Free This Same Earth: Elemental Mysteries Book 2 by Elizabeth Hunter Page B

to walk down the hall in search of Beatrice. Giovanni could hear him knocking on the bathroom door when he walked back into the dining room.
    “Benjamin, it’s time for us to go.”
     
     
    Two weeks.
    She refused his calls for two weeks, until finally, Giovanni sat outside the library, waiting for her on the steps. When she walked through the glass doors and spotted him, she didn’t stop, so he followed her.
    “Beatrice.”
    She kept walking past the walkway to the parking lot and toward a small grove of isolated oak trees. She did not look back. For the first time since he’d come back into her life, Giovanni felt a hint of panic.
    “I want to talk to you,” he called as she paced through the trees.
    She whirled around and he almost ran into her. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea, Gio. Let’s talk.”
    “Fine. I think you need to tell Dez and Mano the truth about me. About everything.”
    She backed away from him and her mouth gaped open. “What?”
    “You need to tell them.” He cocked an eyebrow at her. “You say you love them and you want them to be a part of your life, so why don’t you trust them?”
    She might tell Dez…but he was betting she wouldn’t tell Mano.
    Beatrice only blinked at him. “I don’t—you want me to tell them?”
    “Do you love them?” She didn’t answer, so he shrugged. “It’s up to you, but you can’t continue to live with these secrets. It’s going to make you sick. It’s already making you angry.”
    “No.” She strode toward him, pointing a finger at his chest. “ You made me angry. When you told Mano about us. It’s none of his business.”
    “Why were you hiding it?”
    “To protect you!”
    “I didn’t ask you to do that. I didn’t ask you to protect me.” He stepped closer and they circled each other under the oak trees.
    “And I didn’t ask you to protect me, but you did. Why the hell did you hire someone to live next to me all these years?” Her face was red and furious, but he could see the tears filling her eyes. “What was the point? Did he tell you when guys stayed over? Did he tell you when I flirted with him myself?”
    His fists clenched, but he forced himself to remain calm. “It didn’t matter, I don’t care about that. I care about you.” He approached cautiously, as if walking too quickly might scare her off. “You deserved a life. A normal life without me, so you knew—”
    “I didn’t want a life without you!” she exploded, tears finally falling down her face. “Don’t you get that? Are you that dense? Don’t you realize I was in love with you?”
    His heart ached. “Beatrice—”
    “Five hundred years and you couldn’t tell?”
    He walked toward her, desperate to take her in his arms, but she stepped back, dashing the tears from her eyes. “ Tesoro —”
    “Why didn’t you come?” she sobbed. “Why? I waited for years ! I never loved a man the way I loved you. I’ve never loved anyone that way. I never wanted anyone that way.”
    For the first time in his immortal life, he felt as if his heart could bleed from another’s pain. Giovanni could only whisper, “I know.”
    He stepped within arm’s distance and put a single hand on her cheek, which was flushed and wet with tears. In that moment, Beatrice didn’t look like a confident woman of twenty-eight; she looked like the girl he had forced himself to leave.
    “So why , Gio? If you knew, why? Don’t you realize I would have done anything for you? I would have run away with you.”
    “Beatrice—”
    “Didn't you know?” She slapped his hand away, and her voice rose. “I would have left my family behind. I would have begged Carwyn to turn me so I could stay with you forever! Why?”
    “That’s why!” he yelled, grabbing onto her shoulders. “Don’t you see, Beatrice? That’s why I couldn’t come to you!”
    Giovanni dragged her to his chest, and their mouths crashed together. He wrapped his arms around her, his fingers gripping her back.