A Shadow of Guilt

One of his hands came up to cup one very full and sensitive breast and her blood got even hotter. Valentina blushed and whirled around within Gio’s arms, dislodging his questing hand, and looked up with mock outrage. ‘Do you really think your guests have paid to see you mauling your heavily pregnant wife?’

Unnoticed in the background the crowd were going wild as the annual Corretti Cup race was drawing to an exciting finish. Neither Gio or Valentina gave two hoots right then if a unicorn suddenly appeared and won the race instead of the hotly tipped favourite, who was, of course, one of Gio’s horses.

Gio smiled lazily, his hand coming back up to cup her breast again, this time kneading it gently so that Valentina couldn’t help but moan softly.

‘You seemed to enjoy being mauled in bed this morning very much if I recall.’

‘You’re insatiable, Signor Corretti. I’m merely doing my wifely duty to keep you happy.’ She smiled prettily and he threw back his head and laughed out loud, infusing Valentina with a bone-deep sense of contentment to hear him sound so happy.

Just then she spotted something out of the corner of her eye and said with happy resignation, ‘I think it’s time to rescue my parents. Maria’s looking suspiciously overexcited and tired which spells trouble.’

Gio turned to follow his wife’s gaze and smiled indulgently when he saw his fifteen-month-old daughter squirming to be free of her doting grandparents’ embrace. She was trouble, all right, more than taking after her late uncle Mario with her mop of dark brown curls and mischievous eyes.

Gio turned back to Valentina and looked down, his heart swelling with love. Her pregnant belly pressed against him and he felt full up … with love and contentment and peace—for the first time in his life, peace.

‘We’ll rescue them in a minute, but first …’

He didn’t even need to say it. Valentina lifted her mouth to his, wound her arms around his neck and they kissed as if for the first time all over again while the crowd went wild behind them, the favourite horse striding easily home to victory.

Read on for an exclusive interview with Abby Green!

BEHIND THE SCENES OF SICILY’S CORRETTI DYNASTY:

with Abby Green

It’s such a huge world to create—an entire Sicilian dynasty. Did you discuss parts of it with the other writers?

Yes, we set up a Yahoo loop so that we could discuss our various stories and try to make sure that they all interlinked correctly, and that we had the same details about key events.

How does being part of the continuity differ from when you are writing your own stories?

This is a much more collaborative process than working on your own (obviously!), so it’s nice to feel that support from the other authors. Also, we work off a bible that gives us the bones of our stories, so we don’t have to worry so much about coming up with the main plot!

What was the biggest challenge? And what did you most enjoy about it?

The biggest challenge is trying to stay within the parameters of the story outline, because the threads in your story have to link in to everyone else’s to a lesser or greater degree. What I enjoyed about it most was the fact that I got handed these characters, already fully formed and had to breathe life into them, with my own twist.

As you wrote your hero and heroine, was there anything about them that surprised you?

My hero and heroine were definitely quite different from the types of heroes and heroines I’d normally gravitate to. Valentina had a lot of anger and issues with the hero, and he had to deal with a lot of guilt, mixed with lust! I guess I was surprised at how fiercely Valentina clung on to her anger for Gio, to avoid dealing with her feelings for him, and how patient he was with her.

What was your favorite part of creating the world of Sicily’s most famous dynasty?

I loved setting Gio’s part of the story in Syracuse, a beautiful part of Sicily. He had set himself apart from the rest of the family and I loved being able to put him somewhere away from where all the main action was happening. It helped to increase his sense of isolation. (Very mean of me:))

If you could have given your heroine one piece of advice before the opening pages of the book, what would it be?

Prepare yourself to meet your conscience!

What was your hero’s biggest secret?

Ooh, that would be telling, but it has a BIG part to do with the heroine and his feelings for her.

What does your hero love most about your heroine?

Everything, of course.:) But, what would have initially drawn him to her was her sweet innocence and the way she always looked at him with such artless sensuality.

What does your heroine love most about your hero?