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God, I love you.

Not a love of convenience or lust, but a love built on trust, respect and friendship. For a man who had never imagined himself saying, let alonemeaning,those three words to anyone in his lifetime, saying it to her had become all too easy...and all so true.

She must have sensed him standing there, because her eyes fluttered open and she smiled at him. “Done?”

He lowered himself into the chair next to her and carefully took her hand. “You won’t believe what I found.”

“Please tell me it’s a smoking gun.”

He liked when he could please her. “Even better.”

She straightened, pushing the blanket off her lap. “Spill.”

“Cardinal Lazo’s ego knows no bounds. He’s been secretly forming a coalition to take control of the Vatican as soon as our current pope passes. While this is nothing new or illegal given Vatican politics, he made it a priority—at any cost—to discredit the one man he sees as his biggest threat.”

“Father Armando.”

“Si, and he will stop at nothing. Yet, he has gone about this with such a disregard for his position and the law that it is sickening. It’s all there in his account, a trail that leads directly to his demise.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” she said, picking up a water bottle and taking a sip. “His actions toward us have been pretty despicable.”

“That, they have. Anyway, this coalition, led by Lazo, has given cartoonish names to all those cardinals who oppose him. For example, he refers to the pope as Slow White. Father Armando is Dopey, Father Tunneli is Sleepy, and so on.”

“He wanted to get at Father Armando through you.”

“He did.But he’s not nearly as smart as he thinks he is.”

Lexi drew her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. “So, what’s the plan?”

Satisfaction and anticipation coursed through him. “Roughly translated, I’m going to sink his ship.”

Chapter Fifty-Six

Cardinal Jacopo Lazo

Jacopo was holding a round table discussion with six other cardinals in his office when the knock on his office door sounded.

Irritated at the interruption, he called out, “Come in.”

Father Koenhein shuffled in, head bowed, and Jacopo frowned. “I said I didn’t want to be disturbed.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt, Your Eminence, but there’s an important call for you.”

“Who is it?”

“Cardinal Tunneli. He says it’s very important.”

Jacopo looked at the other priests, who suddenly looked overly interested. “This will only take a minute.” He walked over to his desk and punched the flashing red button on his phone. “Hello, Father, how can I help you?”

“Jacopo, I was stunned this morning when I received copies of the emails and your subsequent confession and request for forgiveness. I admit I was personally aghast and humiliated by your words. But when I realized your regret was sincere, and after considerable prayer, I reconsidered my stance. I found your willingness to confess your character weaknesses uplifting and inspirational. I want you to know you have my full forgiveness. Godspeed to you.”

Before Jacopo could say a word, Father Tunneli hung up. Jacopo looked at the receiver for a long, puzzled moment before he set it down on the cradle.

“What’s wrong?” Cardinal Bartini asked.

Jacopo didn’t answer, but strode across the room and threw open the door, storming into Julian’s office. “That was very strange. Cardinal Tunneli mentioned something about emails, confessing to character weaknesses and forgiving me. What’s going on?” he asked between gritted teeth.

Father Koenhein sat in front of the computer, typing madly. “Your Eminence, I don’t know. Let me check your email account.” He pulled up the account and scanned the documents. “I don’t see anything from Cardinal Tunneli, but there is an email from Cardinal Russo.”