John Wick - Chapter 86: Going to Rome (Patreon)

The fight was over.

John went down to the basement to make a call and arrange a "dinner reservation," meaning the body disposal crew.

Elena went back to her room and helped Ares bandage her injured hand.

As for Nate, he was busy rummaging through the cars and looting the bodies.

He collected the guns from the other men, then searched the car that hadn’t flipped over. Inside, he found two pistols. Glocks again. There was also a box of gold coins.

Nate counted them.

Sixty-four in total.

The other car was still lying on its side, which meant he’d have to crawl inside to search it. Just then, John finished his call and came outside.

“John, give me a hand,” Nate called without looking back.

“Okay.”

It took both of them quite a bit of effort to push the overturned SUV back onto its wheels.

This was Santino’s car. There had to be something good inside.

Nate climbed in and searched it.

Sure enough, he found a small case containing roughly two hundred gold coins, along with an exquisitely made pistol that resembled a 1911. It was fitted with a red dot sight and a weapon light.

Now this was good stuff.

Definitely taking it.

Firearm Proficiency had given Nate plenty of knowledge about guns, but even without the skill, he would have recognized this one.

It was a 2011, just like the ones he’d seen in the movies.

Not a TTI Combat Master, though.

This was a Staccato 2011 XC, the version with the compensator built into the front end.

Nate picked up the unloaded pistol and tested it.

The slide was incredibly smooth, the fit was tight, and the trigger was exceptionally light. No wonder it was designed for competition shooting. It would probably feel fantastic to fire.

Still, with a trigger this light, wasn’t there a risk of an accidental discharge?

The trigger on Nate’s HK P30L felt more than twice as heavy.

Nate inserted a magazine and fired a round into Santino’s body.

It went straight through.

Santino wasn’t wearing a bulletproof suit, so there was no need to bother with that. Otherwise, for the sake of Resource Points, Nate would have had to stomach the disgust and strip the clothes off his corpse.

Finally came the real prize.

Nate picked up the grenade launcher from the ground and carefully checked it for damage.

This was another piece of ridiculous technology from this world.

Santino’s grenade launcher.

The real thing was nowhere near this powerful, but in the movie, just a handful of grenades from this weapon had practically demolished John’s massive house.

The firepower was absurd.

As someone who loved heavy weapons, Nate had wanted this thing for a long time.

System, show me the information on this weapon.

[Legendary Weapon: D’Antonio Family Grenade Launcher]

[Effect: Grenade blast radius and damage increased by 30%]

[Resource Points: 2315]

Perfect.

Jackpot.

“John, this thing packs one hell of a punch.”

Nate was grinning like someone who’d just struck gold.

He checked the back seat and found another dozen or so incendiary grenades.

What a haul.

Aside from Ares’s gun, Nate stored everything inside his System Backpack.

When he went back inside, Ares had already finished having her wound bandaged and was playing with the little Border Collie.

Another dog lover.

Excellent.

Nate approved.

“By the way, John, did you call Gianna?” Nate asked.

“I don’t have her number,” John replied helplessly.

“You’re kidding. Aren’t you two friends? How do you not even have her number?”

“We haven’t seen each other in almost ten years. I’ve changed phones four times and gone through several SIM cards. Where exactly am I supposed to find it?”

“Fair enough.”

As they talked, a black van appeared in the distance and drove toward the house.

The cleanup crew had arrived.

An older man in a black jacket stepped out, followed by several large, muscular men.

“Mr. Wick. Good to see you again.”

“Charlie.”

The two shook hands.

Charlie glanced at the body on the ground, and surprise immediately crossed his face.

“Santino? You killed him?”

John nodded.

“I’m back, Charlie.”

Charlie paused for a moment before smiling.

“That’s good news, John. Looks like I’ve got myself a major client again.”

His men got straight to work.

They wrapped the bodies in black cloth, loaded them into the van, and cleaned every trace from the ground with practiced efficiency.

John handed Charlie three gold coins.

Charlie accepted them, tipped his hat to the two men, and left.

“What about these two cars?” Nate asked.

“Leave them here for tonight. I’ll have Aurelio come by again tomorrow.”

The two talked for a little while longer.

Then John’s phone rang.

He picked it up and looked at the screen.

Unknown number.

“Here it comes.”

Nate and John exchanged a glance.

John didn’t bother hiding anything. He immediately switched the call to speaker, and Nate leaned closer to listen.

There was silence on the other end.

John didn’t seem to know what to say either.

After a long moment, a woman’s voice finally came through.

“John...”

“Gianna...”

Nate’s eyes lit up.

He smacked his right fist into his left palm.

He knew it!

Even when he’d watched the movie, he’d thought there was something strange between these two.

Then again, it made sense.

A man like John attracting women wasn’t exactly surprising. One-sided feelings were even less surprising. Elena was proof enough of that.

Whatever.

Time for some gossip.

“Sorry to call so late, but don’t you think you owe me an explanation, John?”

“Your brother came to see me tonight,” John said quietly. “He had my Marker.”

He paused.

“The task your brother gave me was to kill you, Gianna.”

“So he’s dead.”

Silence filled the line.

A long time passed before Gianna finally spoke again.

“I understand... but I need proof, John.”

“I don’t...”

John was about to continue when Nate pulled out his phone and turned the screen toward him.

A recording was displayed on it.

Nate raised an eyebrow.

John smiled and gave him a thumbs-up.

“We have a recording, Gianna. Listen.”

Nate switched his own phone to speaker, moved the recording to the relevant section, then held it close to John’s phone.

The crucial part played.

Another long silence followed.

“You could have called me. I could have dealt with this.”

Gianna’s voice began to tremble.

“Now you’ve killed my brother, and your own life is going to be in danger too. I’ve lost two important people at once.”

Where the hell was he supposed to get your phone number?

Nate muttered it quietly beside him.

John gave him a helpless look, then continued speaking while still staring at Nate.

“It’s okay, Gianna. Don’t cry. I have a partner now. He helped me deal with it.”

“But my brother is dead, John.”

“I gave him a chance, Gianna.”

She went silent.

Faint crying could still be heard from the other end.

It took quite a while before the sound finally stopped.

Then Gianna suddenly asked, “Is your partner a man or a woman?”

“A man,” John replied, sounding thoroughly resigned.

Nate stood beside him with a knowing smile and raised an eyebrow.

Gossip really was wonderful.

Especially when it involved both his partner and his idol.

Judging from that question alone, there was definitely something between these two.

“My coronation is exactly one week from today,” Gianna said. There was unmistakable expectation in her voice. “Will you come?”

“Probably not, Gianna. I doubt you want to see me right now.”

“I do.”

Her answer was immediate and firm.

At that exact moment, somewhere among the ancient ruins of Rome, a bald Black bodyguard suddenly sneezed for no apparent reason.

[Ding!]

A notification sounded inside Nate’s head.

[System Quest 4: Before Gianna D’Antonio is successfully crowned, intercept the assassination attempt and ensure her safety.]

[Reward: Trait Fusion Card]

Holy shit!

John was about to refuse again when Nate snatched the phone out of his hand.

“Ms. Gianna, John and I will come to Rome and meet you.”

There was a brief pause.

“And you are?”

“John’s partner, ma’am. My name is Nate Lin.”