The Immortal Greek (9 page)

“Alexander Drako.” Alexander had stepped forward and offered his hand to Malina.

“Of course. Everybody knows who you are. Mister Drako, your face is on every tabloid on any given day of the week.” She took his hand with an all-white-teeth smile. “Malina Rotari. It’s a great pleasure to meet you, Mister Drako.”

“Please, call me Alexander, and the pleasure is all mine, miss, I assure you.” He raised her hand to his lips for the softest of brushes. “May I call you Malina?”

“But of course.” Malina purred like the big cat she was.

Ravenna felt as if she had been hit in the gut. She thought she physically recoiled, although neither Alexander nor Malina seemed to have noticed, as he kept flirting with her and she kept giggling at everything he said. The hate was transformed into a different emotion she immediately ignored. “We were told to collaborate with you. Hopefully, the courtesy works both ways.”

Malina thanked Alexander for a compliment he had just paid her about her dark eyes, gave him a last smile, then turned to talk to Ravenna. “Absolutely. I’ll share what little I’ve gathered so far. There are no witnesses and nobody saw the victim two nights ago. I’ve been combing the area since I arrived hours ago, but so far I wasn’t able to find anything that could’ve contained the Immortal Death.”

Ravenna looked at the green-brown waters and shrugged. “Margherita drank the potion elsewhere and came here to die.”

“My thought too. Who knows why.” Malina pointed at a cluster of reeds in the middle of the river, only a few meters from the end of the pier. “The row crew only saw her when they bumped into her arm tangled between the vegetation. All young kids, very impressionable.”

Alexander stiffened by Ravenna’s side. A brief glance his way confirmed he was staring at the spot indicated by Malina; his eyes were a shade of dark, liquid green, and his mouth was set in a straight line. She reached for him and brushed the back of his right hand.

****

Margherita loved the water. Last time Alexander had seen her in Paris, she had told him she would have loved to dissolve into a puddle and travel the world as a droplet. He had thought the notion whimsical and kissed her crown as they watched the sun set over Notre Dame. At Ravenna’s touch, Alexander blinked, then turned away from the river.

“This is a waste of time. I’ll call some of the younger immortals who were at my party. I know Margherita was friends with several of them.” He had sent the invitation to Margherita as well, and she had answered with her usual noncommittal “I’ll drop by if I’m around.” He hadn’t been surprised she hadn’t showed up at the End of Summer celebration, she hadn’t for the last century or so. She either was out of town or too busy to come visit with him. He had never taken her constant rejection personally, as an immortal she was barely out of her teenaged years, and he was the only father figure she had left. He scheduled a dinner or a lunch with her every few decades to keep in touch. She had seen her last no more than five years earlier. He thought she had looked fine. He had been wrong.

“Sounds good to me, but I’ve had my breakfast too early this morning and I need to eat something.” Malina was at his side, having outmaneuvered Ravenna by stepping before her and forcing her to move out of the way.

Alexander noticed that Ravenna was livid, but he couldn’t enjoy the moment. He felt his head throbbing and massaged his temples. “Sure, let’s go grab a bite. It was my intention anyway. I’ll make the calls from the car.” He made a sign to Malina to lead the way, let her pass, then put a hand on Ravenna’s back. “Is that okay?”

She had relaxed against his touch, but at his question, she gave him a stormy look. “Of course it is.”

Malina a few steps ahead, they walked back to the valet stand in complete silence, then waited for their cars to arrive.

“Do you have a preference?” He faced both women, who shook their heads. “Then I know a nice pizzeria a kilometer or two from here.”

Malina nodded. “I’ll follow.”

A few minutes later, he had called Lucius Seneca Quintilius’s nephew, Antonio, and asked him to call two or three of his friends and meet at his house three hours later. By the time he had finished talking to the young man, they were already parking in front of one of his favorite places to eat in Rome. The pizzeria was nothing more than a hole in the wall, but it sported two small tables stacked by the outer wall under the old canopy shielding the inside from the sun. Alexander had known the owner for some time and it pained him that soon he would have to disappear from Rome and leave everything he loved about the city behind, including the Pizzeria Della Lupa. It was almost time for him to leave the spotlight. Being immortal was great fun, but everlasting youth was a trait people tended to notice, especially since he had been appearing on gossip magazines for quite some time now. Good genetics and even plastic surgery could only explain so much.

“Alexander. Long time no see. Don’t you have time for Mamma’s pizza anymore?” Mamma Bice, a chubby old woman with bright blue eyes and the most contagious smile, stood behind the counter, arms spread open to receive his embrace. “I told you all those women you frequent are bad for you. They make you forget the important things in life. Like my pizza.” She gave Ravenna and Malina a good look, then harrumphed, clearly unimpressed.

“I apologize, Mamma Bice. You’re right.
I should come here more often.” He walked behind the counter, and hugged her tight. “I missed your pizza.”

Mamma Bice told them to sit, then ordered on their behalf without asking what they wanted. Alexander heard her whisper to her cook to add a spoon of extra virgin olive oil to their pizzas because the girls were too skinny.

“So, you’re a regular here.” Ravenna looked around at the place as she walked back outside and sat at the plastic table. Her elegant figure made a stark contrast with the surroundings as she lowered herself on the rickety chair that was missing part of its back.

“Best pizza in town. The secret is in Mamma’s sauce. She cooks a fresh batch every morning. But I’m afraid it will die with her since she doesn’t have kids and doesn’t want to divulge her recipe.” He waited for the ladies to be seated, then took out a folded chair, opened it and positioned between Malina and Ravenna, hoping to act as a buffer. He wanted to eat his meal in peace. Cat fights were fun in bed, but he wasn’t in the right frame of mind to appreciate the two women acting out.

“The famous playboy has down-to-earth tastes.” Malina had been looking around too.

With either woman, Alexander couldn’t say what their opinion of the place was, but realized he wanted to know what Ravenna thought. She kept her body angled toward the wall, shielding her face from him, and he regretted Malina was with them.

“Celebrity status gets boring after a while.” He looked for the telltale sign of paparazzi nearby.

“It sounds rather exciting, if you ask me.” Malina laughed.

The were-panther was beautiful. Tall, dark hair, big dark eyes. In a way, Malina could have passed for Ravenna’s sister. They were both lithe and elegant. But where the shifter channeled her feline soul rather loudly, the enforcer radiated an aura of mystique. He had painted oils for Eloisa and Cherry, but only a pencil chiaroscuro would have caught Ravenna’s inner beauty.

A scuff on his head and an amused chuckling at his expense made him focus on the pizzas that had just arrived.

“Hey, lover boy, are you here to eat or stare at the wall like an idiot?” Mamma Bice accompanied the words with another slap, on his crown this time.

Ravenna and Malina were openly laughing.

“You did look out of it for a moment.” Ravenna adjusted the plate in front of her, took one of the paper napkins Mamma Bice had just dumped at the center of the table, and placed it on her lap. She closed her eyes and inhaled the aromas wafting up from the white ceramic dish. “This pizza smells fantastic.”

Alexander watched as she cut the first piece with fork and knife, then brought it to her lips, and savored it with a moan. He swallowed hard, then shielded his head from the third slap Mamma Bice had already prepared for him.

“Eat before it becomes cold.” The pizzeria’s owner gave him a wink, then looked at Ravenna, raised her eyebrows, and finally left them to tend to three children who had just walked in and wanted rosemary focaccia for lunch.

“Well, you were right. This is the best pizza. I’ve been living in Rome for more than ten years and I’ve never been here before.” Malina had polished her plate so fast Mamma Bice had sent her another pizza right away.

Alexander had barely touched his, too distracted by Ravenna’s slow eating, and Malina’s constant chattering. In a feast worthy of a ventriloquist, the shifter had managed to devour two full plates and never stop talking. She had told him—Ravenna had never given any sign she was listening to Malina—everything she knew about the latest scandals in the paranormal society. Finally, he had excused himself and went inside to pay, while the were-panther, after having asked him permission, had attacked his pizza too.

When he walked back out, he noticed how Ravenna seemed tired. “I can drive you back to your place. The kids will be at my house in an hour. I have all the time to—” Although an immortal’s time of recovery was fast, the tight lines around her eyes and mouth told him she was taxing herself.

“You can go home. There isn’t any need for the three of us to be present at the chat. As long as at least one immortal representative is present, we are fine with the council.” Although talking to Ravenna, Malina was looking at him from under her lashes, her head slightly canted. “As a Peace Pact enforcer, I must be present anyway.”

Ravenna’s right hand was flattened on the table, while her left crumpled up her skirt under it. “I’m fine. If I can have an espresso once we arrive at your house, I’ll be grateful.” She rose on her heels, before he could stand and take her hand to help her up. “Let’s keep going. We have lot to do today.”

Once back in the car and driving toward his house, he was glad to have Ravenna all by himself, if even for a fleeting moment.

****

Ravenna’s nerves were still frayed by having to fake indifference in Malina’s presence, but Alexander had helped her. He hadn’t done anything special to lighten her mood, but his furtive glances had made her feel special. She knew Malina would attract anyone’s attention, and despite her beauty, people still felt safe enough to approach her. When Alexander had met Malina, she had seen him evaluating her, and her stomach had cramped at the notion he would want to spend time with a woman like her, sunny, available, uncomplicated, as he was.

When Malina had suggested she could go with Alexander to his house, Ravenna’s first thought was about his playroom. Next, she saw Malina and him spending time there. The intensity of the sentiment that took hold of her at that mental image had left her breathless. She didn’t want Malina anywhere near him. She felt possessive about a man she had just met and that didn’t happen to Ravenna Del Sarto the enforcer. Possessiveness and jealousy happened to lesser women. Women who were insecure. Women who needed men to feel whole.

She had a furious headache and wasn’t looking forward to spending a whole day on her feet, but she was rewarded by one of those sincere smiles from Alexander and she realized she wanted him to lean by her side and kiss her. The thought had come unbidden and left her flustered.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He drove unhurriedly. The top was still down and warm sunrays bathed him in a golden light, accentuating the green in his eyes and the freckles on his skin.

“Yes, thank you for asking.” She tilted her chin up and closed her eyes for a moment. “I can feel the sun healing me.” The tension in her forehead had already relented. “Alexander…”

“Yes?” He slightly turned toward her.

She played with the hem of her skirt, ending at her knees. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

His eyes widened, then he blinked. “Thank you.” He focused back on the road and the multitude of scooters cutting right and left in front of his car.

They reached the Coppedè neighborhood several minutes later. He hadn’t seemed in the mood to talk and she had respected it, although it had cost her dearly. She wanted to know why the girl’s death affected him so much. Once in a while, he would look at her, and she felt her heart skip a beat.

At entering his house with his hand softly touching her back, Ravenna felt the strangest of feelings yet, belonging.

Too soon, Malina fell in step with them and was behind her on the staircase leading to the main door. “Alexander Drako’s famous Roman abode.”

“Please.” Alexander opened the door and stood aside to let them in. First Ravenna, then Malina.

“The pictures in the magazines don’t even come close to its real beauty.” Malina entered the atrium, then walked a few steps in, her eyes growing in wonder.

“Thank you. I chose every single piece you see.” Alexander’s eyes roamed to encompass the whole of the big room that was only the antechamber to the rest of the house. “Unfortunately, the furniture from my Roman years didn’t make it.” He reached for an antique, a dark drop leaf table by the right wall, where a delicate red-orange vase contained a single white calla lily. “But I saved the pottery.”

Malina moved to the table and leaned over the vase. “That’s exquisite. It’s Arretine ware, right?” She tilted her chin up toward Alexander.

He regarded her with an appreciative look that tore at Ravenna’s insides. “Yes, it is. I’m impressed.”

Malina’s cheeks became a soft shade of pink and she waved her hand in the air. “I’ve always been fascinated by the Roman culture, and whenever I can, I take classes in college. I’ve probably accumulated enough credits to get several majors in Ancient Roman History.” She looked around. “Your house looks like a museum.”

“I wish I could give you a tour, but our first visitor has just arrived.” Alexander pointed at the door which had remained open. A young man was strolling down the lane and heading toward Alexander’s property.

Ravenna was glad Malina’s tour had been cut short. She didn’t want the shifter walking around Alexander’s house. She couldn’t help but envision Malina in her panther form rubbing against his furniture to claim the place as hers. “May I ask for a cup of coffee before we start talking with the boy?” Her headache had flared up again and she could have used a dark room and a soft bed, but she decided to power through the pain, hoping the caffeine would help.