Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Her eyes flicked away again, like she couldn’t accept my kindness.
“And now that perfect woman is mine—and like hell am I gonna fuck it up.”
She hesitated before she looked at me again. There was a shine there, not from tears, but emotion. “I don’t understand how you’re real, Constantine. Because you could literally have any woman you want, and you’re the one saying the nicest things no one has ever said to me.” Her eyes dropped again like her emotions were volatile—and about to ignite.
All the anger and resentment I’d felt toward her were long gone. So absent, it was as if it’d never been there in the first place. Whenever I looked at her, I saw my whole world in a single person. There was still so much we didn’t know about each other—our time together had been so brief—but I just . . . felt so much for her. “Because I’m the man who’s meant to say them.”
Chapter 5
Constantine
Because it was the fucking pope, I had to check in with security just like everyone else. I never showed up to the Vatican with any weapons because no one was permitted to carry anything in his presence except his private security team.
I was family, and that still wasn’t good enough.
While all the tourists and visitors entered the grounds and then the papal gardens before they began their tour of the museums and the Sistine Chapel, I was escorted through Saint Peter’s Square and to the right of the basilica next to the museum and the Sistine Chapel. Pope Zephyrinus occupied the Apostolic Palace, and I was escorted directly into his study, the back of his desk underneath the large window that had a breathtaking view of Saint Peter’s Square.
I took a seat and waited for him to join me.
“Constantine.”
I immediately rose to my feet at the sound of his voice. I turned to him with a big smile on my face and extended my hand to his. “Your Holiness.”
Two guards were in the room, lingering a short distance away.
He was in his seventies, his skin wrinkled in many places but still tanned from being outdoors or from the illumination of God’s light. He wore glasses on the bridge of his nose, and his red robes distinguished his power. He turned slightly to the guards behind him, then made a single gesture with his hand, dismissing them from our presence.
The guards left and the door shut.
I was one of the few people in the world who could speak to the pope in complete privacy.
Call it nepotism.
He beamed at me like I was his own son, his energy full of so much warmth and vitality. Very few people looked at me like that, except my family and Medusa—and now Aurelia.
“How are you, my son?”
“I’m well, Father. And you?”
“I’m always well.” He gestured to the armchairs in front of his desk.
We sat together, me across from him.
With his hands together in his lap, he waited for me to speak first. When I couldn’t find the words, he took the reins—as always. “You’re troubled by a weight I can’t see, Constantine.”
“Yes.”
“Share your burden.”
“There’s so much going on lately, and I feel like I’ve barely been able to keep up with it all.”
He nodded in understanding.
“President Barsetti is disappointed I haven’t caught Vladimir yet, but I’m close. And he’s upset about the commotion I caused last week. I’m sure you heard about it.”
He nodded. “As did everyone, Constantine.”
“I lost my temper . . . may have taken it too far, but I feel no remorse.”
He nodded again.
“What does that say about me, Father? That I burn men in the streets . . . and feel nothing.”
The silence dragged on and on. His eyes left mine, and he seemed deep in thought, truly thinking about the words I shared with him. “I’m not here to pass judgment on the choices of others. All I can do is guide you closer to God. But I will say . . . we’re two leaders in two different kingdoms. You in the kingdom of men—and me in the kingdom of God. Men are more corrupt and more readily tempted. They’re flawed and easily misled. To excuse or pardon the crimes of the guilty is to condemn the needy, the poor, and the vulnerable. Perhaps you feel nothing for those who cause pain because you’re too busy protecting those who have received that pain. And the fact that you come to me to share these burdens tells me you’re a humble man before the eyes of God.”
That was always how he spoke, and I’d gotten used to it over the years. Whenever I felt at my worst, his presence seemed to bring the light back into my darkness. “It’s come to my attention there may be an attack on our country and our people, and the Skull King is probably indirectly responsible for it. Selling arms to our enemies in the east.”