Out of the Shadows 007
A machine-augmented MIDNIGHT'S WAR novel
Elliott was rested, showered, and attired in his new suit in plenty of time before the appointed hour of eight o’clock. He was just admiring the exquisite feel of the light, but sumptuous black wool in the mirror when his room telephone rang.
“Please come to the lobby, Mr. Grahame,” a polite male voice requested with just a hint of an accent.
“Will Miss del Giorgio be joining us?”
“Not tonight, Mr. Grahame. Please come now, if you please.”
“I’ll be right down,” Elliott assured him.
He adjusted the red silk tie he’d been provided one last time, checked his watch, and nodded at the mirror. Showtime!
The two young men waiting in the lobby were unknown to him, but they might have been cousins of those with whom he’d flown earlier. They were tall, slender, handsome, and handsomely-dressed, but their eyes were grave and neither flashed even a hint of a smile. They escorted him to a dark grey Aston Martin that was parked right in front of the hotel entrance; one of them joined him in the back seat while the other slid gracefully behind the wheel.
“So, where are we headed?” Elliott asked, as casually as he could.
“Lord Medici and his colleagues are waiting for you at Villa Capelli.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know it.”
“It’s a private residence. Very elegant. Very private.”
They drove in silence past churches and museums, metro stations and cars parked haphazardly along the streets. After about fifteen minutes, they reached what he assumed to be a large city park, as despite being in the heart of Rome, there were no buildings and very few lights to be seen on the left side of the vehicle as they drove around it.
They circled the park, then continued north, until arriving in what was clearly an exclusive neighborhood, judging by the cars parked haphazardly on either side of the road. Then they were passing through an inobtrusive security gate, and slowly making their way up a narrow, winding road that turned out to be the entrance to the villa that was their destination.
The road widened abruptly into a well-lit driveway in which seven expensive cars, all sedans of German manufacture, were parked in front of a four-car garage. Four men in suits, all older and harder-looking than the pair accompanying him, were standing in the driveway, presumably the villa’s first line of security.
The driver stopped the car, but lowered the window instead of opening the door, and addressed the closest guard.
“Signore Grahame è qui su invito del Signore Medici.”
“Va bene, vanno pure.”
The guard beckoned at them, and his companions opened their doors while the guard opened Elliott’s and held it for him with a respectful nod. Despite himself, Elliott was impressed, not just by the courtesy, but by the obvious discipline of everyone involved in Medici’s operation.
The villa, on top of a small hill, towered over its surroundings. His two companions ignored the front door and led him on a stone path around the side of the house that led to the pool behind it. There were, however, no bathing beauties awaiting them, but rather, seven men of various ages and nationalities, all similarly attired in dark suits, and engaged in three separate conversations.
One of them was Lorenzo de Medici, who turned at the sound of their entrance and nodded in a friendly fashion to Elliott.
“At last, the guest of honor. Welcome, Mr. Grahame. I hope you enjoyed your afternoon.”
“I did indeed.” Elliott didn’t want to be rude, but he couldn’t bring himself to actually address the man as Lord Medici in front of others, even in the man’s own home. “Miss del Giorgio was an excellent host.”
“Good, good.” Medici gestured toward what looked like a temporary, but well-stocked bar set up on a cloth-covered table between the villa and the pool. “Perhaps a drink before the introductions?”
“If you don’t mind.”
Medici poured him three fingers of what looked like very expensive whiskey and handed him the tumbler.
“Allow me to present my colleagues. They are not partners in my organization, but they hold similar positions in similar organizations around the world. It may interest you to know that these seven organizations represent approximately twenty-two percent of the current sum of all global wealth, give or take a few hundred billion.”
“Allow me to present my colleagues. They are not partners in my organization, but they hold similar positions in similar organizations around the world. It may interest you to know that these seven organizations represent approximately twenty-two percent of the current sum of all global wealth, give or take a few hundred billion.”
Were these specific numbers something AI generated on its own or something you wrote in?