Cards of Pretence

"She was figuratively unattainable, like sand slipping through my fingers. And quite literally out of my reach, as she stood on the mezzanine above beside her damned brother."

Sicilian mafia don, Mariano Castellani, is the spider in the middle of a gold-spun web. The kingpin of his syndicate and patriarch of his family. Violence and crime are his game. A cold, calculated one he is forced to play to keep the Castellani alive. He believes his heart belongs to his family and no one else. However, during the heat of a rivalry against a Florentine gang, Mariano finds his heart stolen by a lady with just as much love for her own fragile famiglia.

"From across the hall, I caught him glancing at me with a look I could only describe as pure longing. A look that did nothing to quell my fears."

Florentine mafia consigliere, Chiara Moretti, wants nothing more than to ensure the safety of her two brothers and to let go of the dangerous cards she has been dealt. Haunted by the death of her parents, she vows to put her life and soul into protecting her famiglia. But Chiara had forgotten to lock her heart away as well. It finds itself wandering to a man whom she can only know as her older brother's sworn enemy. And for once, Chiara decides to play her cards not for the Moretti, but for herself.