Maria's Christmas Angel: A DARK ANGEL Romance (Alpha Male, Erotic Mafia Romance) Read online

  MARIA’S

  CHRISTMAS ANGEL

  A Dark Angel Romance

  A Contemporary Erotic Romance

  by Angela Jordan

  (8,900 words)

  Copyright 2013 by Angela Jordan. All rights reserved.

  Reproduction expressly prohibited.

  Contact Angela: [email protected]

  Dear Readers,

  Thanks for downloading!

  After you finish reading this story, make sure to turn the page to find a free preview of my Dark Angel romance novel. I’ve included Chapter One here, and if you want to download the rest, you can find the link in the back!

  Enjoy the book and happy holidays!

  Angela

  Maria’s Christmas Angel

  Chapter One

  “…I now pronounce you man and wife.”

  The entire church broke out in laughter and applause as my brother, Angelo DeSilvo, lavishly kissed his new bride, Karen, without waiting for the priest to give him permission. Of course, Angelo never had been one to wait for permission, now had he?

  No, he was a man who walked his own path in life and damned the rules that didn’t suit him – and I admired that about him, immensely.

  If only I could do the same…

  Watching the ceremony that had bound his life to Karen, his new wife, had brought tears to my eyes. I was so damn happy for them. Angelo looked so handsome in his dark tux, and Karen was a vision in her white, strapless wedding dress that hugged her curves like a dream. She had been so kind to me throughout the wedding preparation, and to her other bridesmaid, Amanda, as well – taking care of everything we could possibly need, when I joked that it was supposed to be the other way around. And our outfits were perfect: she’d put us in vibrant dark-red dresses, the same color of the roses we carried in our bouquets, and made of long, strapless sheaths of satin. The heavy weight was appropriate for the Christmas wedding they had insisted on having, and the slit up the thigh gave the dresses a sexy allure that, I couldn’t help but notice, had more than few men in the crowd staring.

  My brother had always been a difficult man to get close to, but when he met Karen at one of the restaurants we owned, he had fallen in love almost instantly. Their courtship wasn’t always easy. Karen was a strong woman who could hold her own against my domineering brother, which drove Angelo crazy in every way, shape and form. I knew she’d need that fire, though, to be able to handle him in the years to come, especially with our particular family.

  From a very young age, both Angelo and I understood that we didn’t come from your typical, average family. Before we were born, our father had converted his butcher shop into a small family restaurant when he’d met our mother. Although it had also been love at first sight for them, their relationship had its own share of difficulties, since – and there’s no way to put this lightly – my mother’s family was deeply, inextricably tied to the Italian mafia. Yes, the mob. It wasn’t a term we liked to use often, but damn if it wasn’t accurate. Our mother’s brother, Giovanni Luciano, was a big boss of the “family business,” and he single-handedly ran most of the illegal gambling in New York City. It was difficult, if not impossible, to distance ourselves from that side of the family, but Angelo and I separated ourselves from that life as best we could.

  That was easier said than done, though, of course. Our parents had done their best to raise us outside of the scope of any illegal activities, but we were still connected through our family – and they never let us forget it. When our parents died, Angelo worked hard to keep himself on the straight and narrow path, both for his own safety as well as for mine. But no matter how he tried to hide it from me, I knew Angelo dealt with a lot pressure from la Famigla when they tried to bring them into their ranks.

  He stood firm, though, and took care of me, always looking out for me when others might have tried to take advantage. Our parents left us a small fortune when they died, and Angelo and I had both invested the money wisely. In time, we’d each saved up enough to lead very comfortable lives. With neither of us wanting to be idle, my brother and I decided to keep our father’s restaurant open, and we even opened up another after a few years. We owned the businesses together, 50-50, although I let Angelo be the public face of our family enterprises. I preferred to operate in the background, taking a position as the restaurant manager at DeSilvo’s, instead of everyone knowing that I was a full partner. Angelo agreed with this setup 100%. He knew our family had our share of enemies, and this help keep them off my back and focused on Angelo, just how he liked it.

  We were a team, Angelo and I. He had taken care of me my whole life, and I could never thank him enough for always being my rock. He continued our father’s legacy of remaining neutral, while other Italian families fought each other and he did his best to always protect me.

  But all of that had changed a few months ago…

  While we had all been enjoying a night out on the town, Karen and I had been kidnapped by a man named Paul Fernelli, a member of another Italian family that had been fighting with our uncle. Though we were usually left out of the petty fighting, Paul had mistakenly blamed my brother for the death of his own younger brother and had taken us as revenge. It had been a harrowing experience, but we had been rescued before any real damage could be done. Still, it left me unsettled at how dangerous that life could be, and I wanted nothing to do with that dark side of the family – or their business.

  Since Karen had come into my brother’s life we’d grown extremely close, extremely fast. I already thought of her as a sister, and I also liked her friends Amanda and Jonathan. They were a hoot, and such a breath of fresh air after all the chaos I was used to. Together, we had planned a beautiful wedding in only a few months. After Angelo had almost lost her, he hadn’t been willing to wait long to make her his wife. We had talked him out of just dragging her to the courthouse or flying off to Vegas and insisted on having a real wedding. At first he had argued, but after realizing how much having a real wedding meant to Karen, he quickly agreed.

  He would do anything to make his woman happy, and it pleased me that Karen was the same way with him.

  My thoughts turned back to the scene before me, as Angelo released Karen from their kiss and his laughing eyes met mine. He grinned, letting me see the happiness shinning in his dark eyes, and I smiled back at him though my tears. My brother was a good man, and he deserved to be happy. Still, a little part of me ached at the sight of the newlywed couple. I wanted what they had, almost desperately. To be that happy and in love…

  I sighed.

  Somehow, that just didn’t seem to be in the cards for me.

  I watched as Angelo and Karen headed down the aisle to the sound of wild applause then waited as my cousin Tony and his fiancée Amanda quickly followed. Stepping forward, I took Jonathan’s arm that he held out to me and smiled back at him when he grinned down at me.

  “Your brother can be sort of a caveman when it comes to Karen,” Jonathan whispered as we walked down the steps together.

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “Sort of? He’s a total Neanderthal when it comes to her.”

  “Yeah, but she loves that about him. You know, I don’t think Angelo would have a very different reaction if he saw how Fernelli is looking you. Doesn’t matter how friendly they are these days, I don’t see him having a favorable opinion of Vincenzo sniffing around at his little sister,” Jonathan said, nodded his head discreetly to the right.

  I followed his line of sight and my breath caught as I met Vincenzo F
ernelli’s penetrating gaze as he stood in the back of the room. I was instantly captured by his intense hazel eyes, the connection between us so potent is was as if nothing else existed. God, I thought to myself. Vincenzo…

  It had always been like that with us.

  He looked powerful in his dark suit, standing out even among the other well-built men in attendance. He was a tall man, with wide shoulders and dark golden skin, and he had these strong, chiseled features to match face that was so dangerous and brooding that I sometimes caught myself staring. His dark-brown hair was short and stylish, as if he had just stepped off the cover of some fashion magazine, but those eyes held a ruthlessness that warned others he was a man not to be crossed.

  I forgot to breathe as our eyes locked. So many things were said in that single glance, without saying a word. Pain, desire, longing. Looking at him standing there reminded me of a time long ago, when he had been the center of my entire world. I once thought that I had loved him, so completely that I would have given him everything, done anything for him. And I had given him my heart and my dreams of a future together…

  …Until he’d walked away, and torn my heart to pieces.

  You shouldn’t want him like this, I scolded myself. You’re crazy. Get over him. But like it or not, even after all this time I still craved him so much that just the sight of him had me growing hot with need. In a blinding flash I remembered what it felt like to feel his big body moving over mine, his large hands stroking my skin. I was furious that he could still do this to me, after everything that had happened between us.

  Tearing my gaze away from his, I continued to walk down the aisle with Jonathan. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, seeing my words for the lie that they were.

  Jonathan chuckled softly. “Maria, sweetheart. That man is eating you up with his gaze, in big greedy bites. Trust me, okay? I know these things. It’s always that way when the two of you are in the same room. I’m just saying… I see how the two of you are together, and I’ve also seen just how protective Angelo gets when he notices that kind of stuff. Just be careful. That Fernelli fellow doesn’t look like a man who will back off easily.”

  “There is nothing going on between me and Vincenzo Fernelli.”

  “Honey, you and I both know that is a big, fat lie.” He let out an exaggerated sigh. “Too bad he isn’t gay or I would take him off your hands.”

  That had me shaking my head with another laugh, and it helped settle my nerves. “Hey,” I said. “You have your own handsome Italian man to deal with.”

  “That I do, but Rocco doesn’t give me the fuck-me eyes quite like your man does,” he said cheerfully. Jonathan and my cousin Rocco had been dating for the last several months, and I thought they made a very good match.

  “It’s a shame, really,” continued Jonathan. “Because honey, the two of you together would make one dangerously hot couple.”

  I shook my head. He had no idea…

  When we were together, Vincenzo and I had made enough fire to burn us both alive. He’d just been the one to get out before I did. And now, even as we walked out of the church together, I could still feel the heat of Vincenzo’s gaze on me like a physical caress.

  Damn that man.

  No, Vincenzo Fernelli was not the man for me, despite how my body reacted for him. What had been between us was over, and had been for a long time.

  Now, if only I could remember that, and stay the hell away from him… for both our sakes.

  Chapter Two

  There he was…

  I looked out over the crowded hotel ballroom at the wedding reception and saw Vincenzo staring back at me from where he sat at his table. Taking a sip of champagne, I allowed my gaze flicker over him, and then move on as if I hadn’t been looking for him. But the truth was, I had been searching for him like a month to the proverbial flame. If Vincenzo was in a room, it’s like my body instantly knew – and I couldn’t rest knowing he was in the same sphere as me.

  Karen and Angelo had placed him on the opposite side of the room from most of our family, since we knew there was still an abundance of animosity between the Fernellis and the Lucianos. Things had gotten better recently, ever since Angelo and Vincenzo had reconciled, but no one wanted any fighting at the wedding – so we’d all agreed it was best to separate him from the rest of our family.

  When we had been growing up, Angelo and Vincenzo, or Vinnie as he had been called back then, had been inseparable. They had been the best of friends, doing everything together and most people knew if they messed with one, they had to deal with the other.

  Years younger than them, I’d wanted nothing more than to be included in whatever mischief they were involved in, and they had allowed it until they had hit their teen years. I had been heartbroken, and realized that I had become fiercely possessive of Vinnie, despite our age difference.

  “Don’t worry, princess. My heart is still yours,” Vinnie had whispered to me one night when he and Angelo were preparing to go out on a double date. He had brushed my tears from my cheeks and kissed my forehead before leaving with my brother and their dates.

  As I got older, my relationship with Vinnie changed, and on the night of my eighteenth birthday I had become his in every way. When Vincenzo and I had been together I had always thought of us as a sort of modern day Romeo and Juliet. With our families at odds, it seemed impossible for our love to survive unscathed, and unfortunately I had been right.

  But what I still didn’t get was why it had to happen the way it did. For two years we were blissfully happy together, until my darling Vinnie had ended things and walked away from me with barely an explanation.

  Refusing to think about the painful past, I focused on Jonathan as he leaned back in his chair. “God, why didn’t you stop me from eating all of that? I feel sick now.”

  “Serves you right for eating your meal and half of mine,” I said with a laugh. “How the hell can you eat like that and still be a model?”

  He shrugged. “Good genes. Come on, pretty girl. Why don’t you help me work some of these calories off on the dance floor?”

  I grinned and finished my glass of champagne, and then allowed Jonathan to pull me from the platform where the head table was located. “Don’t you want to dance with your boyfriend?” I asked.

  “I think I’m going to wait until people are a little more drunk before we let them deal with the sight two men dancing together,” Jonathan said with a wink as he led me toward the dance floor. “These Italian guys seem pretty conservative.”

  Just then, a voice interrupted us.

  “Maria…”

  I turned and my heart skipped a beat as Vincenzo walked up to us. He greeted Jonathan and they shook hands before he turned to me.

  “I was hoping we could dance,” he said, his body language very clearly not taking no for an answer.

  And before I could refuse, Jonathan nodded his head. He couldn’t be happier this was happening; after all, he’d already made his point about how good a couple we’d be. “Sure!” he cried. “I’m, uh, just going to… go. Later!” He excused himself and headed toward the table where my cousin Rocco was sitting, leaving me with the man that had my emotions twisting in knots.

  I didn’t say anything as I allowed Vincenzo to lead me onto the dance floor and he took me in his arms. I felt a shiver run up my spine at how right it felt pressed against him and I cursed myself silently. Damn him, how could he do this to me?

  I didn’t want to feel like this. He was completely wrong for me and I knew it, so why couldn’t I stop myself from reacting to him?

  “I’ve missed this,” he purred. “I’ve missed having you in my arms, princess.”

  “Don’t start with me, Vincenzo. And don’t call me princess,” I snapped, hating the memories that nickname brought back.

  “Fair enough,” he said lightly. “How are you doing, Maria?”

  I knew what he was asking. Three months ago, on the night that Karen and I had been kidnapped,
Vincenzo had been there. He had witnessed his cousin Paul drugging us at the club and had rushed to the rescue along with my brother. I had only seen him a handful of times since then, though, and we’d never really had a chance to speak.

  I relented with a sigh. I figured I owed him at least a civil conversation. “I’m fine. Good.”

  He simply stared at me in silence, waiting me out. He had always been an expert at doing that, and I had never been very good at keeping anything from him. But that was then, and things were different now… I was different.

  So I used his own strategy, content to dance with him in silence instead of telling him what I was thinking. He had given up the right to know my thoughts a long time ago. It was difficult to keep my resolve, though, when I was pressed up against his hard body. He smelled so good, I wanted to lay my head on his shoulder and just breath him in like I used to. We had fit together so perfectly, once, and the pain of remembering that had me sucking in a sharp breath.

  “Something wrong?”

  “Not at all,” I said, trying to regain my composure. “So, I… haven’t seen you around lately.”

  “Yeah, you wouldn’t,” he replied with a smirk. “Not since you’ve been doing a damn good job avoiding me, that is.”

  Fluttering my lashes at him, I shot him an innocent look. “Now, why would I do that? I haven’t been avoiding you.”

  His jaw tightened. “You forget that I always know when you are lying, princess. And that’s twice you’ve lied to me in a matter of minutes. Want to try again?”

  “Don’t act like you know me, because you don’t, Vincenzo. Not anymore,” I said softly.

  For a moment it looked like regret flared in his eyes before his expression cleared. “I guess I deserve that.”

  “It’s not a matter of what you deserve, Vincenzo. It’s simply the truth. I do have something to say to you, though,” I said, changing the subject. “I haven’t really gotten a chance to thank you for what you did—”