CHAPTER FOURTEEN

B en looked at his watch. Five minutes. How long did it take for a female to pee?

He pulled out his phone.

Sweetheart, all we’ll do is talk. And dance. We can talk and dance under the starlight.

Fuck, he was turning into a goddamn romantic. A romantic assassin. Who knew? He grinned to himself and tossed back the last of his whisky.

Two minutes later, Anna still hadn’t responded. He let out a long sigh. Dammit.

He thought he’d seen in her eyes that familiar fire burning. Ben didn’t want to force her. He’d give her space and talk to her tomorrow when she’d had time to sleep on it.

What he didn’t want to do was stick around here where these females could make it appear he was flirting.

Where the hell was Jordan? His hackles rose. No. Anna wouldn’t do that. He’d known she was trying to make him jealous. It had worked, to some degree. He didn’t want any male touching her, but as he was her security, there were professional boundaries Jordan wasn’t able to cross, and for now, that kept Ben from searching for them.

If Anna wanted more time, he would give it to her.

I’m not giving up, Anna. Tomorrow, we talk. And you do look fucking gorgeous.

“Fellas, I’m out of here,” he said, pushing his glass into the middle of the table. “Thanks for the night out.”

“You sure?” Kurt asked. “We are heading back to the castle for some grown-up fun with these two if you want to join?”

Ben swiveled between Marcus, Chloe—who was giving him the dirtiest eyes he’d ever seen—and Ellie, who was currently cupping Kurt’s cock.

Jesus.

That was one hot invite. And hell, pre-Anna, he would’ve been very fucking into it, but she was consuming his mind and body, and he wouldn’t do that to her.

Ben wanted her body against his. His lips on hers. He wanted to hear her cries of pleasure screaming his name. No one else’s.

And he would. He needed to taste her and do many delicious things to that creamy, curvy body of hers.

Fuck.

He also had to reply to Oliver’s text. Ben had been willing to put him off a few hours—it wasn’t a distress call or urgent message—to talk with Anna, but an orgy he could have anytime when he got back home to Seattle.

Because he was leaving.

“Rain check?” he replied noncommittally, grinning. His relationship with Anna was no one’s business. The less they knew how he felt about her, the better.

And how did he feel?

Like he wanted to fly across the bar and steal her away from every-fucking-body. But he wouldn’t.

“Your loss, my man,” Kurt said, slapping him on the shoulder. “See you for training tomorrow.”

“You bet.”

Ben quickly said goodbye to everyone, and just before he headed out, he leaned down to kiss his sister’s cheek.

“You and I are having words tomorrow. No more fucking lies, Sofia. I want answers. Or I will get them myself.” He stood and held her eyes for a moment.

Something in the way she returned his stare made him decide right there and then he wouldn’t be waiting. He was getting the answers tonight.

“You need something, Ferrero?” Lance asked, a light threat in his voice.

“Nope. Enjoy your night,” he replied, catching Craig glaring at him from the other side of the table.

BEN JUMPED ON HIS MOTORCYCLE and sped across Rome. With most of the senior team at the bar, he calculated his chances of getting some intel right now were greater than most other times. Only Tom was at the castle, so it was now or never.

Not that they couldn’t teleport back to the castle in zero point five seconds, but they looked like they were having too much fun to leave at this very moment.

Ben parked his bike in the apartment’s garage and stepped into the shadows away from the cameras. Then he teleported to the castle.

It was still night, so the place was its usual buzz of activity. No one knew his schedule, so with thousands of people around, his presence drew no great interest.

“Hey, what’s up?” he said to one of his colleagues as he passed them in the hall, all no big deal.

He knew he should head to the operations room first, but his feet took him elsewhere.

Anna thought he had left her last night, but he hadn’t. He had waited for her to leave with Timmy and then followed them.

The castle was a big place, enormous, like a small city.

The two had led him down to the king’s wing of the property, which was very confusing, before he’d watched them teleport away.

To where?

With camera’s everywhere, Ben hadn’t wanted to walk up to the plaster wall and stand there like a fuckwit. Instead, he had returned to the tech room and wiped the records. The last thing he needed was questions about why he was in that part of the castle.

There were zero reasons.

If he had ventured just a few hundred feet further, he would have come into contact with the royal couples’ guards, and with their new-born Lucas in residence, that was a very fucking bad idea.

Now, he was heading back in that direction.

While Anna and Timmy had teleported, he figured there had to be a door somewhere. Picking locks, digital or otherwise, was easy for him. He’d been trained at The Institute to bypass every system on earth; crazy but true. An assassin couldn’t stand around pussyfooting while googling instructions.

In and out.

It’s what they did.

Fast and undetectable. He did it nearly every day of his life.

Ben ran his eyes and hand over the wall, looking for the telltale signs.

There.

He’d found the door. Flush against the plaster; barely perceptible. He opened the hidden panel he found to the left, and lifted his phone. Opening an app, he scanned his finger, and the digital device quickly pinged.

Boom.

He was in.

The door slid open, moving inside the wall with a quiet swish.

In front of him, a huge space opened up.

What the hell was this place?

It looked like any office building from any city on earth. Quite a contrast from the stone and steel of the castle directly behind him. Not that the castle wasn’t modern; it was, but it was rather a mix of old and new. This space, though, had been fitted out to look different.

Why?

Ben wandered further in and glanced around. There was a type of recreation room with a digital screen, sofas, games, and off to the side, a kitchen.

Ben kept walking.

Next, he found a few meeting rooms. He stepped into one and stilled.

Well, well, well. What do we have here?

A photo of his sister and her mate was in a frame on the side counter. This was Sofia’s office. Ben stepped inside and closed the door quietly.

“Fuck me,” he cursed as he stood in the space, knowing instinctively that whatever he was about to find involved Anna.

A chill ran down his spine. Part of him didn’t want to look, but he had to know.

Jesus, what could this be about?

Who was Anna?

Typical Sofia, her desk was pristine and tidy. A laptop and tablet sat out in the open, but they would be password protected. Ben would be able to get into them, but not quickly.

He walked to a filing cabinet. It opened, which told him there was unlikely to be any confidential things in it. Yet experience told him to look anyway. People and vampires did stupid things.

The drawer was filled with the usual manila folders, each with a name on them.

Oh, Jesus.

Cold crept through his veins as he saw Anna’s name.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he muttered, not wanting to look but knowing he had to. Ben pulled it out and flipped it open.

The front page was a type of registration form. Her name, address, parents’ details. Anna was a local. Born in Rome. 1942.

He smiled when he saw her profession: vet nurse. Ben could see her doing that, and hated that he didn’t know all about her. Why had she never told him?

A desire to know everything overwhelmed him. Yet, before Ben could do that, he needed to find out why she was here and see if he could help her. He turned another page to a range of medical information.

His eyes darted to the wall before him, the chill turning to frost in his veins.

Why would anyone keep medical records of a vampire? They didn’t get sick.

But he knew the fucking answer.

He fucking knew.

In fact, if he was being honest with himself, he’d known all along and not wanted to let the thought stick.

“No, please,” he ground out, forcing himself to look down at the paper again.

The next sheet simply read: Retrieved . There was a stamp and a date.

Then beside it, a stamp which said: SURVIVED.

Vomit rose up his throat.

Fuck!!!!

No, not his Anna! Ben flung his head back, swallowing his scream as his eyes filled with fury. And tears. Real fucking tears. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d cried.

Maybe never.

He stood with fist clenched, not able to express the horror and fury racing through his veins.

Fucking motherfuckers.

There would be no easy bullet for these assholes; he was going to torture them. As they had done to his beautiful Anna.

Quickly, fighting fury and nausea, Ben flicked through the rest of the documents. He knew what they contained; it was why he felt so sick. He’d studied them at The Institute prior to leaving the United States. It was part of why he was here. To help these vampires and stop more of them from this type of suffering.

Ari had received the intel on the experiments done on the vampires in these labs, but there had been no names. No data like the Moretti’s had. As his sister had. The Institute also hadn’t known what had happened to the survivors.

Now they did. They were inside the fucking Moretti castle. And one of them, apparently, had found her way inside his heart.

He closed the folder and stared at her name. Anna Vitale. Vitalis meant life, or vital. And that was exactly how she was beginning to feel to him. Vital.

“Seen enough, asshole?”

Shit.

He looked up and found Craig leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

“How the fuck?” Ben had never had anyone creep up on him before.

“Put it down.”

Ben looked at his hand and found he’d automatically pulled his Glock out of the back of his pants. “Shit.” He planted it back in its place and put the folder back in the drawer.

“How many were lost?” he asked.

“None of your goddamn business,” Craig said, standing up straight and motioning for him to leave. “Let’s go.”

“Wait.”

Craig’s eyes turned dark. “No, you wait, asshole. I am over your lies and deceit. If you want information, you need to start answering our questions first.”

Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen.

Ben saw he had two options.

He could leave and finish the job he’d come to Rome to do with Oliver’s help, seeking revenge for Anna. Now he knew they were the same enemy, so there was no more searching required on his behalf. He had the information he needed. However, overpowering the commander—which he would; the guy wouldn’t be able to stop Ben—meant he would never be able to return to the castle or see Anna again.

He didn’t like that idea at all.

Or he could smack Craig around a little—appealing—and rearrange his memories so he could stay on the inside a little longer. And what?

Anna was not a female he could fuck around with. He saw that now. Not that he’d ever planned to do that, but she deserved someone much better than him. Someone that wasn’t going to leave her. She deserved her mate and to be loved, cherished, and adored.

“Listen, Craig—”

“Commander. You call me fucking Commander.”

Ben rolled his eyes. “Dude, you are really beginning to piss me off.”

God, it was good to get it off his chest. He was filled with fury at what had happened to Anna, and here was a nice, big, juicy body with Craig’s face on to kick the shit out of. Perfect.

Craig turned to him, looking deadly as fuck. “What. Did. You. Say?”

Option B it was, then.

Jesus, they were going to completely destroy Sofia’s office. Ben grinned. Oh, dear, how sad. That would teach her for getting between him and Anna.

Ben took a step forward. “I said, motherfucker, to get the fuck out of my way.”

Craig stepped forward so they were nearly nose to nose and laughed.

Laughed!

Ben narrowed his eyes.

“You think you can take me, you arrogant fuck?” Craig laughed.

Ben smirked. He’d been waiting a long damn time for this moment. Okay, so it wasn’t years or centuries, but weeks. Still long enough to wipe the smile off the infamous commander’s face.

Ben had been trained by the Director, and there was no one better than Ari Moretti. He was also Ari’s strongest, most powerful weapon.

That’s right. Ben was a fucking weapon.

“Try me.” Ben grinned as his hand whipped up and wrapped around Craig’s throat.

Then it was on.

Craig, still with a death grip around his neck, pushed Ben up against the wall, and things went fucking flying. Pictures crashed, the plaster cracked, and he heard some glass shatter.

Oomph. Oomph. Oomph.

Over and over, the commander slammed Ben’s body against the wall while he gripped his neck.

And fuck, the guy was strong. Ben had to concede that. It had taken him by surprise.

His head smashed into the wall, but he threw off the dizziness, focusing on retaining his own hold.

Their legs kicked as both of them tried to knock each other off their perch, and the next minute, they both went down.

Smash.

Craig got him a good one in the nose.

Ben pulled back and socked him in the gut. He was solid as fuck, but Ben ignored his aching fist and jabbed him in the jaw. Craig’s head slammed back.

“Fucker.”

Ben grinned.

Bouncing on his feet to taunt the commander, the big guy righted himself. Next, they flipped each other, over and around, kicking and punching as they went.

Slam.

Ben dropped the commander on Sofia’s desk and grinned when it cracked in half. Craig leaped up and dropped to the ground, kicking out. He caught Ben’s legs, and down he went, bashing his head on the side table, losing his breath.

Fuck.

He knew he’d fucked up.

Craig lifted him by the neck with more ease than he should have been able to and dragged him up the wall.

“That’s right, motherfucker.” Craig grinned at his wide eyes.

What the hell?

There’s no way the commander should have been able to overpower him with so much ease. Had he been fucking playing with him up to this point?

“Who are you?” Craig asked, and Ben fought to get loose but was unable to budge a fucking muscle. “You’ll talk, asshole.”

Craig released his neck and shoved his palm into Ben’s chest with that same strength. Ben grabbed his wrist and coughed, clearing his throat.

“What the fuck. How?” Ben felt an ankle device slip onto his leg. Ah, the infamous P-Muter. He’d heard about these things. They were made of tungsten and impossible for a vampire to remove. Mostly because they muted all their powers. All of them.

Damn it.

“I’m asking the questions,” Craig growled, standing up and letting him go. They both knew he was now incapacitated.

Ben let out a sigh and straightened his clothes, running his hand through his hair. Worst case scenario, he’d be here a day. Oli would come for him.

“I’m not your enemy,” Ben declared, rubbing his dark hair and watching pieces of his sister’s desk fall out of it.

Craig took a step back, straightening his own shirt and pants, scowling at the ripped arm. “No, I don’t think you are. But it’s my job to protect the royal family and the vampires in this castle, so until you start talking, you’re no longer free.”

Well, there would be no talking.

“And thank you,” Craig said.

“For?”

“Fucking up. I’ve been wanting to wipe that grin off your face since the moment I met you,” Craig clarified with a big grin of his own.

“You’re welcome. I enjoyed letting off my own steam.” Ben shrugged. “Round two will be mine.”

He was less confident now, though. The male had power beyond what any other vampire had. He’d be sharing that with Ari.

“Moron,” Craig muttered.

Ben took a look around them at the debris. “Sofia is going to be pissed.”

“She’s got bigger fish to fry tonight,” Craig said.

“What do you mean?” Ben’s instincts were suddenly on high alert. “Is she alright?”

Craig frowned and looked thoughtful for a moment.

“Yeah, sorry, dick move. She’s your sister. Sofia is fine. It’s...” He stopped talking then waved toward the now leaning filing cabinet. “Well, you’ve seen. Anna has...”

Ben narrowed his eyes.

“Anna has what? WHAT?” he yelled, stalking toward the commander. “Tell me. Where is she?”

Craig held up his hand. “There’s nothing you can do.”

Ben squeezed his fists together. He looked around the room for his gun. He may be weakened by the device on his body, but his gun worked just fucking fine.

Three lieutenants walked in and grabbed him.

“Just fucking tell me!” Ben yelled.

“Tonight, at the bar, something happened,” Craig said. “Jordan found her in a catatonic state. Sofia is with her, and we are trying to help her. For now, she’s lost to us. I’m sorry.”

Ben threw his head back and roared.