Page 21 of The Medici Return

But that would not be enough here.

It had to be real.

CHAPTER 12

JASON WAS LED ACROSS THEVATICAN, BUT NOT TO THE PAPAL PALACE.Instead, he was taken into the gardens. Forty-four hectares across a sloping landscape that eight hundred years of constant attention had molded into a paradise. It started out as a common medieval garden enclosed by walls and filled with symbols primarily tied to the Virgin Mary. But it had morphed into something extraordinary with manicured lawns, caves, kiosks, statues, and fountains.

He followed the priest down one of the crisscrossing avenues beneath a canopy of umbrella pines, cedars, cypresses, and Egyptian palms. He was perplexed. The pope was not much of an outdoorsman. Papal visits to the garden had been few and far between. Especially on a warm June evening. It was also well known that the pope enjoyed dinner. His favorite meal of the day. Always early and never alone. This pontiff liked people, and garnering an invite to his table was a big deal, one Jason had managed to snare a few times. He’d at first thought this another dining opportunity, but now he was not so sure.

They rounded a corner on the paved path and passed through one of the most attractive and shady areas, a place littered with gurgling fountains and marble benches. The air hung heavy with the cloying scent of honeysuckle. Down a short incline theyapproached the Fountain of the Eagle. He knew that, like all of the gardens’ fountains, its water came from a lake forty kilometers away. Waiting for him was not the pope, but Sergio Cardinal Ascolani, the Vatican’s secretary of state, second only to the pontiff in importance.

And no friend of his.

Quite the contrary, in fact.

The young priest left them alone.

“Come, Jason,” Ascolani said in English. “Closer, please. We need to talk.”

“I was informed the Holy Father wanted to see me.”

“A small deception on my part, as I knew you would not come if I had been the one asking.”

He should leave. Now. But he was curious. Though Ascolani held a higher position in the Curia, cardinals were, by definition, equal brothers in Christ. No one more important than the other. Which had, for centuries, bred nothing but conflict.

“We have two problems,” Ascolani said.

“We?”

A finger was pointed his way. “More accurately,youhave two problems.”

He already knew what one of those was. “You know about Eric Casaburi’s visit?”

“I do. And the church will have no part of him.”

“I told him that. In no uncertain terms.”

“What I do not understand is why you had anything to do with him in the first place? He and his party are neo-fascists with grandiose ideas.”

“That 60 percent of Italy agrees with.”

A smirk came to the Italian’s face. “That is not how we measure our support.”

“You cannot be serious. That is exactly how we measure support. We always have. We back winners. We have no use for losers. The National Freedom Party’s chances of gaining control are quite good.”

“They still need to win thirty-eight seats in parliament for that to happen. Those are elections we can affect. We will affect them. They will lose.”

“Which I told Casaburi.”

“What baffles me is why he chose you to talk with.”

“Since you know of the meeting, you surely know of his mention of aPignus Christi.”

“I do. That is a fantasy.”

“I said to him the same thing. It is irrelevant. Apparently, he came to me because of my connection to the Vatican Bank. I told him there were others far more politically connected than I.”

“You sell yourself short, Jason.”