ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Leslie Gelbman, Kara Welsh, and Kerry Donovan, my appreciation for your constant support. The covers for the Scarlet Deception series are absolutely fabulous; thank you to NALs art department, led by Anthony Ramondo. To Rick Pascocello, head of marketing, and the publicity department with my special people, Craig Burke and Jodi Rosoff, thank you. My thanks to the production department, and of course, a special thank-you to the spectacular Penguin sales department: Norman Lidofsky, Don Redpath, Sharon Gamboa, Don Rieck, and Trish Weyenberg. You are the best!
Thank you to Ted Seghesio for so generously taking the time to answer my questions about the winery in spring, to David Messerli for steering the questions in the right direction, to Peter and Cathy Seghesio for guiding us in the nuances of wine tasting, to Jim Neumiller for kindly demonstrating to this city girl the rudiments of growing grapes. Last but not least, thank you to everyone in the Seghesio Family Vineyards tasting room for their hospitality and knowledge.
NOVELS BY CHRISTINA DODD
Danger in a Red Dress
Thigh High
Tongue in Chic
Trouble in High Heels
In Bed with the Duke
Taken by the Prince
THE SCARLET DECEPTION SERIES
Secrets of Bella Terra
THE DARKNESS CHOSEN SERIES
Scent of Darkness
Touch of Darkness
Into the Shadow
Into the Flame
THE CHOSEN ONES SERIES
Storm of Visions
Storm of Shadows
Chains of Ice
Chains of Fire
Christina Dodd
THE NOVELS OF THE CHOSEN ONES
When the world was young, twins were born. One brought light to a dark world; the other, darkness and danger. They gathered others around them, men and women destined to use their powerful gifts for good or evil. Today, their descendants walk the earth as the Chosen, and the ultimate battle is about to begin.
STORM OF VISIONS
STORM OF SHADOWS
CHAINS OF ICE
CHAINS OF FIRE
AVAILABLE NOW
Devilishly clever, scintillatingly sexy.
ChicagoTribune
Available wherever books are sold or at penguin.com
S0217
NOVELS BY CHRISTINA DODD
Danger in a Red Dress
Thigh High
Tongue in Chic
Trouble in High Heels
In Bed with the Duke
Taken by the Prince
THE SCARLET DECEPTION SERIES
Secrets of Bella Terra
THE DARKNESS CHOSEN SERIES
Scent of Darkness
Touch of Darkness
Into the Shadow
Into the Flame
THE CHOSEN ONES SERIES
Storm of Visions
Storm of Shadows
Chains of Ice
Chains of Fire
Chapter 1
Eli Di Luca walked into his grandmothers nineteenth-century farmhouse in the foothills above Bella Valley, carrying a case of wine, handpicked for a loving family celebration.
Every light in the house was on, the television was blaring, and six women were standing in the front room holding bottles of water and shouting at the big screen hung on the wall. Catch it! they yelled. Catch it! Catch it! Catchitcatchitcatchit!
He stopped. He stared.
Nonnas nurse, Olivia Kelly, so wide-eyed she always looked slightly astonished, stood apart from the group.
Australian football? he asked.
Olivia nodded shyly.
What an odd girl she was, part of the group, yet apart.
She reminded him of him.
The football player must have caughtitcaughtitcaughtit , because the other women high-fived one another, then saw him and waved cheerful greetings.
They were fascinating company.
His grandmother, his Nonna, was a young eighty years, stylish, cheerful, and so alive she frightened him with her energy. Hed never seen anything slow her down until almost three weeks ago, when shed been attacked in her own home. This woman who had raised him, who had tamed the wild fourteen-year-old he had been when he returned from Chile, had been injured in a slow-boiling vendetta that had its roots deep in the past.
For years Eli had dwelled always on the brink of savagery; savagery was bred into him, and in his youth, during those six years when all the world was bleak and lonely, only savagery had kept him alive.
The assault on his grandmother had almost taken him over the edge. If she had been killed... the consequences would have made him a fugitive once more, for he would have hunted down the culprit and destroyed him slowly, broken bone by broken bone, until all that was left was consciousness, pain, and understanding of the wrong he had committed.
But Nonna had survived without permanent damage. Her arm was in a cast and shed suffered a concussion, but she was home now, safe.
And so was Eli... for the moment.
In a normal voice, as if she hadnt just been jumping up and down, Nonna said, Hello, dear, how was your trip?
Interesting. To put it mildly.
I love San Francisco. I love the St. Francis. I wish I could have gone with you! Nonnas eyes shone.
The venerable St. Francis hotel had survived the 1906 earthquake, World War I and World War II and all the wars after, the roaring twenties and the Depression, protests and prosperity and recession. The loud, joyful, boisterous winegrowers tasting and auction had also left the hotel unscathed.
If only Eli could say the same of himself.
The memory of meeting the Italian Tamosso Conte during the event and hearing his outrageous business proposal haunted Elis mind and heart.
The plan was absurd, insulting, and... tempting beyond all belief.
Everyone missed you, he told Nonna. Everybody asked about you, and asked why I had no beautiful, fascinating lady on my arm.
She laughed out loud. You need to find a beautiful, fascinating lady to be your wife. Like Rafe did!
His brothers recent marriage had put a sparkle in his grandmothers eyes and, he feared, would lead to a frenzy of attempted matchmaking.
Matchmaking was the one thing he did not need.
Taking advantage of the break in the action, Nonnas bodyguard, Bao Le, moved to the window and looked out. Diminutive, tough, and suspicious, she worked for Rafe, for his security firm, and from the beginning she had taken her job seriously. But a few weeks of caring for Nonna had turned the tables, because Nonna cared for everyone, and now Bao was part of their family.
It always happened. Eli was used to it.
Walking in, he shifted the box of wine to one hip and kissed Nonnas cheek. How do you feel? Hows the arm?
I feel fine. The cast is so much trouble, but not as much as this damned walker. Nonna pushed petulantly at the chrome cage around her. I am thoroughly tired of it.
Olivia appeared immediately at her side. The doctor said another couple of weeks, and if there have been no complications from your concussion, you can ditch the walker.
I know. I know. The sooner, the better. But Ive complained enough. Nonna patted Elis cheek. Did you get a lot of kudos for your wines at the dinner?
Pretty much.
Glowing with pride, Nonna looked around at her friends and relatives. Thats my boy!
Brooke laughed. There, Nonnayou sounded just like an Italian grandmother.
And why shouldnt she? Brookes mom, Kathy Petersson, also stood with the help of a walker, but she was younger, so much younger than Nonna, in her fifties, Eli would guess. With her straight black hair, striking blue eyes, and curvaceous figure, she was an attractive woman. But she suffered from rheumatoid arthritis: It had taken the spring from her step, forced her from her position in the U.S. Air Force and into retirement in Bella Terra. But nothing tamed her fierce, fighting spirit. Now, with Brookes marriage to Elis brother Rafe, she had gone from Di Luca family friend to honored relative, and from the glow that lit her eyes, Eli suspected she hoped to be a grandmother herself soon.
