Part 1: The Events as They Were
Part 2: The Pulitzer and its Repercussions
Part 3: The Real Blackmail Begins
Part 4: Gliding Along
Part 5: Full Stop!
Part 6: The Truth as It Is
Open-mouthed after the first page, she finished the chapter in wonder then peered over at him. “Your book is about what happened to your life.”
“The unvarnished truth. After chapter one, it goes on to describe my early life with Elise and Yvette. The development of the status quo. Then it portrays how the Pulitzer further complicated things. How Elise began blackmailing me and how I let it slide. Last night, the rest came into focus. That part’s outlined now.”
She read, Full Stop! Meeting Mariella. The girls. The ethical quandaries. Falling in love.
The Truth as It Is. Coming clean. The rest: TBD.
She looked up. “TBD?”
“To be determined.”
“By what?”
“By you, hopefully.”
“I don’t understand.”
Leaning over, he took her hands—hers were cold—and kissed her knuckles. “I was wrong to ask you to live in the status quo. Wrong to ask Yvette to. I had to act. So, I edited the first four sections and sent them to your brother-in-law, Ryder.”
“Lexy’s husband?”
“I wanted somebody I could trust to promote the book with sensitivity. I’m guessing the contents will be explosive, but the story has some ethical advice and messages about not living up to your beliefs.”
“I love that you did all this, but won’t it have the same effect as Elise exposing you?”
“I talked about that with Ryder. He thinks the book is written with such honest, self-effacing criticism and hope that the public and French authorities will have to agree to let Yvette come with me after the divorce.”
“Isn’t that risky?”
“No.” Here, he smiled, and his brows raised. “Because I have Plan B. If anything works against me, I’m going to take Yvette and go live in Casarina.”
“What?”
“I called your father. He listened to my story, and how much I love you and said I can get asylum in your home country from any action the courts might take. But I honestly don’t believe it’s going to come to that. In any case, we’ll end up in Casarina eventually.”
“We will?”
“Uh huh, after you graduate.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
A whirlwind flew into the kitchen. “Say yes, Mama.”
“How much did you hear, baby?” Jordan asked.
“That you want to be with Mama.”
He stood and pulled both Mari and Lilly into a hug. “What about it, ladies? Will you two marry me and Yvette?”
Two yeses echoed in the room.
* * * * *
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Author’s Note
Bounjour, everyone.
I fell in love with Mariella and Jordan. But there are some big issues here. It IS a book about an ethics professor after all. I kept asking myself, “What would you have done in Jordan’s position?” I know one thing. I would never give up my daughter. And Mari tells him to choose Yvette. My proofreader said she couldn’t figure out how I’d get them together with only ten pages left. This is because it’s such a good conflict.
The adultery will pose a problem for some readers. I know it’s unethical. They both know it’s unethical. But they’re human and they can’t resist the culmination of their love.
Everybody has flaws in the book. Mariella is rigid about some things, because she lost her husband at a young age. Were you surprised at her forthrightness, at her confidence in herself? I was. She was so shy and protective in the first four books. But she had an inner core that none of us knew about. (Man, has it been fun developing the characters over six books.) Jordan’s tragic flaw: Could it be not acting sooner to get legal custody of Yvette? Could it be his protectiveness of his daughter? I’m not sure, really. I know he should have told Mari sooner that he was still married. So keeping secrets, then.
As you can see from the above, my characters make their own way in a book. Seriously. I don’t know exactly what they’re going to do until they do it. I must admit, though, for Mari’s story, and next Raven’s, I did write out what was going to happen in each scene. Sometimes what I planned occurred. Sometimes I was way off.
The children were adorable. I can picture Lilliana as a miniature Mariella, and I can see Yvette’s sweet face. Were you surprised when they acted out trying to go to Casarina together? Quite frankly, I was, though they were kids!
I hope you liked Mariella’s and Jordan’s story. It came from the heart, and there were places I cried in the book when I reread and proofed it.
Raven’s book is almost done so you’ll see her in another month. And it’s some story!
On a side note, my second proofreader is from France. After I poured over the French words to get them right, and my copyeditor checked them all and made changes, Blandine suggested many better usages. She knew the colloquial use and we didn’t. So thanks to her.
Bonne soirée,
Kathy
Visit or Contact Kathryn at www.kathrynshay.com
Don’t miss the rest of the books in
THE GENTILESCHI SISTERS Series
I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU, Book 1
Lexy Marcello Gentileschi may be a princess, brought up in a sheltered world, but she knows how to fight Ryder Reynolds in negotiations for her book contract. However, falling in love with the boss is a very different thing!
THIS GUY'S IN LOVE, Book 2
Detective Francesca Marcello Gentileschi can’t afford another screw up like the one she made at her last precinct where she fell for one of her colleagues. Unfortunately Detective Tyrell Beauregard Collingsworth has other things in mind for the lovely princess cop.
CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE, Book 3
When Evangelina Gentileschi is hit by a stray ball at a Major League baseball game, the batter, Mike Jagielski leaps over the dugout and climbs into the stands to help her. Neither knows that the entire course of their lives are about to change.
HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE?, Book 4
The last thing grade school teacher Gabriella Gentileschi wants is a man in her life, especially not one who makes her flash back to the worst thing that happened to her. But gym teacher Dante Federico is determined to make Brie like him—and maybe more.
I THINK I LOVE YOU!, Book 6
Ravenna Marcello Gentileschi badly wants a show at the prestigious Parkers, a top-notch art gallery in Baltimore. But can she put up with stiff and starchy Blake Parker, the owner, long enough to have her paintings displayed before the world?
Take a look at Chapter 1 from the next book in the series, I THINK I LOVE YOU!:
Raven awoke on her side, chilled. She grabbed for her blanket, but it wasn’t there. Her hand pressed against the bed, or whatever she lay on—it felt like cushions. She sniffed. The faint scent of paint. As the moon peered in through the windows somewhere, she turned over. And saw Blake next to her, on a bed of cushions that must be from the benches. What had she done?
Panic flushed her body with heat—and also immobilized her. For a moment, visions of entwined naked bodies and the moans of satisfaction whipped through her head. They’d made love, more than once.
When she could, she sat up. She looked around. A pile of clothes half-draped on the bench of the red section, half had fallen to the floor. She managed to crawl over, pick them up, sit down and slide on the ruined silk pants. She walked a few feet over and found the pink shell on the floor and the jacket snagged on end of Silenced. Visions assaulted her—his hard body against her, how he bucked inside her until she thought she’d die. She felt the imprint of him all over again.
Caught on another bench was her bra and red panties, which were ripped. She stuffed them in her pocket. Shoes, she needed her shoes. She found one near the window, another tucked under a second bench. His shoes were a few feet away. The thud as he kicked them off echoed in her mind.
She needed her coat and purse because it had her keys. She tiptoed to the hallway and saw the coatroom down the hall. Thankfully it wasn’t locked. The hanger jingled as she slid off her red coat and shrugged into it. She donned her heels. Her hand found her keys inside. Gripping them, she made it to the door and fumbled with the inside lock. It was loud and she afraid it would wake…
A hand slammed against the heavy wood and she was trapped by his body behind her. “Not so fast.”
“I…” The word came out like a croak. She cleared her throat. “I have to leave.”
His talented lips that had trailed all over her body whispered in her ear, “That’s not what you said last night.”
She remembered. He’d been furious about her confession, mostly because she hadn’t trusted him before tonight with the information on her real background. His oddly colored green eyes pierced the armor she’d so carefully built around herself.
She tried again. “Blake, please let me go.”
“If you talk first, I will.”
“No talk. I can’t do this with you. I can’t.”
“Why? Don’t deny what’s between us, Raven, because it’s been building up. We proved that just hours ago.”
Her forehead hit the wood. “I know it has.”
“Stay. Talk about this.” Still, he used that seductive voice.
For a moment, she considered it. Then the demons came. You can’t depend on anybody. Men need to be controlled. You need to be controlled around men.
So forceful, so dominating had the warning become in her life, she broke his hold on her and he stumbled back, giving her enough time to get the doors open and flee down the steps.
At her retreat, he called out, “Raven.”
But the words disappeared unheeded into the night air.