Read Online The Elemental Mysteries: Complete Series by Elizabeth Hunter - Free Book Online Page A

documents?”
    His slightly pained expression had her waving a hand.  
    “Never mind,” she added.   “None of my business.”  
    “It’s not that I don’t think you’re trustworthy,” he said quickly.   “This collector is very private.   I haven’t even shared the specifics with Caspar.”  
    “Caspar?”
    “Oh,” he paused.   “Caspar is my ...”  
    “Is he the guy that picks you up from the library sometimes?”
    “Yes, he’s my butler, I guess you could say.   He works for me, but runs my house, as well.   He also helps me in my work.”  
    She raised her eyebrows and nodded.   “I have never met anyone with a butler before.”
    “Well,” he shrugged.   “I suppose you have now.”
    “Tell the truth, Giovanni Vecchio.”   A mischievous look came to her eye.   “You have a butler, a cool car, and I’ve only ever seen you at night...”  
    He froze, tension suddenly evident in the set of his shoulders.   Beatrice leaned closer and whispered, “You’re Batman, aren’t you?”
    His mouth dropped open in surprise before the grin overtook his face.  
    She smiled back at him, chuckling until he joined in.   Soon, they were both laughing.  
    “You looked so serious for a second!   What did you think I was going to say?   A spy?   Vampire?   Hired killer?”
    He shook his head in amusement.   “You’re confounding.   No, I was just surprised you guessed.   I am, in fact, Batman.   I would appreciate your discretion.”  
    She nodded with a smirk, and took another sip of the coffee he’d brought her.   It had just a touch of cream, exactly the way she liked it.   “Sure you are.   I’m a skeptic until I see the rubber suit.   You’re not fooling me.”  
    He looked at her, smiling mischievously.   “You really want to see me in a rubber suit?”
    His seductive grin brought her to a halt.   “What?”   She blushed.   “No, I was just—joking, Gio.   Sheesh.”  
    He laughed at her uncomfortable expression.   Giovanni blew on his coffee, holding it in his hands and smiling at her over the edge.  
    “What are you working on?” he asked, setting down his drink.  
    She shrugged.   “Medieval Lit paper.”  
    “Dante, by any chance?”
    She cocked her head.   “Not my area.”  
    “Sorry.”  
    They looked at each other for a few moments before she relaxed again.   “It’s fine.   Valid question, I guess.   A lot of people thought I would follow in my dad’s footsteps.”  
    “But you chose not to.”  
    She shrugged at him.   “I like the library.   Information science is…kind of like solving mysteries.”  
    “So you’re a detective?” he asked with a smile.   “Do you like mysteries?”
    She rolled her eyes.   “I have no illusions of grandeur.   People need information.   I find out what they need to know and help them find it.   It’s satisfying.”  
    “That’s somewhat like your father.   Isn’t that what he was doing in Italy?   Solving mysteries?”
    Her eyes narrowed.   “Maybe.   You’re awfully interested in ten-year-old research.”  
    “I’m quite fond of Dante.   I am Italian, after all.”  
    “That’s true.”   She paused.   “I don’t know what he was looking for.”   She took another sip of her coffee and couldn’t help but notice the avid interest he was trying hard not to show.   “He told my grandfather he thought he had a line on some previously unknown letters connected with the Alighieri family.   Some missing collection of correspondence.   You know how they used to take a collection of letters and bind them in correspondence books?   I think he was looking for some of those.”  
    “What?   From Dante himself?”
    Beatrice looked down at her computer.   “Maybe.   He wasn’t specific.   No one in the family was really as interested in literature as he was.   I mean, I am now , but at the time…”   She smiled as she remembered the last call her father