Hypocritical? I was aware.
One little near-death experience, and I was a certified snitch. Although, I did just sneak into a cartel boss’s house to steal from him, so my badass card hadn’t been totally revoked. I was still Giada Genovese, mafia princess and fashion goddess, just with a touch more perspective.
Life was far too uncertain to be careless with the people who mattered most. Javi and my family were everything to me, and I would fight for them, no matter the odds.
Epilogue
Giada
“I appreciate you giving us a ride even though that’s not your job anymore.” I met Santino’s eyes in the rearview mirror and grinned. I still wasn’t entirely used to seeing him again. He’d recently made the move from Guaymas to start a security business with Javi. They had already snagged a couple of high-profile clients and were well on their way to making a name for themselves. I couldn’t have been more proud.
“Traffic in the city sucks; I’m glad I could help.” He pulled the car up to the curb outside the ornately carved entrance to Gramercy Tavern. Aunt Lottie was hosting a birthday dinner for Sofia and had reserved a private dining room for our party of around twenty. The tavern was a perfect combination of fine dining with a relaxed atmosphere. The food was amazing, but there was also a bustling bar and a cozy atmosphere.
“We’ll catch a cab home. Thanks again!” I slid from the car, Javi exiting behind me, and did a full body shiver. “Man, I’m tired of the cold.” The restaurant didn’t call for formal dress, so I’d worn pants and long sleeves, but I’d left my heavy coat at home since we’d only be outside between the car and the restaurant.
“It’s still just February. You have a ways to go until it warms up.”
“February is nearly over, then it’ll be March and spring,” I asserted.
“And it’ll get warm overnight?” he teased.
“A girl can be optimistic. Now quit pissing on my parade and let’s get inside,” I grumbled, my teeth already beginning to chatter.
We were directed back to the private room where we were greeted by Sofia and her husband, along with her parents and a number of others who had already arrived. I was engaged in conversation more than Javi, but he did his share of talking, and I adored seeing him interact with my family. He’d been accepted into the fold remarkably well.
I caught myself sneaking glimpses of him at every opportunity. The way his lean muscle mass filled out a suit jacket perfectly, or the corded strength of his neck that revealed itself when he spoke. He was assertive and confident, and I couldn’t get enough.
“You keep staring at him like that, and I’m going to have to wipe the drool from your cheek.” Camilla tapped my wineglass with hers and took a sip.
“If something that scrumptious was yours, wouldn’t you want to lick the wrapping?”
She huffed a laugh, causing her to choke on her wine, which sent me into a fit of giggles. I patted her back, which did absolutely nothing but still felt like the right thing to do. Once it was clear she was going to survive, I looked up at the source of a chorus of voices welcoming a late arrival.
“Check it out. Filip just showed up, and he’s got a gorgeous redhead with him.”
Camilla didn’t respond, drawing my gaze back to her. She glared at Filip like she wanted to flay him open from neck to groin and hang his entrails from the rafters. Her seething fury was so palpable, I had to do a double take, my eyes drifting over Filip and his date to see what I might have missed. When I looked back to Cam, her features were perfectly schooled, as if I’d imagined the whole thing.
I leaned close and whispered, “Is something going on between you and Filip?”
She cocked her head to the side and scrunched her brow. “We hardly know one another. Besides, look at how cocky and … and smarmy he is. He’s probably with a different woman every night.” She dove into her wineglass, taking a healthy swig.
Thou doth protest too much.
Interesting. Very interesting.
“Now that we’re all here,” Aunt Lottie directed over the hum of voices, “let’s take our seats.”
The room was outfitted with a private bar on one wall and an elongated oval dining table throughout the center of the room. Several small floral arrangements adorned the center length of the table with place settings for twenty-two lining the outer edge. Aunt Lottie and Uncle Enzo sat together on one end while Mom and Dad took the other, leaving everyone else to fill in the middle.
Once we were settled, an assortment of appetizers distributed throughout the table. Silverware clinked and heartwarming chatter filled the room. After the noise settled, Sofia and Nico stood at their places to address the room, Sofia taking the lead.
“I just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone for coming tonight and thank my mom for arranging such a lovely evening. I’m not normally one to be the center of attention, but this was the perfect opportunity to tell everyone …” She paused and glanced at Nico with a beaming smile. “We’ll be expanding the family in late August.”
Jaws dropped, and the room burst with cheers and congratulations. Aunt Lottie was especially giddy, jumping up to hug her youngest daughter. I was thrilled for my cousin. She and Nico had been through so much over the years; they deserved all the happiness in the world.
Dinner was exquisite, and there wasn’t a single lull in the conversation. I kept my eye on Camilla throughout the evening to see if I could learn anything more about what might have upset her. Every now and then, her spine would straighten, and her smile would grow brittle. I couldn’t make out the source of her agitation until Filip’s date released a particularly riotous peal of laughter, and Camilla stood, announcing she had to go. That was it. The woman had a cackling laugh, and every time it carried over the buzz in the room, Camilla had a visceral reaction.
“What? They haven’t even served dessert.” I pleaded for her to stay, but her clenched jaw brooked no argument.
“Sofia, I’m so sorry to cut out early, but I told someone I’d meet up with them tonight.” She gave our cousin a hug, keeping her eyes carefully trained away from Filip and his guest, then excused herself and left.
I’d also observed Filip on occasion during dinner and found him to appear completely untouched by Camilla’s distress until she cleared the room. His playboy smile withered and died faster than streamers in a rainstorm.
There was definitely something going on.
A quick glance told me no one else had noticed the incident. Conversation carried on, and wineglasses were refilled. A few minutes later, Filip spoke up, addressing the group.
“We seem to be missing an earring over here. Anyone see it on the floor around you?”
His date held up her hand, dangling a long silver earing for show. “It looks like this.”
Everyone pulled out their chairs and scanned the floor, coming up empty. After a cursory search, we concluded the earing wasn’t to be found and continued with dessert. While the table fell into soft murmurs as everyone indulged in their sweet treats, I sensed Javi’s eyes on me.
I leaned in, bringing my lips next to his ear. “It wasn’t me, I swear. That kind of thing doesn’t hold the same appeal anymore.”
He pulled me in and kissed my temple. “With a laugh like hers, I wouldn’t blame you if you did,” he joked softly, making me chuckle.
Five minutes later, one of the staff brought in the earring, explaining that it had been found in the bathroom by another patron. I couldn’t help but shoot an I-told-you-so glance at Javi.
His eyelids lowered to half-mass, shadowing those molten-metal irises with a promise of delicious torture. “Tell your family goodbye. It’s time for us to go.” He rasped the words for my ears only. His arousal heightening his accent, sending a cascade of chills down my spine.
I cleared my throat and stood. “All right, everyone. It’s time for us to head out.”
As soon as he was able, Javi ushered me from the room, but instead of leading me to the front of the res
taurant, he yanked us inside the first doorway we passed. I gasped, hardly getting a view of the room before the door shut, and we were shrouded in darkness.
Javier positioned me against the wall next to the door. “Bring back any memories?”
“Mmm … it does, but I don’t recall it being so dark.” I couldn’t see a thing, heightening my other senses. The clamor of noise sounding from beneath the door. His warm breath skating across my lips. The hint of smoke, musk, and spice from Javi’s cologne added to the intoxicating effect of the wine.
He grasped my hands and held them over my head against the wall in one of his. Out of nowhere, his other hand grazed across one of my nipples, then pinched the hardening peak. Unable to see and anticipate his touch, the sensation was magnified tenfold. Rioting euphoria coiled deep in my belly, a hunger so deep my inner muscles clenched down in a shuddering frenzy.
“Still want the lights on?” he breathed against the skin of my neck, a sharp-edged smile in his voice.
“Shut up and touch me,” I purred back at him.
Javi swung me around, chest pressed firm against the closet wall, then tsked by my ear. “Oh, Giada. You’ve been a very naughty girl.”
* * *
Thank you so much for reading IMPOSSIBLE ODDS!
The Five Families is a series of interconnected standalones. There are many characters in this book who have their own stories, make sure you read them all!
In book 1, Forever Lies, Alessia has a chance elevator encounter that changes her life forever.
Flip a few more pages to read the first chapter!
In book 2, Never Truth, Sofia’s confronts the man who broke her heart when he is assigned to protect her.
In book 3, Blood Always, Maria’s life is altered irrevocably by an arranged marriage to Matteo De Luca, her sworn enemy.
***
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Jill’s Ravenous Readers
A NOTE FROM JILL
I’d like to offer a sincere thank you for reading Impossible Odds. I hope Giada’s adventure was as entertaining and enchanting as you’d hoped! She’s such a dynamic character that she’s easy to love, and I adored giving her a love story of her own. As you probably guessed, Camilla and Val’s stories are well on their way to round out the series in 2021. I am beyond honored that you all have cherished these books as much as I have. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
If you enjoyed reading the book as much as I enjoyed writing it, please take a moment to leave a review. Leaving a review is the easiest way to say Thank You to an author. Reviews do not need to be long or involved, just a sentence or two that tells people what you liked about the book in order to help readers know why they might like it too.
About the Author
Jill Ramsower is a life-long Texan—born in Houston, raised in Austin, and currently residing in West Texas. She attended Baylor University and subsequently Baylor Law School to obtain her BA and JD degrees. She spent the next fourteen years practicing law and raising her three children until one fateful day, she strayed from the well-trod path she had been walking and sat down to write a book. An addict with a pen, she set to writing like a woman possessed and discovered that telling stories is her passion in life.
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Interested in reading the book that kicked off The Five Families series? Check out the book readers are calling “one bombshell after another.”
Forever Lies
By
Jill Ramsower
Here’s a taste of Alessia and Luca’s gripping tale …
Chapter 1
Alessia
It was fucking Monday all over again. Why did they have to suck so much? Mondays crept into the week far more frequently than any other day—at least twice as often as Friday—and they lasted three times as long as any halfway decent Saturday. Mondays are the first day of a diet and the last day before a paycheck, all rolled into one. They’re starting your period while wearing white pants and getting a flat tire on the tail end of a road trip.
There is not a single redeeming quality about Mondays.
I shouldn’t complain.
I was gainfully employed by the largest construction company in New York City. That’s nothing to sneeze at. I was the Associate Director of Marketing with my eyes set on obtaining the coveted director’s position. If only it wasn’t already occupied by the smarmiest, most disgusting man in the city, my boss, Roger Coleman.
Even his name was sleazy.
He tainted each of my days, marring the work that I loved with his presence like greasy food stains on a pristine wedding invitation. His lewd comments and presumptuous stares were the lingering aftertaste of rancid food, turning my stomach long after I’d had a taste of his vile brand of seduction. I did my best to keep our interactions professional, public, and as brief as possible, but that was difficult when we worked together regularly on important projects.
His advances had started out small—telling me how lovely I looked or commenting on my hair or eyes. In romance novels, having an older executive pursue the young professional may have sounded sexy and exciting, but when my fifty-five-year-old boss with a fake-and-bake tan and leathery skin started hitting on me, it was repulsive and unsettling. I’d done my best to discretely brush aside his advances and discourage his behavior in the hopes he would take the hint and move on, but after a year of working in the office, he had yet to cease his efforts.
Only once had his pursuit escalated to a physical level. Six months ago, at the company Christmas party he cornered me in a hallway and pressed me against a wall, his dick thrust against my stomach. He’d been drinking heavily, and I made the mistake of walking to a restroom alone. I’d been so repulsed and terrified, I didn’t even hear the unquestionably revolting comment he made. I gave a stuttered excuse and tore from his grasp, leaving the party without another word.
The incident only lasted a matter of seconds but had been seared into my brain. He never acknowledged it, and neither did I. That’s not to say I pretended it hadn’t happened. The threat of his unwelcome attention was always in the back of my mind. I’d taken every effort to distance myself from the man, both professionally and physically. I made certain I pulled in coworkers to help on projects, so there was always an extra set of eyes working with us.
Our offices, along with several others in the suite, were constructed with glass walls, which helped give me a certain degree of security—no hiding behind closed doors outside of the conference or break room. Another fortifying fact—Roger’s advances weren’t a daily affair, not even weekly. The problem wasn’t their frequency; it was the uncertainty of not knowing when they might occur that was the most stressful.
Thus, the misery that was Monday.
Yet another week of wondering what lewd propositions I might have to fend off.
Unlike my sisters, I had made the choice early on to go into the family business. Had I known how complicated it would be, I might have pursued a job elsewhere. But now, I had put in a year of my time and was poised to move up the ladder—I wasn’t going to entertain the option of quitting. I wouldn’t let my scumbag boss make me walk away from what I’d dreamed about since I was a child—my
family legacy.
Instead, I made sure the neckline of my blouse didn’t hang too low and marched into work swathed in a protective shield of confidence. This week would be one of the better ones. My boss was only in for the day before he would leave on a week-long business trip to L.A.
I could survive one day with the devil.
Most of the morning passed uneventfully. I was left to my own devices, preparing for a full week of project meetings and impending deadlines. It wasn’t until almost eleven when the intercom on my phone blared with Roger’s voice.
“Alessia, can you come in here, please?”
A seemingly harmless request, but it stirred an overwhelming sense of dread in the pit of my stomach.
I didn’t answer—there was no need. He could see me as I stood from my chair and made my way to his office next door. While I didn’t so much as glance his direction, I had no doubt his beady eyes would follow my every step. Our offices lined the outer wall of windows—the glass walls allowing the rest of the employees to enjoy the soaring views from our building. It was a double-edged sword—no privacy was a good thing, but it also meant there was no escaping Roger’s stare.
“Did you need something?” I stopped several feet from his small conference table where he’d laid out his presentation materials.
“You sure you can’t come with me? You know the material as well as I do and would be an enormous help when I make the pitch. It’s not too late to get you a ticket.” He arched a brow, hands propped on his hips where he stood on the opposite side of the table.
“My sisters would kill me if I’m not there to help get ready for Mom’s party this weekend. It’s her fiftieth and—”
Impossible Odds: A Mafia Romance (The Five Families Book 4) Page 23
