Free Giovanni (Blood Brothers Book 6) by Eve Vaughn Page A

pink terry robe, Sydney caused Giovanni to imagine what her body looked like beneath it. And beneath him. He needed to get her away from him quickly before he did something stupid. “Yes, everything is okay. Was there anything you wanted?”
    She nibbled her bottom lip seeming slightly hesitant. “I was on my way to my room when I heard you cry out. Did you have another nightmare?”
    “I’m sorry if I was loud. I’ll try to keep it down.”
    “The noise isn’t a problem. It wasn’t the blood-curdling scream like the first time, but I noticed the last couple nights, you seemed to wake up yelling. I know it’s none of my business, but are you sure everything is okay?”
    Giovanni pinched the bridge of his nose to compose himself. He knew she was just being nice but he didn’t think he could handle her kindness… not now, not when he didn’t feel like he deserved it. “You’re right Sydney. It’s none of your business.” The moment he said it, he wanted to cut his own tongue out because her face completely crumbled. He’d hurt her and it was like a kick in his own gut.
    She backed away. “Well, I’m sorry to bother you then. Have a good night.”
    When she would have turned away, he grabbed her by the wrist. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m just a little irritable is all. Please come in.”
    Sydney stiffened. “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.”
    “Please. I promise I won’t try anything.”
    “I wasn’t worried about that,” she said a little too quickly.
    “Then come in. I could use the company. It’s not like I’m in a hurry to get back to sleep.” Against his better judgment he moved aside so that she could step inside, which she did.
    Giovanni took a quick peek down the hall to make sure no one else lingered around. He then closed the door behind her so they could talk in private. Walking over to the desk in the corner of his room, he pulled out the chair for her. “Have a seat. The chair directly behind you.”
    She turned to feel for it before sitting down. “Thank you.”
    Giovanni sat on his bed across the room to place as much distance as he could between the two of them. “Again, I apologize for any disturbance I caused. Shortly before I came here, I had what one would probably call an extreme sense of insomnia. A lot of nights I would have loved to sleep. And now, I dread it.”
    “Because of the nightmares?”
    The compassion etched on Sydney’s lovely face made him feel a little ashamed for entertaining these carnal thoughts of her. Even now as he watched her across the room, his cock stirred. He’d never been more aware of a woman in his life. He’d had lovers over the course of his life and he’d enjoyed many of them, but none of them made him feel so alive and aware of his body’s needs.
    He nodded and then remembered she couldn’t see that gesture. “Yes. Every night when I fall asleep I dream about things that will probably haunt me for the rest of my life.”
    “I’m sorry to hear that, John. I kind of know how you feel.”
    Giovanni laughed without humor. “You couldn’t possibly know what this feels like. I lost someone close to me and I did everything in my power to save him but apparently it wasn’t enough and I have to live with the “what ifs” for the rest of my life. I have to wonder what I could have done differently, and if I’d chosen a different path maybe things wouldn’t have turned out the way they did.” He wasn’t sure why he’d told her that. Giovanni hadn’t told anyone about the guilt he felt over Adonis’s death, not Nya, or his other brothers. He knew Nya carried her own guilt where Adonis was concerned, and as for the other four, they wouldn’t understand. They hated Adonis and justifiably so, but he’d be damned if he allowed them to tarnish the memory of the brother he’d once known. Somehow, telling Sydney just felt right and he was compelled to tell her more.
    “And what kills me is that no one else