Page 91 of A Bond Beyond Blood

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Jack

In the hour since Eli dropped Gannon into my lap like he needed a babysitter—and that babysitter should beme—we’d gotten absolutely nowhere.The three of us couldn’t even agree on where Gannon wouldsleep, let alone how long he would stay or what I was expected todowith him.

The only reason I hadn’t sent his ass packing was what he’d said about his mom.

And out of the three of us here, two of us were monsters;Icertainlywas not.

It broke my heart that Antonella had turned her back on her son because he’d become a vampire.I understood not wanting to interact with them, wanting to steer clear of their kind as much as possible in a world where both species mixed and mingled as if it was normal to do so.But turning your ownsonaway?I couldn’t imagine.

And I’d tried.While Vinny and Gannon argued about who deserved to be inside this apartment more, I considered what might lead Antonella Hayes to disown her only son, what might lead a mother to make such a horrific choice, but nothing I could come up with was a worthy excuse.

I simply couldn’t fathom it.

I didn’t have children yet, but I knewlove.I knew the bonds of family.If Giovanni or Leo showed up on my doorstep craving blood instead of Bolognese, I’d be freaked out, sure, but I’d still love them.They’dstillbe mybrothers.

As soon as I recovered and sorted this mess out, I’d pay Gannon’s mom a visit.Antonella had been like a second mother to me for as long as I could remember.We hadn’t been in as much contact after Gannon broke my heart, but I had to believe she’d still want to see me—and maybe I could convince her to see reason as well.

The obvious sounds of a scuffle carried down the hallway and I huffed out a breath.Dropping the sheets I’d collected onto the couch, I turned and stormed into my old bedroom.

Vinny stood over my old bed, his stance angry and terrifying as he glared down at Gannon, who’d stretched out atop the pink comforter of my old twin bed like he owned the place.

The sight of him lying on my bed stalled my heart as the familiarity and the intimacy of his presence in my room filled me with such a powerful sense of longing my chest burned with the intensity of a thousand suns.

How many times had he laid in that bed with me, sneaking kisses and so much more while my father was downstairs at the shop?How many times had he snuck in late at night, long after Dad’s snoring had kicked into gear, and curled his body around mine so he could hold me until dawn?

Too many times to count.

Butonetime,onetime he held me in this bed for thelasttime.

And that’s all I needed to remember.

I swallowed hard and pushed everything else aside.This was the boy who broke my heart.“Gannon.”

He flicked his gaze to where I stood in the doorway of the room and his smug smile fell.“Jackie, I’m—”

“You can sleep on the couch.”My words were thick with emotion even as I tried to push it down and stuff it away.I pointed toward the living room.“The couch or the cold, those are your options.”

Gannon rose quickly and left my childhood bedroom without argument, his gaze not meeting mine as he headed down the hallway toward the living room.

“Hey,” Vinny whispered, tugging me toward him.He pulled me into his arms and tilted my chin so I’d meet his gaze.“You okay?”

I exhaled and nodded, then dropped my head, resting my forehead against his chest.“It’s just...it’s a lot.That shit with Eli, Gannon being here...”I trailed off, remembering that Gannon was now a vampire and, likely, could hear even the softest of whispered words.

“Want me to make him leave?”

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