Giovanni (Blood Brothers Book 6) (22 page)

Without warning Sydney felt a prick just above her collarbone. It took her a moment to realize what had happened. He bit her!

She stiffened, frightened that he might lose control, but slowly she relaxed as the pleasure intensified. As their bodies preformed an intimate dance as old as time, Sydney experienced wave after wave of unbelievable passion. She realized she could become addicted to this man and it frightened her. As that thought crossed her mind, a powerful orgasm swept through her with the power of a tsunami.

“Giovanni!”

He raised his head and screamed her name. “Sydney!”

Slowly she floated to earth with a smile on her lips. “That was…amazing.”

Giovanni pulled her within the circle of his arms and she placed her head against his chest. Sydney had never felt safer than she did in this moment and it frightened the hell out of her. She wasn’t supposed to have feelings for this man when their entire acquaintance had been based on a lie. Her heart told her one thing, but her head told her another. She was still trying to reconcile what Ida had done to her. How could she put her trust in anyone else?

“And that’s how it will be for us for the rest of our lives.”

She stiffened. “Giovanni…don’t ruin the moment. Just because we had sex—”

“Don’t you dare say it, Sydney. We belong together. It doesn’t matter how long we’ve known each other, our hearts know the truth.”

Tears stung her eyes. “Everyone I’ve ever loved is gone. And Ida….well, you see what happened with that situation. How do I know this won’t eventually end? You’re a vampire and I’m human. You’ll live forever and I’ll get old.”

“You won’t because I’ll bring you over.”

“What if I don’t want to be a vampire?”

“We don’t have to talk about it now, Sydney.”

“But we will eventually. Look Giovanni, I have to get used to the idea of us. I haven’t exactly had the best of luck with relationships and I’m not going to allow you to run my life. I may not have sight but I’m capable of handling myself.”

Giovanni placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “Sydney, your independence is something I admire about you. I don’t want to run your life, I just want to be a part of it. I want to be by your side for the rest of forever. Just say you’ll give us a chance.”

She’d never been more scared of anything in her life. But what terrified her the most was never feeling the way she felt with Giovanni ever again.

“Okay,” she whispered. “But I just need some time.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

“Your family is really nice. I miss having them around,” Sydney mused as she rocked back on forth on the new porch swing Giovanni had installed. Ida had been fond of the rocking chairs but Sydney had always wanted an old-fashioned porch swing. With Ida out of her house, getting rid of the rocking chairs on her front porch was one the first things she’d done to erase all traces of that evil old battle-ax.

“Me too.” Giovanni joined her on the swing and draped his arm around her. “But remember, they’re your family now as well.”

Sydney liked the sound of that. She rested her head on Giovanni’s shoulder, never wanting this feeling of pure and utter contentment to end. The Grimaldi clan had become a huge part of her life in the past couple of months. After what had happened with Ida and Dylan, they’d rallied around her in a big unit of support, giving Sydney the sense of family she’d missed since she’d lost her parents and sister.

Despite them being immortal beings, she couldn’t have met a more genuine, loving bunch of people. They constantly called and checked in on her and visited often. Usually one or two of them would come at a time, but the last visit the entire family had converged on her. It had been like a huge family reunion. Sydney had grown particularly close to the women. Maggie, Sasha, Christine and Isis would never replace Tara, but they felt like sisters.

She adored the children. Gianna, Maggie and GianMarco’s child was just learning to talk, and somehow ‘shit’ had become her favorite word, much to her parents’ distress. Sydney was very much looking forward to Maggie’s new baby who would be due in a few months. Christine and Romeo’s children were precocious and adorable. Little Jaxson was something else, saying anything and everything that popped into his mind, while his little sister Adrienne was extremely loving and loved giving out hugs and kisses. Sydney finally had the pleasure of meeting Niccolo and Sasha’s son Jagger along with his bloodmate Camryn. Jagger Grimaldi was just as charming as his uncles. Though Dante and Isis didn’t have children yet, Isis had confessed that she was looking forward to having as many of her bloodmate’s babies as she could.

It was clear for anyone around the Grimaldis that they were a family who loved and supported each other, and that they included Sydney with open arms was an honor. And even though she had been adopted into this family, she wouldn’t have gotten over the ordeal of what Ida had done to her if it weren’t for Giovanni. He had quickly become her rock.

In the beginning she was cautious, scared that he’d try to manipulate her or change who she was. But he neither smothered her nor ordered her around…unless they were in bed. She enjoyed that part. A lot.

When she’d wake up from a nightmare he was there to hold her close. Whenever she had a gig at the bar, he was there, listening and offering her support. Because of his encouragement she’d recently started writing music again which she hadn’t done since before her accident.

She’d learned that Giovanni possessed a vast fortune and had properties all over the world, but he decided to move into her house while they developed their relationship. He wanted her to be comfortable and she was grateful that he’d allowed her to set the pace between them. It worked out for Sydney because she currently had no boarders. With the summer over, Katrina and Mikhail had returned home, and Peter’s son had convinced him to move in with his family. Once they were gone, Sydney had decided not to take in any more boarders, at least until she decided what to do with the house. It no longer gave her the same pleasure it once did. It had soured for her. She wasn’t sure if it was because of Ida and Dylan or that she was just ready to start a new chapter in her life, but lately she’d been considering selling it.

Giovanni massaged her arm. “You seem to be deep in thought. What are you thinking?”

Sydney leaned over and offered her lips to him which he quickly took in a deep, long kiss. “Mmm, that was nice,” she said slowly pulling away from him. “I’m surprised that you didn’t just read my mind.”

He chuckled. “Oh, so you’re teasing me now? I know better than to do that again.”

The last time he’d read Sydney’s mind without her permission she held out from having sex with him. Of course her sex strike only lasted an hour but Giovanni had acted as if it was the longest hour of his life.

“That’s right, buster. Anyway, I was just thinking about how happy I am. Honestly I can’t remember feeling this way since my family was alive. They would have liked you.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

“I wish I could have met them.”

A smile touched her lips. It still made her sad knowing she’d never see them again, but the memories were no longer painful. “You would have liked them too. My dad loved telling corny jokes. It aggravated my mother but she put up with it because she loved him.”

“They sound like they were amazing people.”

“They were.”

“My brother was pretty amazing too. Before he died.”

Sydney placed at kiss on his cheek. “Adonis?” Giovanni didn’t talk about the brother he’d lost often but whenever he did, she could always hear a deep sadness in his voice. It was obvious that he still hadn’t gotten over Adonis’s death, but it was a positive sign that he was starting to talk about him more often.

“Yes. Like your father, Adonis was fond of a good joke. He liked to pull pranks. His favorite target was our tutor. He gave that poor man hell.” Giovanni chuckled. “Even though I fully understand that Adonis made his own choices, I still wonder at what point I could have helped him. I sometimes think, I should have tried harder to convince him to come with me when our father offered us refuge. Maybe even then I was too late because my mother had warped his mind so badly, I barely recognized him.”

“You don’t talk about your mother that often.”

“That’s because there’s really not much to say about her. She was a very beautiful woman on the outside but on the inside, she was an ugly dark soul. Beatrice was a miserable human being because she was never satisfied.”

“I notice you don’t refer to her as mother.”

“Because she was never really a mother to me.”

“So you hated her?”

Giovanni sighed. “I wouldn’t say that exactly. I hated the things she did, but I didn’t hate her. I felt pity for her actually.”

Sydney raised a brow. “Pity? But why? If she was as evil as you say, why spare her your empathy?”

“I pity her because she never really learned to value the things she had. It led to her destruction.”

Sydney could understand that. “Like your brother, maybe something happened to her when she was younger to make her the way she was.”

“That’s quite possible but I guess I’ll never know. I’d like to think she wasn’t born evil.”

“Me too. Speaking of mysteries, I wonder if we’ll see Nya again.” The female vampire had disappeared shortly after Sydney’s rescue with no other explanation. She never did get to ask Nya the many questions she wanted answers to. Sydney would have liked to talk to her more, hear her story, but it was clear Nya wasn’t ready to share it.

“I hope so. Like I was, she’s in a lot of pain and just hasn’t figured out how to deal with it.”

“Won’t you go looking for her?”

“Trust me,
amore
, if she doesn’t want to be found I’ll have to respect that.
Long before she was a vampire, she suffered a lot. She’s very tortured. But hopefully one day she’ll learn to forgive herself as I have learned to let go of guilt.”

“I hate that she’s out there all alone.”

“Me too. But something tells me she won’t be alone for long.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s just say she may be in for a double dose of trouble.”

Sydney wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but Giovanni didn’t sound particularly concerned about it. She was certain if he knew his friend was in any kind of danger he’d act on it. Sydney hoped wherever Nya was, she was okay.

A comfortable silence fell between them as they continued to rock back and forth, enjoying a moderate fall day. Sydney realized there was no place she would rather be than here with this man for the rest of her days. “Giovanni?”

“Yes,
amore
?”

“I need to tell you something.”

He stroked her cheek. “You can tell me anything, Sydney.”

“I just wanted to say that I love you. I know I’ve been holding back for a while now but I was just too scared to express my feelings. I didn’t trust my heart because all that I’ve gone through, but I know I want to be with you forever. I wake up in the morning and you’re the first thing on my mind, when I go to sleep you’re my last thought, and when I’m sleeping I dream of you. I don’t know what the future holds for me, but I know that I want to spend it with you.” She exhaled. “There, I’ve said it. I’ve wanted to tell you that for weeks.”

Giovanni remained silent.

“Giovanni?”

His lack of response made her nervous. Had he changed his mind about her? The anxiety was just too much. “Tell me I didn’t just make a fool of myself by telling you how I feel.”

“No,” he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. “It’s not that. Feel.” He took her hand and brought it to his face. His cheeks were damp.

“You’re crying? Why?”

“Because you have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear those words. Sydney, I’ve been through hell and back and the only thing that kept me going was the hope that one day I could unite my family. But when Adonis died, that dream was shattered. I didn’t think I could ever be happy again or that I deserved it. And then there you were, like a beautiful dream. I’d seen you from afar and part of me already suspected that you were the one my heart had been waiting for. Meeting you was my greatest joy and pain because at the time I was going through too much to be any good for you. I fought against the idea of us as some form of punishment. But you healed me. I want to thank you and tell you that you mean the world to me. I can’t say that I love you because love is not a powerful enough word for how I feel about you. I
can
tell you that you’re my world, my breath, my heartbeat and my soul. For the first time in my life, I’m looking to forever because I’ll be spending it with you.”

By the time he finished his speech, Sydney’s own tears fell freely. “Oh Giovanni.” She leaned over and their lips collided for a long, slow deep kiss. Their tongues danced and swirled around the other.

The next thing Sydney knew, Giovanni had scooped her up and carried her into the house. He didn’t take her upstairs as she expected him to. He walked inside and made an immediate left. The hum of the dishwasher alerted her to the room he’d stopped in. “Why are we in the kitchen?” she asked.

“Because I couldn’t wait.” He plopped Sydney on kitchen table and pushed her legs apart.

She’d never been more thankful in her life to be wearing a dress. Giovanni yanked her panties off with one powerful tug while she frantically unbuckled his pants. He couldn’t get inside of her fast enough and when his hardness slipped deep inside her wet channel, Sydney sighed with relief. No matter how many times they made love, every time they were together was like the first time.

“So good.” Sydney wrapped her legs around his waist and clung tightly to Giovanni as he stroked her with his big addictive cock. Making love had become their favorite pastime together. They’d fucked in every single room in the house excluding Ida’s old room, which Sydney refused to step foot in.

“I love you so much,” she moaned against his neck.

“You are my heart, forever.” Each word was punctuated with a thrust. He was so deep inside of her, she wasn’t sure where he ended and she began. They were one. Heart, body and soul. She’d follow this man to the ends of the earth.

An intense fire spread throughout her, burning so hot she thought she’d burst in flames. Sensation flared within her, shooting from the depth of her being.

“I can’t hold on much longer,” he moaned.

She clenched her muscles around his cock which sent Giovanni over the edge. He yelled his release, spilling his seed inside of her. “Sydney!”

She clenched him tighter still, milking his cock, and not wanting this moment to end.

“Come for me,” he whispered against her ear.

It was all she needed to reach her peak. Her body shook as bursts of flashing light exploded all around her.

Sydney wasn’t sure how long they remained locked together but she wanted to remain like this for as long as possible.

Giovanni planted a hard kiss against her lips. “You really are mine now. Forever. And I’ll never let you go.”

She smiled. “Promise?”