by Scott, D. D.
THE WG2E ALL-FOR-INDIES ANTHOLOGIES
SPRING HOP EDITION
By D.D. Scott, Barbara Silkstone, Jayne Ormerod, Tracy Sumner, and Kristine Cayne
Compiled and Edited By: Matthew Rush, The Edit Dude
Copyright © 2012 by D.D. Scott, Barbara Silkstone, Jayne Ormerod, Tracy Sumner, and Kristine Cayne
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the authors or publisher.
Smashwords Edition: April 2012
CONTENTS
WELCOME TO THE WG2E ALL-FOR-INDIES ANTHOLOGIES
VESUVIUS, by D. D. Scott
MIRROR, MIRROR: A Fractured Fairy Tale Sampler, by Barbara Silkstone
WHEN WE WERE MIDDLE-AGED AND FOOLISH, by Jayne Ormerod
TRUE FATE, by Tracy Sumner
GUNS ‘N’ TULIPS, by Kristine Cayne
WELCOME TO THE WG2E ALL-FOR-INDIES ANTHOLOGIES
SPRING HOP EDITION
When just a little over one year ago, I brainstormed The WG2E — The Writer’s Guide to Epublishing — the destination site for all-things-Epublishing, I never in my wildest, most spectacular dreams imagined I’d end up creating a site which now gets over one million hits per month and is the first visit of the day for over 3500 Indie Epublished Writers and Authors!
At The WG2E, it’s all about finding ways to Pay It Forward, both to our fellow writers and to all our superfab readers too.
We simply luuuvvv treating readers to great books for great prices and helping our fellow authors find new readers around the globe.
With this Third Edition of our WG2E All-For-Indies Anthologies, we’re treating you to a terrific, one-of-a-kind approach to the anthology concept.
You’ll get a variety of genres all packaged together as a wonderful way to discover authors new to you and a variety of story lengths — from short-shorts, to short and novella length too!
In addition, each WG2E Anthology is based on a different theme, and we’re over the moon to offer you unique perspectives on these superfab fun themes.
Here’s what we mean by that…
In our WG2E Spring Hop Anthology, we’re treating you to stories that yes, have a Spring element, but you’ll never think of Spring in quite the same way.
For example:
“What about Spring for the Italian Mob? Is it just another season of killing?” for D. D. Scott’s VESUVIUS
“Spring Fling in South Beach means major trouble for Zo White in this fractured fairytale” for Barbara Silkstone’s MIRROR, MIRROR
“And should this heroine, nicknamed Spring Roll, save her friend…or should her friend even be saved?” for Jayne Ormerod’s WHEN WE WERE MIDDLE-AGED AND FOOLISH
“Can sweet serendipity and a Spring festival in South Carolina get this couple back on the steamy side of the tracks?” for Tracy Sumner’s TRUE FATE
“On this particular St. Patty’s Day, an ex-cop, once bribed by the mob, must now beat them at their own game in order to earn back the life and love he’d lost” for Kristine Cayne’s GUNS ‘N’ TULIPS
Happy Reading and Welcome to our WG2E All-For-Indies Anthologies!
The Best of E-Reading Wishes —
D. D. Scott
Co-Founder of The WG2E
P.S. Watch for The WG2E All-For-Indies Anthologies Summer Fling Edition coming in June 2012!!!
VESUVIUS
Prequel to Cozy Cash Mystery #4
The Royal Digs
Quartermaster R’s story
By D. D. Scott
Standing in the Museo di Capodimonte, Valerie Malloy studied Warhol’s interpretation of Vesuvius’ eruption. It wasn’t just the volcanic activity that burst from the canvas. It was Warhol’s color play and his motion-filled lines that captured the explosive vitality of Naples.
Valerie understood the mysteries of the city and the beauty that the violence of the eruptions had carved into its bay. And as if she were in Homer’s Odyssey sailing home from the Trojan War, she struggled to escape the deadly songs of the Sirens.
Like the young aristocrats of 18th century England, she first came to Naples for The Grand Tour upon her graduation from Harvard. Not only did she explore her classical past like generations before her, but she met the man who forever changed her future.
The devastation of Vesuvius was no match for the pain she’d endured at the hands of Giotto Bernini.
As her mind bent towards his memories, cold chills claimed not just her body but also her soul.
It was almost as if he were once more present and watching her, a feat she reasoned impossible, but was it? With Giotto’s abilities and his family’s vast resources, Valerie knew better than to disregard his power.
In hopes that the Spring warmth of the Italian sunshine would calm her unsettled spirit, she rushed out of the museum. But the air still held the same restless currents as earlier in the day. And there was certainly nothing soothing about the dark sky hinting at the approach of a fierce storm.
As the winds began to blow, Valerie hurried to her villa. She pushed hard against the rusted iron gate that lead to the safety of her courtyard. As she struggled to close it, the bougainvillea blanketing the wall danced wildly. Torrential rains began contact with everything in their path, her lemon trees bent and twisted to their own wicked groove.
When she was almost safe at her doorstep, a small boy whizzed to a halt on his Vespa only inches from the gate. The wild-eyed street urchin jumped from his bike, waved his arms, and frantically called out to her.
“Bella! Bella!”
Not expecting any messages and leery of these urchins, she was tempted to ignore the boy. Giotto had eliminated most of her family and friends, and so as not to put anyone else at risk, she socialized with few. But something in the boy’s urgency made her acknowledge him.
“Scusilo?” He asked while hurrying through the gate.
Taking a small piece of parchment out of his pocket, he placed it in her hand, then high-tailed it back to his bike and sped off through the storm.
Valerie brushed her fingers across the back of the way-too-familiar embossed seal and trembled. This could not be true. Five years had passed. And nothing. No contact. No unfortunate accidents. Nothing but peace.
She closed the heavy wooden door to her villa and carefully opened the note. She gasped. Screamed towards the heavens, then dropped the note and crumpled into a heap on the cold mosaic tiles of her entryway.
She remembered a crack of lightning followed by a horrific boom of thunder. And then her world went black.
• • •
Focusing on the candlelight and the crackling fire that illuminated the otherwise dark room, Valerie struggled to comprehend what was happening to her.
It had to be a bad dream. Although, after Giotto’s death at the hands of the Italian police, nightmares of this magnitude had no longer plagued her sleep.
Five years ago, on a stormy night, not much different than this one, while the police raided one of Giotto’s illegitimate storefronts, Valerie walked away from her life as a mob wife. She was pregnant and alone. But with the help of the Italian and American governments, she was determined never to look back.
She heard the storm continue to cast its power over the Italian countryside, and felt the dampness in the air that tore the curtains away from the open windows. The rain added its stead
y cadence to the soft Neapolitan music that filled her ears.
The same music had filled the piazza the night she first met Giotto. She had been counting lira to purchase an exquisite coral necklace. With a smooth exchange of few words but significant lira, a dark, devastatingly handsome stranger, introduced to her as Giotto, placed the pendant around her neck.
That night, Valerie thought Giotto was a part of the heroic charm of Naples. She soon learned, however, that he was the prince of its most sinister slums.
Giotto Bernini controlled everything and everyone in Naples. People feared him, and they had every reason to be afraid.
Letting go of her way too fresh memories, Valerie tried to right herself in her bed but was held back by strong, masculine hands she remembered well.
Focusing on the dark shadow that hovered over her, she began to trace the outline of the man who would never vacate the darkest recesses of her mind.
“It can’t be. No. You’re gone,” she whispered.
“Did you really think I’d die before seeing to your demise?”
Giotto caressed her face then ran his fingers along the edge of a nightgown she had no knowledge of putting on.
“Bastard! Don’t you touch me!”
She tried to push him away but could not match his strength.
“How did you find me?” She asked, even though she knew, for a man like Giotto, it would not have been too difficult.
“I know all your favorite places to hide.”
“Leave me alone.”
Though fear had paralyzed her body, her mind remained sharp.
“Isn’t it enough that you’ve killed everyone I ever loved?”
“I used to think so.”
“Then what changed your mind?” Even though the answer terrified her, she had to know the truth.
“I think you already know.”
As a sharp white gleam of a lightning bolt back-lit his body, which was now bent over her, she released a small scream.
“No. It can’t be. I’ve done everything to protect him. You couldn’t have found him. Not Raulf. Not my baby.”
“Don’t you mean ‘our baby’?” Giotto’s thunderous voice boomed throughout the room. “How dare you keep him from me. The heir to my legacy.”
“Giotto…”
Valerie tried to speak, but her attempt was met with the palm of his hand striking her cheek with a sharp snap she remembered all too well.
“You’ll pay, Valerie,” he seethed. “No one deceives me once, let alone twice.”
As the tears she’d held inside for years fell from her eyes, Valerie took shallow breaths. The sting of the skin on her cheek was nothing compared to the arrows of sheer terror that punctured her heart from seeing him once more in the flesh.
For the last five years, she had kept Raulf hidden from his father. She’d done everything she could to keep him from harm, all the while knowing that if Giotto was still alive, he’d eventually return to claim what, in his mind, was his alone…their son.
“Where is he?”
With all the resolve and faith she still held onto, Valerie laughed.
“You must be out of your fucking mind to think I’d tell you that.”
She clenched her teeth then spit at him.
“I’ll die first,” she said, willing to do whatever it took to protect her son.
Giotto raised one fist high into the air above her and grabbed her throat with his remaining hand.
She closed her eyes and prayed to Saint Christopher that she and Raulf would be safe in their future journeys. She thanked her heavenly father that she, and not her son, had met Giotto’s final wrath. With a final ‘amen’, she reached one hand under her pillow and tightly grasped onto the cold metal handle of the knife she always kept there.
Just as she began to feel her spirit leave her body, from Giotto’s stranglehold, she was catapulted back by the sound of a powerful explosion.
Giotto released his hold on her throat. His body lunged forward and then crumpled backward to the floor.
She recognized the smell of a fired pistol. Whispy swirls of smoke drifted in front of her. Her gown was wet, spattered with Giotto’s blood.
Coughing and choking as air rushed back into her lungs, she heard the sound of metal hitting wood and saw her silver revolver laying on the floor.
She reached for the folded parchment the street urchin had given her which was on her bedside table. She crushed it between her blood-stained hands and threw it into the flames of the hearth.
Stepping over Giotto’s body, she reached inside the hidden compartment underneath the false bottom of one of the drawers of her night table.
Thank God it was still there, she thought.
She removed the gilded key she hoped she’d never have to use then reached for her son’s still shaking hands.
Together, they left Giotto’s body where it had fallen and went downstairs to place a much-anticipated call to The Consulate in Rome.
THE END
THE ROYAL DIGS
Cozy Cash Mystery #4
A Sneak Peek at Page One…
One
“So you see, my dear, not everyone has a LMAO past,” Bunny Winston said, in between two classically elegant sips of her Mojito, “but that doesn’t mean they won’t devote their life to making sure the rest of us do.”
I didn’t know what to say. I’d truly reached a rare occasion. One in which I was rendered speechless.
Bunny Winston, our Quartermaster R’s sister, had given me my first glimpse into R’s past. And damn if it didn’t sound more like a mob thriller movie script than a real life accounting of a real little boy’s childhood.
No wonder R never seemed to fear the darkness of the evils he and my Prince Roman were forever seeking to destroy. He’d been born into that same kinda darkness…
NOTE FROM D. D. SCOTT
Here’s to hoping y’all enjoyed VESUVIUS — The Prequel to Cozy Cash Mystery #4 THE ROYAL DIGS.
In THE ROYAL DIGS, releasing early Summer 2012, I’ll take you into Quartermaster R’s past, which has one helluva dark-side now affecting his present. And unless he and his sister Bunny beat their father and his mob ring, they won’t have a future, and neither will all their friends…Roman, Zoey and The Mom Squad included.
The key to their survival depends on an ancient Spanish treasure ship at the bottom of the ocean floor west of Key West as well as a few Drag Queens who give “booty” all new meaning.
If you’re regular D. D. Scott-ville readers…then Welcome Back to my quirky-crazy Cozy Cash Mystery worlds.
And if you’re new to my D. D. Scott-ville stories, you’re in for a “royal” treat and then some!
Happy Ereading!!! — D. D. Scott
ABOUT D. D. SCOTT
D. D. Scott is a Top 100 Bestselling Romantic Comedy and Humorous Mystery Author. She’s a Writer’s Go-To-Gal for Muse Therapy, plus the #1 Amazon Bestselling Author of Muse Therapy: Unleashing Your Inner Sybil and the co-founder of The WG2E — The Writer’s Guide to E-Publishing — your destination site for Everything E-Publishing, and founder of The RG2E — The Reader’s Guide to Epublishing — the destination site for all-things Ereading. You can get all the scoop on her, her books, her Muse Therapy Online Classes and Live Workshops, plus juicy tidbits too from her website D. D. Scott-ville.
Her bestselling romantic comedies are all about sexy, sassy, smart, career-driven women and the men who complete them. They’re a bit chick lit with a gone-country twist…and now a humorous mystery, comedic caper twist too. She’s agented, and her Bootscootin’ Books — think Sex and The City meets Urban Cowboy — debuted August 2010, on Amazon’s Kindle, Barnes & Noble’s Nook and at Smashwords, with BOOTSCOOTIN’ BLAHNIKS, followed by STOMPIN’ ON STETSONS and BUCKLES ME BABY. Now, The Bootscootin’ Characters are gettin’ “cozy”…as in Comedic Caper cozy, with the release of THUG GUARD and LIP GLOCK, Books One and Two of her new, Cozy Cash Mysteries, featuring all of your fave Bootscootin’ characters plus
tons of quirky new characters too.
She’s a two-time Amazon Movers & Shakers List Author (making it all the way to #2 on that prestigious list) and has been both a featured author and her books have been top picks — including one of the Top 10 Books for Mother’s Day 2010 — for such superfab Ereader-centric Blogs as Ereader News Today (ENT), Kindle Nation Daily, Cheap e-Reads, Pixel of Ink, The Frugal eReader, Indie Books List, Only Romance, and Bargain eBooks. Her blog posts on the Indie Epub World have been picked-up by fantabulous blogs like Bufo Calvin’s I Love My Kindle. She can be spotted all-week long on her one-million-hits-per-month grog The WG2E, a writer’s destination site for all-things-Epublishing. She often can also be found hangin’ on both the Kindle and Nook Boards, her new site The RG2E, a reader’s destination site for all-things Ereading, and has an active blog of her own on her website.
Also a Writer’s Go-to-Gal for Muse Therapy and now the Amazon #1 Bestselling Author of MUSE THERAPY: UNLEASHING YOUR INNER SYBIL, D. D. debuted her Muse Therapy Online Classes in 2009 and her Live Workshops in 2010. Thanks to the fabulous endorsement of Stephen Windwalker’s Kindle Nation Daily, there’s a ton more fun and fascinating MUSE THERAPY adventures in development.
