Page 4 of Bellona

Bellona bit the inside of her cheek. "I have a problem."

"Spit it out."

"Someone has taken a hit out on Rafael." Bellona didn't have to tell Set who Rafael was. He had gotten the whole story out of her one night in the Congo. Set was one of her oldest friends and, being another war god, was perhaps the only person who understood why she had stayed as far away from Rafael as possible.

Set swore in the old tongue before switching back to Italian. "What are you going to do? You can't level Rome, not after last time."

"I can't sit back and watch him die either."

"It will mean exposing yourself to him. It's been over twenty years, Bells. He's going to see you haven't aged."

Bellona sighed. "I know, but I doubt he will even remember me. I still can't sit back and wait for him to die."

"And if he has a wife and kids? Because you walked away, so you can't get jealous," Set asked.

"I'm not jealous. I'm assuming he does have a family, Set. I'm ready for it. I can't let them die either. He's clearly caught up in the same shit Michele was years ago. I won't let him suffer for his father's sins." Bellona paid her driver and got out of the taxi.

"Call me if you need anything. I mean it, Bellona. Don't go to war on your own when you know I want to help," Set replied.

"I need to find out what's happening first. If I need backup and Ayla can spare you, I'll get you to come."

They rang off, and Bellona pulled out her keys. She walked up the three flights of stairs because she hated elevators and stepped into the cool darkness of her apartment. An orange light blinked from her ancient telephone to tell her she had a message. No one called that phone anymore.

Bellona pressed the button, and a man's voice crackled over the line. "I don't know who you are, and if you can help me. My father Michele Asellio gave me your card and told me to contact you if I was ever in trouble. I think… I think I need your help. Can you please call me back?"

"Cazzo," she swore and played the message again. Something stirred in her chest, and it took her a moment to realize it was worry. She needed to shower, to prepare herself to talk to him, but he might not have time. Bellona dialed his number on her cell phone and waited.

"Buonasera," Rafael answered. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

"What kind of trouble are you in?" she replied, breathing a sigh of relief that he was still alive.

"Not the kind I'm willing to discuss with someone with voice modification software on their phone."

"That's smart of you."

"Thank you. Will you come to me?"

Bellona knew walking into an unknown battleground was a bad idea, but she didn't see another choice. If she waited, he would die. "Where are you? Do you have any guards?"

"No guards. I don't know who I can trust right now. I don't even know why I called you."

Bellona pinched the bridge of her nose. It was almost midnight, and it had already been a long night. He was all alone with a two-million-euro bounty on his head. He wouldn't see dawn without her.

"Tell me where you are, Rafael."

"My villa is just outside of Sant'Oreste," he replied.

Oh great, lots of wide-open spaces for the snipers and no one to hear you scream when they torture you. Bellona didn't say it because she didn't want to scare him. Rafael didn't sound scared yet, only tired. That was good. Scared people did stupid things.

"Text me the address, and I will come," she said before hanging up. She picked up her bag and grabbed the keys to her car. At least she was already packed.

Bellona checked her reflection in her hallway mirror, and her vanity made her swipe on some red lipstick. She didn't know why she bothered. She doubted Rafael would even remember her.

Bellona roared through the tight streets of Rome in a black Audi, weaving in and out of the traffic like a demon. It was still early enough that Rome's nightlife kept people on the roads and in her way. Sant'Oreste was fifty minutes away if she stuck to the speed limit. She didn't. She couldn't believe she had planned to follow the rules to begin with.

"You shouldn't even care," she muttered to herself and changed gears. After two decades, Bellona couldn't figure out why she was still drawn to someone after knowing them for less than an hour.

Rafael had gotten to her when so few did. He had been like a smiling blade that had found the one weakness in her armor and got through it. Maybe it was because she had shown who she really was that night, all the bloody mess of it, and he had still kissed her.

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