Ras tips his head in Damiano's direction. “By the way, you’ve got your first customer right here. He's got lots of empty walls.”
I snort a laugh. Of course. Art sales must be a great way to clean a portion of the Casalesi proceeds.
Vale squeezes my hand. “What do you think, Gem? You want to go into business with these two?”
I lace my fingers with hers. “Too late to be asking that question, don’t you think?”
A few hours later, Vale and Damiano leave, and Ras and I lie down in the hammock he’s strung up between two old oak trees on our property. The warm weather and the slow swaying of the hammock lulls me into a peaceful state. I rest my head on Ras’s chest and listen to the steady beat of his heart beneath my ear.
Ras places a protective hand over my belly. I’m barely showing in my fourth month but Ras has been curiously examining my growing bump with me in the mirror nearly every morning.
The truth is, I’m nervous. I’ve spent very little time thinking about what it would actually be like to have a child before I got pregnant, and some small part of me is scared. I may have left New York, but like Vale, I ended up in the same dangerous world.
“What are you thinking about?” Ras asks.
I search for the right words. Unlike Cleo, I’ve never had the urge to run away from this life. I’ve always accepted it as part of me.
But now I’m bringing a baby into it as well. An innocent being who doesn’t get a say.
I place my hand on top of Ras’s. “He or she will be born into all of this.”
He’s silent for a long moment, and I know he understands what I mean. “We’ll always keep our children safe,” he says.
Children. Ras likes to speak in plural as far as our future offspring are concerned, so damn sure that we’ll have more than one.
“And when they grow up?”
“We won’t force them into anything,” he says, smoothing his hand over my hair. “They’ll make their own choices. But you have to be ready for the possibility that they choose all this of their own free will.”
His words settle over my skin. He’s right, the possibility is there. We can't control everything but we can control how we'll raise our child. We'll offer them a life filled with love, warmth, and acceptance. A life where they'll always have a family to come back to no matter what path they choose.
This world can be seductive. Its darkness has a unique allure that pulls people in.
But, even in that darkness, there's light.
Bright, and warm, and beautiful.
I snuggle up to Ras.
For me, that light is him.
THE END
BONUS SCENE
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THE FALLEN
WHEN SHE LOVES
The story of Cleo & Rafaele
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WHEN SHE UNRAVELS
The story of Valentina & Damiano
He’s the most powerful man in Ibiza, and he’ll do anything to make me his.
I’ve been raised to be the perfect mafia wife, but when my marriage turns into a horrific nightmare, I have no choice but to leave everything behind and start a new life.
I find myself alone in Ibiza—a place that swallows innocent girls like me alive. I’m robbed the day I arrive, left with nothing but a few euros and the clothes on my back.
My desperation leads me right to Damiano De Rossi. He rules over this island with an iron fist and beneath his strikingly handsome face lies a wicked darkness. I ask him for a job. He gives me far more than that—degradation, jealousy, and toe-curling lust.
When my resistance to him is all but gone, a secret is revealed, and we fall apart like a house of cards.
I know what I have to do. Run.
But when I try, I discover…he’s already got me bound.
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WHEN SHE TEMPTS
The story of Martina & Giorgio
She’s eighteen. Innocent. Forbidden.
Martina De Rossi is off-limits, and not just because her brother is about to become the Don.
When I agree to protect her while he’s out waging a brutal war, it isn’t only out of loyalty.
It’s because Martina is the perfect pawn in my game of revenge.
Unfortunately, she’s also temptation personified.
Innocent eyes. A body to die for. Silky blond hair that begs to be wrapped around my fist.
I’m a master of staying in control, but with each day she spends with me inside the walls of my remote Italian castle, I can feel my resolve cracking.
My gaze starts to drift.
My touch starts to linger.
And when she tempts, I realize this game we’re playing might be one I won’t win.
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WHEN SHE LOVES
The story of Cleo & Rafaele
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writing this book was such a rollercoaster of emotions! I really wanted to do justice to Ras and Gemma’s story which meant pushing my own emotional boundaries further than I ever have before. It was only after the final edit that I read the manuscript and finally felt like I told the story I set out to tell. I hope you, my beautiful reader, love this couple as much as I do.
My team continues to be the best team around. Huge thanks to Heidi, Maria, Lorna, Becca, and Skyler. You all contributed to this project in so many ways, supported me when I needed it, and really helped make this book the best it can be.
Thank you to my family, and in particular my incredible hubby who took such good care of me while I was hard at work on this book, making sure I was fed while I was working late nights, and being a sounding board whenever I needed it. I love you.
Finally, thank YOU, my dear reader. For picking up this book, reading my work, and hopefully, getting lost in Ras and Gemma’s story. Your support truly means everything to me!
Love,
Gabrielle