My bottom lip trembles violently. I can barely get the words out, but finally, I manage, “Wh-why didn’t you?” That’s as far as I get. He already knows what I’m asking at this point. Before he answers, he gets to his feet and leans down to scoop me into his arms. Then he stands there with his face buried in my neck, crushing me so tightly I’m afraid I’ll snap. Yet it’s the best pain I’ve ever felt. He loves me enough to let me go. Completely selfless.
After a while, he lowers himself to the sofa with me still clutched against him. “I didn’t want to do that to you. To take away the man who’d been a father to you. After what my… mother did, I have no right to happiness if it meant taking yet another thing from you. I don’t deserve you, I never have. You’re good and pure. And I’m tainted by everything I’ve seen and done. I’ll never be the man you need. One you’ll be proud of, that—”
“Dear God”—I start laughing— “you absolutely suck at this, Moretti. Do you want to love me or make me end it all? That’s the single most depressing speech I’ve heard since Minka’s last self-help pitch.”
He pulls back, staring at me in shock. Look at that face. I hurt his feelings. “And you think you could do better? You like chick books. I thought you’d appreciate a man pouring his heart out.”
I roll my eyes, feeling strangely happy for someone who has just discovered their stepfather was an evil turd. Maybe the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree after all. “The men in my books are alpha-badasses, not pussies. They make their women happy in bed, not with sappy speeches. Maybe you should read one of them, then we’ll try this again.”
“Excuse me?” he chokes out, no doubt in disbelief that a woman would question the skills of the great Marco Moretti. I shake my head.
How could seeing him, being held by him, just breathing his scent somehow revive me?
Because he loves you enough to come even if he may have been rejected. I yawn and lean up to kiss his cheek. “I’m tired. Why don’t you let yourself out, and we’ll talk in a few days? Catch ya later, buddy.”
About two seconds pass before I’m flat on my back with a growling man pushing one knee between my legs as he comes down over me. Even in his haste, his touch is gentle as if afraid I’ll break. He stares at me as if seeing me for the first time all over again. “I love you, Belle. And I’m so sorry about—”
“I know. So am I.” There is a time for laughter and a time for tenderness, and he needs the latter now. I cup the side of his face and smile when he turns into my touch. “I missed you so much. And I’m sorry you’ve had to go through this alone. I just didn’t know how to handle everything.” His mother was going to kill me. I looked death in the eye.
“You don’t owe me an apology, baby. We’ve both suffered, and I know it’s not going to be better overnight. I know you have questions. We still have a lot to talk about and to resolve, and I don’t want any more secrets between us. We’ll take everything slowly, just please… give me a chance, Belle. I can’t lose you too.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I vow as the final pieces of the past break away, and I see only the man before me. “I love you, Marco. I belong to you. I have for so very long.” And finally, I’m where I need to be. We’ve fought through hell, yet we’re still here. A tragedy and betrayal so significant that it should have broken us apart forever, yet we’ve found our way back to each other. I may not have been born mafia, but I was born to love this man. And the biggest blessing of all is that he was also born to love me.
Minka
Neither of them hears the door opening, nor the footsteps tiptoeing through my apartment to pause inches away. “Fuck me. Finally,” Nic whispers as we glance at the sofa to see Nina and Marco sound asleep in each other’s arms. They’re holding each other so close, you can barely tell where one starts and the other stops.
I hold out a hand, and we fist-bump. “I figured they’d either kill or fuck each other to death.”
Nic peers closer before asking, “Should we check them for breath? Make sure they picked door number two?”
Nina lets out a loud snore at precisely that moment, and we both stifle a laugh. “Yeah, I think they’re good. Let’s get out of here. I feel like a peeping pervert.”
“That kind of turns me on,” Nic mutters as he slides a hand down to pinch my ass. “I’d like you to demonstrate exactly how you’d go about the number two you speak of.”
He continues groping me as we retrace our steps. When we reach the door, I pause for a moment, thinking something feels different. Then it hits me. The sorrow that’s hung so heavily over all of us has temporarily subsided. Of course, it’ll be back, but for tonight, our world is at peace, and I couldn’t ask for anything more.
Except to know whether it’s wisdom or stupidity to believe that there will never be retribution for the murders by my hands.
* * *
The End
Coming Fall 2019—Nicoli
Acknowledgments
My amazing editors: Marion Archer and Jenny Sims with Editing4Indies. Love you, ladies!
* * *
Melissa Gill for my beautiful cover.
* * *
For my BFF Erik (Jethro) Real men read romance, right?
* * *
And to my friends, Elizabeth Swain, Shazza Fletcher, Sandy Ambrose, Sherri McJunkin, Katelyne Morgan, Jenni Lord with Between the Sheets Book Reviews, Catherine Crook with A Reader Lives a Thousand Lives, Jennifer Harried with Book Bitches Blog, Christine with Books and Beyond, Jenn with SMI Book Club, Chloe with Smart Mouth Smut, Shelly with Sexy Bibliophiles, Amanda and Heather with Crazy Cajun Book Addicts, Stacia with Three Girls & A Book Obsession, Lisa Salvary and Confessions of a Book Lovin Junkie.
The Pierced Series
Pierced
My name is Lucian Quinn and I own one of the most successful software companies in the world. I’m twenty-nine, rich and single. Impressive right? I’m also a favorite target for every hungry socialite looking to land the uncatchable catch. Maybe it sounds vain, but the fact that I’m a God between the sheets doesn’t hurt my stock any. What these women don’t know though is that I’m completely screwed up and damaged beyond repair by my past. The only part of me I’ll ever willingly give them is the hour it takes to make them scream…several times.
* * *
Then I saw her…
* * *
Circumstances bring two people that should have never crossed paths together, and in the days and weeks ahead, they grow close quickly, each seeing a kindred soul in the other. As ghosts from their past rise to haunt them, they cling to each other as their lives start to spiral out of control. Soon, they realize that they’re both damaged possibly beyond repair. Will their love be what saves or destroys them?
* * *
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Fractured
Lucian and Lia attempt to deal with the aftermath of the violent attack on her by her stepfather. As events unfold in their lives, Lia finds that she can no longer be patient with the man that she loves, because his secrets are tearing them apart.
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Lucian cannot deny the fact that he’s fallen in love with the brave and beautiful woman who has lived a life of horror. He wants nothing more than to protect her, but soon realizes that he may be the person who will hurt her the most.
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To be together, they’ll have to fight demons from their pasts that threaten to destroy them.
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Mended
Lucian finally shares his past heartache and guilt with Lia. Free of the shadows that have haunted them, they are ready to move forward together.
Until…the woman who destroyed Lucian’s life eight years ago is suddenly free. Lucian is in a frantic race against time to convince those around him that Cassie is the ultimate threat to all that he holds dear. He’ll stop at nothing to protect the woman he loves even if he must wage a war against his best friend to do it.
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Rose
My name is Rose Madden and I have spent my life being the perfect daughter. Thanks to my daddy, I’m an expert marksman who dresses like some modern-day freaking June Cleaver. My life has been perfectly scripted since the day I was born. I’ve never deviated from the plan—until I met attorney Max Decker. Now he has me doing insane things to get his attention, like grabbing him in his car and being arrested for stalking my ex-boyfriend just so he’ll come bail me out of jail. He thinks I’m crazy—but he wants me anyway. Will he still feel the same when fate steps in, revealing my secret shame to him?
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Aidan
“She’s a dirty-talking, sassy-mouthed handful who keeps me on my toes. I never know what’s going to come out of that mouth next, and it turns me on like you wouldn’t believe.”
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Aidan Spencer walked away from his family and his friends when the woman he’d loved since childhood died while attempting to kill his best friends’ wife. Aidan had chosen to save another and in doing so had lost Cassie. For over a year, he’s been isolated from everyone he loves until a family emergency brings him back home. When he meets a woman along the way whose problems are direr than his own, he must decide if he’s strong enough to fight for the woman he’s falling in love with knowing there’s no promise of a tomorrow for them?
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Lee
My name is Lee Jacks and I’ve lived a life that few could imagine. When you grow up as the son of a crack whore with little more than the clothes on your back most days being accepted by your peers is the last thing you expect. I was always an outcast which was fine by me. It’s what kept my brother and me alive. Survival is something that isn’t taught in public schools, but it damn well should be. Especially the one that I attended for a while. But I’m no longer a gutter rat to be kicked aside like yesterday’s trash. I’m a sought-after member of the Asheville, North Carolina elite and invited to parties given by the mayor, governor and the upper crust of society.
* * *
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, money and power will turn many an eye blind and even more ears deaf. Rumors about my past and the fact that I’ve long operated in the grey areas of the law abound, but the good people in this city could give a f***. What they do care about is that I donate to whatever charity their guilty conscience prods them to support.
* * *
Even as a kid I instinctively knew that I needed to be the alpha. That’s the same ingrained knowledge that animals are born with. You assert your dominance early on and reinforce it as needed. It wasn’t that I enjoyed fighting as some did. Hell, I’d never considered myself a violent man by nature. But if it comes down to the him or me scenario, then it’s gonna be him every time. I’ve killed to protect myself and those I love and I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.
* * *
The one thing I never counted on was falling in love with my assistant Liza. In one of my few selfless acts, I refused to bring her into my corrupt world. When she quits her job, and walks away from me, I soon discover that I never really knew her at all. For she has secrets of her own and one of them could very well be the need to destroy me.
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Anthony
My name is Anthony Moretti and I’m the prince of the Moretti family. Although I’m not active in the crime syndicate that my father, Draco Moretti, began, I’ll always be protected by the family and feared by those outside of it.
* * *
After my father was gunned down in the street, I used my inheritance from him to open my first nightclub. For years, building my empire was my only concern, until fate brought Jacey Wrenn into my life. She had absolutely no idea, but I’d known her before I’d ever met her. She’d haunted my dreams, the beautiful stranger that I longed to find, but hadn’t a clue as to where to begin.
* * *
Sounds like a fairy tale, right? I wish. The woman that I’ve been obsessed with for years is broken so badly, I’m not sure if I can save her. Hell, how does the son of the devil convince a fallen angel that redemption is possible for people like us?
* * *
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Marco
My name is Marco Moretti and I’m the son of the Moretti Crime Family boss. He’s also my father and a bit of an asshole, but we all have problems, don’t we? I’ve always loved women of all shapes and sizes and they’ve loved me in return. Sometimes a bit too much, but a stalker or two keeps things interesting. My position within “the family” has been the most important thing to me, until fate—and food poisoning brought Nina Gavino into my life. I’ve finally found the woman that I can’t live without, and she wants nothing to do with me. My usual charm has gotten me nowhere. And if she ever finds out that I killed her stepfather and stepbrother, I’m afraid nothing short of a miracle, will make the beautiful spitfire, give me a chance to prove that there is more to me than the job she holds so much contempt for.
* * *
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Nicoli
I lean my hip against the second-floor balcony and glare at the dark-haired woman below. “What in the fuck is she doing?” I snap to my club manager, Jax Hudson.
Jax shrugs his shoulders indifferently. “Don’t know for sure, boss. Seems like a weird place to hold a job interview, but that’s what it looks like. She’s got people filling out paperwork, and hell, there’s even a pen stuck in her hair. She’s hot, though, so maybe I should go apply for whatever this position is. I’ve always had a thing for the nerdy accountant look. Shit, look, she’s wearing glasses with those granny neck straps.” He licks his lips in a way that makes me want to punch his face. “That’s smoking.”
Rolling my eyes, I shake my head in resignation. If I’ve learned nothing else in my time as owner of one of the hottest clubs in town, it’s that people are basically nuts. I’m not surprised anymore, but seeing the woman below in a pale silk blouse collecting papers from the group of men who surround her table is a first. Even from a distance, something about her is vaguely familiar. Her slim build and the curve of her neck stir something in my conscience, but I can’t place what it is. Even my body is reacting to her, which is downright insane. I’m surrounded by scantily dressed women every night—most of whom throw themselves at me regularly. So why in the fuck would I look twice at some uptight broad who’s obviously picked a bad place to conduct whatever business she has. “Go down and see what’s going on. Her little enterprise is blocking the entrance to the bar.”
Jax straightens away from the banister saying, “You got it, boss,” before leaving to do my bidding.
I remain where I am out of curiosity as he reaches the bottom floor and approaches the table in question. He weaves his through the group of men and leans down to speak in the woman’s ear. She nods a few times, then looks up. Her eyes search the area before locking on mine, and I hiss in shock. Holy fucking shit.
Jacey. The hair is different, but I know the face. It’s haunted my dreams for months.
* * *
Coming Fall 2019
Also by Sydney Landon
THE DANVERS NOVELS
Weekends Required
Not Planning on You
Fall For Me
Fighting For You
No Denying You
Always Loving You
Watch Over Me
The One For Me
Wishing For Us
* * *
THE BREAKFAST IN BED SERIES
Keeping it Hot
Room For Two
* * *
THE PIERCED SERIES
Pierced
Fractured
Mended
Rose
Aidan
Lee
Anthony
Marco
Nicoli (Fall 2019)
About the Author
Sydney Landon is the New York Times & USA Today Best Selling author of: Weekends Required, Not Pla
nning on You, Fall For Me, Fighting For You, Betting on You, No Denying You, Always Loving You, Pierced and Fractured. Sydney is currently working on the next book in the Danvers' Series as well as the Pierced Series. When she isn't writing, Sydney enjoys reading, swimming and the beach. She lives with her family in Greenville, South Carolina.
Represented by:
Jane Dystel, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management, Union Square West, Suite 904, New York, NY 10003, (212)627-9100 ext. 12
www.sydneylandon.com
[email protected]
Newsletter/Contact Me:
Also by Sydney Landon
THE DANVERS NOVELS
Marco: Lucian & Lia: Book 8 Page 20