“Didn’t I tell you it’s a private cruise?”
I shook my head. “Uh, no.”
“We can get there any time.”
“I’m ready,” I said. For some reason, he unnerved me. It was so strange. He made me feel unsettled. And out of control. Most men didn’t have that effect on me. Usually I was the one calling the shots. I wasn’t sure if I liked it or hated it.
He put his hand on the small of my back as we made our way to the elevator, and I fought the feeling to turn around and jump him. He was so hot. And so…dangerous.
I knew before I even stepped into the elevator that I’d made a huge mistake agreeing to see him again.
Four hours later, I knew I’d been right.
I should’ve stayed far, far away from this man.
We were barely able to keep our hands off each other all night. His touch was electrifying.
By the time we stepped into the elevator in the hotel lobby, we were all over each other. He had my dress down to my waist, and I had unbuttoned his shirt.
“Every time I’ve seen you, you’ve been in a fancy dress, but I can honestly say you have never looked so sexy as you did standing there in shorts with your hair up and no makeup.”
“Knock it off, Ferraro. You know you’re already getting laid, you don’t have to charm me anymore,” I said.
“I’m telling the truth.” Then he kissed my neck and I melted.
“Okay, I believe you.”
Thank God the elevator opened up to my private hallway, because I was half naked and panting.
We were still making out as we stumbled toward the door to my suite. I managed to flick the key card and then we were inside.
“Bedroom,” I growled.
He lifted me up to carry me to the bedroom, and I had wrapped both of my legs around his waist when a familiar voice rang out from the living room.
“Maybe I should have called first.”
Ryder.
Things just got complicated.
To be continued …
The story continues in DEADLY JUSTICE.
Thank you for reading DARK JUSTICE! I hope you love seeing Gia back in San Francisco with her old friends as much as I loved writing it.
I definitely loved being back in Gia’s world. She’s so much fun to write. Find out what happens next between Gia, Mayor Anthony Ferraro, & Ryder in DEADLY JUSTICE.
Here’s the link to One-click it now!
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If you love Gia Santella, you’ll love her deadly Italian aunt, Eva Santella, a former Mafia boss in Italy.
You can find out more about Eva in the QUEEN OF SPADES.
Turn the page for an excerpt from the QUEEN OF SPADES.
Queen of Spades Excerpt
Prologue
“Do you like to play cards?”
He froze at the sound of the silky voice behind him. Only he could detect the slight accent. But then again, he’d known her since they were children.
“Vincenzo, I asked you a question.”
His name on her lips turned his face icy cold.
Her spicy, exotic perfume filled his airways as she drew near. She moved closer stealthily, silently. The only indication that she was directly behind him now was a slight disturbance in the air and that heady scent filling his nostrils. He fought against the desire to inhale deeply. Just as he’d fought against his attraction to her the past year. How many times had she innocently brushed by him and he’d been caught up in the smell of her perfume. How many times had he tried to recapture Eva’s unique and elusive scent in his memory. It was a fragrance he’d never smelled on another woman—and he’d smelled his fair share of perfumes over the years—from cheap drugstore sprays to customized parfums designed in Paris. This scent was difficult to identify. If he’d ever smelled it on someone else, Eva’s inimitable chemistry had transformed it into something intoxicating.
He felt the cool steel on his neck at the same moment she pressed her warm body fully against him from behind. Even as he felt the icy fingers of death race down his spine, he was aroused. That lush body pressed up against him and the cloud of her scent sent an ache of desire rippling through him. A lust he’d kept at bay, even refusing to acknowledge it to himself. Now, he let himself feel it and inhaled deeply, closing his eyes against the candlelight.
Then he smelled something else—something emanating from her pores. He paused. It wasn’t fear. No. Nervousness? No. It wasn’t that, either.
It was excitement.
But not the same thrill he felt in his groin. It was not sexual. This was blood lust. This was eagerness. This was her anticipation of the delicate glide of metal across his neck, carving into his flesh. He knew it. He recognized it. After all, he’d felt it himself. It was much, much stronger than pure sexual desire.
As he thought this, his own ripple of fleeting desire was quickly extinguished. He had to think. He had to say something to stop her murderous vengeance.
A silken lock of her hair brushed his cheek, and he squirmed in a mix of pleasure and terror.
“I don’t know about you,” she whispered, her breath hot in his ear. Her voice was low, husky, mesmerizing. “But I love playing cards. I bet you can guess which card is my favorite?”
The queen of spades. As soon as he thought the words, a white-hot bolt of pain raced across his neck, from his left ear to his right. He cried out in anguish, but there came only a thick gurgle and a small exhalation.
His last thought as he watched his own blood spurt wildly onto the table in front of him was that the crazy old woman on the sidewalk had been right—he’d never see the likes of heaven.
Chapter One
Los Angeles, 1990s
Eva White tried to sneak a look at her cell phone beneath the table but her
