hurts my heart, though, is when I fall in love with a book, but I have to wait for the additional books in the series to be released. Because I feel that disappointment down to my soul, I vowed that if I ever write a series, all books will be published at once. Nope-no waiting over here…LOL. So, if you are reading one of my books, but can’t find any other books on the secondary characters of that book, that means the book is a standalone project. Now, the exception to this was, both Enemy Series (Facing the Enemy and In Enemy Territory). I got enough requests for their secondary characters’ stories, I decided to write them. But, in the future, series books not released all at once will only happen at the request of my readers. As much as this is a hobby, I am writing these books for you guys as well as myself.
Thank you, all, for turning this hobby into something exciting and magical!
Acknowledgements
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The first acknowledgement will always be my husband (unless we ever divorce, then probably not so much after that), but seeing as how I can’t imagine that day ever coming, I can’t ever put myself out there without thanking him for all his love, support and belief in me.
Second, there’s my family; my daughter, my son, my grandchildren, my sister, and my mother. They are the people who love me the most, and know me the best, and love me dearly, despite, of all they know…LOL!
And, of course, there’s Kamala. She insists that I don’t have to thank her in every book, but my love for her and gratitude for all her support and enthusiasm, claims otherwise. She’s the first person (outside my family) that I shared this dream with, and she’s been by my side every step of the way. Kam, you really are the best kind of friend!
And, finally, I’d like to thank everyone who’s purchased, read, reviewed, shared and supported me and my writing. Thank you so much for helping make this dream a reality and a happy, fun one at that! There are not enough ‘Thank You’s in the world….
Dedication
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For all those who were taken too young or too old-
There’s never enough time, and there’s never a right time to tell your loved ones goodbye.
Until we see you again.
Prologue
2019~
I didn’t like Momma’s new boyfriend, but she said I had to be nice to him.
I didn’t want to be nice to him. I didn’t want to play with him at all.
I knew if Michael was here, he wouldn’t make me play with him, but Michael was gone. He was gone a lot. He said he had a job, but I didn’t know what his job was. He did buy me pretty dolls sometimes when he was home. I liked that.
I wished he was home now.
Momma said her new boyfriend’s name was Robert, but if I was nice to him, he’d let me call him Bob. I didn’t want to call him anything. I didn’t like the way he looked at me. It gave me the creeps. One day, after Robert left to take Momma on a date, I told Michael that I didn’t like Robert. He said he’d make sure that Robert left me alone, and I believed him because Michael was a good big brother.
Michael was big, though, and that’s why he had to work so much. When you get big you have to get a job so you can pay your bills. Michael also told everyone I was his sister even though we had different daddies. Michael’s last name was Morelli and mine was Gallo. He was ten years older than I was and that made him a grownup.
Momma’s scream made me run out of my room. She sounded scared and I knew Robert must be hitting her like he likes to do sometimes. But when I ran into the living room, I didn’t see Robert hitting Momma.
No.
I saw four big guys wearing fancy clothes. They looked like important guys. They looked like they had good jobs. I wondered if Michael worked with them.
I looked around and saw Momma sitting on the couch, and she had her arms wrapped around her legs like she was cold. I was scared, but she was crying. “Momma?”
One of the big guys walked over to me, and he bent down, so I could see his face. He had eyes the color of the sun. They were pretty eyes.