DECEPTION & DESIRE
"On the other side of that door is the man you're going to marry."
My father's chilling command sends a shiver down my spine.
Suddenly it clicks.
The mysteriously gifted dress. The innocent-looking invitation.
This isn’t dinner.
It’s a wedding.
Mygoddamn wedding.
The doors swing open...
And towering at the altar, all muscle, ink, and menace?—
Leon Natali.
The monster I’ve cursed since I was old enough to know his name.
He’s older. Colder. Desperate for an heir.
And I’m the gift-wrapped offering meant to seal a blood-soaked alliance.
I thought we'd cut each other's throats.
I had no idea deception would turn into desire.
Or that the real enemy was closing in to rip me away.
And Leon's twins growing inside me.
Now the devil himself is off his leash?—
And he’ll drown this world in blood to protect what’s his.
His woman. His legacy. His family.
1
MIA
It’s a bad day.
That much I managed to decide by lunch, when the bodega I usually hit up was inexplicably closed, and I was forced to run back to theCandelabrato make it back in time for my shift.
In hindsight, nobody would have been able to discipline me for being late. With Cas still on maternity leave, I was running the place single-handedly. But it was the principle, considering how often I had to chew out Danny for showing up only minutes before her set.
The blonde bombshell in question is currently finishing up her song, studiously ignoring the leering group of men who’d managed to snag the VIP table below the stage.
“You think we should intervene?” Terry murmurs as he nods toward our esteemed guests.
I take the glass he’s finished polishing and place it on its designated shelf behind the bar. “Danny’s a big girl. She can handle it.”
“They’ve been drinking Absinthe all night,” he says as he polishes up the next glass.
