Ben stopped in the doorway and watched them.
It was a hell of a lot to aspire to. Some days his heart ached watching them. As much as they loved him—and he knew his aunt and uncle loved him a lot—the love they had for each other was so tangible it almost hurt. He couldn’t imagine having love like that. If he ever did, he’d grab on to it with everything he had.
Ben would never forget the months they spent in Rome when he was sixteen. When Giovanni had been taken, leaving Beatrice alone. It was the first time he ever remembered feeling stronger than his aunt.
Giovanni looked up with a smile. “Hello.”
“Hey.”
Beatrice stretched her legs and kicked a pillow off the end of the couch. “What are you doing tonight? Come sit with us.”
Ben walked over and sat down. “I was just studying. Two more finals before summer break.”
Beatrice smiled. “I’m so proud of you. Have I told you that lately? We’re both so proud of you. I can’t believe you’ve almost earned your degree.”
He glanced at their loving smiles before he turned away in embarrassment. “Thanks.”
Beatrice was thirty-eight now but looked barely older than Ben.
It was odd to realize that in a few years he would be the one who looked older than his aunt. Their relationship was already changing, becoming more friendly than parental. Just another reminder that time was passing.
Too fast, a childish voice whispered inside. Too fast!
“What do you think you want to do this summer?” Giovanni asked. “You should do something fun. Beatrice and I are stuck here, working on that damned library theft.” He added a string of Latin curses that had Beatrice smoothing her thumb over his lips.
“Shhhh,” she said. “You’ll shock the boy.”
“I don’t think that’s possible anymore,” Giovanni said.
Ben had forgotten all about the library heist when he was thinking about how to sneak off to Italy without his uncle becoming suspicious.
It had been a massive scandal in the rare-book world and had become the bane of his uncle’s existence since much of the “uncatalogued special collections” that had been stolen from the Girolamini Library in Naples wasn’t actually part of the library but was instead the private collections of numerous Italian immortals. Some of the vampires had stored their private miscellany in the library since the sixteenth century and did not take kindly to humans stealing and selling their treasured manuscripts or personal papers.
Giovanni and Beatrice had been hired by multiple clients to track down particularly elusive items that had made their way onto the black market. The Naples library heist had been keeping them—along with their resident librarians in Perugia, Zeno and Serafina—busy on and off for almost two years.
Ben cleared his throat. “It’s funny you mentioned Naples. I was actually thinking of going to Italy for part of my break.”
Beatrice frowned. “In the summer? But it’s so hot! You sure you don’t want to go down to Chile?”
“I haven’t seen my friends there since Christmas. And Fabi’s seeing a guy she wanted me to meet. So—”
“The house in Rome is yours anytime you want,” Giovanni said. “You know that. In fact…” He frowned. “If you don’t mind doing some work while you’re there, I think Zeno will be in Rome the middle of June working at the Vatican Library. I might have you take some notes to him.”
“And that journal we tracked down in New York last month,” Beatrice said. “Ben can take that to Zeno too. Collect on that commission.”
“Good idea, Tesoro,” he murmured, brushing her dark hair from her cheek. “Ben, let me know if you want to borrow the plane. But right now—”
“Got it.” He stood when he saw Beatrice turning to her mate. “I know when I’m not wanted.”
“Close the door on the way out.”
Glancing over his shoulder, Ben saw Giovanni had already pulled Beatrice to straddle him. He tried not to laugh.
Like rabbits, the two of them.
“Ben—” Giovanni pulled his lips from his mate’s and cleared his throat. “I’ll let Emil know you’ll be in Rome this summer. You know the game. Just make sure you stay out of Naples.”
Ben’s Tenzin-radar went off. Naples. Southern Italy. Sicily. Very southern Italy…
Medieval Sicilian coins, huh?
“What’s up with Naples?” he asked, trying to sound casual. “Problems with the VIC?”
“The ‘vampire in charge’ as you say, is named Alfonso. He’s Spanish. Or Hungarian. I’m not sure. And he’s…” Giovanni frowned.
“He’s nuts,” Beatrice threw out. “Completely bonkers. And mean. He hates Emil.”
“Ah.” Ben nodded. “Big Livia supporter?”
Beatrice said, “No, he hated Livia too.”
Giovanni was watching his mate with the focused stare that told Ben he’d forgotten anyone but Beatrice was in the room. It was the vampire hunting stare, and Ben knew if he didn’t get out of the den quickly, he was going to see way more of his aunt and uncle than he wanted.
“Just…” Beatrice held Giovanni back. “Stay out of Naples. It’s not a good idea right now. The rest of the country? No problem.”
“Avoid Naples.” He gave them a thumbs-up they probably didn’t see. “Got it. Later. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Except, you know, the biting stuff I don’t want to know about.”