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Gannon was a vampire.
He’d returned after being away for eleven months, after ghosting me the week of my father’s funeral, and now he was a bloodsucking monster.
But he wasn’t even the bloodsucking 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.
“Good grief,” I muttered as I turned off the expressway and headed toward Gio’s. “I’m a whole fucking moron, aren’t I?”
When I turned down Gio’s street, I smiled 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 how clean white 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.
Gio’s Christmas display was beautiful to behold, knowing what I did about my brother.
And my grin only widened as I got closer, then turned into the driveway.
Dad’s beat up old nativity sat in the center of Gio’s yard, paint chipped from 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 tears streamed down my cheeks as the feeling of profound loss overwhelmed me. But there was something else there now as well, a sliver of joy, and I clung to that tiny glimpse of hope. Because, though I missed him terribly, I knew my father would be proud of me. A year into this life without him, I had no idea how I’d survived, but I had.
Not only did the business thrive under my care, but I was thriving.
And I was stronger than I’d ever been.
I had Vinny to thank for that. Spending the night in his arms had been more healing for me than I dared to admit, and I didn’t want to give that up. It was selfish, I knew, and wrong, but Vinny had come into my life at a time when I needed him most, and he hadn’t left. He’d shown me that I could rely on him, that I could trust again after Gannon.
He’d helped me through my grief and forced me to come out the other side of it stronger.
Gannon ran when I needed him most.
Vinny’s been here the whole damn time. Patiently waiting for me to acknowledge my feelings for him—
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 got the rare blue eyed Italian genes from my 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 with his big arms.
“Without these guns, how would I strangle annoying little girls?” 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 loud bang came from inside the house and I turned to look up at the light streaming through the open front door. “Who else is here?” I assumed it would just be the two of us, what with Leo spending Christmas by the beach in California. I scowled at that thought. What was Christmas without snow? Not that we’d seen much snow this week, but still.
“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, little sister. Someday you’ll become a woman and men will look at you, too.”
“Oh my god,” I mumbled. “You’re the worst.”
