Sitting at his table, Ben drank an entire glass of water in one go. Not only the summer sun was sticking to his skin, but Anthony's stare was burning a blush from his head to his toes. If Ben didn't know any better, he'd say Anthony and him were the same age, but he knew better. This was a vampire with red eyes, fangs, and a perfect complexion. He was tanned like Nino with dark curly hair, but Anthony's curls were tighter, shorter, and sat bouncier on his head. Unfortunately, he was also gorgeous. Ben hated this family.
Underneath his disguise, Anthony was wearing a black suit without a tie, and he didn't seem to bring any bags with him. This was a visit.
"Why do you smell so good?" Anthony asked, his chin resting on his hand as he stared at Ben with sparkling eyes. "How do you know Nino and Bianca? You're not a vampire, right? Does that mean you're a witch? No way Nino hangs out with a human, but then again, you smell good. I'd like to hang out with you too. Do you have a boyfriend? Do you want one?"
"Um, no thanks. Why would you say Nino wouldn't hang out with a human?" Ben couldn't help himself but ask.
"Nino doesn't like anything with an expiration date," Anthony said with a huge shit-eating grin and Ben wasn't sure if he should be offended for himself or Nino.
Evie came barreling through the kitchen with her sketchbook. She hopped up into the seat next to Anthony. "Look at what I've drawn! Uncle Nino bought this for me!"
"It's beautiful," Anthony praised her. "Tell me, is your new uncle Ben single?"
Nino reached over and grabbed his little brother by the ear, nearly yanking him off his chair. "What are you doing here, Anthony?" Nino growled; his patience worn thinner than mesh.
Wincing, Anthony cringed towards Nino, a laugh still at the tip of his tongue. "Don't get mad, Nino, or I'll think you don't want to see me."
Nino twisted, and Anthony groaned in pain and collapsed on the ground. Anthony just snickered, his hands by his head in surrender. "What's making you madder? Me being here or me bothering the human? Why does he smell so good? And why won't anyone tell me if he's single or not?"
Nino kicked his leg. "Because it's none of your business. Why are you here? Did Dante send you?"
"If you want to know why I'm here, just ask little Evie over here." He pointed at her, and all eyes turned. She cowarded at the attention.
Her brow furrowed. "I didn't invite him."
"Didn't you? Evelyn Ventura-Caputo, you should know better than to scry on people without the proper precautions to cover your tracks."
"You did what?" Nino snapped.
Evie's face went stark white. "How did you know?"
"So, you did? What's going on?"
Soon, everyone was in Evie's room as she routed around underneath her bed until she pulled out a small crystal ball. Ben gawked. "Evie! Was that from the witch's shop?"
She nodded. Her eyes were getting blood shot as she was on the verge of tears.
"You stole it?"
"You stole from a witch?" Nino echoed, crossing his arms. He was so mad Ben could see steam wafting off his shoulders. This was going to cause damage somehow. Ben could feel it and he didn't like it. The tension twisted his stomach into knots. It made Ben want to throw himself in the middle and catch the bullets aimed at Evie.
Meanwhile, having the time of his life, Anthony just continued to grin. He patted Evie's head and then ruffled her hair until it was messed up. She swatted at him, and he just snickered more. "That's the Ventura in her."
"Evie, it's time you explain yourself," Nino said.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"You're only sorry you got caught. What did you do?"
"I just wanted to see my dad," she admitted, and Ben grabbed Nino's arm to keep him from interrupting her. He squeezed, but even if Nino held back, his brow stayed furrowed. Anthony caught it and smiled wider. Ben dropped his hand. He wasn't sure if he could handle another Ventura.
"I know phones can be tracked and all kinds of other things," Evie explained, fussing with her hands. "But I know if you scry, you have a one-way connection. At least, that's what I thought."
"Who did you scry on?" Ben asked.
"I tested it on Uncle Anthony," she glanced up at him, her chin wobbling.
"And no one else, right?" Nino asked. "Because it didn't work."
"I..."
"She didn't know she got caught." Anthony gave her away.
Nino's eyes widened. "Evelyn, please tell me you didn't scry on Gabriel Caputo."
"I'm sorry!" Evie cried, and the blood red tears started flowing. "I just wanted to see my dad."
"At what cost, Evelyn?" He roared.
Anthony put his hand on Nino's shoulder, physically holding him back, "Hey, don't you think you're going a little hard on her? I mean, come on, man. Ease up. She's just a kid."
Nino shrugged out of Anthony's hold, staring daggers at him. "I don't think you're going hard enough on her. Do you think this is a game? Between a bickering married couple? No. Bianca has essentially made Gabriel Caputo our enemy and I've seen him torture and kill men for much less than somebody watching his daughter for the summer. If Gabriel knows Evie is here, he will not hesitate to kill Ben and I the first chance he gets."
Surprisingly, Anthony stood his ground, a sharpness to his face Ben hadn't seen yet. "Or you could be forgetting that this is also a fight between families. He's family. Evie is his daughter and he's not gonna traumatize her by killing her favorite uncle or you, some guy."
"That's very mature. Thank you, Anthony."
"What? Do you want me to lie to you? You're never home." Anthony threw his hands up in exasperation. "I don't even know who you are anymore. Nobody does. Nobody sees you, Nino, and I get it you're too good for us now that you make your own money, and you don't want to be a part of the family business and you don't want to carry on our parent's legacy. It must be so nice getting to do whatever you want."
"You know why, and don't bring mom and dad into this."
"You kind of make that impossible now."
"Evie," Ben whispered, bending towards her. "Why don't you go upstairs? We'll grab you in a minute."
With a little push, Ben got Evie to leave. Neither of the brothers seemed to notice. Anthony shouted, "It has everything to do with mom and dad!"
"You weren't even home when they died! You barely made it in time for the funeral."
"Because it was family business, not everybody can just drop everything at once and assume a new life—"
"At least I have one! What are you even doing? All you are is a lapdog for Dante. Yeah, that sounds like a really fulfilling life to me, Anthony."
"Nino!" Ben stepped in between them. "You have to stop fighting everyone. It's too late to stop Evie from scrying on her dad, so we need to come up with a solution. I know you'd rather be alone, but if we work together, this will be much easier." Ben shook his head. "You don't realize how lucky you are. Everyone I've met is practically begging to have a relationship with you and you just keep turning them away. I don't understand you."
"Wow. Maybe you guys are close," Anthony commented, and Nino just got madder.
"Ben," Nino said, his name like the slam of a door. "I told you not to do this, don't get involved with my sister, don't get involved with Gabriel, and don't get involved in this either. You're not family, so stop sticking your nose into our business. It's annoying."
Ben shook his head. "You just say the meanest thing you can think of, huh? Well, how's this? You don't want to be involved with me? Fine! When you're starving, don't come crawling to me. When you're freezing, don't sneak into my bed. When you're lonely and need a fix, don't come find me. I'm not a tool at your disposal, Nino. I'm a person and even if you don't love me, or like me, you better respect me." Ben turned away, storming to his office. He didn't know what he was grabbing, he just needed to let out some frustration by slamming stuff.
"Ben," Nino called after him.
"If you wanted me to hate you, congrats. You nailed it." Ben grabbed his shoes again and his work bag. "I'm going down the street to work on my book. Figure out what you're doing about Evie's dad without me. See if I care."
Ben slammed the door behind him to open it again.
"Ben! Come back! You stay, we'll go!"
Ben kept walking, shaking his head madder than ever. As if that was the problem. He found his cafe and ordered water to cool himself down, taking it back to a corner booth. He took out his laptop, but he didn't plan on writing a single word. He just stared at the wall, seething. He just kept playing the conversation with Nino over and over again.
Fueled by his anger, Ben took out his phone and texted Tim:
Ben: Hey! I'm free tonight and I'm hoping you are, too. Would you like to have dinner with me?
He sent the message before he could overthink it. Closing his word document, Ben started searching for the most expensive houses outside the New York area. He might not have a steady boyfriend that can help him fill six to eight bedrooms and five to six bathrooms, but he had a lot of books and a dire need for a cry room.
"Excuse me," a man said, pulling out the chair in front of Ben before he could stop him. A woman appeared next to him, taking the other chair. They were alike in a few ways. Both in a way ageless, Ben would believe them either way if they said they were older or younger. They had matching sunglasses, mousy brown hair, and were wearing t-shirts and jeans. Ben could walk by them on the street and miss them completely.
"We hate to bother you," she said, but her actions proved otherwise. Her hair was cropped in a short bob. No jewelry. No make-up. No blemishes or scars. Nothing to distinguish her apart from anyone.
"We've seen you around here," the guy explained, the same as his accomplice. Plain like vanilla. Under salted. Desperate for any originality. Ben's eyes glazed over looking at them, and decided to call them Jane and John Doe. "So, we're hoping you can help us."
John Doe pulled out a picture of Evie on the street. She was holding someone's hand. Ben's hand. Ben's stomach dropped to his toes. His fingers itched to pack up, but that felt too much like an admission of guilt.
"We're looking for this girl," John said.
"Her?" Ben played dumb. A role he was born to play. "I remember her. She was wandering the streets and I helped her to the police station."
"Is that so?" Jane Doe asked, glancing at her accomplice. "Would you mind showing us where you found her?"
Ben's brow hitched. "I'm sorry, but um, why do you want to know? How do you know this kid?"
"She's a friend of the family."
Ben doubted that.
John explained, "She's been missing since the beginning of the summer."
Ben shifted. "Sounds like you should contact the police, not a gay romance novelist. Excuse me—" Looking back at his keyboard, Ben tried brushing them off again. "I have to get back to work."
"Oh, but we insist," Jane said, pulling down her sunglasses and flashing her red eyes. Her power slammed into Ben like a wall pushing out his soul. He felt disjointed in all the wrong places. It was worse than sea sickness with the world titling around. He was frozen, waiting and anticipating her words. Ben had never wanted to hear anything more in his life.
"Get up," she said, and Ben did. All smiles, she told Ben, "Leave all your stuff here. It's more important for you to take us to the place you found that little girl. She might be in trouble."
Ben nodded and got up, pushed in his chair like he always did and then left everything behind. His body moved on its own, even keeping the door open for the vampires to follow him. Deep underneath the haze of the vampire's enchantment, Ben had a moment of clarity that his phone was in pocket... but he couldn't move his arm. He was a prisoner in his own mind and couldn't even scream.