Page 48 of Bene

“Was this a room I wasn’t supposed to be in?” she asked.

“Was the door open?”

Vanna shrugged, peeking up at him. “Yeah, but it’s … different in here.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, for starters there’s a wet bar near the window and a whole wine fridge. Also, there’s a glass bowl with a bunch of bracelets in the reading nook. Someone must like Lindor chocolates because there’s a whole selection to choose from in the corner. A journal, too, but I didn’t look inside.”

“Not so much a journal,” Bene replied, glancing at the leather-bound notebook his mother kept on her stand, “as it is something for my mother to keep notes of what she’s reading, and what she thinks about it at any given time. She goes back to her notes sometimes—anonymously reviews for a newspaper twice a month, actually.”

Vanna’s eyes widened. “For the Toronto Tribune?”

“I don’t read them.”

“Are you serious?”

Bene laughed. “What?”

“It’s like the only book reviewer in a newspaper anymore. At least, in Toronto. Everything is online now, and that’s one of the only papers still thriving. The fact she gets two entire columns for her reviews is amazing. And she’s anonymous, so it isn’t even her name drawing in readers for her reviews. An actual, physical newspaper. I read it every second Sunday just for her reviews on the latest releases.”

He smiled. “Small world.”

Something changed in Vanna’s gaze—he couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but he didn’t miss the way her stare darkened a bit, a tiny knot forming in her brow as she glanced down at the book in her hands again. It hid her face from his view, but he decided not to ask her what was wrong because she spoke first.

“So, this library is your ma’s?”

“My father uses it as an office sometimes, even though he works more in the one upstairs. But yeah, it’s hers, and no, she doesn’t mind someone else enjoying the books in here. No worries on that, I promise.”

Vanna nodded, but continued staring down at the book in her hands. “You love her a lot, huh?”

“My mom?”

“Yeah.”

Bene wondered if that was a strange concept for her … considering how she reacted to talking about her own mother the night before. “I mean, we all love our ma. Growing up, our dad kind of put Cara on a pedestal, and nothing less would do except the very best for her. She was always there, too, didn’t matter if she had shit going on, or was sick … none of that mattered to Ma, she was just there for us when we needed her. The first person to tell us to go and get something, if we wanted it. How can you not love that?”

“Yeah, I get that.”

Now, her voice turned faint.

Her head stayed turned down.

Bene wondered why.

“Anyway,” Vanna said, closing the book and looking up with a bright smile. All that strangeness was gone, and in its place was the sweet, but sexy woman who caught his attention, and had yet to lose it, even if he wasn’t willing to dig into the whys quite yet. “Food, you said?”

He could have pressed on her behavior.

Or the change in demeanor.

Instead, Bene just said, “Yeah, let’s get some grub.”

The mansion was wired to the nines. Every single light in the place could be shut off with a press of one button from Bene’s phone—or any of his other family members, he explained. A camera rested in almost every high corner, keeping watch on hallways and main rooms. The security in the place was top notch, no doubt about it.

Yet, even knowing that, Vanna didn’t hesitate to slip out of the bed she shared with Bene for the weekend once he was passed out, to take another walk through the mansion. After all, he promised he would clear out all the footage of their time in the place, and he didn’t even have to look at it to do it, just select dates he wanted to wipe from the memory. Which meant, for the most part, she had free reign when he fell asleep to do what she wanted.

And needed.