Power Surge: The Billionaire Club 3
Their Sweet Desire
Antoinette ‘Toni’ DeLuca owns the coffee shop, Bliss. She doesn’t trust easily—she has her reasons—and then she meets two billionaires who want to share her. The idea is completely arousing, but she has her reservations. Emerson Pierce and Stone Ryder appear too good to be true.
Her ex won’t leave her alone. He wants the business, and so does his criminal type family. She lies to protect her heart. But Emerson and Stone, two billionaires who want her, lie to protect their hearts as well. In mass confusion, everyone is a suspect in her demise. With the help of their family and friends, Emerson, Stone and Toni come clean so they can be together. But ultimately it’s the one person they dismissed too early that threatens to end their lives.
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre
Length: 44,651 words
THEIR SWEET DESIRE
Power Surge: The Billionaire Club 3
Dixie Lynn Dwyer
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
THEIR SWEET DESIRE
Copyright © 2013 by Dixie Lynn Dwyer
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62740-780-9
First E-book Publication: October 2013
Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
Dear Readers,
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This is Dixie Lynn Dwyer’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Dwyer’s right to earn a living from her work.
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DEDICATION
Dear Readers,
Thank you for your continued support. Please enjoy the next book in my latest series, Power Surge. Emerson Pierce and Stone Ryder had basically given up on finding that perfect woman to share. Trust does not come easy for them, and rightfully so, as their past choices in lovers hadn’t exactly worked out well for them. When times seem toughest, and when they least expect it, Antoinette “Toni” DeLuca comes along. All three are keeping secrets, but as they say, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, and in this case, it leads to all their sweet desires.
Enjoy the story.
Hugs!
~Dixie~
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Epilogue
About the Author
THEIR SWEET DESIRE
Power Surge: The Billionaire Club 3
DIXIE LYNN DWYER
Copyright © 2013
Prologue
Antoinette “Toni” DeLuca hadn’t expected Vince to be here when she arrived home from work. But there the fucker was, sitting at her Goddamn kitchen table, drinking an espresso.
“Hey, baby, I was waiting for you.”
She was instantly frustrated, and a bit on edge. She didn’t trust him. She actually felt her body tighten and her heart race. In fact, she hated the man for numerous reasons.
“What the hell are you doing here, Vince? Breaking and entering is a crime.” She threw her small backpack onto the couch. She had to be careful about giving him an attitude. He was a gangster wannabe. But his family was a different story. No matter what he did, his family never seemed to be impressed with his actions. He wasn’t good enough, and then she had come along. The family saw her as an asset. Vince saw her as his chance to prove himself to his family, and gain a profitable business. But the business was hers. She started it, along with her grandfather, and turned it into the great store it was today. Not Vince Saggaretti.
She gave him the evil eye.
He raised his eyebrow at her. He appeared almost about to strike with his tongue, but thought better of it. He knew things were over. His persistence was becoming a serious problem. Why didn’t he get it? Why was he forcing the issue? I’m not getting back together with you, you jerk. Your family murdered my grandfather. Like I would forget that? Never. I’ll never forget it.
He trailed his finger along the small ring on the little red demitasse cup. Her favorite color, her favorite piece. It had tiny gold specks along the bottom, and the little saucer was red with gold specks as well. It had been her grandfather’s. Vince knew that, yet he insisted on using it. She swore it was to piss her off and to let her know he was the man and she was the woman. I will not fear him and his family because they killed my grandfather. I may be intimidated, but my hatred runs deep.
“I wanted to talk to you, Toni. You haven’t answered any of my phone calls or text messages. You’ve never complained about me stopping in before. I thought we were still friends.”
She walked into her own kitchen and pulled open the refrigerator door, with a shaking hand. She knew he was carrying. A gun, a knife, it didn’t matter. He was a thug, an
d he knew how to use it. Vince always was trying to impress his family. She grabbed a bottle of water as the headache began to form in her temples.
“Well, I didn’t answer your calls or text messages, because I have absolutely nothing to say to you. Nothing has changed in the last six months. I’ve told you this numerous times. I can only be friends with you and that’s all we are. It’s over, remember?”
“You don’t mean it. You were just pissed off about me hitting you. It was crazy. I was angry. I didn’t mean it. We’re good together. There isn’t anyone else for me.”
She locked gazes with him. Vince was a handsome man. He reminded her of the actor Tom Hardy, but Vince was mean and all Brooklyn tough. He was well built, had great big brown eyes, and a nice thick head of hair on him that he took time to style, but he was a liar.
“I don’t want to hear it. Please, just leave. I’ve had a long day.”
“I could be working right beside you. We would make a great team, baby, at work and in the bedroom,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her between his open thighs.
He was a brute, an overly aggressive man whose personality fed on the fear he put into those around him. He hit her when she accused him and his family of being behind her grandfather’s murder. The strike had come fast and hard. It was an evil side of Vince she never wanted to see again.
The sexual attraction was never a problem between them. It was his ulterior motives that put the wedge between them, and the halt to her libido.
“Don’t force the issue, Vince. I’m tired,” she whispered, as he slid his hands up and down her hips, then along her ass. She grabbed a hold of his wrists and stopped him. He gave her another squeeze. She rolled her eyes and exhaled in annoyance. There were times his touch, his attention toward her ruled her thoughts and her body. Not anymore.
“We’re good together, baby. You know we are. I miss you. I miss your perfume, the way your long brown hair flows across my pillow.”
She tried to dislodge his hold of her, but it was no use. Vince was five foot nine and filled with muscles. He had fought on the streets growing up, and had a bit of a hard attitude. He hit her, and that was all it took for her. She wouldn’t put it past him to do so now. Now that she knew why he really started dating her.
“We’re not a team. We’ve been over this before. This is my business, my store, and no one is going to be taking it out from under me. Not you, your uncle, your father, or any other thug who thinks they can force me out. So cut the crap, Vince. You’re wasting your breath.”
He stood up abruptly, maintaining his hold on her wrists, placing her hands behind her back. He pressed her against the kitchen counter and she gasped. His face was red, his temper flaring already.
He had such a short fuse. My mouth is going to get me knocked off next.
“One phone call and it’s over. You know that, don’t you? One fucking phone call. I’m trying to secure a future for you. For us,” he said. His thick Brooklyn accent added to his threats. He used his free hand to run his fingers through her hair. He stared at her lips. She smelled the strong scent of espresso on his breath with each exhale. She lifted her chin. He was not going to intimidate her any further.
“There isn’t an ‘us.’ There never really was. I can make a phone call, too. Now get out. Don’t break in here again, or I swear, I’ll call the cops.”
She thought about her cousin, Leo, the cop and she thought about her uncle Vincenzo. Leo would help her. But then he would worry. He would insist that she move in with him and his buddies. If she denied him, then he’d call Uncle Vincenzo. No way. Not happening. Or worse, Vince’s family, the Saggarettis, would go after him. She couldn’t do that to her cousin, or her uncle for that matter. She had to handle this her way. By being strong, and firm.
Vince shoved away from her, but not before squeezing her a little harder than ever before.
“I’m not afraid of your uncle and neither is my family. So don’t threaten me with calling him. This isn’t over. You’ll come around. I can protect you. You’ll see.” He walked back to the table, lifted the red demitasse cup to his lips, and downed the remainder. He placed the cup back down and then looked at her. He didn’t say a word, and it made her feel more frightened than ever before.
“We’ll talk soon,” he finally said. He always had to have the last damn word. He consistently tried to push his dominance and control over her, and it really pissed her off.
After he walked out, she locked the door, using the dead bolt and securing herself inside. Tomorrow she would call someone to change the locks. That should keep Vince from getting in here again.
He wouldn’t break her down. She could handle this. Just like her grandfather did in the old days. Just like her grandfather had warned her. He told her that Marty Mollicone, Vince’s uncle from his mother’s side of the family, was interested in the building where Bliss was located. Her grandfather told her that there had been some threats, and then one day he was shot down, and it was made to look like a drive-by shooting. Except drive-by shootings didn’t happen in SoHo. At least not in this neighborhood. There weren’t even any gangs around, aside from a few Italian and Puerto Rican kids who fought now and again, and always over girls. Her family had connections, too, but they were above this petty bullshit. Unless Vince and his family hurt her or the business. That would be a different story entirely. Her uncle and some cousins were involved with various nontraditional professionals. Well, they were gangsters, and loan sharks. She wouldn’t go to them for help. She wouldn’t want to owe them anything. But they did adore her. She was the youngest of all the cousins, and she was Antonio DeLuca’s daughter. Her grandfather and her father were legit, and it got them killed. She was going to break the cycle. She had to keep fighting and remain in control, no matter what.
She fell into the chair by the table and covered her face with her hands.
There was a time, that I thought Vince really loved me. How could I have been so stupid? I have no luck with men. I’m destined to be alone, or at least better off with noncommittal relationships. Never again. I’ll never share my desires or my dreams with another man again. Never.
Chapter 1
“Will you get it together, Toni? I swear, you’re such a worrywart. It always works out doesn’t it?” Tina Kelly asked as she wiped down the counter after another group of customers exited.
The place was busy today as usual. Toni gave Tina, her assistant store manager and best friend for life, a look. “You would think after all this time, I wouldn’t worry, but I do. Adding to the menu with these new baking items could make the kitchen get backed up. That means a lot of prep work for me, and Charlie might complain.”
Toni wiped down the fluffy pink chairs and pushed them back under the dark black table that sat five. She loved her little retro café shop in SoHo, New York. It was hip, yet it was totally down to earth and filled with her homemade recipes. She could seat sixty people in the place, either by the coffee bar or near the front window that faced all the little shops and the main street. There was the subway station half a block to the right, and a bus stop directly to the left. There were always people coming and going, but the businessmen and women frequented her place the most.
“Hey, do you think I should change the decorations around the fireplace yet? It’s March, and spring is right around the corner,” she asked Tina.
“Not yet. That setup you have with all the candles is beautiful. We get compliments every day,” Tina replied.
“Yeah, leave it a bit longer, Toni. I’m going to visit the grandkids in Florida for three weeks. I expect some lovely vibrant colors on that fireplace mantel when I return.”
Toni smiled at the regular. “Okay, Mr. Williams, I promise.” Toni made her rounds to check on the customers until she heard the door open again. She greeted her guests.
She tried her hardest to not think about the threats she had received. She didn’t know who was behind them. Scratch that, she had a pretty good idea that Vince�
�s uncle was behind them. But no proof, just an accusation on her part. What she did know was that her parcel of land and her building was a prime location for any food-type business. There had only been two threats so far. If there were others, then she would have to tell Tina, and perhaps notify the police. Her cousin, Leo DeLuca, was a detective in the south Bronx. He would help her if she called him. She wouldn’t contact Uncle Vincenzo. That man moved quickly and with forcefulness. It wasn’t necessary and she hoped it never would be. Her father’s brother was “old school” when it came to family and respect. Plus, she was his favorite niece.
So why was she feeling so uneasy? Business owners got threats all the time around the city, especially when someone wanted to buy them out or move in on prime territory. No way, not her. She had her life savings invested in the place, and although she was ahead of the game, and finally making money, there were no guarantees in life. She needed this place, and it meant everything to her.
She was scared for the simple fact that men killed her grandfather over this building. Although it wasn’t proven, she knew it to be true. She should really start to worry if a drive-by shooting happened nearby when she was walking home. That would get her to move on to notifying the police and perhaps her uncle.
“Toni, we need another round of zeppoles with the fresh berry platter for table two,” Tina told her as she walked toward the register behind the counter.
Toni wondered if Vince was behind the threats. The idea made her even more nervous. Since she’d broken things off with him six months ago, he had been hounding her to get back together. No way, and not after the way he treated me. He had the nerve to say his father wanted to buy me out. Buy me out? As if? This is my dream. My hard work. All it took was that one smack across my face and things were done. No way would I allow a man to tell me what to do, control me, and make demands on me. He can just kiss my ass.
Their Sweet Desire [Power Surge: The Billionaire Club 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 1
