DECEPTION
BY
VICTORIA SACCENTI
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Blurb:
Her submission is his sweet revenge…until the truth detonates his plans.
With one well-aimed RPG in an Afghanistan hellhole, Joe Reid’s life splintered right along with his body. Now he splits his time running his family’s landscaping business in St. Cloud, Florida by day, playing out his Dom side in an Orlando BDSM club by night.
When he spots a stunning, seductive redhead who stirs his libido, just learning her name turns his lust into black rage—he’s convinced Hunter Giordano is the reason one of his team mates threw himself in front of a hail of bullets.
Other than the occasional sexual romp, Hunter’s heart is firmly closed to men. Until she locks eyes with Joe, and his aura of power demolishes her defenses and rivets her in place. Instantly she knows he’s a man she must avoid at all costs.
Joe can recognize a submissive a mile away. But as his plan to seduce her into his playroom—and into his snare of revenge—plays out, her sweetness and gentle nature makes him have second thoughts. Except by the time he realizes he can’t walk away, the truth detonates what could have been the love of a lifetime.
Excerpt:
“Bitch!” Joe punched his desk as he spit out the curse to himself.
Heartless harpy, she’d closed the letter with a single “Hunter.” Without a good-bye, a polite farewell, a “take care,” or “be careful,” not even “go jump in the fucking lake.” He flipped the envelope around. The return address had been written in the same script: Hunter Giordano, c/o Pete’s Place…
No personal address, the epitome of finality. She’d cut all personal ties.
Burning fury and a crazy sense of impotence roiled in him. Good thing Hunter wasn’t within his reach, ’cause if she were… His fingers trembled with the desire to hold her by the throat and squeeze the life out of her.
He jumped to his feet, shoved his fists into his pockets, and walked around the desk, trying to calm down. Violence wouldn’t solve anything or bring Billy back. He paced back and forth, ordering his thoughts. He stopped as the answer appeared. He folded the written sheet, carefully reinserted it in the envelope to avoid tearing the brittle paper, and closed the flap.
Minutes passed. The small notion—the light of a flickering flame illuminated his mind. Slowly, it took shape and grew into an outline, a plan to set things right. Ms. Hunter Giordano had clearly stated she didn’t know love and didn’t care to learn. However, that had been a lot of bullshit on her part. The sort of crap one used to break up with a lover. He’d seen her tonight in action. She didn’t walk around in a disinterested world, detached from everyone, as she liked to pretend.
Hunter cared. About what, Joe had no clue, nor did he give a rat’s ass. She’d been damned cruel and cavalier with Billy’s emotions. She’d endangered the men who fought with Billy, and Joe had lost his eye. Worse, Cooper and Billy had died because of her. Two lives. No matter how you shook it, intentionally or not, she’d incurred a karmic debt. In Joe’s view, a fix was required—retribution, a penance, an act that would restore balance to the universe.
What better way than to pay Ms. Giordano with the same currency? It was high time she knew love, with all its happy and painful consequences. Apparently, the job to show her had fallen on him.
Did he want to deal with this shit?
Not really.
But could he walk away from the task, drop this despicable letter into a rarely opened drawer, and pretend Afghanistan hadn’t happened? Could he forget the night of Cooper’s and Billy’s destruction? Could he forget his own loss and wounds?
“No,” he murmured. “I can’t.”
He’d undertake the assignment. Heartbreak was coming to Ms. Giordano. He shrugged. The universe demanded it.
Author Bio:
Award-winning, multi-genre author Victoria Saccenti picked up pencil and paper the moment her childhood book heroes started conversing with her. Sounds a little crazy, but there’s no rhyme or reason for inspiration. Back then, she wrote one-act plays and short fairy tales for simple amusement. Today—many…many moons later—her playful stories have grown into romantic women’s fiction, paranormal, retro and contemporary romances with an edge. An avid people watcher, she explores in her novels the twists and turns of human interaction, the many facets of love, and all possible happy endings.
After thirty years of traveling she’s settled in Central Florida. She splits her busy schedule between family and her active muse at Essence Publishing. But if she could convince her husband to sell their home, she would pack up her computer and move to Scotland, a land she adores.
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