The Professor

by Rachel Renee

  “Paolo and his son are said to be meeting there this evening. Thought we should make that a happy coincidence that we’re also taking in some sights.”

  “Santi didn’t mention seeing his dad today. In fact, he told me maybe next week before he sees him.”

  “Maybe I got the wrong info.” His shoulders go up and down. “Wouldn’t be the first time. Let’s just see, shall we?”

  Santi could be leaving stuff out because he doesn’t trust me. I’m interested to see who will be correct in this scenario.

  The Colosseum is even more magnificent up close, and the enormity of the stone that still stands strong after all this time is hard to grasp. The size of the walls are taller than you could imagine, and even someone who has always been good at estimating size, I’m still struggling with the magnitude of this place. I stare at it night after night from my balcony and I’m completely at a loss for words as the three of us weave in and out of crowds to explore the world surrounding us.

  We’ve wandered for hours, enjoyed stories from the tour guides who we’d pass from time to time, but there has been no sign of Santi or Paolo. As the sun starts to set behind the Colosseum, I turn to Charlie and ask, “Can we get some dinner now? I’m starving and we still haven’t spotted our objectives.”

  “Quit your bitching. I fed you a snack an hour ago.” Charlie snickers.

  I don’t crack a smile and Charlie realizes I’m not joking. “Fine. Let’s give it thirty more minutes and then we’ll hit the road. Sound okay with you, son?”

  “Fine, Dad,” I grumble. I look to Sophia, who’s smiling from ear to ear. She squeezes my hand tighter, pacifying me. At that moment, the sudden urge to kiss her plump pink lips comes over me. I don’t even hesitate, I just move. My head bends down, my neck turns and my tongue brushes over my dried lips before they make their assault on the soft lips of the woman standing next to me. The moment passes quickly as she pulls back immediately. I feel my face redden and I turn away from her only to be staring right into the dark eyes of Santi Rubio.

  “Who is this beautiful woman?” he asks, his left eyebrow rising with interest.

  My eyes widen with surprise but I’m hopeful I can quickly recover. “Ah, Santi. This is my…”

  Sophia has let go of my hand and is slowly moving in Santi’s direction. After kissing both sides of his mouth, just like she does every time she greets me, she answers. “Fidanzata.”

  “You dog.” Santi looks in my direction. “You said you broke it off with your girlfriend before coming here. You are already with another?” His eyes glare—it’s not anger in them, but envy, that I see there.

  “It happened so fast. Yes.”

  “You had better not dispose of this one when you leave after the summer or I just might have to sweep in and take her for my own.” Santi’s gaze lowers as he pulls Sophia’s hand up to his mouth and kisses it sweetly before allowing her to move backward to me.

  “I do not date someone so young,” Sophia proclaims with a small tilt of her lip.

  “Then maybe I’d suffice.” The man I had yet to notice steps out of the shadows and reaches out for Sophia. “Paolo Rubio,” he interjects. “Ciao bella.” He kisses her hand as Santi did, but she does not make a move to greet him in her normal manner. “Come ti chiami?”

  “Sophia.” She blushes as he pulls her tighter to him, almost whispering in her ear.

  Charlie does his little cough thing that he uses to interrupt and sticks his hand out in between Paolo and me. “Charlie Danzer.” He pushes toward Paolo. “My son, Niccolo.” He nudges me and I stick my hand out in Paolo’s direction as well.

  “American?” Paolo’s brows raise.

  “Yes. Niccolo is Italian though, as was his mother.”

  His eyes are as dark as night and he stares deep into mine as he squeezes my hand, trying to crush my fingers. I don’t flinch even though the look in his eyes makes me want to run away and never look back.

  “Father, I know Niccolo from the caffé. He is going to be a professor next term in Florence.”

  “I see,” he states without letting go of my hand.

  Finally managing to pull my hand from the grip of Paolo, I look to Santi. “It’s nice to see you this evening.” I introduce him to my father and tell him we were just out for a visit since it was a lovely evening to spend wandering the city. He answers that his father and he are doing the same, a last-minute decision when his father came to call on him at his apartment this afternoon. Last minute, my ass. Charlie and Sophia knew they were coming here, so he did too. Or maybe Paolo really did surprise him.

  Charlie coughs once more, wanting to say something, or wanting to end the conversation Santi and I are having. Sophia grabs ahold of my elbow, once more causing me to turn my gaze toward hers.

  “Cena?” she whispers.

  “Si.” I smile. I turn to the men standing across from me. “We better be heading to dinner. It was nice seeing you.” I reach my hand out to Santi, and then to Paolo, once more. “And nice meeting you.”

  They answer in kind and kiss Sophia’s free hand again before waving off Charlie. “Goditi la serata. Ciao.” I call out as we move away from the men who are staring intently in our direction.

  Santi calls out his goodbye and turns to his father with his jaws clenched. I can see the tension between the two of them even from this distance. I wonder what their real reasoning for being at the Colosseum this evening is. “Why are they here?” I ask Charlie when we’re far enough away from them.

  “Meeting.”

  “With who?”

  Charlie shrugs and for the first time since meeting him, I can truly tell that he knows so much more than I do and he has most likely been feeding me many other lies since my arrival. I’ve spent so much time worrying about what to do with Santi that I’ve neglected to focus on other parts of this mission. Specifically, the people that I’m assumed to be working with. The one person I thought was helping me along is keeping too much to himself and now I wonder what else in this mission I will be finding out the hard way.

  8

  I lay in bed for so long last night, thinking about home, about life. I even allowed myself to wonder what Eliza was doing and missing her voice. All our late-night calls were flashing through my mind. I shut that down quickly. I have an objective and she’s not a part of it. I left her behind without even a word that I was going. I let my mind drift to Sophia then, the woman who is involved in my mission. She’s funny, beautiful, and brilliant. If I were in the market for a girlfriend, she’s most definitely girlfriend material. But, at the end of this, when it’s time to leave Italy, I’ll most likely never see her again. Her home is in Rome and the chances of me ever having a mission in the same country twice are pretty slim. I’d be leaving her behind just as I did Eliza. Sophia would get it, though, she’d be expecting it. She knows how to play her part so well, that most of the time I’m completely convinced that’s who she really is. But, only a fool would think that way. The CIA trained her well.

  I drifted off to sleep as the sun began to rise. The first time since I’ve been here, I missed breakfast with Santi. When Charlie started pounding on my door ten minutes ago, I pulled the pillow over my head and tried to drown him out. I wasn’t ready to get up as I had just fallen asleep. “It’s almost noon,” I heard him shout. “What the fuck are you doing in there?”

  I pulled the pillow off my head and was completely shocked to see that my phone read 11:57. “Why’d you let me sleep so long?” I grumbled through the still closed bedroom door.

  “I didn’t realize you were still here until I knocked over your computer bag on my way out.” The door opened and Charlie sauntered in, leaned against my bedroom wall, and stared at me until I sat up in bed.

  “That’s creepy, you know?”

  “That’s why I’m doing it. Trying to get your lazy ass out of bed.”

  “I can’t believe I slept in. I’d been building such a great rapport with Santi and now I’ve missed a day.”
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  “Might do you some good. We saw him last night. He caught you with Sophia so maybe he’s thinking you had breakfast with her instead.”

  “Maybe.”

  “You getting up?”

  “Will you leave my room?”

  “You naked?”

  “So, what if I am?”

  “You don’t have anything I haven’t seen before.”

  I feel like such a child when my eyes start to roll at his snide remark. “Just go. I’m getting up. I’ll shower and then…”

  “We’ve actually got a meeting in an hour.”

  I hadn’t heard about any such meeting today. “Why don’t I get this type of information?”

  “You are on a need-to-know basis, and you didn’t need to know. I invited you.”

  “Oh, so you’re deciding what I get to be a part of now?”

  “I’ve always decided.”

  Maybe we’re getting somewhere. “What do you mean, you’ve always chosen?”

  “Just that. I’m your superior. Or, more specifically, I outrank you. Everything that comes through this mission hits me first and then I funnel out tasks, for you, for Sophia, for ol’ Moretti.”

  “This is news to me.” I started to say I had a direct report number to Moretti, in case I needed it. And my superior is in Georgia. Moretti said he was the only other person here that knew my exact objective, but now that I think about it, Charlie has always known. Charlie has been keeping secrets from me, Moretti obviously didn’t know the whole story…I really don’t know what to believe.

  “I know.” Charlie brings me back. “I wasn’t supposed to say anything, but we’re close. I thought you should know.” Charlie pushed himself off the wall and sauntered out of the room the same way he entered it.

  When I walk into the kitchen, the man I haven’t seen since I stepped foot out of the car in front of this apartment is sharing a cup of coffee with my flatmate. “Moretti, long time, no see.”

  He turns slightly in his chair and grins. “Ah, Esposito, nice to see you again. I hadn’t heard anything from you so I assumed all was well. Charlie here has been keeping me updated.” When Moretti looks to Charlie, his expression changes and I can tell these two have something between them that I’m not privy to. I want to believe that I can trust Charlie, but I’m starting to feel uneasy.

  “What’s the plan, fellas? Where’s the meeting?”

  “Here,” Moretti answers but doesn’t look away from Charlie.

  “Oh, wish you would have said.”

  “I changed it.” Moretti looks back in my direction. “Sophia will be up shortly and then we will get busy.”

  “We have a lot to talk about?”

  “We do.”

  Something about the way Moretti said it makes me feel like I’m in some mob movie and I’m working for the boss, waiting for my mission to go kill someone who has betrayed our leader.

  “Well, I’m going to have some breakfast while we wait.”

  “Lunch,” Charlie corrects.

  “Lunch, breakfast…call it whatever you want. I’m going to eat.”

  “Someone is snippy this afternoon. What kept you up all night?” Charlie seems genuine, but after the way my morning started, who can tell if I even know how to truly read the guy.

  “Pondering life’s biggest mysteries.” I look at Charlie, awaiting a response, but his eyes lower and he picks up his coffee, drinking it instead of speaking to me.

  “Still pondering, if you were wondering,” I mumble as I grab a bowl from the cabinet and pour my cereal to the brim of it.

  Charlie moves in my direction just as Moretti’s chair screeches across the tile floor. I turn, expecting an ambush and grabbing the first object my hand touches. The milk carton… Milk? Really?

  Charlie is on me and Moretti isn’t far. I’m completely at a loss for what to do because this is the last thing I expected when I walked into the kitchen this morning. I’m waiting for hands to grab me, for someone to shove a gun in my skull. Something, anything, but then Moretti walks right past me and enters the other room. Charlie stops right next to me and says, “I’ll fill you in after Moretti leaves.”

  I turn around, my backside against the granite, and take a moment to let my heart rate slow. I don’t know why I got so worked up, why I thought these two men were after me. I was just thinking about my possible distrust of Charlie, then I freaked out at the quick movements he and Moretti made. I should not let myself sleep so late again. It’s definitely doing a number to my head.

  There’s a slight knock on the door the moment I set the milk back in the refrigerator. The two other men in the apartment seem oblivious as they have not made a move to get up or halt their conversation. I’m sure it’s Sophia, so I hurry to the door, opening it up to the beautiful woman standing on the other side.

  “Ciao.” She rushes in, greeting me with kisses and walking right into the other room before I can even open my mouth to respond.

  I sigh, shutting the door, and locking it back. I’m not sure what is going on, but I’m going to eat and hopefully get my mind straight before this so-called meeting gets underway. There must be some advancements, something has happened that needs attention because why else would we need to call a meeting at this point? Then again, I’m only aware of what I’ve been doing with Santi, and everything else has apparently been kept from me, and only me, as I now understand it.

  “Niccolo, where are you?” I hear the gruff voice call from the other room.

  “Eating.”

  “Get your ass in here.”

  “Can’t a guy enjoy his bowl of Frosted Wheat in peace?” I say jokingly as my bowl and I make our way into the living room.

  “When you get up at an appropriate time, yes.”

  “Slept in once this entire mission, it’ll never happen again. That I can promise you.”

  “I can promise it won’t either,” Moretti challenges.

  My bowl is sitting on the coffee table and my hands are up in surrender. “What the hell happened? Did I do something wrong? You can’t be this pissed because I slept in.”

  “When you could have missed something important, I can. Both Rubios were at the caffé this morning and you never showed,” Moretti shouts.

  My eyes lower and I can’t help the fist that pounds against the table and rattles the spoon from my bowl. “Fuck. Did something happen?” I know I missed them, but it can’t be that big of a deal.

  All eyes are on me but no one is speaking. “Someone say something. How bad did I mess up?” This meeting must be because they are going to kick me from the mission. I messed up somehow, gave away something, did something in my sleep, hell, I’ve got nothing other than a missed breakfast.

  The room is silent, the people are motionless, and I’m nervous as hell. The hands on the clock tick by, one second, two…twenty…thirty…a minute. “You didn’t miss anything.” Sophia finally speaks. “These two are just trying to get a rise from you.”

  “A rise out of him,” Moretti corrects with a smirk.

  “Whatever. Leave him alone.” Sophia reaches across the couch and pats my knee.

  My heart rate slows, realizing they were just messing with me. I still don’t understand why they are here, but at least I now know that I didn’t fail my first mission already.

  “Listen, Esposito, you’re new. We have to test you. We meet up every now and again to inform each other of what’s going on with the parts of the mission we aren’t directly touching every day.”

  “So, I get to find out what the rest of you do during the day?”

  The three of them look at each other and this is when I stand up, grabbing my bowl from the table. “I have to tell you what I know, but I don’t get to know what you know? No thanks. I’m going to go finish my breakfast in the other room.”

  “Just wait, Niccolo, we all have to share. Not just you.”

  I put a shredded wheat in my mouth and chomp down on the now milk-filled cereal. “You guys go first,” I say after
I swallow the first bite and before I fill my mouth with multiple pieces this time. The food is getting soggy and this conversation is going nowhere, so I best just take care of the one item I know won’t give my so-called team any more info until I get something from them first.

  9

  Present Day

  It’s been a really long time since my mind drifted back to those first days. To that first mission. And to those people I called my team. Why now? Why after all this time am I getting contacted?

  I stare down at my cell phone, the message from my lieutenant, bolded in front of me. “You need to come in first thing. There’s a package with your name on it all the way from Italy. Do you know what this could be about?”

  Honestly, I don’t. It’s been too many years and no contact. What could anyone in Italy want with me? I feel an arm from the other side of the bed snake across my bare abdomen. The cold metal sensation of her engagement ring against my skin brings a smile to my face.

  “What are you doing up so early? Our alarm hasn’t even gone off yet?”

  “A message from my Lieutenant woke me. Seems I’ve got something waiting for me at the office.”

  “What?” her groggy voice croaks. Eliza had a late night last night with a case of her own. She’s the lead detective with the Savannah Police Department which often means a lot of late nights or early mornings for her. Not this morning, though. She’d planned to sleep in as her new captain planned on finishing the crime scene and told her to get some rest. She hasn’t been back on the job long. After her last case, one that put her life and a few others in danger, she spent some much needed time recouping here at home.

  “A package from Italy,” I answer.

  As the first rays of sun sneak through the crack in our curtains, I feel Eliza’s head raise against my chest and her green eyes glare up at me. “What does that mean? A package from Italy? Like a gift? Or, a threat?”

  I inhale, staring down at her, unsure myself. “Truthfully, I don’t know what it could be. They haven’t opened it as it is addressed to me and are awaiting my arrival before doing so.”