a nice woman for that.”
“What’s Aurelia’s rate?”
I gave a cold chuckle. “Keep it up, and a chunk of my glass is going to be impaled in your skull, asshole.”
He turned his attention to the TV for a while, and when enough silence passed, I assumed we’d moved on from the subject of Aurelia, but then he broached it again. “Are you guys exclusive?”
“Haven’t had that conversation, but yes.”
“So, you’re just going to assume? Is she even sleeping with you?”
“Well, no.” It wasn’t a dealbreaker for me, but fuck, I missed it.
Wherever I was, pussy wasn’t far away. I never liked to jerk off because I preferred to share the passion with someone.
After touching Aurelia’s flames, they were the only heat I wanted to feel on my skin.
When I’d asked her to dinner, getting her on her back hadn’t been my agenda, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t on my mind .
. . a lot. She told me she needed time to move on from her last relationship, that it could be months, so I was free to do whatever I wanted in the interim.
But she was all I wanted.
Rocco gave a quiet chuckle but kept his eyes on the TV.
“What?”
“You aren’t gonna want to hear it.”
“No, but say it anyway.”
“I just think it’s fucking hilarious that the one woman you want is the one you can’t have.”