Chapter 184: 23. When You Say Nothing At All.
I then found an ad in the paper for local farms, like these direct sales farms, where you can buy eggs, milk, meat, birds, and everything farmed. I have a big fridge where I walk in and a freezer as well. So they would need supplies. It would time for me to go shopping and see this wonderful country as Mimi, not as flea.
I put the addresses on the navigator for me. I'm going to visit them in a couple of days. I had heard nothing from Adam, so I think he'll let me know when he's coming. We had our bond open more or less all the time so I felt him in my soul. His love had healed that painful gash in my soul that freaking Salvatore had left behind. I continued decorating and fixing up the castle for a few more days.
It had been two weeks and three days since I had arrived in Italy. When I woke up in the morning, I was refreshed and in a good mood. I had slept quite a few nights, once again in full control of my environment and myself, so that I could sleep alone. I had had wonderful dreams. They felt so vivid. One had been like that I was Trauma surgeon already, and I had just been called in scene of big accident. I was trying to save lives and Damon was working with me, as Doctor and somehow, I knew I could take this better than he did. He felt too deeply when someone died.
Though I had slept in bad position as I had headache for half a day and then my dream faded from my mind as I focused on my decorating. Few days had been from that dream when it was time to go those farms.
I made breakfast and was excited to go to those direct-selling places today to get supplies and see if they were any good. And if they weren't, there were enormous stores somewhere, and I could buy everything there.
Well, it would be slow as I would have to watch out for the specific additives, and I didn't know if Europe had the same codes for them. Damon had listed the 50 worst and put the symptoms after, so the consideration would really be mine.
But I knew their names, and I could then research them in the shop from my phone to see how they were labeled. And what their thresholds were, Damon had also put in the book where they were most commonly found, even the brands of some products, so you could say I was equipped with the knowledge, and I knew it would take time to shop.
But I knew I would let my magnificent alpha read this book too, so he would knew these things as well. I was waiting time to get him in my bed so he could once again decorate my body with his bites. It seemed that freaking salvatore had gotten rid of them. We had no have time to make new ones. I had decorated him and I was not sure was my vampire bite in his neck permanent mark. I was alpha vampire, that I knew, and as such, I could take someone as mine.
I had already checked out these farms, and none of them were feeding the wrong feed to the animals. Because I was so damn sensitive to some herbs that if a cow were eating out in the open pasture and the plants I couldn't tolerate, the meat would cause symptoms and some nasty ones.
Plants that were related to tomatoes and coriander gave the worst symptoms, so I had quite a lot to watch out for. How Damon did this then and how the hell he had deduced or researched all this, I didn't even ponder. It was sometimes so freaking frustrating to be this sensitive. To be vigilant of every freaking thing I put in my mouth.
I took a shower and then went to get my clothes ready. I checked my phone, and there was no message from Adam. Remembering his words that it would take as long as it took and then he would let me know when he was coming. I did not probe him through our bond but let him focus what he needed to be done.
I was already thinking that I could then pick him up in my Lexus from the plane and drive him to the castle. And after I had done a lot of cooking and baking, we could eat and then maybe do a little bit of other stuff, unless the gentleman wanted to put the castle in order for security. This was a fairly clever system. I knew one of Adam's biggest rivals had installed it, but it did the job. You never know about the future.
Adam had Nick biting Brianna the day after Mimi had left for Italy. Well, it was really easy feat. He had copy of Brianna's schedule in his desk; He had asked Nick to come and meet him, that they needed to discuss evil medical facilities. So Nick had seen in schedule. Bran had spoken to Nick about Brianna earlier and when they do this like that, Adam was innocent.
Damon had given him schedule, so he knew where not to bring Mimi. As Brianna was now his wife. This way, this was all Bran's responsibility. He had more or less tell Nick to get rid of that Vampire whore who betrayed him. Adam knew all he had to do now was wait and get all the demands met, and then things would be sorted.
Damon sat by his wife's bedside, watching her in fever or sweat, in pain, confused, weak, and he did nothing. It was even more painful to die Nick's venom than it had been in TV series showed. Damon felt no mercy. He watched and enjoyed and let Brianna see how he enjoyed her death.
Damon talked to Brianna in his head, told her of the deeds and the consequences, how evil gets its due, and how he also believed there was no so-called peace for Brianna, but hell, if there was one.
He told and showed her horrors through his telepathy, making the dying satanic whore panic and last as long as possible, Brianna begged, promised a million things if she would just live, but none came. It was good to send fear and terror to this victim, feeling being hunted, smelling bitter stench of her pain.
Only Salvatore sat by her bedside, torturing her mentally, and Brianna was helpless, sick, dying, and she realized, maybe for the first time in her life, that she had done something really wrong all those centuries, and now she was going to pay. She didn't want to pay; she wanted to live, but no. Breath after breath, she struggled, few dentals from Damon kept her insane to very end, so she could feel herself dying, and see all the time raw pleasure shining from Damon's face. She knew that there was no legend left after her but her reputation will be just one more vampire whore.
When Brianna then finally died, Damon made no claim. He didn't even name himself as her husband, but her ultimately modest estate would go to the Elders. Then Damon made a claim on Bran because one time, when Nick and Elias had come to Bran for help with Mimi, Bran had taken Nick into his wolf pack, so when Nick's wolf half had bitten Brianna, killed her.
Damon made a claim for damages unless Bran wanted a vampire war and the wrath of the elders on his head, so Bran paid three million to Damon in compensation. The matter was then settled. After the money was in the account, everything was taken care of. A little over two weeks had passed since Mimi left for Italy.
Adam took Damon back into the pack, gave him Mimi's medical rights again, and Samuel and Damon went over Mimi's history together. Damon read all about Silver madness and Mimi's pain, and he once again hated himself. But he knew that even if he had been there, the nitrogen silver would have broken down just as badly, and he didn't always control his teeth, so she might have been in just as much pain.
Adam had talked with Damon about Mimi's dark side and how hard it is for her to accept it. Damon had been quiet at first, thinking about things and only time would tell what would happen. He had shoved it down a few times but then again always something happened and she took it out. Would it be better to get her to accept that side? Not shove it down.
Adam sat in the kitchen eating and thought he could have gone to Italy on his own, but then again, it would be good to have Salvatore back in the pack properly and see how he and Mimi were doing. Adam knew he could have just gone, gone to Mimi's, and had a good time.
Still, he also had to remember his responsibility as alpha, as pack leader, and that was to keep everyone together, so he would now at least ask if Salvatore wanted to come along. He had said nothing about Mimi. He hadn't told him about the castle or even shown him any pictures. He'd been quiet about it as he watched and saw what he was up to, whether Salvatore was going to jump in and fuck everyone or not.
Adam looked up as Damon walked into the kitchen, picked up a plate, ladled himself a mountain of meat stew, and said in a quiet voice. "I'm a telepath. I've tried to stay out of your head, but some just leak through. I will not fuck around, but I'd like to go to Mimi's, wherever she is."
Adam grunted. " Mimi is in Italy. She bought a castle there and has been fixing it up for a couple of weeks now. "
Damon raised an eyebrow and grinned; he said as an interesting thought developed in his head, " Have you promised to come? I mean, have you given any clear notice? How about we make a surprise attack and see what she's up to?"
Adam smiled slyly. Good idea. Gotta have a surprise with Mimi. He had gotten quite a transmission unbridled smugness from her days in a row now.
Damon said, " Do you know the address of Mimi's castle? We could fly there tomorrow or even today and see what we find. What young lady is doing. From your expression she must feeling quite damn self satisfied."
Adam showed Damon pictures of Mimi's castle. Damon whistled low. They looked at the floor plan Mimi had sent them, where she had planned out an activity for each room. He knew that even that castle had been little rundown. It had not been cheap, and it was in quite near to his original home.
Both men had one activity assigned, and they were trying to get Samuel to come along, but no, this one had to go to the clinics on the East Coast, do an assessment there, and make sure everything was working as it should. Samuel had to focus on medicine again and he had his responsibilities.
Damon would not do a medbay then on the spot. No, he was ready to take his own back. Adam called the plane ready, and it was ready to go for the day, well good. The men packed their bags. Samuel was already walking away, and Adam was now locking the front door, putting the key in his pocket as they left in Adam's SUV for the airport.
Damon was pleased. Adam wouldn't realize it himself, but now that he was in a relationship with Mimi, Adam would be a lot more jealous and couldn't let Mimi do the things she had been doing as freely as she had if he could still see. It would not be so easy for her to flirt around, dress whatever she wanted and flaunt around strange men.
Damon himself was jealous of Mimi even though they had no connection. No bond between them, just gnawing emptiness. They weren't married yet, and this time, Mimi would have an official wedding, a three-day one, and some part of Damon was planning it quite special. His dream wedding.
They arrived at the plane, got on, and the plane took off for Italy. Three-quarters of the way through, Damon noticed Adam closing his eyes, touching the signet ring he had on his left hand, and concentrating on something. He was frowning slightly and Damon's telepathy felt Adam's focus.
Damon asked, "What are you doing?"
Adam opened his eyes and said, "I'm locating Mimi. Mimi has a pendant, and it's linked to this ring. I'm getting a feel for where she is. Dresden and Constantine did this. Mimi's jewel is enchanted, so it can't be taken off, and I'll always know where she is."
Damon grunted. He immediately got a bit of a bad feeling about that and said, "Fine, I don't see the need for that. Dresden and Constantine are good, but any coven or a couple of powerful witches can get the pendant off Mimi. And then it's useless. And besides, I'm Mimi's protector, so it would be good for me to know where she is. "
Adam grumbled and said, " Yeah, we'll see about that in the meantime. This is going to take some concentration to find Mimi. I haven't done this from this distance yet but I can feel the connection, it just take time and focus."
Damon tried to be patient and said, "See, I'm probably pretty damn good at strengthening that connection when I'm a telepath. I might find the lady pretty quickly."
Adam opened his eyes, sighed, and handed the ring to Damon, who placed it in his right hand on the ring finger and concentrated. It did not take this telepathy long to get an idea.
Soon, he said, "Southern Italy."
After a moment, Damon said the exact address, and Adam wrote it down and programmed his phone into the navigator. They had a car with them, and the navigator would easily update his phone to the address.
I was ready to go shopping. From what I looked on the website, the three places I had chosen were originally owned by Americans, so the language barrier shouldn't be an obstacle.
The photographic memory helped pretty damn quickly in learning the language. The pronunciation was probably the only thing that needed work. But it was one thing that would need just speaking and lot of it. It was time to go, and I got dressed after I had bought myself a lovely, cool, light white silk dress with a bell hem. My underpants were dark blue, lighter lace versions as I was hot-sensitive and didn't want to leak sweat. It was hot in Italy, even in winter like this. i had put some makeup, so I would not look like teen but as woman.
I would visit three farms: birds, meat, and fruit. I'd get proper eggs, different meats, as well as smoothie ingredients. The book had a section on making smoothies. Test kitchen, here I come.
The men got off the plane, took the car, and Damon said, "The lady's on the move. She's going to a direct sales farm. Here's the address. I got it off the lady's head. Come on, we'll catch her at this first farm, and the lady's got a new car, a sporty Lexus."
Adam looked at Damon, who was a little tense. Damon picked up his phone. He tapped on it for a while and it showed the website of the first farm, a picture of the owner of the farm, and Adam felt his blood boil. A jealousy that had never been so intense surged through his mind and his mate and that man. She was his and not that strange man. He needed to go and claim her.
No way. He had put up with the gigs because Mimi hated every victim and killed them, but this host, oh fuck. Damon smiled in his mind as jealousy struck Adam. Mimi would soon learn that all men were the same when they were with her. Even Adam wasn't quite as perfect and easy as Mimi expected.
I didn't know what to expect, so I went for a drive. The route was quite winding, and I obeyed the navigator. I got a few stares as I drove down the gravel road in my sports model Lexus, my hair just tied up with a scarf so it didn't fly in my eyes.
My hair was still blonde, I had make-up on, and my shoes were high-heeled sandals. So I wouldn't be so tiny. Some people might have cursed these roads and wondered how the paint on the car would be damaged, but not me. I was in no hurry at all, and the beautiful scenery always made me feel better. I sang or hummed all the way and my soul was more or less almost singing. There were no thoughts in my mind for men.
I drove along many country roads, some in worse condition than others, and there were some uphill bends, but when I drove slowly, it was fine. Eventually, I arrived in the yard of a big farmhouse. There was a sign for direct sales in Italian and American. I could read Italian pretty well, like said, my speaking was not perfect, not yet.
I parked my car and grabbed my bag as I slowly got out of the car. I looked around for a moment. This was a farmhouse, there was a residential building and large barns and other outbuildings adorned the yard. I could hear the sounds of various birds, and there were a few other cars parked in the yard.
I saw a few people walking near large boxes that had been put in one building that now had large doors open. I saw that the building was some kind of cold storage. From there, a man started walking towards me, young Don Johnson, like a spitting image. Weather was quite damn warm, and I was glad of my cool dress and I was thankful for the breeze.
He came up to me while I was still standing next to the car. "Hey, I think you're American? What brings you here, young lady? I guess it's your first time shopping. Don't worry, I'll help you out. My name is Cameron Greene."
I said, as I shook his hand. "Mimi Springcove. Yes, I am. I bought a castle here, and now I'm getting everything for the freezer and cooking. This is my first time, yeah. I am very sensitive to herbs. I am not human, I am hybrid, vampire werewolf, so I need to be vigilant what to eat."
The man said," I've got a very good supply of birds and eggs, fresh and safe to eat. I am happy to meet you, you are first of your kind that has come to my humble farm." His voice was just as husky. "Come over here, and I'll show you how it works."
I followed the man and got a scanner in my hand. With it, I could scan either individual packages or entire boxes for my order. So there was a barcode or QR code on the product, and from that, I could just scan my order. Each package was unique so that I would get just that package.
I saw people scanning a couple of packages and helpful young men were packing the orders into the boxes, speaking Italian. They seemed to be in a good mood. One young couple seemed to talk animatedly to each other and were carefully selecting what to take, looking at prices and weights. Supposedly, they had a budget, and I didn't.
I started looking through the boxes. There were lots of birds: chicken, turkey, quail, pigeon, wood pigeon, vole, teal, grouse, guinea fowl, ostrich, emu, partridge, pheasant, wren, woodcock, duck, mallard, duck, goose, swan. To name but a few. I had never even eaten every one of them. I read carefully what they had been eating and there was no danger in these.
I knew it wasn't about the money, so I let it go. I took chopped and whole, boneless, skinless, boneless, bone-in, skin-on, and I even took Mimosa ungutted and giblets. Not all of these birds were in Damon's guide, so I would then go into unknown territory with these. Maybe I could find suitable meats more than just duck for myself.
Still, the immersion cooker, the deep-fat fryer, and a couple of other cooking appliances I had got almost invited these birds in. Wondering to myself what sous vide braised vole fillet in butter would taste like. I knew I was going to have fun in the test kitchen. I had fancy ideas and quirky ideas and it was damn good to be immortal, have time. It was time for me to have a life.
Adam and Damon drove through the Italian countryside and came to the farm. The gorgeous pink convertible Lexus made Adam's eyebrows furrow, and Damon was pleased. Mimi had clearly never realized how jealous an alpha male with a mate could get with strange men. And those cars of hers. Adam had his pride as well, and he saw that Mimi as his mate, well that car would belong to him to drive and not in these roads.
The men got out of the car. Mimi was wearing a white dress, probably silk, and Damon could see the outline of her panties as she walked from box to box. Mimi's high heels made her hips sway, and the dress was very body-hugging.
The lady was in very good shape, and her platinum blonde hair was kept out of sight by a light scarf that only accentuated her slender neck. Mimi moved from one box to the next, crouching between them as she scanned a code from somewhere at the bottom of the box. She walked gracefully, sexily as hell and her white dress gave her aura of sensual innocence.
The host, a young Don Johnson lookalike, leaned against the wall and admired the scene before him uninhibited. A couple of other young men came up to Mimi, speaking in Italian. She laughed softly, almost giggled, and the men moved the boxes she had already selected elsewhere. Her laughter was husky, and she spoke something to them Italian but her pronunciation was off. Damon and Adam walked towards Mimi.
I was scanning the birds. Some were almost out, so I had to squat to get the scanned box; the young, helpful men were already moving the boxes I had chosen away, and I tried to thank them in Italian. I tried to spoke, but it was not yet what it should be. They smiled and acted quickly and efficiently.
Idea after idea came to mind. The recipes developed in my head, and the idea of fucking Adam was pushed to the back of my mind, as they were so inspiring. My mind came up with quirky ideas of birds stuffed inside each other, or meatballs made different meats and maybe innards as well. Butter braised hearts, treat for Mimosa.
The host, who had been leaning against the wall watching everyone, including other couples who were buying the products, moved and came up to me suddenly and asked me, " Are those gentlemen with you?"
I was just about to take some wild birds, some that had been caught in the wild, and I was wondering what to do with them. There were several boxes of them, ungutted, for Mimosa. When the host asked me that question, I furrowed my brows and, having been in my thoughts, turned around. I was surprised to see Adam and Damon walking towards me like tigers.
" Yeah, members of my pack," I said, not thinking about how they had found me and not paying either of them any attention after that glance, because I was focused on studying the birds. I was not sure why I had called Damon pack member but then again, I felt him as one so Adam must have taken him back.
The host said, "Would you like to check the birds' eggs next? We have lots of different ones. They are fresh, clean and organic. " He was looking at me, ready to show me more. He saw just how rich I was and I was not on budget so he was selling to me.
I nodded and said, " Yes, thank you. They are one item on my list." I was not sure what I had gotten, my scanner had row after row stuff and I did not pay any attention total. These young guys were watching and as I took one box of scanned it, they moved it away immediately. My order was getting quite large but oh my god this was wonderful.
The man led me to the eggs; they were deeper in this cold room, and I wasn't cold even though this was almost a giant fridge. I could handle cold better than hot. There were a huge number of eggs. They were in giant containers, and they were of different categories, different species, and different colors. Some of them were even speckled.
There were eggs from different breeds of chickens, and each type of egg had a brief explanation of what they were for and how they differed from the normal eggs you get in the market. Lot's of new information. About their fat content, protein and uses too. I got new knowledge all the time.
I started looking through them when Adam came up behind me and said, " What on earth have you found now? Isn't the ordinary shop enough anymore?"
I smiled and said, " Look, Hauptmann, you wouldn't believe the size of the fridge and freezer I have, so I thought I'd get some stuffing in there. I have so many ideas and I will have test kitchen. Why did you did not tell me you are coming?"
He just grunted.
He was quite close to me, but now I didn't even cuddle or kiss him as I concentrated on scanning the eggs. There were young men here to help, apparently. They were also informed of what I was taking. They could see it from somewhere. They were very polite and spoke Italian, and I heard Bella Donna and who knows what words. They spoke so freaking fast and I was focusing in my buying not what was discussed on.
Then I heard Damon talking to the men in perfect Italian. The men said something back but clearly went away. Adam was looking at the eggs. He was also reading the differences and what they were for.
I said to him. "Salvatore wrote feeding guide to me but there is not mentioned all of these birds so I get to delved new territory with few species."
Adam just grunted.
Damon came over to my other side." Did you know, dar... Baby I am now a widower? My wife was murdered, but Marrok paid the compensation, so it's even now. Did you know, Mimi, that I am now free, single?"
Interesting. Again, Damon almost let slip a darling. If he was in the mood, then this could be interesting. That mode made my tongue sing, and somehow I sensed that the side was still a pretty damn surface, so it made me babble a bit.
I just said in passing, " I'm sorry you're alone now, but don't worry, you'll always find someone. You have quite lot girlfriends waiting for you to select one of them. Soon, you'll be married again, and if it would be actually your own choice this time. After all, i just a job for you, nothing more. "
At that moment, when I got the sentence out, I was unsure. I just didn't let it show. I wondered if I was going too far. There was still bitterness in my voice. I did remembered whole outburst from the ship. I had not mentioned it to Adam. I had led him to think that my memory was too vague, but it was not.
He moved behind me, pressed himself against me, placed his palm on my stomach, and rubbed my liver for a moment, as if to remind me. He leaned against me even tighter so that I could feel his whole body, sniffed my hair, and then released his grip as curiosity about my scanner got the better of him when he saw over my shoulder me once again scanning a box of emu eggs.
He was not backing down or even tried to explain himself but he was trying to almost threaten me. I had been reborn too. Not so easy anymore.
He watched with interest, growling gently in my ear as if to warn me, but I didn't give up. I was now buying produce, not playing alpha games. Their time would come later. I coldly continued to take eggs. There were eggs of almost every species that had meat, and I took everything in fair quantities.
I knew I could get more but then again, I wanted to have enough to have blast in kitchen. Mimosa had already promised to eat everything that did not was perfect. I did promise to her that I will cook for her few gourmet dishes as well.
I moved on as Damon's grip waned and was already planning how I would start my test kitchen. The castle kitchen was lovely and big. I would bake and make many savory things from quiche onwards. Oh, my head was full of recipes as I looked at everything around me.
I walked around the farm and saw what else was there. There was ground meat from the birds too and always something new to try. I paid no attention to either man as the host walked beside me, and we talked about food and cooking. I told him about some of my food restrictions, and he then praised how good their ducks were.
As I was passing by, I was thinking half-aloud about different recipes, and the host always had some product that would work for that recipe. I looked at their ducks. They actually had a few different species. They were good-looking; they also had duck eggs and lots of them, but I had never really eaten duck eggs, so they were going to try them.
The baking was calling. And cooking too. I was already thinking about pasta made with duck eggs if you could make a lasagne with it and put whatever meat you could find on the farm, and of course, you could make a bird-based lasagne.
They also had half-grown ducks as well. They could be tasty. I was also fond of all the offal, as my recovery food is offal puree. How do you make it perfect? Damon had put none of that in my guide, and I had become very curious about my body and my nutrition.
I was wondering if there was an analyzer on the subject. The more independent I could make my eating, the better. I didn't want to depend on anybody. I had already learned to do things the way I wanted to do them, not with somebody telling me what to do at any given time. It was good to be a divorced woman.
Even though I was Adam's mate, we were together, so he didn't want to control everything in my life. He had his own things, and he wanted me to manage on my own if I needed to, so he wasn't even trying to make me dependent on him. At least, that's how I understood it.
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