The Right Kind of Love (11 page)

“Oh, that’s the rat.”

“His name’s Zeus.” Sydney gritted through her teeth. And just like that, she went from zero to sixty. It didn’t take a lot to set off this little diva.

Justice started rubbing him around the ears and his tail was flying. He lavished him in puppy kisses. “He sure is a friendly little guy. How old is he?”

“Oh, he’s two years old. I got him when he was a puppy after my mom had died.” I saw sorrow wash over her face as her eyes began to fill with unshed tears. Her breathing hitched, and her lips turned from a smile into a frown. Then she looked down.

“I’m sorry, Sydney. That must have been really hard for you. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose one of my parents.”

“It’s hard. She and I were extremely close. Not to mention my dad died when I was eight. So now, it is just me and my step-father. Both of them were victims of cancer. My mom got breast cancer and my dad had lung cancer. He was a heavy smoker.” She bit her lip and seemed unsure how I would react to the next statement. “Which is why, Mr. Damien, you really need to quit.”

I couldn’t help it. I reached for her and drew her into my arms and surprisingly, she didn’t fight me. It felt good to have her there again. She pulled away, and I could see the unshed tears glistening in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine. I’ll try for you.”

My poor girl was pretty much an orphan. She said she had a step-father, but he wasn’t blood. She didn’t mention him much, so I didn’t know what their relationship was like. This had to have been really hard on her. It was unimaginable. I knew what I had to do.

“Sydney, what are your plans for the rest of the day?”

“Well, nothing. I was just going to do some laundry and catch up on some reading.” She readjusted her ponytail. I had to admit that after sleeping, she still looked really good.

“Perfect, you can do that, but you are going over to my parent’s house with me for family dinner. We normally go over there at five.” I took a swig of my drink.

She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and thought about it silently. But see didn’t take long to reply.

“Well, I don’t want to impose.” At least it wasn’t a no. She needed to have some family in her life, and mine was the perfect one to embrace her. We were a loving family. Half Italian. Family meant everything to us and so did food, so there would be plenty of it there. I would just call my mom and let her know to set another plate.

“It would be no imposition, Sydney. My family will love you. Plus, the food is fucking good.”

“Really, you should come. You have to taste our mother’s cooking. She is full-blooded Italian and usually whips up a feast,” Justice said.

“Guys, you are too sweet. I just don’t know, let me think about it.” She called me sweet—that was a step.

“All right, babe. Think about it but don’t take long. I want to call my mom and let her know you are coming.”

“Okay, give me a few. I’m gonna go take a shower, and then I’ll come back with an answer.” She looked at my brother. “It was nice to meet you, Justice.”

“Likewise, I hope to see you later.” He grinned at her and she smiled back at him. Oh, hell to the no. He better not be checking her out for himself.

She walked down the hall and my brother looked at me. “You got it bad, man.”

Oh, little did he know. But I wouldn’t touch her. I wasn’t the type of guy to get involved with anyone, especially where I laid my head at night.

It didn’t matter how much they crawled under my skin.

And let me just say—she was under my skin, fucking deep

Sydney

W
e were making our way in Damien’s car to his parents’ house.  I had decided to accept the invitation for family dinner, but I brought back-up. My girl Shaina had agreed to come with me and I was ecstatic. Damien had suggested it, or I wouldn’t have been so rude as to ask. I had noticed the way she’d watched Sebastian on stage and knew she was crushing on him, even if she hadn’t said anything. He thought it would be a great idea to have someone with me. He thought it would make me feel more at ease and not overwhelmed with everyone. But honestly, I would have gone anyway. Family was important and so far, I had liked the brothers I had met. They seemed like good guys. I liked that they were a very close family. It was something that I had before my mother died. After we lost her, it just wasn’t the same. Especially now.

Tapping my foot to Sublime that was playing on the radio and I started to sing along to Badfish. It was one of my very favorite songs. Damien looked over at me. “Your voice is amazing.”

I felt myself blush the color of a Red Delicious Apple. Shit, I didn’t want him to know I could sing. It was one of my hidden talents, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to share it with anyone here just yet. “Thanks.” I started fiddling with my hands in my lap and quit singing aloud, but I sang in my head.

“You know I should pull you up on stage sometime. It would be great if we had a female singer.”

“Yeah, no. Not interested.” The houses were starting to get bigger the closer we got to his parent’s house.

“Oh, come on. You and I could sing together. I bet we would rock the house.” He turned to me and gave me a wink. Oh, I bet he would like that, and hell, maybe I subconsciously would like it, as well.

“We’ll see.” I bit my bottom lip. Was I actually agreeing to perform on stage? I wasn’t a stranger to performing. When I was nineteen, I sang in a band for about six months and then they broke up. It was so much fun. But this I wasn’t sure about.

Shaina chimed in from the backseat. “Girl, you could totally rock it up there with the band. I agree with Damien. Your voice is amazing.”

“Well, thank you. I’ll have to think about it.” I just didn’t know if I wanted to put myself out there again. I mean, I wasn’t shy by any stretch of the mind. But still.

He turned into a driveway and pulled in behind several cars to a two-story colonial house. It was grey with black shutters and a black door. The street number was hung above the door in silver. The house was quite stunning encased by a glistening green lawn with lots of colorful flowers lining the walkways and around the trees. It was perfectly manicured. I could only imagine what the inside looked like. You could tell this was a well-cared for home.

We exited the car and of course, Damien came around to let Shaina and me out on our side. He had really turned into more of a gentleman than a man-whore lately, and I found myself really starting to like it.

Walking through the front door, my nose was immediately permeated with the smell of fresh garlic.

“Mom, Dad, everyone, we’re here.”

We walked in through the spacious foyer into the kitchen. The kitchen was a chef’s dream. A large Viking range with hood, top of the line ovens, and a state of the art dishwasher, all surrounded by deep burgundy walls. The countertops were adorned with cream granite that had gold and brown flecks in it and the cabinets were a rich chocolate brown. The kitchen was rich, very rich.

And it was warm. Not the kind of warmth from all of the appliances going. But the kind that gave me warm fuzzies. I had a feeling of true togetherness and felt completely embraced. It reminded me of being with my mother. It was a bittersweet moment for me. I missed her dearly but wouldn’t miss this chance to be part of a family gathering.

Damien walked over to his mom who was stirring something in the pot on the stove. He placed a kiss on her cheek and then wrapped her in a tight embrace. “Hi, Mom. Something smells good.”

She set the spoon down and then turned around. “Damien, darling, are you going to introduce us.”

“Hell, where are my manners. Yes, of course. Mom, this is my roommate, Sydney Summers and her good friend, Shaina Adams. Sydney, Shaina, this is my mom, Luciana Blue.”

She walked over to me as I reached out my hand to shake hers and she swatted my hand away. “Nonsense. We hug in this family.” She gathered me into her arms and then gave me a kiss on both cheeks. She turned to Shaina and did the same thing.

It felt so good to be hugged like that by what I could tell was a wonderful loving mother. It made me miss my mom even more.

“You have the most beautiful name, Mrs. Blue.”

Everything about her was beautiful. Her jet black hair was done in a shorter style, almost a pixie cut but more appropriate for her age. She had stunning blue eyes, which I had no doubt Sebastian got those from her and she was dressed impeccably.

“Please, call me Luciana, bella.”

“Okay, Luciana. How can Shaina and I help you?” I was no stranger to the kitchen. My mom had taught me well. But if I was being honest, if the smells were any indication, I think that Luciana’s cooking could put my mom’s to shame.

“You’re a guest, girls. There is nothing for you to help me with.” She waved her red manicured hand in the air. “Go meet the rest of the family.” She nudged Damien in the arm. “Go take them to meet your dad and the rest of the gang.”

“Okay, Ma.” He walked over to me and took my hand.

What the hell? Why did he take my hand? I tried to take my hand back. “Leave it. It’s fine,” Damien said when he refused to let go.

“But I don’t want people to get the wrong idea about us.” And I didn’t. I’m sure they all knew what a player he was and I didn’t want to be categorized as one of his random hook-ups.

I heard Shaina chuckling behind us. This wasn’t funny at all. I was so not his girlfriend, and nor would I ever be. But the swooshing in my belly said otherwise.

It was a deep swoosh. One that I would have to examine another time.

We walked through the kitchen and as soon as we hit the hallway, we were hit with what sounded like a huge party. We headed toward the noise, and when we got to the family room, there were only a handful of people. A handful of people making a huge amount of noise. Justice and Sebastian were there, another brother, who I hadn’t seen before, a stunning girl who looked a bit younger than me, a little boy playing video games completely ignoring the rest of the world, and an older man who had to be his father.

The room was huge with a stone fireplace at the center, harvest gold walls and plus brown furniture with a few decorative covered club chairs that made the room pop. The floors were done in a cream-colored plush carpet and there was a huge oriental rug in the center of the room under the glass coffee table and couches. It felt warm and inviting.

“Hey, everyone. I want you to meet my roommate, Sydney Summers, and her friend, Shaina Adams.” He still had my hand firmly placed, even though I didn’t want to let go, I did because I felt uncomfortable. He just peered down at me. I looked over my shoulder at Shaina to see she had a smile on her face and I could only guess the smile was meant for Sebastian. Damien looked at what I was looking at and he looked between the two of them indicating he had caught on as well.

He went around the half circle they had formed. “This guy dressed in his hospital scrubs is my brother, Reeve. He made our parents proud by becoming an ER doctor. You know Sebastian from the other night. He’s in college studying to become a psychologist when he isn’t rocking with the band.

And this is my sister, Marissa. She’s going to start her second year of college at the art institute in the fall. Then you know Justice too, but Shaina, you haven’t met him. I think I told you he’s the cop in the family. Soon to be detective. In front of him is my nephew Camden and all the way on the end reclined in his chair is my father, Thomas.”

They were a beautiful family. All of his brothers looked just like their mom. Silky dark hair and glistening blue eyes except Sebastian’s were a much deeper blue. His sister was gorgeous. She looked like a much younger version of her mother. She had beautiful long flowing caramel colored hair and her eyes were different from the rest. They were a mesmerizing hazel. She was simply stunning. She had an alternative flair to her much like Damien. His father didn’t look like any of them. He was taller, much like Justice, but he had graying hair and hazel eyes. I couldn’t tell who his nephew, Camden, looked like. He had similar features as Justice but had deep chocolate eyes like his uncle Damien.

Destiny jumped from her seat on the couch and came up to me. “Hi, it’s so nice to have two more girls with us tonight. You don’t know what it’s like being the only girl and the youngest. It sucks ass. Mom and I are a bit outnumbered in this family of men.”

She was spunky and friendly. “Well, I’m honored to be here.”

“Me, too,” said Shaina.

“So are you and my brother dating? He’s never brought a girl here for family dinner.” She smiled at me. I guess she wanted to do a little girl talk about her brother. But I’ sure my answer would disappoint her.

“No, we’re just friends and roommates.” Good lord. I didn’t want to give off the wrong impression.

‘That’s cool. I stop by his pad all of the time. We’ll have to hang out next time I come over.”

“Totally. That would be awesome.” And I really meant it. She seemed really sweet.

“I’m gonna go see if my mom needs any help. I usually help with the cooking, but I got here kinda late.” And with that, she left.

His dad got up from his chair and walked over to me. “So where are you from, Sydney?”

“Well, I grew up in Warren, Michigan, which is just a suburb outside of Detroit.” I smiled up at him.

“So what brought you all the way to Vegas?” He placed his hand on his chin and rubbed as if he was in deep concentration.

“I just needed a fresh start.” Please don’t let him keep asking me questions about my move.

“So what do you do for a living?”

“I’m a cosmetologist. I work at a salon called Bangs Salon and Spa.”

“That’s a good respectable job. I wish Damien had more of a respectable job instead of putting that trash on people’s bodies. What he’s done with his own is despicable.”

“Well, I think your son is very good at what he does and it says a lot about him that he even owns his own shop. You should be proud of him and embrace his talents.” I wasn’t’ going to let his father pick him apart on my watch. So what if he did tattoos. He wasn’t some bum out on the streets dealing drugs. Deep down, he was a good guy, and he showed that to me in countless ways. I wouldn’t let his own father pick him apart or anyone else for that matter. When it came to him and his job, I respected the hell out of him. It was just him being man-whore that irritated me.

“Hmm, you sure aren’t afraid to say what’s on your mind.” He gave me a wink. Maybe I just scored a few points in the positive column with him.

“I just call it like I see it. You should be proud of him. He works hard and is very talented.”

Just then, Destiny came rushing back into the family room. This time she had an apron on over her clothing. I noticed she was rocking a nose ring. It was really small so it was easy for me to miss when I first met her. It was completely edgy and hot. “Dinner’s ready everyone.”

Damien came back over to me and put his hand on the small of my back. He leaned over and whispered in my ear. “What was my dad doing? Talking about me?”

How do I answer this? I didn’t want to start a family argument, and I certainly wasn’t going to lie to him either. I believed honesty was the best policy. I just needed to put it eloquently. “Well, he certainly doesn’t approve of what you do for a living, but I think I might have set him straight.”

He raised both of his eyebrows. “You did? How?” he asked in a slightly higher level than normal and coughing quickly to hide the surprise in his voice.

“By telling him that he should be proud of you and that you were talented and had accomplished a lot by running your own business,” I said quietly.

He pulled his arm from my back and slipped it around my waist giving me a sideways hug. “Thanks, Sydney. That means a lot to me.”

I just smiled up at him.

And he gave me that panty-dropping smile back.

My stomach whooshed again and my nipples turned into hard pebbles under my shirt. Holy hell. I hoped no one noticed that my tatas were on high alert.