![\"\"](\"http:\/\/kyannwaters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/FallFromGrace750-200x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n(early ARC excerpt. Not final edited version)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
COPYRIGHT 2024 by KyAnn Waters<\/p>\n
Series page on Amazon – https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B0CGB3K1QF<\/a><\/p>\n From Chapter One<\/p>\n My heart stuttered. That particular feeling when you knew you were being watched made the hair at the back of my neck tingle. I found the source, only I wasn\u2019t the one being stalked.<\/p>\n A man stared across the room with his gaze locked on my father. It wasn\u2019t as if he even tried to hide the callousness in his penetrating glare. My fingers absently went to my throat as I tried to take a breath.<\/p>\n God, he was too beautiful. It was like I\u2019d tuned into a commercial for expensive whiskey. Black tux, black tie, and a black shirt. He was older than me, but not by much. Maybe twenty-five. Dark lashes framed his eyes. I couldn\u2019t see what color they were from this far away. He slid his hand into the pocket of his fitted trousers. Maybe the commercial could be one of those sexy cologne ads.<\/p>\n My mind immediately nosedived into the gutter. It probably sounded clich\u00e9, but seriously, I had never felt this warm from staring at a guy. I didn\u2019t imagine hot men naked or surmise the size and thickness of their dicks. That was a lie. Sometimes I did, but not actual guys standing in the same room as me. Who hadn\u2019t imagined Henry Cavill naked?<\/p>\n I could never picture myself as the slutty temptress out for seduction. I wore hoodies and jeans and sucked on hard, ginger candies.<\/p>\n My eyes widened as I stared at him. Even if I wanted to turn away from him, I couldn\u2019t because I couldn\u2019t stop imagining how it would feel to have him look at me, only with lust instead of the loathing he directed at my father. He was tall and thick. Muscles and mayhem.<\/p>\n I imagined him towering over me, stripped out of his clothes with his cock in his hand because he\u2019d demanded I get on my knees. I swallowed the extra spit in my mouth.<\/p>\n I was freaking salivating.<\/p>\n And how could I be sweating and still have goosebumps chasing over my flesh? I tipped my glass and drank the rest of my cocktail. The alcohol scorched my throat and flared through my chest.<\/p>\n His gaze scanned the room, pausing on me. The corner of his mouth quirked in a devilish tilt. A flutter swirled in my belly, then seeped lower. I braced a hand to my pelvis because I think my ovaries just melted.<\/p>\n A group gathered in front of me. I was getting warmer so I tugged off my jacket, and shifted to where I could see him again.<\/p>\n Light glinted off his dark hair as he raked his fingers through his bangs. His hair didn\u2019t have a style. It swirled around his head with soft curls and brushed against the collar of his tailored tux. Intentionally messy, but totally hot. He was fit as hell with a quiet intensity.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t come off as the political type. He wasn\u2019t schmoozing the crowd or casing the guests for those who could make a sizeable donation to his campaign. Nor was he kissing ass. I\u2019d guess him to be some tech giant or crypto currency guru except that he wasn\u2019t arrogantly flashing his success and bragging about his accomplishments.<\/p>\n Like me, he was alone.<\/p>\n Even in the brightly lit room, shadows seemed to cut across the hard angles of his face. Full lips didn\u2019t smile, but slightly parted as he tipped his glass and finished his drink. A cube of ice tumbled into his mouth. As he crunched the cube, his jaw flexed and moved.<\/p>\n He reminded me of a panther in the jungle. Alone, predatory, and deadly. As if stalking his prey, his focus was on my father, his gaze unwavering. I\u2019d never seen him before. I\u2019d remember the cruel intensity in his eyes.<\/p>\n I cautiously made my way to the coat check. Why did I even feel nervous? Except that he was stunningly provocative and somehow, he was connected to my father.<\/p>\n That made him dangerous.<\/p>\n I continued to check over my shoulder while I waited in line at the coat check.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you,\u201d I said, once she took the jacket from my hands.<\/p>\n I gripped my clutch and shifted closer to the stranger.<\/p>\n My breath held when he set his empty glass on a table. He didn\u2019t just walk across the room. He commanded the attention of those around him as he moved with confidence to intercept my father.<\/p>\n My steps were hesitant. Next to my father, the man\u2019s shoulders seemed broader, his arms stronger, and his expression more sinister. I wasn\u2019t close enough to hear the conversation, but my father\u2019s posture stiffened.<\/p>\n Tension coiled in my gut. I wanted to get closer. I controlled my breaths and tightened my fingers on my clutch.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t want to make an enemy out of me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The deep gravelly tone with his thick Italian accent did wicked things to me. It was like my body belonged to someone else because this wasn\u2019t anxiety, but arousal. I should have kept my jacket on to cover my breasts and the embarrassing display of nipple poking through my dress.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you threatening me?\u201d My father\u2019s voice wasn\u2019t nearly as controlled. Although he didn\u2019t cower easily either.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m simply pointing out that we have a situation that needs to be addressed. I\u2019m offering you a way to rectify the issue before it becomes complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n My father dusted an invisible spec of lint from his jacket sleeve. \u201cI\u2019m not interested in negotiating with you.\u201d<\/p>\n The man took a step closer to my dad. \u201cI like to keep things simple. I don\u2019t negotiate.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re outside your purview, Bruno.\u201d<\/p>\n Bruno<\/em>. I\u2019d heard the name just a couple of days ago through the vent in my room. I\u2019d written it down in my insurance policy, a notebook with the names I\u2019d heard from my father\u2019s lips. His enemies and his accomplices. Since it was my only weapon, I was biding my time. When I ran, I\u2019d leave with the names and dates of his crimes.<\/p>\n My father\u2019s office was directly below my second-floor bedroom. In a big house he probably assumed he was insulated from having his secrets overheard. But sound travelled. And the heating and air conditioning ducts were a conduit for his deviousness.<\/p>\n The man must have crossed my father. He didn\u2019t bring his legitimate, legal work to his home office. The men who met with my father at home were the reason I carried pink lip gloss, my pink phone, and a pink pen.<\/p>\n \u201cI work for the people of my city,\u201d my dad continued. \u201cMy responsibility is to them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd we both know you don\u2019t have shit on Caruso. Byrne has you on his payroll, but he can\u2019t protect you when he\u2019s not in control of his own organization.\u201d<\/p>\n My father lowered his voice. \u201cByrne was always expendable. Just ask his brother. He\u2019s here tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n The stranger\u2019s focus shifted from my father to the people around them. Then his attention centered on me.<\/p>\n Those piercing eyes were the color of whiskey and narrowed with a savage intensity. I swallowed, needing a bit of saliva to moisten my dry mouth.<\/p>\n My father jerked his head around. I took a step forward just so that I could be closer to the stranger. His nearness made me breathless, and inside, I trembled.<\/p>\n Yet, I shivered from the smoldering heat in his eyes.<\/p>\n A predatory tilt lifted the corner of the man\u2019s full lips. \u201cBeautiful. Is she legal? Is she for you or Byrne?\u201d<\/p>\n My father glared at the man and rested his hand on my shoulder. I tried not to flinch from the cold touch of his fingertips. But the heat in the stranger\u2019s eyes chased the chill caused by my father\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n \u201cCan you give us a moment?\u201d He spoke to me, but his glaring eyes never left the probing depth of the stranger\u2019s glower.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to go over to the auction tables,\u201d I said, and lifted my gaze to the man one more time memorizing the small scar in the arch of his brow, the fall of his dark hair across his forehead, and the soft fullness of his lips.<\/p>\n I felt his penetrating stare burning through me as I walked away.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (early ARC excerpt. Not final edited version) COPYRIGHT 2024 by KyAnn Waters Series page on Amazon – https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B0CGB3K1QF From Chapter One My heart stuttered. That particular feeling when you knew you were being watched made the hair at the back …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-excerpt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyannwaters.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyannwaters.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyannwaters.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyannwaters.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyannwaters.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=809"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kyannwaters.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":811,"href":"https:\/\/kyannwaters.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809\/revisions\/811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyannwaters.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyannwaters.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyannwaters.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}