Giovanni (Blood Brothers Book 6) Read Free Page A

he’d last seen her and never this close.
    She was tall and curvaceous, reminding him of a Botticelli painting come to life. Her eyes were large, framed with long thick lashes while her lips were full and pouty. Proud cheek bones rested in a face that Giovanni believed was complete perfection. She wore her hair cropped closely to her scalp, but the look suited her. It brought the focus to her angelic face. Her dress, which wouldn’t be considered risqué on most bodies, was absolutely sinful on hers, particularly for the way it skimmed her generous hips and breasts.
    He’d almost forgotten the way she’d made him feel the first time he’d seen her. But as she drew closer his ability to speak or even think had faded away. All he could see was her and how the sun glistened off of her beautiful brown skin that reminded him of silken sable.
    As if his feet had a mind of their own, they began to move, propelling him toward her. He reached out when she was arm’s length in front of hi m and touched her arm. The beauty gasped, her gorgeous brown eyes widening in surprise as a jolt of electricity shot through his body.
    Suddenly darkness consumed him as he experienced the sensation of falling.
     
     
     
     
     

 
    Chapter Two
    Sydney didn’t see the stranger fall, but she’d certainly heard the heavy drop of his body to the ground. She knelt down and reached out for him. It was ice cold! She yanked her hand away, fearing the worst. No, this couldn’t be happening. His body wouldn’t have lost heat so quickly. She reached out again and found his chest and then moved her hand along his solid frame until she found his neck. There was a pulse, but it was slow.
    “Ida!” she called out, hoping her friend was on the porch or at least looking out from the kitchen window.
    “No need to yell, I’m here, child.”
    Sydney could hear the faint creaking of Ida’s favorite rocking chair in the background and assumed she’d been there all along. “I think we need to call an ambulance. He passed out.”
    “Maybe he’s been out in the sun too long. Carolina summers are usually pretty mild but this year it’s been a beast.”
    “I don’t think he’s suffering from heatstroke, he’s not warm. He’s the opposite, actually.” She pressed her head on his forehead which felt clammy. He hadn’t spoken before he’d touched her and he didn’t wear any identifying colognes which would have helped identify him, although he did have a clean, after-shower scent mingled with a masculine fragrance that was uniquely his.
    When he’d made contact with her, she felt a jolt she couldn’t explain. It was the sensation of being shocked by someone who wore wool socks rubbing them against the carpet, but much more intense. She couldn’t quite explain it beyond that.
    And now he lay at her feet, apparently passed out, and she didn’t understand what was happening. Her earlier visit to the doctor’s office was pushed to the back of her mind as she focused her attention on this stranger.
    “I still think we should get him some medical attention. Could you make that call?” She spoke in Ida’s general direction.
    “Why don’t you try to rouse him before getting anyone else involved? He doesn’t look that terribly sick to me. Maybe a little pale. Could be a junkie. We don’t need that kind of trouble around here.”
    Sydney frowned. It wasn’t like Ida to be so unhelpful. “Why would you think that? Who is he anyway?”
    “Someone claiming to be a new boarder. Said he talked to you on the phone.”
    Sydney smacked her forehead. “Oh, no. I’ve been so worried about my appointment that I forgot to mention we’d be getting a new boarder this week. He said he’d be here tomorrow but there was a possibility that he would show up today. I can’t believe it slipped my mind. I had the agency run his information, of course, and everything seemed to check out. His name is John Chandler.”
    “Hmph,” Ida grunted. “There’s