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Corsican Crime Lord, Book Two
After the tragic car accident that claimed the lives of Angelo’s mother and sister, Angelo learns that Benjamin Edwards, Sabella’s father, paid their mechanic to cut the brake cables. Ben’s target was Angelo and his father, Santino. Santino and Angelo swear revenge.
Roch, the bodyguard Angelo employed to protect Sabella, shares the shocking news of the tragic deaths of Angelo’s family with Sabella. When she asks her brother, Ryan, about it, he tells her to mind her own business.
Growing increasingly concerned about her father’s withdrawal and absent-minded behavior, Sabella pays him a surprise visit at the office, only to walk in on a gruesome scene. Santino Russo stands over the body of her father, and Angelo is crouched next to him, holding a gun in his gloved hand.
After rendering her unconscious, Angelo informs Ryan of the turn of events. Sabella wakes up to find Ryan on the murder scene. When she urges him to call the authorities, he tells her that they can’t involve the police. Their father commissioned the hit on Santino and Angelo, which by an unforeseen turn of events claimed the lives of the mother and sister. They have to stage their father’s death as a suicide.
Sabella faints as a result of the shock. During the next two days, Ryan bribes a doctor to keep her in an induced coma for her body and brain to recover from the trauma. Santino returns to Corsica, but Angelo remains in South Africa in case damage control is necessary. When he learns that Sabella has been admitted to hospital, he slips into her room at night.
Angelo’s visits to take care of Sabella manifests in her dreams. When she wakes up, her family is present. Ryan confesses the true nature of their illegal business. Unable to share the terrible truth with anyone, the burden and guilt weigh her down. In an effort to expel the emotions torturing her, she swims out far to sea.
Roch saves her from almost drowning. In a fight that ensues, Angelo orders Roch to return to Corsica for verbally assaulting and pushing Sabella. The confrontation between Sabella and Angelo turns violent, and in the heated argument that follows, their passion gets out of hand.
Sabella hates herself for succumbing to her desire for Angelo again, especially after what had happened. While her family is arranging the funeral, they learn more devastating news. Sabella’s father had a second family that he kept secret from them. At the reading of his will, they meet his mistress and their half-sister. The betrayal cuts Sabella deep. She starts doubting her relationship with her father, not sure what was real.
Concern about Sabella’s near-drowning drives Angelo to seek her doctor’s advice. Could the incident be seen as an attempted suicide? The doctor advises Angelo not to submit Sabella to more stress. He declares that it won’t be conducive to her mental state to move her to Corsica so soon. Eager to finally claim his betrothed and marry her, Angelo is faced with a dilemma. In the midst of having to make a decision, his uncle calls with bad news. Santino had a heart attack. Angelo returns home, leaving Sabella behind once more.
Ryan takes over the business in George. He moves back into the big house with Celeste, his wife, and their son, Brad, to be close to his mother after the ordeal. As Sabella can no longer board with Ryan and Celeste while attending university in Cape Town, Ryan rents her a beautiful villa in Camps Bay.
In the meantime, Angelo is slowly unraveling. At his father’s funeral, he fires Roch for assaulting his future bride. The construction of the new house on his property is complete. He makes arrangements to have his late mother’s poor family moved into the luxurious dwelling. While biding his time to bring Sabella home, he ruthlessly grows the business into a global empire.
The closer her nineteenth birthday gets, the increasingly anxious Sabella grows. On the dreaded day, she locks herself in her secure villa, only to discover Angelo in her bedroom. When she confronts him, he confesses that he not only pays for her rent but also for her studies and living expenses. He puts a ring on her finger and gives her a day to come to terms with their pending marriage and her move to Corsica.
Devastated, Sabella drives to Great Brak River to confront her family. Ryan admits the truth, for the first time coming clean about the marriage contract their father made with the Russo family but refused to honor. Sabella finally understands why Angelo stole incriminating evidence to blackmail her father to sign over his business. Angelo’s end-goal was forcing her father to honor the marriage contract.
In a desperate attempt to escape, Sabella plots to marry her best friend, Colin. Angelo is furious when the security company staff he hired to follow Sabella and her family inform him that the Edwards family disappeared without a trace. With the help of street surveillance cameras, Angelo locates them at a church.
Just as Sabella and Colin are about to get married, Angelo and an army of men burst through the doors. After marrying Sabella at gunpoint, Angelo whisks her off to France in a private plane.
The start of their marriage is turbulent. Angelo punishes her for her betrayal. In the confrontation that follows, Sabella points a gun at him, earning yet another punishment when they board Angelo’s yacht in France.
Before Angelo can depart for Corsica, Lieutenant Lavigne from the French gendarmerie boards the yacht under the pretense of investigating a domestic disturbance complaint. Instead, he plants drugs on Sabella and arrests her. Angelo watches helplessly as the armed men who outnumber him drive his wife to the police station.
A furious Angelo calls his lawyer to arrange for bail. In the meantime, Lieutenant Lavigne submits Sabella to a humiliating full-body search and uncomfortable conditions to try and break her before offering her a deal. He promises her freedom in exchange for information and evidence that will enable him to put Angelo behind bars.
After the lieutenant drops the charges against Sabella, Angelo takes her to a hotel for the night. At first light, they leave for Corsica. He contacts his informant in the bureau to get a copy of the video recording of Sabella’s interrogation. To his dismay, he learns that the tape has been wiped clean. It can only mean one thing. Lavigne offered Sabella a deal. Angelo knows that he can’t trust his new wife.
Things only get more complicated when the newlyweds are met by Angelo’s uncles and cousins in Corsica. Uncle Nico and Enzo urge Angelo to kill Sabella, not only because she’s a threat to their family, most likely working with the police, but also to honor his father’s dying wish.
When the housekeeper, Heidi, shows Sabella the wedding dress Angelo’s mother had made for her, Angelo walks in on the scene. The dress triggers his grief and vengeance. Even though he doesn’t hold Sabella accountable for her father’s sins, he blames her for everything that happened. Everything that transpired was because of her. For her. His grief compels him to punish Sabella, who stubbornly refuses to beg for the very air she breathes.
Unable to sleep, Sabella sneaks to the kitchen and makes a cup of tea. On her way back to her room, a strange pull draws her to Angelo’s late family’s quarters. Angelo discovers her in his sister’s room. In her fright, Sabella accidentally knocks down his sister’s jewelry box and breaks both the box and a Venetian glass bead necklace.
Believing that she was looking for evidence to use against him, Angelo is consumed with rage. Making good on his promise to whip her, he drags her to the cellar, but finds himself unable to go through with it. Instead, he banishes Sabella from his house, driving her in the middle of the night to an unknown destination.
Tears Like Acid
Chapter
One
Sabella
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Newlyweds.
