“I need to tell you something,” he said.
A worried tone washed over her expression. “Is everything okay?”
Nerves churned his stomach and for a split second of doubt, he considered taking her to another restaurant. But… No. He needed to do this for her.
“I lied. We’re not here to have lunch.”
“We’re not? I’m hungry.”
He laughed. “Well, there is food there, but…” His hand slid along her arm to grip her hand, and then he pushed open the door. “We’re here to celebrate.”
“CONGRATULATIONS.” A thousand voices shouted in unison.
Lilo’s palms flew to her cheeks. “What?”
The entire restaurant had been hired out and filled with wedding reception decorations and family. His family were all there, plus her family and friends. Renata, Misha Minksi and her family, Bev, Candy, Fred the Editor. Anyone whose life Lilo had touched had come to bless her union with Griffin, and to wish her well.
She turned to him with tears in her eyes and for a moment, his heart clenched. Would she be angry?
“It’s nothing fancy,” he whispered, leaning into her. “No ice sculptures.”
She burst out laughing and wiped her nose. “Thank you, Griffin. I never imagined something like this in my life. Especially not after the morning we had.”
“I once asked you what impressed you. Do you remember what you said?”
She frowned and shook her head.
“You said you were an actions speak louder than dollars kind of girl. So I thought this… all this is something I could do to show that you are loved, that you are worthy and that you have family. So… Always, and forever. I’m here.” Griffin took her hand and looked around the filled room. “We’re all here.”
Thank you for reading Greed. I hope you enjoyed Lilo’s and Griffin’s story. Next up is Wrath, stay up to date with release dates by joining my reader list where I post my news, sales and giveaways first. Visit subscribe.lanapecherczyk.com.
Characters & Glossary
The Deadly Seven
(Appearance in order of age from youngest to eldest)
ENVY: Evan Lazarus
SLOTH: Sloan Lazarus
GLUTTONY: Tony Lazarus
GREED: Griffin Lazarus
LUST: Liza Lazarus
WRATH: Wyatt Lazarus
PRIDE: Parker Lazarus
Mary Lazarus:Adoptive Mother of the Deadly Seven and ex assassin for the Hildegard Sisterhood
Flint Lazarus: Adoptive Father of the Deadly Seven
Other Characters:
Dr. Grace Go: Surgeon at Cardinal City General Hospital. Mate to Evan Lazarus.
Lilo Likeke: Investigative reporter at the Cardinal Copy. Mate to Griffin Lazarus.
The Syndicate
The Syndicate is a secret organization who believe the only way to save the world from its own harmful self is to eradicate all sinners, even if that means destroying half the world.
THE BOSS: Julius Allcott
SARA MADDEN: Ex-girlfriend of Wyatt Lazarus
FALCON: Enforcer for the Syndicate
The Hildegard Sisterhood
The Hildegard Sisterhood are nuns with a history reaching back to medieval times when the original Sister Hildegard struggled against a male dominated clergy. Now the world know her as the founder of scientific history in Germany, but back then, her opinions were disregarded until she claimed to have visions from God himself. Belittling herself as a woman in order to be heard was only the beginning of the humiliation the woman faced.
So she started her own abbey filled with women. That same abbey exists today and is a place where women are celebrated and their education encouraged—minus the male influence. Records at the Sisterhood archives reveal they had a hand in the rise of many women over history from Joan of Arc to Indira Ghandi. From Catherine the Great to Margaret Thatcher.
Under the surface of the auspicious abbey lays the secret mission that no woman will ever suffer the same struggle as Hildegard and they condition a select few “Sinners” to enforce this mission. These Sinners are trained as assassins for the cause: Sinners like Mary Lazarus. A necessary evil.
In the prequel novella, Sinner, Mary Lazarus escaped the Sisterhood who wanted to use the children for their own gain, much like the Syndicate who created them. To this day, she is still on the run.
Also by Lana Pecherczyk
The Deadly Seven
(Paranormal Romance)
Sinner
Envy
Greed
Wrath (coming soon)
Game of Gods
(Urban Fantasy )
Soul Thing
The Devil Inside
Playing God
Game Over
Robin Lockslay
(Heist Romantic Comedy)
Robin Lockslay
About the Author
OMG! How do you say my name?
Lana (straight forward enough - Lah-nah) Pecherczyk (this is where it gets tricky - Pe-her-chick).
I’ve been called Lana Price-Check, Lana Pera-Chickywack, Lana Pressed-Chicken, Lana Pech…that girl! You name it, they said it. So if it’s so hard to spell, why on earth would I use this name instead of an easy pen name?
To put it simply, it belonged to my mother. And she was my dream champion.
For most of my life, I’ve been good at one thing – art. The world around me saw my work, and said I should do more of it, so I did.
But when at the age of eight, I said I wanted to write stories, and even though we were poor, my mother came home with a blank notebook and a pencil saying I should follow my dreams, no matter where they take me for they will make me happy. I wasn’t very good at it, but it didn’t matter because I had her support and I liked it.
She died when I was thirteen, and left her four daughters orphaned. Suddenly, I had lost my dream champion, I was split from my youngest two sisters and had no one to talk to about the challenge of life.
So, I wrote in secret. I poured my heart out daily to a diary and sometimes imagined that she would listen. At the end of the day, even if she couldn’t hear, writing kept that dream alive.
Eventually, after having my own children (two firecrackers in the guise of little boys) and ignoring my inner voice for too long, I decided to lead by example. How could I teach my children to follow their dreams if I wasn’t? I became my own dream champion and the rest is history, here I am.
When I’m not writing the next great action-packed romantic novel, or wrangling the rug rats, or rescuing GI Joe from the jaws of my Kelpie, I fight evil by moonlight, win love by daylight and never run from a real fight.
Come and find me and chat!
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Greed Page 30
