By the Book by C. J. Vincent

Author:C. J. Vincent
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: FireHive Media

Chapter 8 ~ Gideon

I thought about Aiden (if that really was his name) constantly for the next week. I went out of my way to find books and manuscripts that supported my position on Alighieri's approach to the afterlife. What I really should have been doing was tackling the pile of books on my desk, but I needed to do something else—anything else—to distract me from thinking about him; about what had happened in that narrow spiral staircase. Anyone could have seen us, and part of me had wanted to be discovered.

My cock twitched and I tried to focus on the book in front of me. I’d read the spine half a dozen times, and still not registered what it was or where it should be catalogued. I imagined Aiden standing behind me, chuckling at how flustered I was… at how easily I was distracted thinking about him.

Ridiculous.

He hadn’t been back to the library in days, but I didn’t know how many had passed. Was he avoiding me? Should I be feeling more ashamed than I actually was for how badly I’d wanted to act on my dreams? Was this even about me? Ugh.

Signore de Sarno had been curiously talkative since I’d given Aiden the book he’d ordered, and he seemed particularly excited about a large package that had arrived that needed his special attention.

“Come, Gideon,” he said one day. “Guarda qui, I have a challenge for you.” He beckoned me over to his ink-stained desk so I could look more closely at the contents of the package. My mouth dropped open as he unwrapped the books.

“But, Signore, they’re burned… how are we supposed to repair these?” I asked. “Some of these are too damaged… who would do such a thing?”

Signore de Sarno chuckled and set one of the damaged books gently in front of himself. His desk had come from the scriptorium of a monastery that had been destroyed by an earthquake decades ago, and it was a particular quirk of his to sit at this desk to work on his most important, or challenging in this case, projects. He had never let me sit at it, but I hoped that would change one day…

“From what I have been told, this was the revenge of a jealous wife… she accused him of loving his books more than he loved her…”

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