Per Verse Vengeance
Page 14
Nicole, to no one’s surprise, excelled as an apprentice editor and quickly moved up the ladder to become an assistant editor and finally head editor. Natalie and Nick were so impressed that she was given a vote on all matters related to the company, including properties it was interested in acquiring, such as books and screenplays.
Nick made it perfectly clear to all that it was Natalie’s company and that she simply allowed him to work there. She was the creative force, the final say, and the engine behind the success of the company.
Nicole never stopped believing that it was fate that she and Nick met, but she also accepted the possibility that she and her daughter were the lucky recipients of a tragic misfortune — the death of Elizabeth.
In the evenings, when the sun’s final rays passed through their bedroom window and touched Elizabeth’s urn, it never failed to register with Nicole that it was Elizabeth who looked after her now. And as promised, Nick got into bed every night and whispered into Nicole’s ear how much he loved her, and he held her tightly.
Acknowledgements
A big thank you to my lovely wife who has always been a pillar of support and love.
To beautiful Ava, profiles in courage come in all shapes, sizes and age groups.
To my great friend Frank Estrada. We have much in common, especially our love of Hemingway.
To my college roommate and close friend, Andres Lopez. Literature will always bond us.
A big thank you, to Lee Parpart for making Per Verse Vengence a much better book.
Another big thank you to Paula Chiarcos, my editor, for doing such an amazing and thoughtful job.
And to all the people at Iguana books, especially Meghan and Daniella, for being so patient and so very helpful.
About the Author
Joseph Sciuto was born and raised in New York City where he spent his early years listening to his Italian-American grandmother’s vivid stories about how their family was responsible for building much of the impressive Manhattan skyline, including the Empire State Building. The rich flavor of her stories about their family’s heritage still works its way through his writing.
Sciuto holds degrees from both John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Stony Brook University and a certificate in film studies from New York University. After studying psychology, film, theater, literature, and English as an undergraduate, he relocated to Southern California to attend graduate school at Loyola Marymount University, where he studied writing and film.