Page 43 of Bene

It wasn’t the first time one of the brothers broke the rules. They simply didn’t talk about it when they did it.

Plus, why not?

Bene felt reckless.

Time to have some fun.

“Come on,” he said, unlatching the driver’s door of the Lambo. “I’m sure you want to see the inside.”

Vanna laughed, following his lead. Outside of the vehicle, he rounded the front, and met Vanna in the middle. She took his hand with her own, letting him lead them toward the grand entrance of the mansion, its sloping roof hanging overtop a large outdoor fountain more than big enough for cars to drive under and park.

She stopped to admire the fountain while he went for the front door, and the panel right beside it. The only way his father wouldn’t get a notification for the security was if he punched in the correct code, and the fingerprint reader scanned a print it recognized—like his, or any one of his other brothers’—and only then could he put the key into the lock. He was sure his father hadn’t given his sons the codes and ability to get inside for Bene to do what he was doing, but he would deal with that at another time.

“Are you coming?” he called to Vanna.

She came his way as he unlocked the front door, following him inside. If one didn’t get to see anything else but the grand entrance of the Guzzi mansion, it would still be more than enough to amaze them. As large as most people’s homes, with two curving staircases on either side, and with a large indoor fountain featuring a naked statue to give it just that extra bit of … excessiveness, it was quite a sight.

White marble floors clicked under Vanna’s heels as she walked in ahead of Bene, her eyes wide as she looked all around, taking in the paintings hanging on the walls—probably ten of hundreds in the place—although some of the most expensive rested in this hall.

“Wow.”

“Yeah,” he said, “it’s a little much.”

Her laughter colored up the space, echoing back to them.

“But is it, though?”

He grinned, saying nothing.

Frankly, he hadn’t been sure what she would think about the mansion. Sure, he could have just as easily grabbed them a hotel in the city for the weekend, but it wouldn’t be quite the same as this. Besides, he liked familiar spaces. This home was certainly that, and if it meant he got to spend the weekend with a beautiful woman in bed with him, then he didn’t see a problem. His father might, but if all went well, then Gian wouldn’t even know when they left on Sunday.

Simple enough.

Bene kicked off his shoes at the door—habit from hearing his mother repeat the order for him to do it for as many years as he had been alive—while Vanna walked over to the fountain. He watched her as she leaned over the side, admiring the sight of those boyfriend jeans hugging her pert backside, and remembering how good it felt to dig his fingers into her ass as he fucked her deeper. She really did look like an angel, with the body of a sinner. He didn’t have the first clue what he was doing with this woman, but he liked it.

Wasn’t that good enough?

Vanna let her fingers drift through the sprinkling, dancing water while she peered back at him with a sly smile. Clearly catching him looking at her ass, but he didn’t have shame, and she didn’t seem to mind, either. He winked when she just shook her head.

“Was this your childhood home?”

Bene nodded, now shoeless and heading for her. “Yeah, we used to have the best games of hide and seek in this place.”

“I bet. You must have loved growing up here with your twin, and other brothers.”

He blinked, taking in her words. His mind flooded with a dozen different memories, most of him and Beni running after one another through the house, or across the large back property. From sliding down the banisters to putting a slip and slide in the upstairs hallway which had not impressed their parents in the slightest. They even had their own hiding spots and things they liked to do together in the mansion that they’d never told anyone else about because well, twins had to have some secrets, right?

It made him smile.

For a brief second, Bene realized that was the first time he’d thought of his brother all day. In fact, the last two weeks had been so busy for him, and he was enjoying himself so much right now, that all the shit he’d been dealing with his brother getting married and moving to Chicago had become nothing more than an afterthought.

Oh, his chest ached now.

Was that a betrayal?

To not think about his twin?

Bene didn’t know.