“He told you his name?” Ben said that with a sort of stunned reverence. “Holy hell, Delaney. Holy hell.”
“He told me he knew he was dead.”
Ben hummed a little sound of agreement. That must be the line Rossi told everyone. Except, apparently, Ben.
“And why did he tellyousomething different?”
Ben grinned again. “We’re...uh...close.”
I was trying to picture Ben and Rossi and Jame in a threesome and doing a terrible job at making that work in my head.
“What does that mean?”
“I’m one of his.” At my look he smiled again, but this time it was softer, and so very much older. “He turned me. It was...a long time ago. And it was a gift of sorts.”
“So that makes you blood related?”
Jame chuffed again.
“I’m sort of his only son.”
Wow. That was not in the history books or records that my family kept on Ordinary. I wondered if Dad had known about that. Wondered if Myra knew.
“Do most of the Rossis know this?”
He shrugged and it was the typically graceful, flowing vampire thing. “It’s not a secret. But we don’t exactly hang out in the front yard playing catch either. Our relationship isn’t brought up often.”
“Why?”
“He’s very protective.”
“So the fewer people who know you’re related, the less of a target you are if Rossi’s past comes looking for him?”
“Something like that.”
It both surprised and impressed me. That kind of caution spoke of feelings, maybe even a caring relationship.
It was sweet. Who knew Rossi had it in him?
“Did the words on Sven’s back have something to do with Lavius?”
His gaze dropped and he went back to drawing on the table top. “I don’t know. Maybe. Sven wasn’t as old as me, not nearly as old as Rossi. But I’ve seen those words, written in Latin before.”
“Where?”
“In Rossi’s letters and personal papers. It was used as a closing in several documents.”
“Coincidence?”
Ben stared at me for an extended moment. “I hardly think so. Do you?”
That slightly imperious tone made me curious about which time in history Ben had been originally born into, and what his occupation or social status might have been. Right this moment I’d have said royalty, or maybe snooty school teacher.
“No,” I said. “Coincidence is the one thing I don’t believe in when it comes to Ordinary.”
At that moment, Piper was back, a tray with all of our food balanced on her arm. She placed each order in front of the correct recipient.
“All right then. Is there anything else I can get any of you?”
