“That doesn’t matter!” I reach and wrap him in my arms again, grinning helplessly. “Who cares what anyone thinks? I love you and I have you, and you have me. We’re bonded, Jae.”
I want him to let himself be as excited as I know he is—as excited as I am. But he just holds me tight with his palms flat against my spine. I can feel the warmth and delight radiating from within him, but he doesn’t say a word.
A little later, when we open the door to the back room of the villa, we’re met with wide eyes across the board. Cellina is sitting on the couch with her bare feet in Giovanni’s lap as he rubs them. Haruka is sitting in an armchair, and Nino is jacketless and pacing around behind him until he sees us and stops dead. Cellina sits up straighter on the couch as we walk inside.
“Oh wow! Congratulations!”
“Thank you,” I say, holding on to Jae’s hand. Giovanni cocks his head to the side.
“So you two were fucking in the garden? Who bonds at someone else’s bonding ceremony?”
Cellina frowns, moving her feet from his grasp. “You are so out of control today.”
“Actually, I only fed from his hand,” I clarify.
“How they bonded is absolutely none of your business.” Haruka is staring at Giovanni with that cold look he sometimes has—when the red of his eyes reads more foreboding than unaffected or playful. I rarely see this expression on him, but when I do, it shifts his entire demeanor, and I suddenly remember how old his blood is and what he could do with it if he chose to.
But Giovanni stares right back, then smirks. “You’re calling me names inside your head right now, aren’t you?”
“He is.” Nino walks over to meet us, his amber eyes lit up even more by his sincere smile. “Congratulations. Does this mean you’re coming back to Japan?” He’s looking at Jae, but Jae starts and looks at me, then back to Nino.
“I don’t know? We—we’d have to decide and talk.”
Nino nods. “Alright, so you’ll talk, decide, then come back to Japan?”
“My love, perhaps we should give them some space?” Haruka stands from the armchair and walks toward us. Nino runs his fingers into his hair and sighs.
“Sorry. I’m really happy for you, though. For both of you. This is great.”
As Haruka walks up, he rests his palms against Nino’s shoulders, leans and places a quick kiss at the back of his neck. Privately, I know that Nino is struggling personally—both with some kind of shift in the dynamic between him and his brother and with this kid situation. He’s happy about the latter, but it’s setting off some unexpected triggers inside of him and he’s seeing someone to help manage it. His temperament has been wound a little tight lately.
“We were waiting for you,” Haruka states. “We’re ready to return to Sergio’s estate for the evening. Are you both ready as well?”
Jae and I both agree, and we keep a firm hold on each other’s hands as we leave the villa, and even during the car ride back to the estate.
I’ve been to the Bianchi estate before. It’s a sprawling property, like a small village unto itself, full of brownstone cottages and houses interspersed between beautiful gardens. This estate is much different. It belongs to Giovanni’s friend Sergio, who is another kind of business tycoon, but not quite as famous as Nino’s brother.
Sergio’s house is a literal medieval castle—with a moat and drawbridge, tall rectangular towers, sweeping courtyards and crenellated walls—the whole deal. But inside, it’s been gutted and everything is modern and cozy. There are glass atria, granite countertops and pine floors. The lighting is all recessed, so everything is cast in warm spotlights and shadows. It’s a bold juxtaposition compared with the outside, but somehow it works, and I applaud his design choices.
When we all arrive, an after-party kind of gathering starts to form in the main sitting room. Giovanni plops down onto the couch in his suit and tosses his jacket aside. Sergio walks toward an impressive wall made of dark maple wood and glass that clearly functions as a large liquor cabinet. Cellina and Haruka are walking arm in arm toward another cozy-looking couch, while Nino trails behind them, walking beside Cosimo, Cellina’s brother. Nino is clearly displeased as Cosimo passionately explains something to him that I can’t quite catch.
Leaning, I whisper to Jae, “Should we join everyone? Or have you had enough for today?”
“A lot has happened today… I’d like some quiet time to process it.”
I nod, then swiftly announce our retiring for the night and that we’ll see everyone in the morning. Immediately, Giovanni calls out from across the room, “Is the deer feeling a little less skittish?”
I don’t know why the fuck he keeps picking on Jae, but it’s grating me.
“If he’s a deer, then Junii is unquestionably a wolf.” Matteo is smirking at me as he saunters past in his loud, sequined pants. He and I cross paths quite a bit if I’m working in Italy. He’s highly sought after for the makeup he does in photo shoots for magazines. Apparently, he and Cellina are very close, which I wouldn’t have guessed.
“I agree with that assessment.” Jae is looking up at me all innocent and doe-eyed. Right.
I frown. “What?”
“That’s not far off.” Cellina is leaning on the arm of the couch, staring at me. “You’re a little wolfish.” Haruka is sitting beside her and tilting his head like he’s about to say something, but I’m done with this.
Bowing slightly, I rest my free hand at my stomach. “I bid you all fucking goodnight.” I turn, pulling Jae along behind me as everyone chuckles.
Our assigned bedroom is on the first floor, toward the back of the castle and through a small courtyard. It’s very private, and the entryway is covered in hanging vines and ivy. At first glance, it looks like a room or closet that might have been forgotten centuries ago. But inside is a beautiful square-shaped bedroom with stone walls, lamplights and an oversized bed.
There are exposed wooden beams overhead supporting the low ceiling, and connected to the room and through a narrow archway is a glass atrium that serves as our bathroom. There’s a private wooden area with a door for the actual toilet, but the large bathtub is freestanding, and there’s a space with a shower head just off to the side. There are plants everywhere—hanging in pots from the ceiling, covering the floor at our feet and on a ledge that runs all the way through.
This part of the castle was likely a greenhouse and gardening shed that Sergio decided to convert into a bedroom. I can see how it worked in its original state, but it’s been transformed exquisitely. Again, bold choices that I’m very impressed with.
“I feel like I’m in The Hobbit.” Jae is standing in the middle of the bedroom and looking around. We arrived in the day, and it was bright and sunny here then. At night, it’s taken on a different form. A fairy tale setting with soft lights, mysterious wonders and hidden treasures.
Meeting him in the center of the cozy space, I grin. “Are you tired?”
He shakes his head. “Not really.” He steps away from me to examine one of the stained-glass lanterns on the shelf beside the bed. He’s still nervous. Apprehensive. I can feel it pulsing off of him.
“I’ve never had a bath in a greenhouse,” I announce.
“A greenhouse in a medieval castle off a lake in Italy?”
I chuckle. “Well, when you put it that way, it feels a little excessive.”
