Chapter 17 Constantine
Constantine
I left Aurelia and Medusa in the car and entered the Temple.
Soon, it would belong to Darius . . . along with the rest of Rome.
Rocco was already there, leaning against the table with his arms crossed over his chest, his face bruised like he’d gotten the butt of a gun. He had a bandage on his arm like he’d been cut or shot too.
I stopped before him, and judging by the look on his face, he already knew everything. A pained look full of potent disappointment. It was so palpable I could smell it in the air. I’d let him down. Let down everyone. Let down the republic.
“You’re really going to leave?” he finally asked.
“I said I would.”
“And you’re really just going to give up? Let him take Rome. Let him take everything you’ve built.” His voice rose as the anger got to him.
Mine became calmer. “I didn’t have a choice, Rocco.”
“But you have a choice now. Fight back.”
“We both know I’m a man of my word. He beat me fair and square. Beat me so good I didn’t even see it coming.”
He continued to stare me down.
“After we met at the Vatican, he never left. Just fooled us into thinking he did. He knew I’d confront him about the arms deal that he wanted me to see.
” It was all a setup, and I fucking fell for it.
He distracted me and then took the palace, knowing the battle would be over once he captured my queen.
The Empress.
“I don’t care how we got here, Con. We need to figure out what to do next.”
“I agreed to his terms—”
“Then break them.” He straightened, then shoved me in the chest. “Fight back. The Roman Empire fell once, and now you’re going to let it fall again.”
I let him push me. Let him take out his rage on me.
“You said you would never let a woman change what you believe in. But now you’re giving it all up for her.”
“Change what I believe in?” I asked quietly. “So you think I should have just left her there to be raped and killed so I could take him down later? Let him kill my dog? That’s your solution? No, I haven’t changed what I believe in, but you sure have.”
He moved back to the table, shaking his head slightly.
“I don’t like this outcome.” It killed me to walk away from it all.
To accept all the consequences that would come later.
How it would affect Rome and its people.
“But I couldn’t live with the other choice.
I chose Aurelia, and I would choose her again a thousand times.
You know the Roman Republic is built on my blood, sweat, and tears.
You know I would die for it. But she’s my Roman Empire—and I will defend her with everything that I have.
I’m not fucking sorry for the choice I made.
But I’m sorry that you’re so fucking disappointed. ”
“He killed your brother, and you’re just going to let him go.”
I couldn’t believe he said those words to me. Cut me deep on purpose, called me a coward without actually saying it. I would have punched him in the face or thrown him across the table if I weren’t utterly demoralized enough as it was. “Go fuck yourself, Rocco.”
We drove to the airport, and I chartered a private plane to Taormina.
It was almost dawn by the time we left. I carried Medusa onto the plane and made her comfortable on a large dog bed. I had been able to get some pain medication for her so she could relax before I got her the care she needed in Sicily.
I knew Darius had his men tail me all the way to the airport. Knew if I overstayed my welcome, that psychopath might change his mind and break every bone in Medusa’s body and make Aurelia his new wife.
Aurelia continued to cast glances at me, her stare full of concern and worry, like she knew I was a broken vessel inside.
I’d worked my whole life to earn this position, and I knew damn well I was the only one good enough to do it.
It took all my strength to turn my back on it, my people, my country, and let a dictator seize it.
It would haunt me for the rest of my life.
When we arrived in Sicily, the first thing I did was take Medusa to the veterinary hospital. She’d been patient for hours, dealing with a broken leg with only the occasional whine because my girl was fucking tough.
I checked her in with the doctor, and after a couple x-rays, they realized her leg was broken in two different places. She needed surgery right away, and even though it was supposed to take a week to get her on the schedule, I paid a million euros to the surgeon to do it in the next few hours.
I wasn’t going to let my girl be in pain for a fucking week.
I was dead fucking tired and emotionally drained, but Aurelia didn’t ask me about it. She just held my hand or touched my arm or comforted me with her silence—like she knew I wasn’t ready to talk.
Hours later, we got Medusa back, her leg wrapped up and her meds in tow, and I drove us into Taormina.
Returning to this special place should fill me with joy, but for the first time, it filled me with pain.
We didn’t drive to the hotel where we’d met, but to my residence because the renovations had just been completed.
We pulled through the gates and around the fountain out front and then into the garage.
The place was empty of security and staff because I hadn’t told anyone I was returning to the house.
They were still on their paid hiatus until my return.
I’d been so busy with everything that had happened that notifying them hadn’t crossed my mind at all.
I carried the bags inside, up the stairs to my bedroom, and then returned downstairs, where I’d left Medusa on the couch. She was still drowsy from the meds and clearly pain-free for the time being.
Aurelia sat beside her, gently petting the side of her cheek while she stroked her side, like a mother looking after her sick child. The compassion and concern she had for Medusa was clear as day.
I could see it written all over her face. “I’d take her upstairs, but she’ll need to go out soon.”
She kept her eyes on the dog she already loved like her own. “I’ll stay with her, Constantine. You should shower and rest. I know it’s been a hard day for you.” She lifted her chin and looked at me.
“I think your day has been worse than mine.” Cornered by Darius, with nowhere to go, she must have been utterly terrified.
I’d crashed into two cars as I’d raced through the streets to get to her and didn’t even stop to see if the passengers were okay.
I’d run all the red lights and sped straight to her.
Abandoned all my obligations and my men for her.
Her hand stopped moving over Medusa’s fur. “I don’t think that’s true, Constantine.”
It was late afternoon when I woke up.
I got out of bed, checked my phone on my nightstand, and saw at least fifty missed calls and a hundred text notifications.
President Barsetti’s name popped up multiple times.
I set the phone on the nightstand as I sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the closed curtains over the window.
The walls had been redone and repainted, and the hardwood floors had been replaced.
Artwork was returned to the walls, and new furniture had been added.
It was ready for me even when no one knew I was coming.
It was the first time in my life when I’d felt lost. When I’d lacked a purpose.
When I’d run from a fight.
The phone started to ring on the nightstand—President Barsetti.
I took a slow breath before I dragged my hand down my face. I grabbed the phone as I cleared my throat, then took the call. I answered without saying a word, letting him have the floor to eviscerate me with the fancy vocabulary he learned at college.
But he was quiet too.
I continued to hold my silence.
“Con, you know what will happen if you don’t take the city back.”
I gave a painful nod even though he couldn’t see me. “Yeah . . . I do.”
“Then we need to figure out a plan together.”
My wrists were chained to my feet. I was restrained by my love for a woman. She was the single most important thing to me now. She didn’t have my last name, but she was family to me. “You know I can’t do that, Crow.”
“The corruption Darius will sow into our fields will grow into weeds.”
“And why is that entire responsibility on my shoulders?”
“Because you’re the emperor, Con.”
“I was. But not anymore.”
“You would turn your back on us—”
“I had no other choice. He would have done unspeakable things to my woman. I betrayed my country for a single woman, and I’m not sorry about it. I’m not fucking sorry. The only thing I’m sorry about is letting him outsmart me, for not seeing the double play unfold right before my very eyes.”
He said nothing.
“I told you years ago that he needed to be stopped. But you and everyone else were too scared to do anything. You enabled him to become this shadow over our country, and now his storm clouds will cover it from head to boot. This is not entirely on me.”
He remained quiet.
“I’m a man of my word. Darius let Aurelia live in exchange for my exile—and I will honor that. I gave my all for my people every day, and now it’s time for someone else to take up the torch. I’ve made my decision, and it’s final. Good luck.”