by K. L. Myers
My eyes quickly snap to Bethany’s. “What did you just say? Doctor Copley? Isn’t Lil— I mean, Doctor Vicci his cardiologist?”
A sly smile crosses Bethany’s face. “Were you going to call her Lillian, Love?”
I look away from her prying eyes, placing Peanut on his feet, then stand from my chair.
“Oh my God, you were going to call her Lillian. Is there something you need to tell me, Love? Are you the reason she left Virginia and went back to New York?”
“What are you talking about, Bethany?” My heart is beating in my chest faster now. “When did she leave for New York?”
Bethany is skeptical for a moment. “You really didn’t know she moved to New York? I assumed you knew. She left a month ago, just after the last time you were in town.”
“No, Bethany, I had no idea she moved to New York. If I had, I wouldn’t have asked you when she moved.” I know I’m being an arrogant prick right now, but Lillian didn’t say a word to me when we were together, and all this time she’s been close to me, and she hasn’t reached out once. “Did she tell you why she decided to move?”
“Actually, she didn’t tell me she was moving. A week ago, I got a call from her office informing me that she had turned her practice over to Doctor Copley for an indefinite period of time, that something pressing with her family came up.”
“I see. Well, let’s go get a clean bill of health for Peanut, shall we?” I place a smile on my face when I want to do anything but smile right now.
Chapter Eighteen
LINCOLN
Night has fallen outside, the sky as black as my soul right now. How could she leave and not respond to my message? If she didn’t want to talk, she could have texted me a goodbye. Hell, a ‘Fuck you’ if that’s how she felt. Something feels off about the whole situation. My instinct has always gotten me through and not been wrong before, so I have to trust it now when it says that this whole situation is wrong. It’s time to find out a bit more about Lillian Vicci.
My fingers type the words ‘Doctor Lillian Vicci’ into my search engine. Multiple entries regarding her medical practice come up but nothing about her personally. I recall her saying she grew up in the Bronx and moved to Brooklyn, so that is my next search. Page after page of information comes up regarding the Vicci crime family. Yes, it’s a name that rings out throughout New York City, but it never crossed my mind that the Vicci crime family would be related to my Lillian. But there it is in the headlines from several weeks ago.
MAFIA HEIR TO VICCI CRIME FAMILY SAVES THE DAY.
The sole heir and daughter to the Vicci crime family returned home to save the day and her father. Francesco Vicci suffered a major heart attack while dining at Sicily’s earlier this month. Though the heart attack only hospitalized the crime family godfather shortly, we have it from a secret source that the princess heir has returned home to perform her father’s open-heart surgery.
The young mafia princess once escaped the confinements of the family to become one of the nation’s top pediatric cardiologist surgeons. It seems that the family has drawn their daughter back into the lion's den to save the family. Francesco Vicci was released days after his heart attack with Salvatore Mangano by his side. At a time when the leadership of the family is crucial, the crime family is set to name Salvatore Mangano as its new godfather.
Mangano, a native New Yorker whose lineage reaches back to Sicily, is a descendant of the Mangano crime family, once one of the largest Cosa Nostra organizations in the 1920s in Sicily. Mangano’s great-grandfather left Sicily to expand operations into the United States but found sanctuary with the Vicci family. Over the years, the Vicci family has risen to be one of the strongest of the five families here in New York. Salvatore, who rose from underboss to Consiglieri to Francesco Vicci over the years, is the definite choice, says an insider. Does that mean that Lillian Olivia Vicci will soon become Mrs. Salvatore Mangano, or will she once again find her way out of the limelight and away from the family’s long reach once her father is better?
It all becomes clear to me now. The uneasy feeling Lillian demonstrated as we landed in New York, the evasive answers when I asked anything about her family. These were all ways to avoid talking about who she truly is. She once escaped the family to find her own independence, just to be pulled back into the mess that is the Vicci crime family.
One thing is for certain. I need to find Lillian and speak with her. If she thinks ignoring me will make me go away, she has another thing coming. It only took one night with her in my arms for me to realize that all these years of running away from commitment weren’t because I was afraid of settling. No, it was because I hadn’t found the right woman. Lillian Vicci is the right woman for me, and living without her isn’t an option. She needs to know that for the first time in my life, I’m ready to settle down. Now, all I have to figure out is how to get to her and get her alone.
The saga continues in the Love At Last Series . . .
Keep reading for an excerpt from Lost in L.O.V.
Book 1: Souled by KL Shandwick
Book 2: Going, Going Gone by Samantha A. Cole
Book 3: Joker by M.A. Stone
Book 4: A Chance at L.O.V.E. by KL Myers (Coming July 2nd)
Book 5: For Her Amusement by Heather Anne (Coming July 16th)
Book 6: Stab at Love by Kristine Mason (Coming July 30th)
Book 7: Bidding on the Bodyguard by Kristi Avalon (Coming August August 13th)
Book 8: Afraid of Love by Annelise Reynolds (Coming August 27th)
Lost in L.O.V. (Book 1) Love At Last Series
Sneak Peek
Prologue
I was just eighteen when my father became the underboss to the Vicci crime family. Anthony Rizzuto was a name every capo feared in the organization, and rightfully so. He’d earned his place at the top when Salvatore Mangano stepped into the Consigliere role. I was a soldier under my father when he was Capo, and for four years, I learned how to be ruthless. I killed for the family when it was needed, and Francesco Vicci knew I was loyal.
On my twenty-second birthday, Mr. Vicci requested my presence. At the time, I couldn’t have imagined that he would bestow such an amazing honor on me. “Angelo, my boy.” His voice was deep and booming. “You’ve proven to the family that your loyalty knows no bounds.” His hand clasped my shoulder as he walked past me to take the seat to my left. “I’ve got a job for you, son. It is the most important job that I would ask of anyone. Do you want to know what it is before you accept or decline?”
I knew better than to ask questions. When Francesco Vicci calls you in personally to tell you he has a job that he only trusts to you, you don’t question it; you accept it and be damn proud that a man like him trusts you. “No, sir, you don’t have to explain whatever it is. I’m your man.”
Francesco stood and moved around his desk, where he took a seat in his chair, reclining back slightly. His dark, black eyes stared straight into mine, almost making me a bit frightened about what he was going to ask of me. “Angelo, my daughter, Lillian, is at that age when she’s getting to be too big for her own britches. You, my son, will watch over her from here on out.” Francesco’s eyes narrowed at me “With your life. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir, Mr. Vicci, I understand. I’m honored that you believe in me. With my life, sir, I will protect Lillian.”
“Eccellente, now go enjoy your last night of freedom. Starting tomorrow, you will be available to Lillian twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. I will have the housekeeper make up a room for you across the hall from Lillian’s. She is your ward now. Go.” And just like that, with a whisk of his hand, I was excused.
My first week with Lillian was less than pleasant. That girl was a handful, just as her father had said she would be. If I said the sky was blue, she’d argue that it was red. When I would tell her to wait for me at the door, she would push right through it. The two of us were going to have to find common ground if I was going to keep her safe.
On her twelfth
birthday, she stood before me, her tiny hands on her hips, and declared she didn’t need me as a babysitter. “I’m sick of you, Angelo,” she barked loudly at me with an angry scowl on her face that would have had me shaking in my shoes if I hadn’t been ten years her senior and one hell of a badass myself. I knew then my life was going to be turned upside down, and it did in more ways than I could have imagined.
I’d lay my life down for hers, and trust me, there were several times when it almost came to that. Being the daughter and sole heir to Francesco Vicci made Lillian a prime target of his enemies, but there was no way in hell she’d die while being my ward.
In the four years that led up to her sixteenth birthday, Lillian was not only my ward, but I became one of her closest confidants. It was hell keeping her little secrets from her father, but they were mere teenage pranks that she and Ashlynn got into. I remember the night of her birthday clear as day. I stood off into the dark, watching her. All the families were present to help celebrate the young girl turning into a young woman. I didn’t hear her sneak up on me until her voice became a whisper in the air, floating to my ears.
“Aren’t you going to wish me a happy birthday, Angelo?” The twinkle in her eyes warmed my heart.
“Happy Birthday, piccolo ragazza.” I knew she hated when I called her little girl. It made her crazy because in her eyes, she was a woman.
“Ah, come on, Angelo. You know you want to kiss me. Just one little kiss, please.” She was pushing my buttons, and she knew it. Her index finger twisted a piece of her mahogany locks in circles as she winked at me.
I leaned down and kissed the side of her cheek. “Like I said, Happy Birthday, piccolo ragazza.”
Over the last four years, Lillian had developed feelings for me, and at first, it was adorable. But now, as she’d matured, I knew she needed to stop because I could only be tortured so far before I broke.
It was the night before Lillian’s eighteenth birthday. She stood before me in nothing but a wife beater and a tiny pair of shorts. I’ve loved her from the moment she became my responsibility, but I couldn’t pinpoint the exact day when I fell in love with her. I knew on her sixteenth birthday that I was in trouble when she asked me for that kiss. I knew she wouldn’t let me do my job without pushing her way into my heart, but as much as I fought it, it still happened. Tonight, though, my traitorous body realized just how much she’d matured.
“I’m going to be eighteen tomorrow, Angelo. You know what that means, right? I’m going to be a woman. I want you to be my first.”
Holy fucking shit. I’d managed to keep her at arm’s length every time she’s flirted with me over the last two years and implied that she wanted more, but never had I ever expected her to say those words to me. As much as I’d love to lean down and kiss those pouty, perfect lips, I knew that could never happen; she was too young for me, and our families would kill me for even having the thoughts I’m thinking right now. GOD, help my soul that I can survive Lillian Olivia Vicci.
About the Author
K.L. Myers was born an Air Force "brat" in West Berlin, Germany moving with her family from Germany to Colorado to "hell," aka Arizona where she resides with her husband David & their fur babies (three cats & a dog). They have two grown daughters and three grandchildren.
K.L. has a passion for collecting PEZ dispensers & hot romance. When she isn't juggling family & a full-time executive job, KL indulges her other passion- writing.
Her books & novellas show a pension for a bad boy with a heart of gold. Coupling her bad boys with strong, independent women who don't need rescuing, just maybe a taste of naughty redemption! Her characters will pull you in & leave you satiated, yet panting for more, More, MORE!
Connect with K.L. Myers on social media:
Website: www.authorklmyers.com
K.L. also has a readers group called KL Krazies. Click here if you’d like to be a part of it.
Make sure to follow me or sign up for my newsletter on my website – www.authorklmyers.com. I have several new projects in the works you won’t want to miss out on.
Acknowledgments
To my beta readers: Amy, Ellen, and Julie. I can’t even begin to thank you for helping make my books so much better.
Lydia Harbaugh HEA PR. – What can I say woman. You are the best Publicist ever.
Julia Goda – I say it every book and I mean it. I thank God for you every day, you make me look great.
Samantha A Cole – Thank you for formatting this little gem for me
Lastly, thank you, readers, for purchasing A Chance At L.O.V.E
If you’ve enjoyed reading this book, please take a moment to leave a review. Your review is the greatest gift you can give an author.
Other Books by K.L. Myers
The Second Chance Series
Reawaken His Heart (Book 1)
Reclaiming His Future (Book 2)
Rediscovering His Life (Book 3)
COMING SOON
Redefining His Present (Book 4)
Razor’s Edge Series
Rocking Between The Sheets (Prequel)
Sheet Music (Book 1)
Heart Beats (Book 2)
COMING SOON
Loving Ivory (Book 3)