Maybe. He couldn’t decide yet. Fabi was an old friend, so it was nice to see her happy. That didn’t mean he’d give this guy a free pass because she thought he was handsome. Ben was protective of the women in his life, especially the human ones.
He buttoned up the shirt. “So dinner with Angie and drinks after?”
“Yes. I called Ronan and Gabi too. They’re going to meet us. Gabi will want to sleep with you now that you have a beard. Ronan might too. Just warning you.”
Ben laughed. “And yet, neither one is my type. It’ll be good to see ’em both.”
Ben and Fabi’s group of friends in Rome mostly consisted of other young people who had—like them—grown up under vampire aegis in some way. Ronan’s parents worked for Emil Conti, the immortal leader of Rome and most of Italy, while Gabi’s family was involved with the vampires at the Vatican. Gabi and Ronan didn’t offer information; Ben didn’t ask.
When you grew up with vampires, you learned to be careful which questions you asked.
But it was easy to be with a group of people who understood where you were coming from. Darkness didn’t hold the same allure when you grew up walking half your life in it. Their friends understood that.
“So why did you decide to come to Rome in June?” she asked as they walked toward the smell of meatballs. “Not that it’s not nice to see you, but—”
“I’m visiting friends.” He put his hand at the small of her back and ushered her into the courtyard where Angie was setting a small table for the three of them. “And I’m delivering some things for my uncle. And…” He sighed. “Still trying to figure out what I’m going to do, you know? Sometimes it’s easier to think when I’m not in LA.”
She touched his jaw in understanding. They’d spoken of post-university plans at Christmas.
“Any ideas yet?” Fabi asked.
“Maybe. Nothing definite. You?”
She shrugged. “I’m an attractive twenty-five-year-old Roman girl with degrees in archeology and art history. What do you think I’m going to do?”
“Tour guide?”
“Of course!” She smiled ruefully. “If I can build up a good private clientele, I can make a decent living. And I’ll set my own schedule. I like that.”
“I like the idea,” Angela said as she placed a dish of olives on the table. “As long as she stays in the house and helps me here.”
Ben raised his eyebrows. “Yeah? Like, permanently?”
“I’m thinking about it,” Fabi said. “Zia Angela says she could use the help.”
“I’m not getting any younger,” Angie chided. “And Signor Giovanni will need another housekeeper when I must retire. It’s a good job. And it will keep her busy when she’s not leading tourists through the dust.”
Ben smiled. He liked the idea. “I think you’d be great here. You already have your own room. Gio and B like you. Perfect solution.”
Fabi rolled her eyes. “I haven’t decided anything for certain. I like my apartment.”
Ben looked around the lush courtyard with the palms and bougainvillea, the fountains providing trickling background music that echoed off the old walls surrounding them.
“Really?” he asked. “You like your apartment better than this?”
Angie leaned across the table. “Exactly. Listen to Nino. You live in a palace here. Don’t be stubborn. Come work for Signor Giovanni.”
“Yeah,” Ben said, popping an olive in his mouth. “Don’t be stubborn, Fabi.”
“You’re one to talk, Ben Vecchio, he who likes to pretend he doesn’t know exactly what he’s going to do after university.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Your uncle has been grooming you as a protégé for years, Ben. Are you really so clueless? He wants you to go into business with him.”
Angie said, “Giovanni won’t say anything; he doesn’t want to pressure you.”
Ben winced. It wasn’t that Ben didn’t know that Giovanni wanted him to work with him and Beatrice. Hell, he’d been unofficially working for his uncle since Giovanni had adopted him. But Ben was resisting it. Mostly because he just didn’t know if he could spend the next seventy years sorting through dusty libraries, which—the rare adventure aside—was most of what his aunt and uncle did for clients.
“I’m thinking about it,” he said. “Just… pass the wine, will you? I’m not going to decide tonight.”
❂
TENZIN watched the small group of young people from her perch by the statue. No one seemed to mind that she’d crawled up the embankment and sat next to the bronze chimera that had been mounted near the steps under the Ponte Cestio.
She caught Ben’s expression and smiled. It was good to see him laughing. The past year at university had been stressful for him. He worked too hard to please his uncle. She knew part of Ben still considered any achievement a payment for the life of a boy rescued from the dirty slums of New York.
Ben didn’t understand love yet. Not really.
But then, no one did when they were young. She leaned back against the cool stone and contemplated her latest plan to lure him in as a partner. She’d become bored in this modern world, and she needed something to do. Catching up on twentieth-century technology and mastering video games wasn’t enough to keep her mind occupied.