Slash, now behind the bar again, pulled several shot glasses and started pouring. When finished, she tossed him a nod. “Pass ‘em out.”
Teddy started handing them out. Only his grandmother and Luciano’s wife, Simone, refused.
Teddy raised the glass. “A noi.”
“To us,” Slash translated.
“Look at my wife, learning Italian,” Carrera said.
Teddy tossed back the top-shelf whiskey, appreciating the vanilla, figs, and cinnamon as he savored it before swallowing it down. “Now, that’s what I’m talking about.”
As the conversations resumed, Gabriel pulled him aside. “I need your help.”
“What’s going on?” Teddy asked, wondering if that meant he’d be spending time in Italy.
Luciano joined them, and Gabriel shook his head to silence Teddy.
“What are you two up to?” Luciano asked.
Gabriel and Luciano looked alike with their dark hair and olive skin. Both were tall and strong, but not as bulked-out as he and Greystone.
“I’m chasing evil,” Teddy said. “That’s all I ever do.”
“And no one does it better than you,” Luciano replied.
“That’s why we always ask you for help,” Gabriel added.
Just then, his brother Greystone filled the entryway, his massive frame dwarfing the space. He glanced around, flashed a smile. “Sorry we’re late.”
As Greystone kissed Elsa’s cheeks, movement snagged Teddy’s attention. Caroline entered the room, her arm looped through another woman’s arm.
And that’s when every damn thing went into slow-mo.
Theotherwoman was Caroline’s sister, Sydney Austin. The one woman who’d crashed into his life months earlier, then ghosted away just as quickly.
Heat infused his chest and he found himself checking her out, his gaze raking over every sexy inch of her.
Sydney Austin was his dream woman. Out-of-his-league kinda girl. Her long dark hair had been braided, the long trifold of thick hair cascading around her shoulder and downher breast. She was a little taller than average height… five-seven or five-eight. Tonight, she’d worn a form-fitting, long-sleeved black shirt with see-through sleeves, and a pair of black jeans. Simple, yet on Austin, it was all he could donotto blurt out, “You look effin’ fantastic!”
But he had more control than that… hella more control. Except for the fact that his pulse had shot up and his dick had awakened from a long and very frustrating slumber.
“Hey, family,” Caroline said with an adorable smile.
Like her sister, she too had braided her blonde hair into pigtails. Teddy couldn’t help but chuckle. It was like an Austin-sister slumber party had crashed the Santini family dinner.
The sisters looked as different as he and Gabriel did. Where Caroline had blonde hair and a light skin tone, Sydney was the opposite. Dark hair, darker skin tone, dark eyes that held the mysteries of the universe.
Easy there, Shakespeare.
“This is my big sis, Sydney.”
“Thanks for letting me crash your party,” Sydney said.
“She just got into town,” Caroline added, “and I wasn’t letting her spend her first night back in the country alone.”
“Where were you?” Elsa asked.
“Italy,” Gabriel answered. “She was in Italy.”
