THE SANTORO VOW

Elena Sofia Valenti was never supposed to become Mrs. Santoro.

That honor-and obligation-belonged to her eldest sister.

But when an old agreement between two powerful Italian-American families finally comes due, Elena refuses to watch one sister lose the man she loves while the other faces the same possibility.

So Elena makes Matteo Santoro an offer.

She will marry him.

She will take his name, uphold the alliance their fathers built, and eventually give the Santoro family its heir.

But first, she wants two years.

Two years abroad to finish the life she had already planned. Two years in which Matteo can continue living as he always has, provided he remembers one thing:

Elena may be absent, but there is only one Mrs. Santoro.

Matteo agrees.

At thirty-five, the Don of New York's Santoro family has no illusions about marriage. His father arranged the match years ago, and duty has never frightened him. Neither has Elena's unusual bargain.

Then nearly two years pass.

And Elena comes home early.

She returns to find a husband harder, more dangerous-and far more tempting-than the man she left behind. She also finds a mistress who has mistaken longevity for love and Elena's absence for surrender.

But reclaiming her marriage is only the beginning.

Old rivalries are moving again. The murder that placed Matteo at the head of his family was never as simple as it appeared. Someone has spent years trying to destroy the Santoro-Valenti alliance from the inside.

And as duty slowly becomes friendship, desire becomes intimacy, and an arranged marriage begins turning dangerously real, Matteo and Elena will discover that their vows are protecting far more than either of them understood.

Because someone wanted this marriage prevented years ago.

And now that Mrs. Santoro has come home, they intend to finish what they started.