Page 34 of A Bond Beyond Blood
But he still insisted on living across the bridge, so while I drove to his house for Christmas Eve dinner, I had plenty of time to think about the royal catastrophe my life had become.
Gannon was a vampire.
He’d returned after being away for eleven months, afterghostingme the week of my father’s funeral, and now he was a bloodsucking monster.
But he wasn’t eventhebloodsucking monster I should be worried about, because I was one-hundred percent sure that Vinny nearly drank from me today.
He wanted to, that much was obvious, and he’d restrained himself, thank God, but the struggle was real—and it was apparent in the way he ran from me.
So what the heck was I thinking?We’d become boyfriend and girlfriend and have a cute little holiday romance?Maybe we could open an inn somewhere in the mountains and live out the rest of our lives together in Hallmark harmony.
As cheesy as that was, the thought of a life with Vinny brought a smile to my lips.Smiling, and sparring, and,god, the sex.So much sex.
“Good grief,” I muttered as I turned off the expressway and headed toward Gio’s.“I’m a whole mess.”
When I turned down Gio’s street, I slowed as his house came into view, lit up with a twinkling rainbow of Christmas lights.He hated colorful lights—had argued with Dad almost every year about howcleanwhite lights looked—so this show of color was strictly for our father.In honor of him on our first Christmas without him.Last year didn’t count, as we’d been too consumed by grief to even acknowledge the holiday.
My grin only widened as I got closer, then turned into the driveway.
Dad’s beat up old nativity set sat in the center of Gio’s yard, paint chipping off the glowing plastic and looking worse for wear but still such a beautiful sight.
I stared at Joseph and Mary and the plump, plastic baby Jesus in his faded little manger, and happy tears streamed down my cheeks.
My father wasn’t with us physically, but my brother had made sure Dad was here.
Motion by the front door caught my eye and I looked up as my beast of a big brother stepped onto the porch, a dish towel thrown over his shoulder and his white undershirt stained with whatever he’d been slaving over all day in the kitchen.
He grinned when he saw me, but that smile quickly fell once he took me in.I swiped at my cheeks as he hurried to the car, laughing as he tugged the door open and squatted beside the driver’s side.“Jack, what’s wrong?”He searched my gaze frantically, that familiar overbearing concern in his deep brown eyes.
Our father’s eyes.Both of my brothers had them.
I inherited the less common blue-eyed Italian genes from our mom.
“I’m fine, Gio,” I said as he cupped my cheek.“Just feeling...”I shrugged and he nodded.
“Yeah.I feel it too.”He patted my cheek, then rose to his feet and stepped aside.“Come on.It’s cold as fuck out here.”
“Maybe you should cover those guns.”I climbed out of the car and he pulled me into a chokehold.
“Without these guns, how would I strangle annoyingpolpettinas?”He rubbed his fist into my scalp and I squeaked, smiling even as he tortured me.I breathed deeply, pulling his familiar scent into my lungs.As long as I could remember, Gio was happiest in the kitchen, so he always smelled faintly of garlic and oregano, with a hint of the same cologne he’d worn since high school.
A loudbangcame from inside the house and I turned to look up at the light streaming through the open front door.“Who else is here?”
I’d assumed it would just be the two of us, what with Leo spending Christmas by the beach in California.
“Thea,” Gio answered, pulling me from my thoughts.
I hadn’t heard that name before.I narrowed my eyes and looked up at him.“Another one?”
Gio laughed, then shoved me away from him playfully and kicked the car door shut behind us.“Aw, don’t be jealous, kiddo.Someday you’ll hit puberty and men will look at you, too.”
“Oh my god,” I mumbled.“You’re theworst.”
He winked and wrapped his arm around my neck, pulling me into another chokehold as he dragged me up the walk.“Thea,” he called as we made our way up the stairs and into the house, “stop breaking shit in my kitchen and come meet my little sister.”
When we crossed the threshold and he released me, I inhaled deeply and looked at him.“Is that...Did you make...?”
“Dad’s lasagna.”Gio shrugged.“Seemed like the right thing to do.”
