In The Name Of Thy Father ~ A Borgia AU

Chapter Twelve

It was early in the morning when Cesare set out for the small village. They needed a few groceries and normally he would send Micheletto; however he promised Lucrezia he would make things right with Paolo. He clenched his fists at his side. She wanted to get to know Paolo more and she worked her charm to the point that Cesare could not and would not say no to her. He loved her too much to deny her anything.

Entering the village, the first thing Cesare noticed was it was like your average small town. Small shops lined the main road and there were people milling about as they went from shop to shop. There was a small grocery store, a barbershop, a clothing shop, a café and ice cream parlor, and a bait and tackle shop from what Cesare could see from his vantage point. He figured the best place to look for Paolo was the bait and tackle shop.

Cesare veered to the left and headed into the shop. A small bell dinged over the door as he walked in. Standing behind the counter was an older man wearing a pair of overalls and a white tank underneath. He had greying hair that was slicked back with some kind of oil. To top it off he had the bushiest mustache Cesare had ever seen. Walking up to the counter Cesare spoke to the older man. "Excuse me, but I'm looking for a young man named Paolo. Have you seen him around?"

The older man just grunted. He gave Cesare a once over before he spoke. "Course I've seen him. He just finished his job over at the hardware store and now he's doing some jobs for me. The name's Bill. What's yours?"

Trying not to smile, Cesare answered him. "Frank."

Giving him another eyeful, Bill retorted. "Hmph. You don't look like a Frank."

This time Cesare did laugh. "Well that's my name. Where is Paolo because I'd really like to talk to him."

"He's out back cleaning my boats. Go on if it's so important. Just don't keep him too busy. He's got more work to do." Bill grumbled. "That's how he pays for boat rental when he goes fishing."

"I swear I won't take much of his time." Cesare walked around the counters to head to the back door that Bill pointed to. As he headed out back he saw a dock to which several boats were tied to. Paolo was busy cleaning the inside of the boat and detailing it to make it look good. He watched him for several seconds before Paolo caught him.

"What are you doing here? I haven't been on your property, I swear!" Paolo insisted.

Putting his hands up in the air, Cesare walked out onto the small dock. "I know you haven't. I came to talk to you."

"About what?" Paolo asked. "Is this about your wife?"

"Ok confession time. The woman is not my wife. She's my—charge." Cesare finished off. "I'm her bodyguard. I'm a little protective of her around strange men." Once again he chose to lie. He still was not sure about this stranger. Until he was 100% sure about him, Paolo would be kept in the dark about who they were and why they were here.

"You're her bodyguard?" Paolo tested it out. He could see the logic of keeping strangers at bay a bit. Especially if there was something he was protecting the lady from.

"Yes, and when I found Halle down on the beach talking to a stranger I instinctively reacted. However it's because of Halle that I'm here." Cesare told him.

"Her name is Halle?" Paolo smiled. "Why are you here?"

"Halle wants to see you again. She apparently liked the talk you two had and wants to talk more. So I'm giving you permission to come visit." Cesare crossed his strong arms over his chest.

"Really Sir?" Paolo's face lit up. The idea of seeing the woman again was pleasing to him and he could not wait. "I'm almost finished up here. I'll head over there as soon as I'm done."