Page 46 of Bene

Lamely, too.

It didn’t matter that he liked this woman, or that for whatever reason, being with her seemed easy even though they barely knew each other at all. None of that factored into this for him.

He couldn’t tell her the truth.

Simple as that.

Vanna, of course, surprised him. “Is what they say about the Guzzis true?”

His gaze darted sideways to her, but she didn’t look away from the painting. “And what do they sayabout us, huh?”

“Sorry—did I touch a nerve there?”

Bene arched a brow when she finally met his gaze. That was one of the things he found he liked about her, though. She wasn’t afraid to outright say the things that were on her mind. Like when she stated about his wealth, or that day in the bar.

Vanna was frank.

Straightforward.

He respected it.

Even if it made conversations tough.

“What do they say?” he asked again. “And you never thought to mention to me that you recognized my last name when I introduced myself?”

She shrugged. “What difference would it make? I clearly wasn’t interested in your last name, was I?”

Well …

He gave her points for that.

“You haven’t answered my question.”

Vanna’s expression didn’t change. “I haven’t figured out how to phrase it.”

“Try anything.”

“Your whole family is all over the society rags.”

“As much as we try to avoid it, sure.”

She smiled a bit, murmuring, “They only hint at things.”

“Because my father has a team of lawyers that will sue them into their graves if they try to state something about us as though it were a fact.”

Even if it was a fact, and Gian would eventually lose in court, it didn’t matter. His father had more than enough money to just throw into lawsuits with magazines that tried to spread information about their family. More disposable cash than the society rags had, anyhow. He didn’t mind spending more than enough to bankrupt them in the process, even if he would fail at winning his case, and that’s what mattered the most. The rags knew it, too. The game of the wealthy was not for the faint of heart.

Bene learned that lesson well.

“But the hints …”

“Mmhmm,” he urged.

She sighed, turning back to the painting. “They make it seem like your family isn’t all that it seems, I guess.”

“We’re not.”

Vanna continued staring at the painting of his parents. “Oh?”