Malavita (30 page)
An Interpol agent playing a dangerous game.
A Mafia princess desperate to escape.
A man determined to exact retribution...
Nick Clarkston, a young Interpol agent, threatens to undo the fragile peace between the Lucchesi and Andretti families when he tries to take down the Mafia don father who abandoned him. He allies with his father’s sworn enemy, a mobster both devious and ruthless. The mobster’s alluring daughter helps Nick negotiate the murky criminal underworld, but he soon learns she’s using him. Trapped, and with nowhere to turn, Nick makes a tragic mistake that plunges him further into danger.
Delfina Andretti appears to be the typical Mafia princess—but this princess wants out. Delfina dreams of being a fashion designer, and hooking up with Nick is her ticket out of an arranged marriage. Her feelings for Nick are genuine, but he’s leery of her. Even worse, his heedless drive for justice threatens to get them both killed and to put everyone Delfina loves behind bars—unless she and Nick can forge a new future for their warring families.
Book 3:
Redemption
A mobster seeking redemption.
A woman on a mission.
A powerful enemy ready to pounce…
Antonio Legato has always been an outsider, even though he’s moved up in the Lucchesi mob organization. When he falls in love with Bianca Lucchesi, Antonio may at last become part of the family, but he’s hiding an ugly secret about her father’s death. Telling Bianca the truth will pit blood against blood and annihilate the family he loves.
Bianca Lucchesi reluctantly agrees to help her brothers ruin Antonio so they can take their rightful place in the organization. As assistant to the don’s wife, Bianca seduces Antonio while pursuing her brothers’ revenge. But her loyalty is divided—she and Antonio share a secret that he’s unaware of. She longs to tell him, but fears he can never forgive what she’s done.
When Bianca and Antonio learn that her brothers have rashly allied with a cunning enemy who is plotting against the Lucchesis, can they heal the family’s wounds before everyone they love is destroyed?
Book 4:
Reckoning
(coming 2015)
A brutal man of honor.
A fervent anti-Mafia judge.
A far-ranging conspiracy…
Ruggero Vela has long protected the don of the Lucchesi family. When his boss is framed, Ruggero is desperate to exonerate him. So desperate, he risks his life to protect the zealous anti-Mafia judge presiding over the case. She’s incorruptible—and the only person they can trust to conduct a fair trial. Although Ruggero has always survived by keeping a cool head, he’s blindsided by an irresistible attraction to the beautiful judge—an attraction that grows by the minute.
Loredana Montisi is renowned for her courageous struggle to prosecute Mafia thugs. But she doesn’t know she’s the pawn of much darker forces with a truly frightening agenda. When she unwittingly deviates from their plan and gets too close to the truth, they try to kill her. Information Loredana learns from her unlikely protector forces her to question everything she knows. Can she let go of her deep-seated beliefs and place her trust in a Mafioso?
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Due to the high level of secrecy maintained by the ’Ndrangheta (the Calabrian Mafia) and the relative scarcity of former members turned state’s witnesses, there are few resources detailing the inner workings of the society. Therefore, I have used artistic license in portraying certain aspects of the ’Ndrangheta.
Additionally, to make this series easier to read for American readers, I have used the term
cosca
rather than
’ndrine
to indicate an individual crime family. I have also greatly simplified the organization of individual crime families and have chosen to name crime families after their
capo
’s blood family; in real life, a
cosca
’s name may consist of a region or place, or a hyphenated combination of the names of the two or three primary blood families that control the
cosca
.
In Italy, women typically don’t take their husband’s last name; for simplicity’s sake, I have chosen to reflect the traditional American practice of taking the husband’s last name upon marriage.
At the time
Malavita
takes place (May–June 1984), one US dollar was worth approximately 1,696 Italian
lire
. Therefore, it took 1.696 billion
lire
to equal one million US dollars. Since one 1984 US dollar is worth roughly 2.28 US dollars in 2013, one million dollars in 1984 is the equivalent of 2.28 million dollars today.
Please note that where actual businesses or locations are mentioned, such as the Villa del Balbianello, no real-life Mafia connection is alleged or intended, past or present. These businesses and locations are used in a strictly fictional sense.
All persons mentioned in this series are fictional; no resemblance to actual people, living or dead, is intended. The family names used in this series were deliberately chosen not to reflect names of actual crime families.
Dana Delamar is the author of the “Blood and Honor” romantic suspense series, which is set in Italy among the Calabrian Mafia. Her first book, Revenge, received 4 stars from RT Book Reviews, was a Top Pick at The Romance Reviews, and was a double-finalist for Best First Book and Best Romantic Suspense in the 2013 Booksellers Best Awards. Her second book, Retribution, received 4 stars from RT Book Reviews and was a semi-finalist in the Kindle Book Review’s 2013 Best Indie Book Awards. Her book Malavita was a quarter-finalist in the 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards, and her book Redemption was a finalist in the 2014 Maggie Awards and a semi-finalist in the Kindle Book Review’s 2014 Best Kindle Book Awards.
Dana is also the editor of a number of fiction and nonfiction books, and co-owner of By Your Side Self-Publishing, a company that provides editing and other services to self-publishers.
You can learn more about her at
http://www.danadelamar.com
and
http://www.byyoursideselfpub.com
.
Continue reading for a special preview of Kristine Cayne’s first Deadly Vices novel
Available Now
When an Oscar-winning movie star meets a department-store photographer…
Movie star Nic Lamoureux appears to have a playboy’s perfect life. But it’s a part he plays, an act designed to conceal a dark secret he carries on his shoulders. His empty days and nights are a meaningless blur until he meets the woman who fulfills all his dreams. She and her son are the family he’s always wanted—if she can forgive a horrible mistake from his past.
A Hollywood dream…
Lauren James, a widowed single mother, earns barely enough money to support herself and her son. When she wins a photography contest and meets Nic, the man who stars in all her fantasies, her dreams, both professional and personal, are on the verge of becoming real. The attraction between Lauren and Nic is instant—and mutual. Their chemistry burns out of control during a photo shoot that could put Lauren on the fast track to a lucrative career.
Becomes a Hollywood nightmare…
But an ill-advised kiss makes front-page news, and the lurid headlines threaten everything Nic and Lauren have hoped for. Before they know what’s happening, their relationship is further rocked by an obsessed and cunning stalker who’ll stop at nothing—not even murder—to have Nic to herself. When Nic falls for Lauren, the stalker zeroes in on her as the competition.
And the competition must be eliminated.
An excerpt from
Deadly Obsession
Lauren rolled her eyes. “Fine. Do it.”
Nic bent down and brushed his lips against hers. For the first few seconds, she didn’t kiss him back, but she didn’t push him away, either. Then, on a sigh, she leaned into him and her arms locked around his neck. His tongue darted out to taste her bottom lip. Mmm… cherry—his new favorite flavor. When her mouth opened, he didn’t hesitate.
He dove in. And drowned.
He’d meant this to be a quick kiss, only now he just couldn’t stop. His lips traced a path to her throat. Cupping her bottom with his hands, he lifted her up, grinding against her. She moaned. It was a beautiful sound, one he definitely wanted to hear again.
A loud noise pierced the fog of his lust. He raised his head from where he’d been nuzzling Lauren’s apple-scented neck to tell whoever it was to fuck off, but as the sexual haze cleared, he swallowed the words. The paparazzi had gathered around, applauding and calling out crude encouragements. Some snapped photos while others rolled film.
Shit
. He’d pay for this fuck-up and so would she.
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