Harbinger Of Glory

The hallway chatter outside faded as Carlo pushed open the door to their room, still answering something Ruggeri had thrown at him.

Udogie and Fornella followed behind, the four of them walking in with Carlo, expecting the place to look the same as he’d left it.

It didn’t.

Carlo stopped mid-sentence, looking over at Leo’s side of the room.

His bag was already zipped, his folded clothes stacked on top of it, boots tucked in their covers and put away in a corner.

It looked like a hotel checkout, not a room they still had time in.

”What’s he doing?” Carlo muttered, wandering in a slow circle like he needed another angle to confirm what he was seeing.

Before any of them could say more, the bathroom door clicked open.

Leo stepped out with a bottle of mouthwash still in hand.

He saw all four of them staring and gave an awkward nod, the kind you give when you walk into a situation you don’t fully understand yet.

And then he crossed to his bed, set the mouthwash down, and pulled off his towel, already wearing his usual black training shorts underneath.

It didn’t break the tension much.

Carlo was the first to ask.

”Why did you pack?”

Leo turned, staring at him like the answer should’ve been obvious.

”To leave.”

Carlo blinked. ”Leave... now? We’ve got two more days here. No training, nothing serious. We can actually breathe for once.”

Leo shook his head. ”I don’t have that luxury.”

The three behind Carlo looked at each other as Fornella whispered something under his breath, while Udogie just shrugged like he half expected this.

Carlo stepped closer.

”Alright. Fine. So when are you leaving then?”

Leo picked at his bedsheet for a second before muttering, ”Tomorrow.”

Carlo groaned and rubbed his face.

”That’s what we came to talk about. We’re going out. One last thing before we all split. We wanted you to come. It’s tonight.”

Leo opened his mouth, ready to give whatever excuse he usually fell back on, but Carlo was faster.

”No. Don’t start. You don’t have a reason this time. Nobody’s training. Nobody’s reviewing anything. No match coming. So you can’t use that.”

Leo frowned. ”I have to fly early.”

Ruggeri burst into a laugh.

”No, you don’t. There’s a talk and a group photo at noon tomorrow. They already sent the schedule. You’re not flying anywhere early.”

Leo sighed, long enough that his shoulders rose and fell. ”I just don’t want to go.”

Carlo softened his voice a little.

”We’re not forcing anything on you. No one’s going to shove a drink in your hand. You’re not old enough anyway.”

His last sentence drew chuckles from the people behind him while Leo raised a brow and gave him a look that said he wasn’t buying that for a second.

”You just need someone to drag you all back in one piece.”

Carlo threw his hands up like he had been caught red-handed.

”I mean... you’re not wrong, but that isn’t the sole reason.”

”Then what is it?” Leo asked, to which Carlo rubbed his neck before sighing and deciding to speak.

”Gianna is bringing her friends since these boys,” he said, gesturing behind him, ”already agreed, you are going to fill in with the last girl.”

From behind, Udogie snorted while Fornella tried to hide his behind a cough and his fisted hand.

Leo looked at all of them, the mess of expectations, jokes, and genuine want on their faces.

He let out another breath, this one resigned rather than annoyed.

”Fine,” he said. ”I’ll go.”

Carlo snapped his fingers triumphantly.

”Good. Finally.”

Leo shook his head, but a small, reluctant smile tugged at him anyway.

”But if anything bizarre comes up, I am out of there, and nothing you say is going to make me change my mind,” Leo said, to which Carlo nodded aggressively before speaking again.

”Yes, you can do so, and to top it all off, I have even asked permission from Marco, and he says to be careful and get some sleep afterwards since he doesn’t want us looking like zombies before the photos.”

Leo nodded, still halfway processing it.

”So... when are we leaving?”

”Nine,” Carlo said.

Leo narrowed an eye. ”Nine, or like... ’nine’?”

Carlo laughed under his breath.

”It’s a party. We’re meant to show up late. Nine is just the suggestion.”

That answer earned another slow nod from Leo as he leaned back a little, trying to picture how the evening would go.

”Alright. And the dress code?”

”Whatever you want,” Carlo said.

”Seriously. Just don’t turn up looking like you crawled out of a laundry basket.”

Leo let out a soft scoff, then glanced around the room as if expecting someone else to weigh in.

But the boys behind Carlo had already forgotten they were supposed to be discussing anything at all.

Whatever task had brought them there had dissolved the moment the conversation shifted.

Now they were drifting toward the door like a group without a mission.

Carlo followed them with his eyes, gave Leo a small tilt of his head that said they were done here, and pushed off the table.

”Come on. We’ll sort everything later.”

The group trailed out, chatting about nothing in particular, the earlier purpose of the room left behind as easily as someone forgetting a drink on a counter.

Leo took one last look around before heading after them.

....

[10:21 PM]

The Uber XL slowed beside the walkway that curved toward the river, its headlights brushing the stone path and the railings that lined it.

The six of them climbed out one after another, the cool air rolling off the Tiber as if the river had been waiting for sundown to breathe.

Carlo closed the door behind him and raised his phone, checking the location one more time before slipping it into his pocket.

The others drifted around him in a loose group.

Ricci stretched his shoulders after the long ride, Udogie scanned the river with mild curiosity, and Fornella kept eyeing the lights along the bank like he was already rating the night ahead.

They started down the path, with Udogie trolling Carlo’s for not actually knowing where he was going until after a few steps, Carlo slowed, then stopped entirely.

He lifted a hand and waved across the water where Gianna stood on a floating platform a little distance away.

Except calling it a platform felt wrong.

It was a boat, refitted and enclosed in glass from bow to stern, warm lights spilling across the surface of the river.

Inside, silhouettes moved behind the transparent walls, music pulsing softly through the air.

The whole thing looked like someone had taken a rooftop bar and set it drifting on the Tiber.

Carlo grinned and waved again, more deliberately this time, while Leo came to a halt behind him, taking in the scene for a few seconds longer than the rest.

”Seriously?” he muttered. ”A boat?”

Nobody answered him.

They were too busy reacting in their own ways.

Udogie let out a short laugh and started toward the ramp that had been lowered from the deck, and Fornella didn’t even pretend to hesitate.

Ricci and Ruggeri followed with the same easy confidence, already halfway up before Leo could decide whether he wanted to keep walking or turn back.

Carlo shot Leo a quick look over his shoulder, the kind that said Don’t back out now, and stepped onto the ramp.

Leo sighed once, quietly, then adjusted the cuff of his jacket and headed after them.

The ramp creaked under his shoes, the river shifting beneath him, and a moment later, he stepped onto the boat’s deck, the warm air from inside brushing past him.

Gianna stepped forward as soon as they were all on deck.

She greeted each of them with an easy smile, but her eyes lingered on Carlo a little longer than on the rest.

”You finally made it,” she said.

Carlo returned the smile with one of his own.

”What, are you the hostess tonight?”

She tilted her head and gave him a look that said she knew he knew better.

”Do I look like I’m working?”

He shrugged lightly, and whatever he meant to say next drifted into harmless teasing.

The two of them slipped into that familiar back-and-forth they always fell into.

The five standing behind Carlo exchanged a few glances, each with their own version of that silent plea for them to wrap it up.

Gianna laughed at something he said, Carlo nudged her shoulder in response, and the boys looked around the boat like they were examining the architecture just so they wouldn’t look directly at the two of them.

Eventually, Gianna seemed to remember she had guests to guide.

She waved them forward and led them toward the heart of the venue.

The glass walls reflected the soft gold lights running along the beams above, and the low hum of the music blended with the chatter around them.

People shifted aside as she passed, clearly familiar with her, and she moved with a confidence that suggested she was close to whoever actually owned the boat.

On the way, she stopped at a small bar tucked near the entrance of the main lounge.

She plucked drinks off the counter, handing each one to the boys as if she had already guessed their preferences.

The others took theirs without hesitation.

When she turned to Leo with the last glass, Carlo reached over and caught her wrist gently.

”Not him,” Carlo said.

She lifted a brow at him, a small seductive smile playing at her lips.

”Since when does he need you to speak for him?”

Carlo leaned in, and Gianna bent slightly so she could hear him over the music.

He said something quietly, too soft for anyone else to catch.

Whatever it was made her eyes widen just a notch.

The second brow joined the first.

”Really?” she said.

Leo didn’t answer.

He just exhaled through his nose, a tired sound that said he already knew what he had told her.

Gianna glanced between him and Carlo, thinking about what she had heard with a bit of an amused expression.

”Huh,” she said, more to herself than to either of them, like something had been confirmed.

She set the glass back on the counter, took another sip of her own drink, and motioned for them to follow her again as the group moved deeper into the crowd, where the music was swelling.