The Body #4: Nico and Cosi

Chapter 9 (Cosi): Happy To Help

Copyright © 2024 by GroveltoHEA 

Not that I was being dramatic, but I was fairly certain I had caught the bubonic plague. 

It'd been a wild time in the months since Nico had pulled me out of the safe room and had held me for so long. With the overthrow of Dario La Forte and the rise of Lucio Feroce, Nico's position in the Body had risen dramatically. 

Number three in the Body now, Nico had been rewarded by Lucio for his loyalty in helping to overthrow Dario and was put in charge of security for the Body, as well as being the personal bodyguard for Lucio himself.

I was so proud of him but he was busier than ever, even more than he had been during the last year right before the overthrow.

"It'll settle, Costanza, I promise," Nico said wearily as he got into bed beside me at night. "I promise, it's just these first few months of transition between the old Body and the new one. Lucio and Santo are putting a lot of reforms in place and my teams and I have to enforce them, make sure there aren't any holdouts from the old Dario regime, people just biding their time until they can make a move. We're in watch mode, gathering information, looking for traitors and monitoring the other Bodies."

I wanted to tell him I could help with that but I'd never betray my girls or reveal my propensity for gathering intelligence. In the back of my mind, though, I made a note to myself to start listening for any tidbits that could help Nico and pass them to him all innocent and wide-eyed, as if it was just something I'd heard in passing.

I sat up and reached into my nightstand, and pulled out a chocolate.

"Nico, we almost forgot to feed each other our chocolates."

My husband smiled faintly and sat up, too, reaching into his nightstand for his box of chocolates.

We fed each other the chocolates, then Nico leaned over and took my mouth with his.

"I'm not so tired anymore, Costanza," he said softly, his lips just close enough to tickle mine. "Have I ever mentioned how much I love kissing you?"

"No, never," I teased him. "First I've ever heard that."

"Hmmm, that seems like a terrible oversight on my part, Costanza."

"It really is," I murmured back against his lips. "So what are you going to do to make it up to me?"

"I'm going to show you how much I love kissing you."

"How interesting. And just where will you be kissing me, Mr. Marchetti?"

"Everywhere, Mrs. Marchetti," he said. "Everywhere you can think of."

Then he did.

*********

When Janie came back with Lucio, we doubled down on bringing down the trafficking ring. Unfortunately, not too long after she returned, I got sick with the flu and it hit me hard, keeping me down.

"Costanza, I'm not leaving," my husband was arguing with me. "You're sick."

"You have to work, Nico. You can't stay with me. You know this is a critical time for the Body."

"You have a fever, woman."

"It's not that high and I promise I'll stay in bed all day," I said weakly. "I'll be fine."

"Costanza," he said, and he had that stubborn look in his eyes, so I had to think fast.

"I'll get Desti or my mother to come over," I suggested.

His slight hesitation told me how torn he was, so I pushed a little. I loved Nico, but he could hover and nag when I wasn't feeling well. 

"Call Desti," I told him. "I can tell you won't leave until someone's with me."

"What's her number?" he asked. "I'll create a contact for her and call her during the day for updates so I don't wake you up if you're sleeping."

Plus you won't be driving me crazy every ten minutes with calls because you're so worried about me. Bonus!

I gave him her number, and he called my step-sister, who promised to come over right away. Nico sat beside me on the bed after he called her, and stroked my hair.

"The Advil should bring your fever down soon," he said. "Can you think of anything you need?"

That made me laugh. The man had stockpiled the top of my nightstand with bottled water, pop, at least three Stanley cups filled with hot and cold teas; and on the second shelf, he put tissues, throat lozenges, lip balms, Advil, crackers and other snacks he thought I might want.

When Desti arrived twenty minutes later, Nico pressed a kiss to my forehead and then one to my lips.

"You're going to get sick," I warned him.

"I won't," he assured me. "Nothing's going to keep me from those beautiful lips. You take it easy and stay in bed. Promise?"

"Promise," I sighed. "Now go let Desti in and have a good day. Be careful, Nico."

"I always am so I can come home safely to you, Costanza. I love you."

"I love you, too."

With another kiss, he went and let Desti in, and I could hear his deep voice giving her instructions. This man was a mother hen.

My step-sister walked into our bedroom just minutes later. "I'm under strict instructions to watch you like a hawk and to call him if there's even the slightest change in your condition," she laughed.

I rolled my eyes, even though that hurt.

She sat in one of the chairs and looked at me.

"Are you and Nico going to stay in this house?"

If I thought that was an odd question, I blamed it on the fuzziness of my stuffy head.

"I guess so. Why?"

"Because it's kind of small for the number three Body man. If you have the position and power, your lifestyle has to reflect that."

"Mmm," I said drowsily, "I love our house."

"OK, that's fine," she said. "But you can't think of yourself anymore. You have to think of his position now. You need a bigger house in a more upscale neighborhood."

"I'll think about it later if I survive this. I think it's the bubonic plague."

"Oh, go to sleep. I was also told to tell you that. I'll just watch TV while you sleep."

"Thanks for coming over," I mumbled as I shut my eyes.

"What are sisters for?" she asked.

I woke up a couple of hours later when Desti brought in a bowl of chicken noodle soup for me. She sat with me while I sat up and ate, and she told me Nico had called twice while I'd been napping. 

"He made me come in here and feel your forehead to see how your fever was," she laughed. "Nico's acting like you got shot or something, because he said oh, thank God when I told him I thought it had broken because you were all sweaty and gross."

"Gee, thanks. To him, it's the end of the world when I'm sick," I said. "He doesn't want to leave me and he wouldn't have left me if you hadn't promised to come over. Nico thinks I can't be alone when I'm sick."

"Really?" she asked. "That just seems a little over the top, even for Nico. But it's sweet he wants to care for you or at least have someone care for you if he can't be around."

"I don't want him to miss work for me," I said. "I worry because so much is changing in the Body right now and he needs to stay on top of it."

"Well, I don't have much going on. How about if I stay with you until you're better, and that way Nico knows you're covered and he can focus on work?"

"Would you mind?" I asked.

Desti smiled. "Oh, no. Not at all. I'd be happy to help."

Looking back, that was a mistake.

A terrible mistake.

A life-and-death kind of mistake.