Leonardo Franco POVWhen I arrive home, my mother is kneeling on the library floor with hundreds of brochures spread out in front of her.“Oh, hi,” she says, shuffling the glossy pamphlets. “You’re home early.”“I made good time with the boat. The wind was behind me.”She smiles up at me. “How was the birthday party?”The memories that flood me make me work my jaw. “Good.” And bad. But mostly memorable. Inarguably satisfying.“Did she like the car?”“Apparently not.” My tone is wry. “She donated it to charity.”My mother’s brow pleats. “I told you it was too flashy.”“Don’t worry about it. I instructed her brother to buy her a more average car.” I peer over her shoulder. “What are you doing?”“Organizing the wedding leaflets by themes and color. I was thinking of apricot as the principal color and palettes of orange as accent colors. How does that sound?”It takes effort to smile. The way in which I left in Negros Island put me in a foul mood. “Like you have everything under control.”

Luna Belle POVBart takes a big breath and blows out the candles, much to Baby Brady’s delight.Celeste hands Ryan a knife. “The honor is yours.”“No cake for us,” Oliver says. “It’ll upset our diet. If it didn’t come straight from the sea, I’m afraid we can’t touch it.”“Does caviar count?” Mom asks with a bite in her tone.Oliver looks genuinely puzzled. “That’s a very good question. No, I guess it doesn’t. The sea didn’t offer it, did it?”“Didn’t it offer the fish?” she asks.Dad kicks her under the table.Celeste hands out the slices of cake, starting with Brady who digs his little fists into the frosting and makes a huge mess of stuffing his face.“You’d think we’d eat before dessert is served,” Mom says under her breath.“There’s nothing wrong with doing things out of order every now and again,” Dad replies.Cassie cups her stomach. “This baby does not like chocolate.”“Do you need the bathroom?” Jack asks, jumping to his feet.Cassie waves him away. “I can make it there just f

Mafia's Honor and Loyalty“You once said if there was anything I needed, I was to come to you, no questions asked.”Fernando Franco looked at Dante Sebastian, a little surprised. He did owe this man a favor, and it had been plaguing his mind when he’d come to collect. Five years ago, Dante saved his life. They were attending an important wedding, when there was an attack. If it weren’t for Dante, Fernando would be dead.He had great respect for Dante, even though there were many rumors and gossip that followed this man. Speculation suggested there was a time when Dante wanted to get out of the mafia. There was no getting out of their world. They were in it for life. The moment they made their first kill, their fate was sealed.Fernando’s first kill happened at thirteen. There had been an attack on his family home, and he’d not even hesitated. His father had been teaching him to shoot, to kill, to torture. Most thirteen-year-olds had their dads playing football with them in the backyard

He loved hearing her curse. It rolled off her tongue, and he knew very soon he was going to get her to beg him to fuck her.Fernando took a step toward her, then another, then another. Maria Victoria didn’t back up. She stayed perfectly still and tilted her head back to look at him. He stared into her eyes and was taken aback at just how beautiful she was.“Your father wants me to marry you. He wants you to have the respect you deserve and for me to take care of you. I guess this is his way of bringing you back into the family.” He wanted to touch her cheek to see if it was quite as soft as he imagined.“You can tell him he can fuck off as well.”With that, Maria Victoria whirled around and walked away.Oh, he loved a challenge. Fernando thought she’d be some simpering girl who would fall madly in love with him. Maria Victoria was anything but…Maria Victoria woke up the next morning and the conversation she had with Fernando Franco kept rushing back to her.Her father couldn’t be seri

Maria Victoria had never slapped a man before. She certainly had never slapped a customer. And she’d never been kissed by a man, or by a customer. It was lame that at the age of twenty-three, she hadn’t been kissed.Why did Fernando have to be her first kiss?Her lips still felt a little swollen. After he’d kissed her, she’d pulled away, drew her hand back, and slapped him right across the face. The moment she did it, she’d been in a state of shock. Boris Koslov wasn’t around, but Alessandro had stepped forward.“He’s a paying customer.”Her heart had raced and she quickly apologized, even though it was the last thing she wanted to do. Only, Boris had been around, and he’d called her over to him. He told her to leave for the night, and he looked pissed.Great. Now, Fernando might have cost her a job. It wasn’t the best job in the world, but it paid the bills and left a little aside for her to enjoy her hobby, which is what she wanted right now.Without another look at Fernando, she le