PRESENT. BLAKE MORENO POV. Gabrielle Genovese was standing at my door- and she was real... the fire in her gray eyes was all too familiar and my heart nosedived. The woman I would have given up everything for was standing right in front of me. With a gun aimed in my face. My head spun even tho I tried to come off unaffected- but my throbbing heart was still racing and my breathing had accelerated so it was a wasted effort. The memories that I had tried to bury slammed into my head with an intensity that made me aware of every part of her. Her scent assaulted my senses, and every inch of her skin that I'd explored called to me fiercely until It was overwhelming. Her hold on the gun didn't waver and it looked as if she was contemplating just letting loose a spray of bullets in my direction. But despite the threat she represented, all I wanted to do was relive every moment I had spent with her. I wanted to touch her, wrap her in my arms, and run away with her to the ends of the
***PROLOGUE GABRIELLE POV I crashed onto the floor, gasping in pain, my fingers clawing at the wet floor as the rain poured in torrents around me.I spat out blood, my insides quaking with every little move I made. I wanted to give up but I couldn't stay down. A Genovese never stayed down, even if I was tired, staying down meant defeat. Defeat meant death. And I couldn't die now, not after everything. Not after all the sacrifices I'd made to get this far. from the corner of my eyes, I could see Grandfather gazing down at me with a disapproving look on his face as he slowly rubbed at his beard. I struggled to my feet clutching my broken arm, holding my opponent's gaze as I tried to gauge him to find any sort of weaknesses, something I should have done right from the start. I focused my good eyes on him- the other was shut and mangled over from his deadly punch_ trying to anticipate his next move. He was larger than me, an ugly scar marring his hideous face. He was one of our solda
***10 YEARS LATER.Gabrielle pulled on a white shirt, watching her reflection in the mirror. Faded scars littered her back, a bullet wound at the side of her hip. A deeper scar from a butcher knife graced her stomach like an eerie reminder of how close she had gotten to death at the hands of her own family. She smiled as she remembered the scream of her eldest uncle as she chopped off his toes and fingers. She had wanted to end him, but he was family and Genovese hadn't given her permission.She grimaced at the memory. Even if she was the Capomandamento, her grandfather was still- what the weaklings that thought knew their family- referred to as Capo dei Capri, the boss of all bosses. A grin tugged on her lips. It was a suitable name when she thought about it. He wielded all control, choosing only to give pieces of the crumbs to those he felt were worthy. He was a snake. He'd lied to her and he was still lying. Gabrielle tugged on her three-piece suit, ruffled her short silver hair
GABRIELLE'S POVThe door to my office swung open, breaking my concentration, and the culprit did not even bother to be gentle when he closed it. I glanced up from my laptop, my reprimand dying on my lips as our eyes clashed.If it wasn't for his casual appearance, I would have thought he was a Mafia Don or a cop, and no wonder since he carried himself like a person who wielded authority, and wasn't usually on the receiving end of a command. Was he a businessman? There was no meeting scheduled for me this morning or did Elena forget again?I assessed him from head to toe as he got closer to my desk. He seemed to have no flaw, and he looked almost too perfect, and that narrowed down to two things in my head, He was either an undercover detective or just some guy my rivals sent as a distraction. They knew the kind of men I liked. This one fits the bills and more.I watched him watch me. His blue eyes were intense, and he seemed to have no trouble holding my gaze steadily. It was both in
GABRIELLE POVMy captive's gaze snapped up, noticing me for the first time and his rage was indescribable. Luciano should have had him gagged."You stupid bitch! How dare you fucking do this to me... You're digging your early grave. Genovese won't take too kindly to you killing an associate. You better let me go before you regret all this stupid..." he was saying before I backhanded him across the face, his head snapped to the side. He took his time, letting the shock of the hit register before he turned to face me. His gaze was venomous and filled with so much hate that I'd probably be dead if looks could kill. Too bad it couldn't. I wanted to carve out those eyes of his and feed them to my hounds. I stepped closer and gripped his jaw. He tried to shake my hold but I was unyielding. "I didn't plan to kill you at the start Edward, but you've just pissed me off with your trash mouth. A word of advice...learn from this, so you don't make the same mistake in the afterlife OK" I said, p
BLAKE MORENO POV.I stood until I felt my backache, and my legs felt like lead, with a pinprick sensation rippling through it from standing in a specific position for so long. It was ridiculous. I had never met a woman that spoke with so much power that I felt I had to obey her or at least pretend to but was I really pretending to obey her when I'd literally been standing exactly where she'd left me before she left the office.Gabrielle was dangerous, that much was clear. She was also not a simple woman. At first glance, I had thought it was a guy who'd been sitting behind the desk and that would explain why Elena was using male honorifics, but she was a woman... dressed in a white shirt... her suit had been on the hanger, and I'd imagined how she'd look in them for a brief moment.Her hair was also strange- and not in a bad way. It was a nice shade of silver that drew one's gaze to it without trying.Gabrielle Genovese was beautiful in a rough way. she was also intriguing. She had i
BLAKE MORENO POV.FIVE MONTHS LATER.I wanted to quit! I badly needed everything to be over already because I didn't think that I'd be able to tolerate a day more of her suffering attitude. Gabrielle was making me into a slave and it was fucking infuriating. I could bet on my life that she didn't know the difference between a personal assistant and a personal maid because she had me doing nearly everything for her... Getting her coffee, and her meals, holding her coat, following her everywhere like a lost puppy, shopping for her clothes, acting as her bodyguard while still doing my darn best to draft up files, accompany her to board meetings, and help point out holes in some of the business deals that her associates proposed, not that she couldn't see them herself. Gabrielle had me going on her behalf to meetings or on ridiculous errands that made absolutely no sense.She also made me study a lot of business books because she felt I wasn't good enough at my job. And when I mastered t
GABRIELLE POV."Blake Moreno" I mused to myself. It was an interesting name, for an intriguing man. Angelo was also a nice character, a devil pretending to be an angel was always something I found thrilling. Both names suited him. I watched him from my desk as he concentrated on doing what I had ordered him to do as soon as he got in for the day's work. He had thrown a childish tantrum once I asked, telling me he already typed all the proposals and that they were ready. They were but I had him do it all over again, just to make him suffer. I wanted to hurt him. Drive a screw through his head just for the fun of it. I don't. Not yet. He looked very alluring when he worked with all his attention focused on completing a task. I couldn't help but watch him which in turn irritated the hell out of me. These days it was like I couldn't survive without seeing his face. It nagged at me. It made me furious, and because thoughts of him took up too much space in my head, I was always having a