Chapter 9

Nathan and I grab a chair and sit down. This is quite some information to take in.

How in the world are the Parks related to the Polos?

Portia sits down as well on the single couch facing us. There aren't any lights in the house. The only luminescent source is the sun's rays peaking through the windows. I focus on them for a second, and follow their path until I reach our position.

I observe the small table under the window with a tall golden and black vase on it. Then comes a coffee table between all couches with a couple of plates and books on it. Then, at the end of the path, our seats.

"My, well your fathers' as well, great-grandparents' ancestors, on my father's mother's side, somehow, along the family tree, connect to one of Marco Polo's daughters: Bellela."

She seems nervous talking about this. As if she's waiting for someone to barge in and punish her for speaking.

"Marco Polo's father and uncle worked with jewels. They'd go on trips to find the most prestigious of all gems. Marco Polo joined them for a lot of their trips. After one trip, they had come back bearing nothing but their coats. However, in their coats foundation, they had sewn in jewels. One of these coats was passed down through generations, but no one knew why it was so important."

She plays with the hem of her long white shirt.

"He had sewn out the jewels at his arrival and sold them, but he kept one of them in. He never intended on selling that one. All those generations passing the coat along to a next generation with a bullshit excuse as to why it was precious, 'cause they didn't know why it was important, were actually passing down a priceless gem."

"None of the generations ever wondered what was important? Or maybe just decide it's worthless and throw it away?"

"They would never throw it away, because they knew it was Marco's. All they wondered was why he'd leave a coat for his daughter to pass on." She pauses.

"So, the stone he had hidden, he had found on his way to Persia while he was escorting a Mongol princess. It was the most perilous journey Marco had been on. He survived when many didn't. One of the men who was about to die, many say he was about to slip off the ship and Polo couldn't pull him up. Well, he was the one who put the jewel in Marco's hand. He said: Do great things."

She shakes her head, as if she feels childish telling this story. She almost looks embarassed. I can only guess her emotions, because I know I'd possibly feel the same.

"Anyway, the veracity of that is to be determined. This story has been passed along as well as the coat, but only a select few knew the story.

"Days after his journey to Persia, they find out that the stone was a possession of the Mongolian emperor at the time and that the man who had given it to him had stolen it from the empire. He knew he couldn't come forward with it, because they'd execute him for having stolen it. So, he kept it hidden. And it needs to stay hidden. This stone was immensely precious to the empire and the Mongolian government, to this day, looks for this stone. That is what Rodrigo wants."

I look at Nathan and I think we're both trying to figure out why. Monetary worth? Most probably not. He seems to have more than he needs. Rodrigo has been trying to take over the world. Maybe he doesn't have something over Mongolia.

"He wants it as a bargaining chip against Mongolia, I think."

"That's what I think as well," Portia says.

"It could be for Mongolia, too," Nathan adds. "It's unlikely, but he could have friends in the government and would want them by his side."

"But," he starts again. "How do you know Rodrigo wants it?"

"It's exactly the reason Sam just said. I think he wants a bargaining chip. Plus, I've known about Rodrigo and what he's been doing. Catalina would send me intel every now and then."

"You're a part of the Union?"

"No, not directly at least. I guess, David asked them to keep me informed and to keep and eye on me."

She sniffs.

"Excuse me," she says getting up. She walks into a room I judge as being a bathroom. Her emotions might be getting to her.

"She'll never give us the stone," I whisper.

"We don't have a choice. We need to convince her someway."

Portia sits back in her seat.

Nathan sighs. "You either have to give us the stone," he starts. "Or come with us on a trip that might not be the safest, especially for you."

She sighs. She walks up to the table behind her, under a large painting, facing the entrance. She opens a secret compartment and pulls out the coat. It's a rusty and dusty old thing. It's a long and dark velvet brown coat with a high collar.

She puts the coat on.

"Let's go."

We let her grab all her necessities and put them in her bag. She puts her sunglasses on and then takes her phone and starts texting.

"You're not calling for her help, are you?" Nathan asks.

"Don't worry. I'm just letting my fiancé know that a work emergency has forced me out if the city in short notice. It's better that I stay in contact with him than for me to disappear. He'd alert the police if he thought that I was hurt."

She's got a point, so we let it go. I honestly don't think Nathan was going to argue with her anyway.

We leave the house and run to make it to the ferry that was just about to leave.

"So, Nathan. Tell me everything. How has the past decade been?"

He looks at her in awe. Knowing him, he's probably shocked at how comfortable she is with him. He grabs the railing and stands between the both of us.

"Eum, not easy. Very painful. Slivers of hope and happiness here and there. Don't get me started on all of that being mixed with school work. Oh, but this one here is one of those slivers."

He points at me. There's a possibility that I blushed at how nonchalant and natural it was for him to consider me as hope, as if it's obvious.

"I'm Sam," I say reaching out an arm for her to shake. She does.

"How did this happen? How did you become a part of this?"

"Eum... " I start not knowing if we should tell her. I look at Nathan to see what he thinks. He nods.

"Well, Nathan's been through a lot and one of the things that's happened to him had happened while I was present. Automatically, I joined his world."

"That was the vaguest answer I could have gotten."

"Come on, I could not explain everything. You could write a book on what happened to us during the last year and still, you wouldn't have a proper ending."

Nathan jumps in. "Look, I was attacked by someone who had to play the bad guy, but he really was my friend. Sam didn't know he was good and he couldn't tell her so this man haunted her for a while. Then came the part when she found out what I had been doing for Rodrigo, whom at that time was known to us, well not me, under another name. She went out of her way to find me while I was with this man. When she did, she was forced to join me on my missions. Since then, she's found out everything about Rodrigo, or at least everything I know, and is forced to follow through with everything he asks of us."

She keeps nodding.

"Was that so hard to say?" she says looking at me.

"Why do I get a feeling you don't like me?" I ask. I want to be straightforward with her. I'm not obligated to like her.

"Cause I still don't know how I feel about you." I look at her for a few seconds. She stays silent, we all do.

She sighs. "I'm sorry. Stress and hormones make me extra mean."

We look at her confused about the hormonal part. She's either on her period or pregnant. But I can't tell.

"I'm pregnant. Found out this morning."

"Congratulations," I say.

"Aunt Portia, don't you have another child? Isn't that the reason you stayed here? So, that they would never meet Tito."

"Paúl died before being born. Some drunk driver crashed into me and I survived but, he didn't."

I guess she must be thankful for those sunglasses on her eyes now.

"I'm sorry I asked," Nathan says. I feel very empathetic towards her and sad for her, but I'm not able to do anything to show it.

"It's okay. It was years ago. The man who saved my life in the hospital is the man I'm marrying in two weeks. We've kept in touch since then and developped a very healthy relationship, something I had never had."

"Good for you," I say.

We get off the ferry at the stop in front of our hotel.

"So, what do we do now?" Portia asks. "Do we leave Venice?"

"No, let's explore," I say. "Our plane isn't for another 12 hours."

"Okay, so let's go."

We walk a lot. We take a gondola and travel almost every way we can. I take plenty of pictures and Portia insists on taking some of Nathan and I as well. I don't complain.

Everything seems to have a story, because it has age. It's been through time. My favourite types of alleys are those where the buildings are so close the path is only narrow enough for the gondola to pass through and the height of the buildings block the sun perfectly. Without the light, there's a slight comforting breeze and the water looks like a turquoise blue which is just green enough to make it gorgeous.

Every picture I take gives me a sense of joviality. I feel serene in this place. I wish that just for a minute, Nathan and I could be alone. Not because I don't like Portia. I do like her. But, this is a special place and he's a special person. I just wish we could have a special moment.

I start thinking about David. Nathan and Portia start talking together and I let them be.

Nathan has been great. I really do believe the funeral and the family moving to a new home was a fresh start for him. I do believe he's had closure. But I do think he hates Rodrigo and that is scary. I want to end Rodrigo as much as him, but I don't hate him. Hate means that there was a personal connection there before and somehow, one person ruined it.

If Nathan hates Rodrigo, it's because he was personally involved with me. He's known him for years. Rodrigo's probably made him empty promises and gave him worthless rewards for what he was forced to do. Nathan's life was never normal. He's had to live his childhood with a father who was tortured. He moved cities, more than once, only to come back in the hands of the person who ruined his life.

David has survived pain and torture, betrayal, loneliness, divorce, memory loss and he's had to see the pain of his children. In a way, his death was an escape. He didn't deserve to die, but he deserved to be safe and to escape his hell. His death gave him that and so, I'm happy for him. I miss him and I know Nathan desperately does, but in the end, David is better where he is now.

***

We get to the beach after having switched our mode of transportation to a ferry and still, it was another 40 minute ride.

I take my shoes and socks off. We set foot on the sand at Aurora beach and it is hot! I pour a little bit of water from my bottle under my feet so I can refresh them. We quickly make our way to the water. We sit near the shore and wait for every wave to wash our feet with it's chilly water. It might not be that hot, but the sun is burning. The only reason the temperature is cool is because of the wind.

I put my hands behind me so I can lean on them. I feel a hand of mine hit something and the sound of cries escape a child. I turn around to see a little boy on the ground. I pick him up and wipe his tears away.

"Are you okay?" I say as I wipe the sand off his feet. Nathan asks him the same thing, I suppose, in Italian.

He nods, but an angry man approaches us, probably furious that we hurt his kid. But we didn't! He tripped over my hand.

"Come osi? Non sei niente, ma gli adolescenti stupidi ! Vaffanculo."

Okay, I just made out adolescent and stupid. But vaffanculo, oddly sounds like him sending me to go get something put up my ass. If my knowledge in spanish and french is any help at all, that's most probably what he said.

Nathan gets up.

"Señor, hable español o inglès?"

"Si, soy Argentino. Hablo inglès tambien."

He nods gently as he speaks, but still manages to look angry. Nathan sighs, relieved that the man speaks spanish and english.

"Sir, we did nothing wrong. Your son was walking and he accidentally tripped over my friend's arms that were extended behind her. He must have not seen them. She even quickly got him on his feet and helped him clean the sand off. She also got him to stop crying."

I think the father hasn't realized that his little boy is still in my arms and that he's happily playing with my earring.

"You're saying that I must feel mercy against you and apologize," he yells in a heavy italian accent.

There are always those people that have too much pride for their own good. For some reason, I manage to meet them all.

He shoves Nathan.

"Woah," I exclaim getting on my feet. "Sir, your son is still in my arms playing with me. He's okay and he's happy. We do not want your forgiveness. We just want you to forget your anger, that's all."

He pulls his son out of my arms with force which probably is why he starts crying.

"You did this!" he yells walking. The few people that were at the beach stare us down.

"We didn't fucking do anything," Nathan mumbles as he turns his back towards the man running away. He stops and comes back.

"You stupid Americans think you can say anything you want. Then, FUCK YOU."

Portia gasps.

"Sir, can you calm down? We haven't done anything."

He puts his son down and pushes Nathan down.

What is it with this guy? What drug is he on?

He throws a punch in Nathan's face which thankfully, doesn't knock him out considering the man's wrestler figure.

Nathan throws a couple of hits back at him and uses every bit of skill he has obtained over the years. I know he's okay and that I can't do much so I calm the man's son down.

"It's okay," I whisper. I pull him in a hug and he quickly snuggles in my chest. Oh, I love this kid.

The moment the man gets up, I run between him and Nathan.

"STOP," I yell. "Stop or I will call the police. You have done enough. Your son is tired of this."

He pushes me on Nathan before leaving. Thankfully, we don't fall. The little boy waves at me as he's leaving in his father's arms. He has a large grin on his face that his father cannot see. What a mischievous child.

"You okay?" I ask separating myself from Nathan.

"Yeah. What an ass."

"I know, it's okay," I say whiping the sand off his back.

He looks at me with a smile. His eyes look so deep into mine that I can't help, but feel myself blush.

"What?" I ask a huge smile forming on my face.

He rubs something off my cheek, probably sand, his smile still present.

"Nothing."

"Are you okay Aunt Portia?" he adds.

"I should be asking you." She approaches him with a tissue to clean the blood dripping from his nose. I don't know about him, but I'd rather a nose bleed than a bruise. Anyways, I have to deal with nose bleeds all the time.

"Thank you," he says. He grabs the tissue from her hand and walks to the nearest garbage can.

"Well, I was half-expecting you to jump in and beat him up yourself," she says chuckling.

I start laughing as well. "I'm trained to kick ass, but I also know I have to act intelligently. My words stopped the fight, didn't it?"

I raise my shoulders and look at her with a jokingly cocky face.

"Well, Sam. You are absolutely right."

Nathan comes back. "It's getting late. We should get back and get the car."

"Oh true, we left it on the other side completely. Well, that'll be a long ferry ride."

Nathan puts an arm around my shoulders. We face Portia.

"Hey guys, my fiancé and I had tickets to the symphony tonight," she starts.

My eyes light up.

"We were going to cancel if ever he had to work late which he does have to do anyway," she says looking at her phone. She's probably reading g his texts.

"I think I should go to his office and spend the night there with him. I need to explain some stuff too."

"Okay," Nathan says. "But don't let him onto too much. The more he knows, the more danger he's in."

"Right," she nods. "Anyway, I want you kids to take the tickets.

"Wow, you don't have to do that," I say.

"I'm not going to use them anyway. If you kids don't want to go then you don't have to, but here you go."

She hands us the two tickets.

"See you later," she says as she starts leaving.

"I don't think we should let her leave like that," I say. "I know she's your aunt, but I'm having trouble trusting anyone. I like her and all..."

"Sam," he interrupts. "I get it. I was going to propose that too."

"Hey, aunt Portia!" he yells and beckons her to our position.

He pulls out a simple yet feminine metal bracelet from our bag. He wraps it around her wrist.

"I know that you're most probably trustworthy, but I need to know where you are."

"I get it." She stares at the bracelet as she walks away, without adding another word.

I look at him surprised that he had such a gadget.

"Carl predicted that we'd be soft enough to let the people wander alone so he gave me this."

I laugh.

"So," Nathan continues.

"So," I copy. "I think we should go to the hotel and change then get the car and take it to the," I look at the ticket. "To the teatro."

"Sounds good." He wraps his left arm around my neck and holds our bag with the other hand.

We take a ferry to the hotel which takes. about 20 minutes. We rush to our room and change. We have another 40 minutes worth of ferry to take and the show starts in an hour and fifteen minutes, so we have to hurry.

I run to my suitcase. I don't care about the bathroom assuming Nathan would take it. I'm wearing a proper underwear and bra anyway. I chose my outfit. Thankfully, when Nathan gave me the advice to pack casual, I still packed some nice clothes. I hear a door close so I assume Nathan went in the bathroom.

I take my navy blue V neck shirt and my black blazer with my nice black pants and heels out of the suitcase. I drop my pants down and pull up the other ones. I take off my shirt.

"Hey Sam?"

"Yeah?" I answer as I'm reaching for my shirt.

He walks in the living room. I put the shirt on and turn around.

"What's up?"

"Did you see my deodorant?" he asks.

"Yeah, you had forgotten it so I took it for you."

I walk over to my suitcase. I open up a different compartment and take it out.

"Thanks babe," he says before giving me a short kiss.

We go back to our respective tasks. I finish up my outfit and attack my hair and face. I put my heels on and grab a small purse I had packed.

"I'm ready, Nathan!" I yell even if he's a few metres away.

"Give me a sec," he says. I lean over my suitcase and clean up my section of the couch a bit.

I feel his hands creep behind me and reach my neck. I can recognize his touch. I know it's Nathan. Something cold hits my collar. I look down at a chain slowing wrapping around my neck.

"I had boughts this a while ago. I just never got the chance to give it to you. I turn to my left and look at it in the mirror.

It's a beautiful thin golden chain. The pendant is golden as well. It's small, barely the width of my thumb I realize, as I touch it. It's two hands holding onto each other.

It's beautiful. I know exactly what he means.

I can't help the tears that form in my eyes. I turn around to a smiling Nathan. I grab his face in both my hands.

"Thank you. I really wasn't expecting anything like this." He kisses me. Once he lets go, he says: "Anything can happen in Venice."

I laugh." I guess so."

"You look great," he whispers before kissing my forehead. He walks over to the bed and grabs his keys and wallet.

"Let's go then," he says. For some reason, my heart is beating really fast. I don't know if it's because of him, but it might be.

We don't talk a lot on the ferry, but we stand very close. We get the car and get on another ferry on the way to the Teatro La Fenice.

"Do you think a lot about Vi?" he asks me.

"How could I not? Although, I'm going to admit. Today was a very long day and it took my mind off everything."

"That's why I asked. I just suddenly realized that I didn't think of anything that hurts me today."

"Well, that's a good thing, right?"

"It's good until you realize it. Then, all you feel is guilt."

"True."

We finally get to the Teatro. Oddly, they have valet parking. I wouldn't even think anywhere in Venice would have parkings because of the lack of cars. The valet, wearing a burgundy coloured uniform and a look of miscontent, takes our keys and leaves.

We walk in after we show our tickets. Since this is an opera house, I wonder why Portia called the show a symphony. I hope it's a symphony. I'm not very fond of opera.

We sit in our respective seats. They're very good seats. I look at the ticket. Wow, they're expensive ones too.

A man walks onto stage with a microphone.

He starts speaking Italian, very rapidly.

I don't understand anything but the woed "symphony". My hopes get high really fast.

Nathan whispers in my ear. "If I understood correctly, they have a special guest and it's a world renown orchestra."

I look at him with excitement framing every part of my face.

The curtains open. I see a lot violins, a cello, a piano, a few guitars, trumpets and saxophones. This will be great.

I close my eyes for a second, getting ready to let the music carry me away.

They start off with a jovial flamenco style song on their guitars with a piano background. Gradually, you can hear more and more minor chords , because the song gets more somber. It slows down into a beautiful piece that ties in with the violin and piano. It then suddenly builds up into a type of dark jazz, so the trumpets and the sax players join in.

It's magical, how one can come up with something that's so close to heaven.

The finale is a beautiful chaos with a lot things that happen at the same time, but they merge together to form this puzzle that keeps you captivated.

The composer closes his hands into fists and the music stops. Then he opens them again and makes them gradually take the sound of the notes down until the music is almost nonexistent. He puts his arms down. He turns to face the crowd and bows.

Everyone starts clapping. In these moments, I have a rush of hesitation come at me. I never know if I should get up. I loved it and I think they deserve a standing ovation, but something always keeps my ass glued to the chair. I need something to unglue me.

Nathan takes my hand and pulls us both up. We stand up and clap. I smile at him. I wonder how he could have known that I was asking myself if I should stand. Soon, the whole audience is on their feet.

Nathan unglued everyone.

We walk out of the theatre.

"Nathan Parks, you are officially my butt ungluer."

"What a prestigious title."

"It is. How did you know I was hesitating?"

"I was watching you the whole time during the show. You were mesmerized, in love with the music. You wanted to get up, but for some reason your butt was glued to the seat. Lucky for you... "

He parts his legs and puts his hands on his waist." Butt Ungluer was here."

I start laughing loudly. I grab his arm and pull him my way. He looks great all cleaned up. He's wearing black pants with a white shirt and a navy blue tie.

The valet comes back with a limo when he said he was going to pick our car up.

"Courtesy of Mr. Walters."

Nathan and I look at each other, hesitant, before getting into the limo.

"Well, well, look at these two all cleaned up. You look good, Sam. You've lost some weight."

Well, great.

"I'm impressed. You have a great work ethic and are committed to my missions. It's soft of you to not just kill Portia and take the coat, but whatever strategy suits you, right?"

When he laughs, his laughter lines cause wrinkles by his eyes which put emphasis on his scars. You can clearly see the difference in color between the one Nathan gave him and his old one.

"What do you want?" Nathan asks, fed up with him.

"I'm leaving Venice tonight, but I have another job for you in Venice."

He pauses for too long. He's messing with us.

I decide to play at his game. Nathan is about to burst when I put my hand on his knee. He thankfully understands.

We wait like this for 5 minutes.

"Well, I'm impressed. You didn't break."

"Ready to tell us what our job is, now?" I ask.

"You will have to rob Deutsche Bank."

.

for when darkness falls
I hear nothing but the music
creeping its way,
all the way,
in the darkest parts of my soul

when the sun rises
my soul despises
the light emanating furiously
into my being's secrecies
and lowest melodies

right at noon
a happy medium reaches the horizon
calms me and refreshes me
with a new light and
a new song

Ss

...

Not my best poem, but I hope you're enjoying the missions. You have got no idea what's about to come!

Vote and comment, please! It's really appreciated, and I love reading what u think

keep reading loves,

ss