by Day Leclaire
Turning the tables on Kiley, Nicolò claims she’s his wife. What he doesn’t expect is for The Inferno to tumble them into a fierce love affair. Which is the real Kiley? The sweet, passionate woman in his bed, someone he’d do anything to keep, or the crafty con artist he first met? And what will happen when she discovers they’re not married at all, that far from being her loving husband, Nicolò is out for vengeance?
Lover or liar? Devious or delectable? Only The Inferno can determine which.
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Lazz’s Contract Marriage, Book #4
A marriage of convenience … or inconvenience?
They met at the altar. In order to satisfy a contract created by his late father and claim a priceless heirloom fire diamond, Lazz Dante must marry a complete stranger: Ariana Romano. He and his beautiful Italian bride intend to make it a temporary marriage, just long enough to satisfy the terms of the contract before parting ways. It’s a dispassionate and logical solution to an ill-conceived situation.
What they don’t count on is The Inferno striking when they share their first kiss as husband and wife. Nor do they count on being sent off on a secluded, romantic honeymoon where desire rules the day and passion the night. Most of all they don’t count on the fact that the heirloom fire diamond is missing or that it’s Ariana’s father who’s responsible.
Will their marriage end in disaster and disillusionment? Or will The Inferno provide them with the ultimate prize: a forever love?
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Luc’s Unwilling Wife, Book #5
Her Inferno Bodyguard… Dantes’ security chief, Luc Dante is coerced into six weeks of protection duty for heiress Téa de Luca—just until she reaches her twenty-fifth birthday and can claim her inheritance. The job should be a snap for the powerful, former Special Forces tough guy, despite a wound that never properly healed. After all, who would want to harm such a brilliant, family-oriented woman? Only two things stand in his way…
First, Téa is the most adorable, gorgeous, sexy—annoyingly oblivious—person he’s ever met, ready and blithely willing to tumble headlong into any and all disasters that appear in front of her. Not that she sees them.
And second, there’s the small matter of The Inferno, which strikes the second they touch. Of course, that one touch leads to another. And then another and another until they find themselves tumbling into a disaster to end all disasters … the nearest bed. Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad if they hadn’t been caught in the act. Bound by an unbreakable Dante code of honor, their next disastrous step is to the altar.
What neither realizes is there’s a very good reason Téa needs a bodyguard. And if they don’t see what’s happening right in front of them, even The Inferno won’t be enough to save them.
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Rafe’s Temporary Fiancée, Book #6
His fake fiancée… It’s time for lone wolf Rafe Dante to feel the fiery power of The Inferno. After a disastrous first marriage to his non-Inferno wife, he’s done with happily-ever-after. To satisfy his matrimonial-minded family, he hires a woman to fake an engagement, claiming they’ve experienced the burning itch of The Inferno. His plan is to pay his fiancée to leave him at the altar, and since Dante legend alleges The Inferno only ever strikes once, he’ll finally be free to return to his lone wolf ways, problem solved. Only one slight glitch…
The minute he and his temporary fiancée touch, The Inferno strikes—for real.
Sweet, innocent Larkin Thatcher longs for a family of her own. Unfortunately, it isn’t likely to happen, not considering the secrets she hides. When Rafe hires her to be his pretend fiancée and offers a place to stay, it’s a godsend for both Larkin and her “dog,” a lovely Husky who looks suspiciously like a wolf. But falling in love with his family while lying to them isn’t part of the plan. Nor is the overwhelming desire that sparks between the two, one that threatens their plan to go their separate ways.
If she must leave, she will, even if it means she’ll be homeless again, but not without an antique bracelet in Rafe’s possession that will identify her father. It’s all she wants from her soon-to-be-ex fiancé. All Rafe wants from her is, well … her. At least, for now. But The Inferno has a funny way of turning “now” into forever.
What will happen when Rafe learns her true identity? Will “now” turn to never? Or will The Inferno find a way to mate these two lone wolves?
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Draco’s Marriage Pact, Book #7
A one night stand…
A secret baby…
When Draco Dante experiences The Inferno with Dante family rival, Shayla Charleston, he isn’t the least opposed. In fact, he sweeps her off her feet and straight into his bed. What he doesn’t expect is for her to disappear after their one night of passion. Unwilling to let her go and with The Inferno burning in his veins, he spends months searching for her … only to discover Shayla is expecting his baby. Like, now!
On the eve of her twenty-fifth birthday, Shayla Charleston has three goals. 1. Make sure her grandmother is taken care of. 2. Take off for Europe with her new boss. 3. Experience a one-night stand. Instead, she ends up in bed with the one man she should avoid at all costs … a Dante, her grandmother’s nemesis.
Now nine months pregnant, Shayla is torn between families—her husband’s and hers. Even though Draco is reluctant to trap Shayla in an unwanted marriage, he’s determined his son will bear the Dante name. So they come to an agreement. She’ll marry him and, unwillingly, he’ll let her go.
Can The Inferno resolve old rivalries? And more important, can it prove that love and family trumps everything, even a marriage pact?
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Gianna’s Honor-Bound Husband, Book #8
The Inferno hides a dark secret … and Gianna knows it.
Gianna Dante wasn’t sure she could actually feel The Inferno. But the instant she touches her true love she discovers that not only can she … she does!
Constantine Romano has a will unlike any other and refuses to take Gianna as his until he rebuilds his decimated finances. After all, he might have no choice but to submit to The Inferno’s passion, but he still has his honor. Now, nineteen months, five days, eight hours and a handful of minutes later, he has returned to claim his mate, only to discover she’s moved on. While The Inferno overwhelms him with flames of desire, Gianna has apparently found a cure for its burn.
And she has. It’s a secret she learned as a child and even though it threatens to break her heart, she can’t force Constantine to love her against his will. While family pressure forces them to the altar, Gianna has a heartbreaking decision to make. Tell her family the truth—that The Inferno isn’t real, just a sweet family fairy tale that can easily be broken. Or keep her silence and marry the only man she’ll ever love, even if he doesn’t want to marry her.
Has The Inferno finally burned out? Or will its flame catch fire for Gianna and her honor-bound husband before it’s too late?
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Becoming Dante: Gabe, Book #9
Forced to become a Dante …
Gabe Moretti despises his connection to the Dantes ever since they rejected his mother and sister. He wants nothing to do with them … until he meets Kat Malloy. The instant they touch, a bizarre, passionate reaction overwhelms him. Despite that, he’s determined to keep their relationship a business one. Only, The Inferno has other ideas.
Kat Malloy wants just one thing, a fiancé to help repair her relationship with her dying grandmother. And Gabe Moretti is the perfect man for the job. Not only does her grandmother adore him, but he has the ability to restore her shredded reputation, primarily because he’s the man who shredded it. In exchange, she’ll give him Heart’s Desire, the gorgeous diamond necklace his mother designed and that he’s spent years attempting to purchase.
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She’s utterly shocked when he insists that in addition to giving him the necklace, she share his bed, or that she finds herself not just willing, but eager. What she doesn’t anticipate is their passion flaming out of control and the unexpected results which lead them to a marriage neither expect or want. Or do they…?
Will The Inferno help the two learn to overcome their past and find love? And will Gabe finally be able to accept that with Kat’s help he’s finally Becoming Dante.
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Dante’s Dilemma: Romero, Book #10
Romero Dante: The town bad boy. The man all good girls should avoid.
Julietta Bianchi: Sweet and virginal. The woman who’d do anything to save her family. And engaged to Rom’s best friend.
Rom Dante had always been warned about the danger of The Inferno. After all, it creates an all-consuming, love-at-first-touch lust, which led to his mother’s ruin … and Rom’s birth. Now it strikes again with the one woman Rom can’t have—Julietta Bianchi, the fiancée of his best friend.
Julietta will do whatever necessary to save her family from financial disaster, even marry a man she doesn’t love. But days before her wedding is to take place, her heart is stolen—with a single touch. Now the two lovers must choose between honor … and each other.
But Romero’s grandfather warns that to ignore The Inferno will turn love from a blessing to a curse. And Rom can’t allow that, even if it means stealing his bride and forcing her to the altar.
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Forever Dante: Lucia, Book #11
All love child Lucia Moretti has ever wanted is to share her father’s name. To be a Dante, like her dad. To belong. To feel the burn of The Inferno when she first joins hands with her soul mate. Unfortunately, she no longer believes in fairy tales. Or so she thinks until a protective stranger touches her and The Inferno strikes. Too bad he doesn’t feel it, too.
Ty Masterson is hired to guard the millions of dollars’ worth of Dante gems Lucia is modeling at a premier celebration to debut the New Beginnings jewelry line. But he finds himself more interested in guarding her body. After a night of passion, it’s discovered the jewelry is fake—switched at some point under his watch—and Ty is torn between duty and his growing attraction for Lucia.
Then matters take a more serious turn when Lucia suspects she’s pregnant...with Ty’s baby. Will history repeat itself, or will her own lovechild escape the stigma of illegitimacy that Lucia spent a lifetime living?
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Excerpt: Luc’s Unwilling Wife
Prologue
“I need your help.”
If it had been anyone other than his grandmother uttering those words, Luc Dante would have walked away. But coming from a woman he loved with all his heart, he found himself replying, “What can I do?”
Beautiful hazel eyes, wise from the weight of her years, held a wealth of compassion. There was also a twinkling of the irrepressible humor that was so much a part of her character. She hesitated just long enough for a faint warning bell to sound, an internal alarm he’d long ago learned to listen for and respond to with all due haste.
“The truth is, it is a friend of mine who needs your help,” she admitted.
“Nonna—”
“Hear me out, Luciano.” In her own way, his grandmother could be as autocratic as his grandfather, Primo. At his nod, she continued. “You remember my dear friend Marietta de Luca, do you not? We all vacationed together one summer at the cabin when you were a boy. You children all called her Madam. Even her grandchildren address her by that name.”
It took a moment to summon the memory from his childhood. Then it popped into crisp focus. The Dante family summer home. The lake. His three brothers, sister, and four cousins all running rampant. And three little girls—Madam de Luca’s grandchildren—with frizzy black hair and pitch eyes whom they’d secretly dubbed the three witches.
There’d been a fourth girl, he recalled, with bright red hair, white, white skin and intense eyes, who’d drifted from shadow to shadow and rarely spoke. Most of the time, she had a nose in a book. Showing stunning originality, they’d dubbed her Red.
Even more oddly, she made him itch. It was the only way he could describe it, that vague jittery reaction he had whenever she came too close. It made him want to poke at her, to try to elicit a reaction. But she’d shied away from all of them, vanishing like a ghost whenever they approached, showing up at mealtimes long enough to nibble at her food before slipping away again. For some reason, her behavior had irritated him. He might have done something about it, if not for the watchful eye of his grandparents.
Luc shook off the memory. “I remember Madam,” he admitted. He also remembered thinking it would make the perfect name for a dog, but decided—even at such a tender age—it might be wise to keep that particular tidbit to himself. A brief image flashed through his head of an elegant, aristocratic woman with coloring to match her dark-haired grandchildren, a woman who could command obedience with a single black look. “What about her?”
“Her eldest granddaughter, Téa, needs your assistance for a few weeks.”
He wondered briefly which of the witches was Téa, but the bell inside his head sounded another warning, this one louder than before and he focused on that, instead. “What sort of assistance?” he asked suspiciously.
“Well . . .” Nonna released her breath in a sigh. “To be honest, she needs a bodyguard.”
Luc shot to his feet, his knee screaming in protest at the unexpected jolt. Damn it to hell! “No.”
“Now, Luciano—”
He limped to the bank of windows of Dantes conference room where his grandmother had cornered him and stared out at the city of San Francisco. Any other day, he’d have admired the crystal clear spring morning which offered a stunning view of San Francisco Bay, along with a startling backwash from a crisp blue sky. Not today. Not this moment. Not when memories tried to crowd their way into his thoughts and heart.
“I can’t.” The words came out far harsher than he’d intended. “Don’t ask me to go through that again.”
“It was not your fault,” Nonna said quietly.
He pivoted on his good leg, struggling to hold the nightmare at bay. But flashes crept through, no matter how hard he worked to keep them compartmentalized. The urgent rush to escape their pursuers. The SUV coming out of nowhere. The car crash. The child. Oh, God, the child. The husband, gone. The wife, broken. The sound of her weeping. Her pathetic pleas.
“Let me die! Just let me die so I can be with them!”
He closed his eyes and forced the memories into the furthest recesses of his mind. “I can’t do it, Nonna. I won’t.”
“It is not that sort of job,” she said with such gentleness it threatened to overwhelm him.
He waited until he regained his self-control. “It is that sort of job if I need to guard her,” he corrected with amazing calm.
“Attend to me, cucciolo mio. Téa is to receive a large inheritance when she turns twenty-five.” Nonna raised her eyes to the heavens in clear benediction. “If she turns twenty-five.”
Facts first. Refuse later. “Someone wants to prevent that from happening?”
“No, no. Nothing like that. Téa is . . .” Nonna made a tsking sound with her tongue and then switched to Italian. “Ignaro. Oblivious. The girl is highly focused.”
Luc lifted an eyebrow and followed suit, switching to Italian. “Which is it? Oblivious or focused?”
Nonna gave a speaking shrug. “Both. She is very organized and focused on that which holds her attention. Such organization and attention to detail causes her to be somewhat oblivious to all else. It has gotten to the point where she has become seriously accident prone.”
“So, lock her up in a room somewhere for—” He
tilted his head to one side. “How long?”
“Six weeks.”
“For six weeks.”
“First, the de Lucas would have to get her to agree, which she will not. Secondly, she is the main support of her family. She cannot afford to take a six-week leave of absence. They are in serious financial straits.”
“Why does that change when . . . Téa?” He lifted an eyebrow and at his grandmother’s nod, he continued. “When Téa turns twenty-five?”
“On her next birthday, she receives a huge trust fund and ownership in a business which will support the entire family for the rest of their lives. If she does not—” Nonna shrugged again. “The money does not.”
“I already have a job.”
And he did. Sort of. As head of security for Dantes Courier Service, the branch of the business that handled the day-to-day operations of safely transporting Dantes fabulous fire diamonds, gemstones, and jewelry, he wouldn’t normally have time for this. But there had been a recent robbery of one of the shipments and while the police and insurance company were investigating, DCS had been temporarily shut down.
Nonna’s eyes flashed with hazel fire. “Do not insult my intelligence.”
Luc sighed, hearing the painful snap of the trap closing around him. “Let me get this straight. You want me to safeguard a klutz so she makes it to her twenty-fifth birthday? That’s it? No danger. No actual bodyguarding? You just want a what? A babysitter?”
Nonna smiled in relief. “Exactly. Téa de Luca needs a babysitter for the next six weeks and I promised Madam that you would sit on her baby.”
Chapter One
Luc lounged—as best as a six-foot three-inch man could lounge—in the dainty chair at the small bistro table outside a trendy downtown San Francisco restaurant. He struggled to control his impatience. Beside him Nonna and Madam chatted happily in Italian while they awaited the arrival of Téa de Luca, or Witch Girl #1 as Luc had privately dubbed her. Because she was late, a trait that—quite literally—drove him out of his ever-loving mind, he was in hurry up and wait mode, one of his least favorite memories of his military service.