Giovanni (Blood Brothers Book 6) (4 page)

Chapter Four

The last time Sydney had heard anyone scream the way John had was the night she’d lost her parents. There was absolute horror in his voice as he yelled the words,
I’m sorry
. Thinking it was too intrusive a question to ask, she didn’t inquire about to whom he was apologizing. The fear she’d heard in his cries had her heading to his room as quickly as she could.

When she’d touched him to shake him awake, Sydney could feel the cold film of sweat that covered him. Clearly he was in distress that made him shake beneath her touch. She didn’t expect him to react so violently by pushing her to the ground but Sydney realized John hadn’t meant any harm by it. What did give her pause, however, were the electric waves that seemed to course through her body when he’d helped her off the floor. It was that same spark she’d felt when she’d touched him during their first meeting. Sydney wasn’t sure what to make of it but it was something she couldn’t pursue. Her boarders were off limits. Most of them didn’t stay longer than a few months and even if they stayed beyond that, their living situation would be awkward if things didn’t work out. Sydney had learned that lesson the hard way.

After the accident that claimed her family, it had taken months of rehabilitation, counseling, and learning how to live independently with her disability. Dating had been the furthest thing from her mind. Once she’d felt like she’d gotten to a place where she was ready for a little masculine companionship, she was met with one disaster after another. There were a couple guys who she’d really been in to but each one of them had turned out to be huge disappointments.

Tyrell Jenkins was one of those men. He was a saxophonist who she’d met at a bar she played at on the weekends. He’d filled in for a sick member of a local band who also appeared at the same location. Sydney and Tyrell clicked right away and had a lot in common since they were both musicians. He was funny, charming and seemed to say all the right things. He was a gentleman who didn’t act awkward around her because of her disability, not to mention, his deep sultry voice was enough to make her melt reminding Sydney of a smooth R&B singer. They dated casually for a few months when she started to believe that he might possibly be the one. He certainly had a way of making her feel special.

But then without a word, he abruptly left town with no explanation, leaving her to wonder what had gone wrong. She eventually got over him but it still hurt to know that she wasn’t worth his effort to even explain why they didn’t work out. It was as if he’d been toying with her all along.

Despite that setback with Tyrell, she’d kept herself open to romance which is how Dylan Beck happened. By the time Dylan had entered her life, Sydney had already established her independence and was running the boarding house successfully with Ida’s help. Ida had mentioned her grandson was looking for a place to stay and asked if Sydney would be willing to set aside a room for Dylan whenever he was in town from one of his construction jobs. She’d been willing to pay to keep the room exclusively for Dylan. Of course, Sydney couldn’t turn her friend down, after all Ida had done so much for her. So Dylan had become a semi-permanent resident at the house at no charge because Sydney refused to take money from Ida.

Sydney and Dylan had hit it off at first. He wasn’t much of a talker but she enjoyed spending time with him. He seemed to say the right things and helped a lot around the house. Dylan encouraged Sydney in her musical pursuits and would listen to her play the piano for hours. He was always doing nice things for her like buying her favorite treat just because or going for long walks with her. Wherever she was so was he and Sydney soon became to depend on his presence. When he wasn’t around she missed him. Though Sydney realized that it probably wasn’t a good idea to get involved with Dylan because of the proximity of their living situation, she’d thrown caution to the wind and went on an official date with him when he’d asked.

Ida seemed to approve of the union as well, never missing a moment to say how good the couple looked together. Sydney didn’t have to see with her eyes to know that Dylan was very attractive. He was tall and had a deep voice with a heavy southern lilt, which was basically the masculine version of his grandmother’s. Dylan had long hair that she’d been told was jet black that fell to the center of his back, which he wore because of his heritage. He was half Catawba Indian, unlike his grandmother who was a full-blood. With his cheek bones, full lips and strong nose, he probably had no trouble attracting the opposite sex, so it was flattering that he was interested in her.

Things seemed to work out quite nicely for the two of them at first. Dylan was attentive and considerate. She enjoyed spending time with him, but then he became a different person. The change was gradual at first so Sydney shrugged it off when he started to make comments about her playing gigs. He wouldn’t like it if she was out too late or who she was with, and sometimes he criticized her on how she dressed, saying she showed too much skin.

He’d once claimed to love her independence but slowly started to resent it. Dylan hated her friends and that she didn’t want to spend every waking second with him. He began to question her whereabouts and who she spent time with. The final straw was when he came to the bar she worked at to start a fight with one of her friends who happened to belong to the house band. He claimed that the guy was hitting on her. It was clear to Sydney that Dylan saw her as a possession and not a person. Immediately after that incident she broke things off, fearful that his behavior would escalate if she remained in a relationship with him.

There had been an ugly blow-up when she’d told Dylan that she no longer wanted to date him. He’d yelled, cursed and shook her violently and for a moment she feared he might actually hurt her but he didn’t. Instead, he disappeared for a few months much to her relief. It was only because he was Ida’s grandson that she didn’t kick him out of her house altogether. Of course Ida was disappointed that it didn’t work out with Sydney and Dylan but thankfully the older woman didn’t push the issue…at the time. But every now and then, Ida would make not-so-subtle hints about giving people second chances, which is exactly what she seemed to be doing now, and Sydney was very close to losing the last bit of patience she’d been holding on to since Dylan’s return.

“Are you listening to me, Sydney?” Ida sounded more than a little irritated so Sydney could only imagine what her facial expression was.

“I’m sorry, Ida, my mind drifted for a moment.”

“I was saying that I know things didn’t work out with you and Dylan but I don’t see any harm in the two of you being friends. You guys used to be so close.”

Sydney had to bite her tongue to hold back the retort that nearly slipped. Sure she and Dylan had been close at one point but that was until he turned out to be a possessive psychopath. She sighed. “Ida, I know you wanted things to work out between me and your grandson but they just didn’t. We can’t go back to the way things used to be before we dated because they’re just too awkward.”

“I didn’t say you had to be in a relationship with him again, just that you try to be friends with him. Whatever it was he did to make you angry with him, he’s very sorry for. He’s expressed his regret to me and he feels that you really haven’t given him a chance to give you a proper apology.”

Sydney could tell her friend had no intention of letting this go until she gave in. “Look, I’ll talk to him, okay? But I can’t make any promises beyond that. In the meantime, everyone is at the table ready for dinner. Could you please hand me a dish to put these mashed potatoes on?” She was sure to quickly change the subject to let Ida know that the subject was no longer up for discussion.

Ida patted Sydney’s hand. “That’s all I ask for.”

They worked in silence putting the food in serving dishes. When Sydney would finish filling one bowl or plate, Ida would take it to the dining room. When she came back from delivering the last item, Ida smacked her lips. It was a sound Sydney knew too well. Ida was displeased.

Before Sydney could ask what the problem was, Ida volunteered. “I didn’t expect to see that man at the table, especially after the way he was carrying on up there, screaming like the house was one fire.”

“By that man, I assume you’re referring to Mr. Chandler. I’m glad he could join us for dinner.” She deliberately left out the conversation she’d had with him earlier and why he’d been screaming. It just seemed too personal to share, especially when Ida was already hostile toward the man.

“Well, I hope he fits in with everyone.”

“I’m sure he will.” Tired of this conversation, Sydney headed to the dining room and took her usual seat. The scent of Dylan’s cologne alerted her to the fact that he took the seat next to her. Tempted to take another seat she thought better of it, not wanting to cause a scene.

“Sydney, you look lovely as usual,” Dylan greeted.

“Thank you.” Not wanting to entertain conversation with him she spoke to the rest of the diners. “Hope everyone enjoys dinner tonight. Smells like Ida made her famous meatloaf and I personally can’t wait to dig in.”

“Everything looks lovely, Sydney,” Peter one of their on-again, off-again boarders replied. He was one of their older guests who lived up North but would come down to visit several weeks at a time to be close to his adult children and his grandkids. Not wanting to be a burden on his loved ones, he chose to stay at the boarding house when he visited. Sydney also suspected he continued to come because he had a thing for Ida, but her friend didn’t seem to return his interest.

Two of her boarders were two college kids, Mikhail and Katrina from the Ukraine, who were in the United States for a summer work program. Their English wasn’t very strong so they rarely participated in dinner conversation. Her last guest, Darlene Sullivan, preferred to take her meals in her room. She didn’t socialize with the other guests, Ida or Sydney unless she was making demands. So it was surprising that she was at the table. Thankfully she sat on the opposite side of the table from Sydney which blunted the strong scent of a perfume that Darlene used way too liberally.

And then there was John Chandler.

Sydney could feel his gaze on her as she took her seat. Though she couldn’t visually confirm it, she could feel it. She didn’t understand why she suddenly felt self-conscious under his watchful stare.

As she fixed her plate, her usually dexterous grip became clumsy, causing her to nearly knock her glass over and fumble the serving dish. Dylan grabbed the tray from her and proceeded to finish the task for her. In most circumstances she would have been annoyed, but she couldn’t shake that fluttering feeling she felt in the pit of her stomach as she wondered what John must have been thinking when he looked at her.

“You should be more careful, Sydney,” Dylan interrupted her thoughts. “Lucky for you I’m here or there would be a big mess.”

Sydney rolled her eyes. “Gee, I don’t know how I got along without you all this time you’ve been away.”

He leaned close enough for her to feel his breath against her ear. It took every ounce of willpower not to flinch away because Sydney was absolutely sure Ida was watching. “We need to talk,” he whispered.

“We have nothing to talk about,” Sydney spoke as softly as she could.

“You and I both know we have unfinished business.”

“We’ve already gone over everything that needs to be said. Don’t ruin this dinner for anyone else.”

“I won’t as long as you agree to meet me outside after dinner.”

She took a deep breath. “Fine. Can I enjoy my dinner now?”

“By all means.” She could hear the smug satisfaction in his voice and was actually glad she couldn’t see the smirk that probably rested on his face; otherwise she’d be tempted to smack it off.

“So Miss Lewis, did you cook this delicious meal?” John Chandler’s dulcet voice was a welcome distraction. She turned in the direction she’d heard him speak.

“No, you can thank Ida for the spread, although I did peel the potatoes. And please call me Sydney. We’re not formal around here.”

“And call me John.”

A feeling of warmth spread throughout her body at the intimacy his tone took. She smiled. “Okay, John.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t have an accident handling a knife,” Darlene piped up.

Sydney cringed on the inside at the sound of her demanding boarder’s high-pitched voice. It was like nails raking down a chalkboard. “Why would you think there would be an accident?” She knew exactly what Darlene was trying to get at but she wanted to see if the other woman had the gall to come right out and say it. She’d bitten her tongue quite a bit whenever Darlene was around but she wasn’t about to let the woman make her look incompetent, especially with a roomful of people. She might be blind but she was no pushover.

“Oh, I hope that didn’t come out the wrong way. I just worry about you is all. I think it’s amazing what you can do for someone with your…limitations.”

Before Sydney could tell that bitch exactly where to go, Darlene started talking to John.

“So John, it’s not often we get many handsome single men around here. What’s your story?”

Now it made sense why Darlene had put in an appearance tonight. She must have caught sight of John. The woman was a barracuda.

“I don’t really have much of a story to tell. I made a decent sum of money in the stock market in my twenties, got a bit burned out from the rat race and decided to cash in my earnings and see the world.”