Chapter 3 #3
“Together?” Luciano asked.
“No,” Sydney replied.
“Except for that one night,” Gabriel said, the playfulness in his voice front and center.
Fuck, no.
“Dream on, bud,” Sydney said before approaching their grandmother.
“Mrs. Santini, I’ve heard a lot about you,” A smile filled Sydney’s beautiful face. “I’m a hugger.”
And that’s when a groan rumbled out of Teddy. He remembered how beautiful she was, but her smile lit up her coal-black eyes, her already stunning face exploded in joy, and Teddy stood there soaking in all that beauty.
Damn, she’s hot.
His grandmother peered up at Sydney. “You’re very pretty.”
“So are you,” Sydney replied before opening her arms. “Hug.”
She embraced his grandmother, gave her a sweet kiss on her cheek, then broke away.
“Ciao, dolcezza mia,” Gabriel said, as he pulled Sydney into his arms.
“Whoa, isn’t that a little much?” Slash asked. “Even for the lady-eater?”
“What did he say?” Caroline asked.
“Hello, my sweet one,” Slash replied.
Fuck. Fuck me a million times.
She hugged Gabriel too damn long before breaking away.
After he kissed one perfect cheek, then her other, he tugged on her braid. “This is a new look for you.”
“It was pretty funny,” Greystone said. “I come home to a wine and cheese party where they’re braidin’ each other’s hair and talkin’ nonstop at the same time.” He chuckled. “I couldn’t understand either one of ‘em.”
Caroline laughed.
“We have a kind of short-talk,” Sydney said, as her gaze jumped from person to person.
One by one, the family introduced themselves. Luciano, his wife Simone, Carrera and his wife Slash. When her gaze slid to Teddy, he got a power-hit of adrenaline.
“Tank, hey,” Sydney said, the light in her eyes going dark. To his extreme disappointment, her smile fell away.
Despite her chilly reaction, Teddy had to play this right. He couldn’t show disappointment, couldn’t act jealous over her obvious interest in Gabriel, and he couldn’t bound over like a damn puppy thrilled out of his mind to see her.
Stop thinking.
He tossed her a nod. “It’s been a while.”
“Six months,” Sydney replied. “Or one hundred and eighty days.” She hitched an eyebrow at him.
Gabriel sandwiched himself between them. “How do you know each other?”
“Tank and I met at Santini Ristorante when I threw Caroline a surprise thirtieth,” Sydney explained.
“Hey, fam,” Carrera called out. “G-ma said è ora di mangiare. Time to eat.”
Slash slipped her arm through Elsa’s. “Let’s chow down.”
As the family filed up the stairs, Teddy kept his gaze firmly cemented on Sydney. To his surprise, she hadn’t looked away.
Then, she exhaled a breath, squared her shoulders, and walked away, leaving him eyeing her backside. That only made things ten-times worse because eyeing her ass didn’t tamp down on his desire. It only revved it further.
Gabriel chomped his teeth together. “I’m starving.” He took off toward the stairs, leaving Teddy alone in the empty room. Frustration slithered through him, landing in his gut. Getting tongue-tied around gorgeous women was nothing new.
It’s like my tongue got braided.
He chuffed out a grunt, then strode up the stairs.
Though he’d been competitive with his brothers his entire life, they never went after the same woman. It was an unspoken rule they lived by.
Find out what’s up with those two.
In the kitchen, he took one-point-five seconds to take in the room. Elsa and Slash were serving the entree at the center island. A line had formed, but Sydney was safely tucked between Caroline and Grey. Gabriel had moved away and was heads down on his phone, his fingers flying over the keypad.
But Teddy’s job had taught him the importance of observation. When on a mission, he’d hide in the shadows and tail his mark, then strike when least suspected. No diff now.
Gabriel finished up, slapped Teddy on the back, then put his arm around him. “What are you doing after?”
He glanced over at Sydney, then back at his brother. “Depends,” Teddy replied. “Why?”
“We gotta talk.”
The men approached the center island, loaded up on salad, then on bread. Gabriel pulled an extra-large piece of garlic bread from the loaf, walked over to the table, and set it on Sydney’s plate.
“This has you written all over it,” Gabriel said.
Sydney eyed the crisp, buttery bread. “Because?”
“You work hard, you burn the calories, you get the reward.”
She laughed. “I think you’re right.”
“Elsa makes the loaf from scratch,” Simone said. “It’s amazing.”
“And here I thought Gabriel was trying to carb-load me,” Sydney said.
Gabriel laughed. “If I was going to do that, you’d know it.”
Teddy’s heart plummeted into his stomach. She was interested in a Santini, just not him. Pushing out the rejection, he shifted his attention to Slash as she set the baked salmon steak on his plate.
“Two?” Slash asked as she set a second one down.
“Sure,” Teddy replied.
His grandmother glanced over. The second their eyes met, her brows pinched together. “Cosa c'è che non va?”
“Tutto bene.”
“C’mon, what’s wrong?” Greystone piled on. “You have that face when you lose to me in a race.”
“Nice,” Teddy replied, biting back a smile.
They sat around the expanded kitchen table.
“Chi recita la preghiera della cena?” G-ma asked.
“I got this,” Teddy responded. “Signore, veglia su di noi. Proteggici, soprattutto Elsa. Aiutaci a trovare l'uomo nero e a eliminarlo.”
“Dios mio, Theodore,” Elsa murmured.
“Amen.” Teddy glanced around the table, raised his eyebrows. “I’m just keeping it real.”
“I can’t translate all that,” Slash said.
“I got this,” Greystone said. “Teddy said, ‘Lord, watch over us. Keep us safe, especially Elsa. Help us find the boogeyman and take him out.’”
“Oh, wow,” Sydney blurted.
“Amen,” Luciano added. “And on that poignant prayer—” he put his arm around Simone, kissed her cheek, and returned his gaze to the family. “Simone and I are having a baby.”
The family erupted in cheers and applause. Within seconds, glasses were raised, toasts were delivered, and the questions started coming.
Luciano held up his hand and the group quieted. “Simone, per favore.”
“I’m in my first trimester,” Simone began. “We wouldn’t normally have said anything, but Luciano is very concerned for me and the baby.” Pausing, she clasped his hand.
“I asked Gabriel to run Santini International in the US,” Luciano said. “Simone and I are leaving for Italy tonight. I’ll run Santini Euro. Once the danger has passed, we’ll be back.”
“Danger?” Elsa blurted. “What danger?”
“It’s nothing,” Carrera said.
“Carrera, riesco sempre a capire quando non sei onesto,” Elsa said.
“I’ll translate, “Slash offered. “Carrera, I can always tell when you’re not being honest.”
“This sounds like a private family convo.” Sydney rose. “I’m going to excuse myself for a few.”
“You’re okay,” Greystone said.
With plate in hand, Sydney said, “Where’s the dining room?”
Teddy pushed out of his chair. “I got you.”
Yes, he got shy around pretty women. Yes, Gabriel had a thing for her. But, damn, this was Sydney Austin. And he was not going to sit there like a dunce and do nothing.
He led her into Carrera and Slash’s formal dining room and shut the door. After she sat, he asked, “What are you drinking?”
She’d left her glass in the kitchen.
“I’m fine,” she protested, the harshness in her eyes front and center.
“Water or wine?” he asked.
“Wine.” Her gaze softened. “Thank you.”
He filled two glasses with the newest addition to the Santini lineup—a crisp chardonnay—and returned to the dining room. After shutting the door, he set down the stemless glasses before easing down at the head. He bit into the delicious salmon, washed it down with the chilled white wine.
“This is really good,” Sydney said, her voice tight.
“You look great, Sydney. Seriously.”
“You do too.”
“Six months, huh?”
He hated stumbling through the words, so he forked in a mouthful of salad. As he chewed, he was drawn back to her. The second she stared into his eyes, a power hit of adrenaline charged through him. Beauty and strength engaged him in a way he’d never felt.
Man-up and say something.
“So you and Gabriel, huh?” he asked.
For fuck’s sake. C’mon idiot. Not that. Don’t ask her about that.
Her eyes widened. “Me and Gabriel?”
He shrugged a shoulder.
Her chuckle rumbled through her like thunder on a summer afternoon. He loved the rawness of her laugh, the brightness in her midnight eyes.
“You mean, like together together?” She pressed the wine glass to her lips, tipped the glass, and drank.
His heart ka-chunked in his chest while he soaked up the way she softly pressed her mouth against the crystal. And then, his thoughts turned dark and wild. Her mouth on him, going down on him, while she unleashed all that sexiness…
On me. Just me.
Blinking away the phenomenal fantasy, he set down his fork, leaned back. His cock had woken up again and he needed to shift his thoughts away from that.
Anything but that.
“I don’t know why you’d care,” Sydney said, the bite in her voice snapping him back to reality. “You’re not interested.”
His eyes grew large. “Not interested? Are you for real?”
“I never heard from you… not once. You said you’d text me. I got a big, fat goose egg of nada.”
What the hell?
He unearthed his phone, toggled to the text thread that had gone unanswered and set the phone between them on the table.
“That’s you,” he said. “Those are the texts I sent you. You didn’t reply to me.”
She leaned over and read the texts.
I’d love to take you for dinner. How ‘bout this week?
Ten days later, he’d send another text.
Not sure if you saw this. Maybe dinner’s too much. Coffee sometime?
A month later, a third text.
I’d love to see you. If you want to get together, let me know
And finally, the one he sent hours earlier.
Hey Sydney got time to grab a drink with me?
She stared into his eyes, the harshness in hers replaced with a fiery gaze. “I’ve never seen these before.”