Countdown - Iris Johansen [48]
I will not be a slave to any man. The only thing they understand is what lies between my thighs and the gold that crosses their palms. So I told Julius he could have my body again if the price was high enough. Why not? I tried love and Antonio betrayed me. But a chest of gold would keep us safe and free for the rest of our lives.
He fell into a rage but in the end he gave it to me. He said I had to keep it in a room in the tunnel under guard so that he would know that I wouldn’t break our bargain, take it, and leave him. I know he hoped that he would tire of me and take back his gold. He will not tire. I will see that he doesn’t. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s how to please a man.
And he will not keep that gold hostage. It’s mine and will stay mine. I’ve already started to talk to the guards who are assigned to watch over it. It won’t be long before I get them into my camp.
Then it’s you who must help me, Pia. My servant, Dominic, will bring the gold to you with instructions on what to do with it. Then he must leave Herculaneum and hide in the countryside before Julius finds out that he’s helped me. I’ve told him he must take Leo with him because Julius will kill anyone who’s close to me once I leave him. He will not care that Leo is only a child. As I said, he’s mad.
You must also hide. I’ll ask Dominic to have you tell him where you’ll be and he will get word to me.
I hope I have a chance to send this to you. I don’t know whether it’s better to risk sending this missive to prepare you or just to rely on Dominic to show up at your door with the gold. I’ll have to decide soon.
I want to reach out and touch you with my words in case I won’t be able to see you again. I fear it’s a very real possibility.
Nonsense. All will go well. I won’t have Julius defeat me. Just do what I’ve said.
With all love I remain,
Cira
Good God, her hands holding the paper were shaking, Jane realized. She drew a deep breath and tried to compose herself.
“Powerful, yes?” Mario was gazing at her across the room. “She was quite a woman.”
“Yes, she was.” She looked down at the pages. “Evidently she decided it wasn’t safe to send this. You’re translating another scroll by her?”
He nodded. “I’ve just started.”
“Then we don’t know whether she was able to send the gold out of the tunnel before the eruption?”
“Not yet.”
“Do we know who Pia was?”
He shook his head. “Evidently someone she loved. Perhaps an actress friend from the theater?”
“Trevor told me that according to Julius’s scrolls she had no family or close friends. There was only a servant, Dominic, an ex-gladiator, and she took a street child into her home.”
Mario nodded. “Leo.”
“Trevor didn’t mention any name. I suppose it might be. But who the devil is Pia?”
“It’s possible Julius didn’t know as much as he thought he did about Cira.”
That was true. Cira didn’t want Julius to be intimate with her in any way but the physical.
As Mario saw her frustrated expression, he lifted his brows and shrugged. “I’m sorry. I told you, I’ve just started.”
But she wanted to know.
“I understand,” Mario said gently. “I’m just as eager as you are. But it all takes time to translate, not only the words but the nuances. I have to be very careful not to make mistakes. Trevor made me promise that there would be no possibility of misinterpretation.”
“And we wouldn’t want to disappoint Trevor.” She nodded resignedly. “Okay, I can wait.