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Scandals Of The Ruthless: A Shadow of Guilt
Kate Hewitt
ABBY GREEN
Sharon Kendrick
Reckless PassionsValentina Ferranti blamed Gio Corretti for the tragedy in her past. Now, broke and slandered, she needs his help. Gio seems inscrutable, although his green eyes flash with something – regret or passion? Does Valentina have the willpower to resist him?*Angelo Corretti, heartless and darkly sexy, has one objective – to destroy the dynasty who’d rejected him. But long ago, Lucia, a wide-eyed girl with an innocent heart gave him everything. Now, Angelo looks into those eyes again…*Rosa Corretti spent one unforgettable night with Kulal. Now this demanding sheikh wants her to jump from one gilded cage to another. Kulal has centuries of the desert in his blood, can their passion burn through the tethers around his heart?
About the Authors
ABBY GREEN deferred doing a Social Anthropology degree to work freelance as an Assistant Director in the Film & TV industry – which is a social study in itself! Since discovering a guide to writing romance one day, she decided to capitalize on her long time love for Mills & Boon romances and attempt to follow in the footsteps of such authors as Kate Walker and Penny Jordan. She’s enjoying the excuse to be paid to sit inside, away from the elements. She lives in Dublin and hopes that you will enjoy her stories. You can e-mail her at: abbygreen3@yahoo.co.uk (http://www.abbygreen3@yahoo.co.uk).
KATE HEWITT has worked a variety of different jobs, from drama teacher to editorial assistant to youth worker, but writing romance is the best one yet. She also writes women’s fiction and all her stories celebrate the healing and redemptive power of love. Kate lives in a tiny village in the English Cotswolds with her husband, five children, and an overly affectionate Golden Retriever.
SHARON KENDRICK started story-telling at the age of eleven and has never really stopped. She likes to write fast-paced, feel-good romances with heroes who are so sexy they’ll make your toes curl! Born in west London, she now lives in the beautiful city of Winchester – where she can see the cathedral from her window (but only if she stands on tip-toe). She has two children, Celia and Patrick and her passions include music, books, cooking and eating – and drifting off into wonderful daydreams while she works out new plots! Visit Sharon at www.sharonkendrick.com (http://www.sharonkendrick.com).
Scandals of the Ruthless
A Shadow of Guilt
Abby Green
An Inheritance of Shame
Kate Hewitt
A Whisper of Disgrace
Sharon Kendrick
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-08513-7
SCANDALS OF THE RUTHLESS
A Shadow of Guilt © 2013 Harlequin Books S.A An Inheritance of Shame © 2013 Harlequin Books S.A A Whisper of Disgrace © 2013 Harlequin Books S.A
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
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www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Table of Contents
Cover (#uba338d32-64c1-5fde-934b-0443721537c3)
About the Authors (#u1c4a1e4b-e60a-55fc-a9ff-5a7d20c5cc45)
Title Page (#u6fb3ae98-f1da-5a9e-8990-3297a9ee53d1)
Copyright (#u90ec8eef-f749-5abd-8472-d2d5f3878bff)
A Shadow of Guilt (#ub7ab65f4-b22e-53cb-bc61-c5d023c21f1d)
Back Cover Text (#uf943fa58-f94e-5df0-bba6-65da83a43394)
Dedication (#ua01c04ad-b444-578e-9b15-24d27eea253c)
CHAPTER ONE (#u276326d0-f490-5d2a-93c4-60bf7652babd)
CHAPTER TWO (#uc93a6794-47e5-5862-b44e-b3916f1b7bc5)
CHAPTER THREE (#ub513ea8e-517a-57c1-961d-c131fb0fd175)
CHAPTER FOUR (#u89f03b2d-1a74-5335-bbab-748207092e50)
CHAPTER FIVE (#u9a672f3a-e81a-5411-80f2-8afe432d6b7a)
CHAPTER SIX (#u3fb3bc6b-e1f5-52c3-8507-a34bf5f03cdf)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#uf3f1e456-4b8c-58e8-8eaf-302dffa46ad2)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
Behind the Scenes (#litres_trial_promo)
An Inheritance of Shame (#litres_trial_promo)
Back Cover Text (#litres_trial_promo)
Dedication (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWO (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THREE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
Behind the Scenes (#litres_trial_promo)
A Whisper of Disgrace (#litres_trial_promo)
Back Cover Text (#litres_trial_promo)
Dedication (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWO (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THREE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
Behind the Scenes (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
A Shadow of Guilt (#u65b7c152-176d-5663-a414-baa8b1db717f)
Abby Green
Driven and Determined: To Forgive a Corretti
Valentina Ferranti has always blamed Gio Corretti and his reckless behavior for her brother’s death. The last time she saw Gio she slammed the door on him and her youthful infatuation.
Now, broke and with her name slandered by the infamous Carmela Corretti, Val needs help. There’s only one person she can turn to…the cold, inscrutable man from her past whose green eyes flash with guilt, regret and a passion that calls to her.
Valentina may have had the strength to ask for help, but does she have the willpower to resist all that entails?
This is for my fellow Corretti Continuity Comrades. Thanks for the cyber help and support, It was lovely exploring and inhabiting the Corretti world with you all x
CHAPTER ONE (#u65b7c152-176d-5663-a414-baa8b1db717f)
HE SHOULD BE in that coffin, and not his irrepressible best friend.
Giacomo Corretti stood in the shadow of the tall pine tree and watched as the coffin was lowered into the ground just a few feet away from where he was effectively hidden. The tight ball of ice firmly lodged in his gut was slowly spreading out to every extremity. He welcomed this even as he castigated himself for being a coward.
The small group of people around the coffin started to move, the priest’s final words of blessing lingering on the warm spring air along with the pungent scent of incense. It shouldn’t be warm, Gio suddenly realised, it shouldn’t be spring. The sea shouldn’t be twinkling benignly under a cerulean sky. He desperately wanted apocalyptic clouds to roll in off stormy waters, for everything to darken and for thunder and lightning to lash this place. To lash him to pieces.
He could hear the heartbreaking sound of Mario’s mother sobbing as she leant on her aged husband. The sound cut him in two. Gio would never have merited this outpouring of grief. The realisation was stark but brought with it no sense of self-pity.
In contrast, beside them with a stoically straight back stood their tall and narrow-shouldered daughter, Valentina. Her long chestnut hair was tied back in a plait and on her head was a black scarf. The ill-fitting black jacket and skirt she wore hinted at the coltish seventeen-year-old body underneath.
She didn’t have to look around for Gio to know every line on her face with instant recall. Pale olive skin as soft as a rose petal. The lush curve of her mouth and lips which more than hinted at a burgeoning womanly sensuality. She had the most extraordinarily coloured eyes, golden brown like amber.
Tiger’s eyes.
He could picture them flashing now with mock anger and a little bit of very real anger and fear whenever she’d caught her beloved older brother and Gio flirting with the danger they had loved so much.
As if the intensity of his gaze and thoughts had touched her, Valentina Ferranti turned around and pinpointed the exact spot where Gio stood, those almond-shaped eyes narrowing on him.
It was too late, he couldn’t run. She turned fully and looked at him for a long moment. She was pale and her beautiful face was puffy from crying. Her eyes were shadowed and grief-stricken in a way that no one should ever have to deal with before their time. He had done that to her. He had caused this irreparable damage.
His careless words came back to him from that night: ‘Don’t worry, I’ll have him back to his books before midnight just like Cinderella....’
Valentina’s desolation reached out to touch Gio and mock him. And then she was stalking towards him with long slim legs; her hands were curled to fists much like his, by her sides. Her face was contorted with the mad anger of grief.
