SPITEFUL CHARADES - BOOK V

- Chapter 6 -

There were many things Gunay was grateful for when it came to Roberto Sivrice. The man was a legend in his former Navy Seals team. He may have ended his employment, but he never retired from its values. He was tough, strict, and as masculine as the Navy Seals came. Rigel once noted that Navy Seals blood flowed through Roberto's veins, and he was not far off.

This was true on the day they met. Roberto was assigned to a mission of eliminating one of Brazil's drug lords. Which proved serendipitous because Gunay showed up at the drug lord's villa to... do the same. They fought - assuming each was a part of the drug lord's security detail. Neither wanted to admit to defeat, neither dared to give up. But Roberto missed a step as they fought atop the villa's roof. He grabbed Gunay by the throat - if he was going to fall he would take Gunay down with him.

They tumbled, fought fiercely, and fell through the glass skyline roof... landing right on top of the drug lord - ending his misery in his own master bedroom gilded king size bed. But that was ages ago...

"I would have sworn these deliveries are getting worse. They aren't as reliable as they used to be," Roberto swore under his breath as he shut the door to Gunay's Penthouse suite with a stack of envelopes in his hand.

"Cheer up, sunshine. Imagine having to build these Yourself?" Gunay greeted him from one of the rooms he converted to a personal gym. He walked out of the room with obvious signs of sweat resulting from a few solid hours of his usual rigorous workout.

"I could have, but You don't pay me enough."

"I don't pay You at all."

"You do, but I get more out of the thrills of the action than from Your measly salary," Roberto flashed him a quick smile and laid the envelopes on the kitchen counter.

"I'll remember this next time You complain about the assignment being too dangerous," Gunay mocked him and picked up one envelope after another.

"What could be more dangerous than running into Iuliana?" Roberto poked fun at Gunay, knowing how to push his buttons. The main button, to be exact.

"Shut up," Gunay scolded him. "I doubt I'll run into her anytime soon."

"I doubt that." Roberto turned to set the kettle for a long overdue coffee, hiding the smile on his face.

"You do know I can read Your mind, right?" Gunay said without gazing up as he examined the envelopes, deciding to open the smallest one.

"Damn," Roberto winced.

"Double damn."

"I swear I wasn't thinking of Iuliana," Roberto raised his hands up.

"You were," Gunay replied in short. "But I wasn't talking to You."

"Oh?"

"These invoices for airplane repairs are ridiculous. I should have fixed it myself." Saying so, Gunay made his way to the master bedroom to shower. "Make Yourself useful, check if everything we ordered got delivered."

"Not before coffee," Roberto took out two cups from the glass cupboard.

By the time Gunay joined him again, wearing a pair of designer slacks but no shirt, Roberto had reviewed, examined, and inventoried the electronic parts that came in the mail. He was glad everything had been received, but not at all pleased by its quality.

"I tell You, one of these days I'm going to quit the security job and open up an electronics store. Some of these chips aren't worth a penny."

"You ordered them," Gunay walked past him, and patted Roberto's shoulder as he reached for the cup of dark pungent coffee waiting for him.