Sometimes love isn’t beautiful...
Meet Max & Courtney is this southern mafia romance!
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Blurb
Sometimes love isn’t beautiful...
Sometimes the only way to describe it is beautifully brutal.
If you think you know him… You’re wrong.
If you think you know his family… Wrong again.
If you think you know his story… You don’t.
If you did, you’d likely wonder how the hell a man like
Maximillian Adorite managed to make it to this point in his life. At
twenty-nine, he’s experienced more than most people could only ever imagine,
all thanksto his family. Organized crime they call it. Mafia.
No matter how they spin it, it comes down to one thing. Max
gets what he wants. Except for the one thing he wants most.
Her name is Courtney Kogan.
And now that he’s had a taste of her, Max knows he’ll never
be able to let her go.
The Southern Boy Mafia series is a spinoff from the Sniper 1
Security series. It has been set up to be read without reading Sniper 1
Security, however, the characters will frequently cross over.
Teaser Quotes & Excerpt
Quote 1: Max knew all about dark and dangerous. It was his
life. He was the son of Samuel and Genevieve Adorite, and Max’s world was
entrenched in the dark and dirty underworld that his parents had proudly built
around them.
Southern Boy Mafia, they called them.
Quote 2: The moment the doors opened and she stepped into
view, his heartbeat slowed, as did his breathing. It was an automatic,
predatory response, one that he’d honed over the last two years. It was his
body’s way of arming for the battle he knew would come. The battle that fired
him up and made his body ache for her.
Courtney Kogan.
Quote 3: Courtney picked up the pace, heading directly to
Max’s office. She needed to get this over with and get far away from this man
before she did something really, really stupid.
Like give in to him again, because no matter what she tried
to tell herself, Maximillian Adorite had always— always—been her weakness.
Quote 4: Max’s lips curved upward. This time there was
definitely something inherently sexual in his wicked gaze.
And the sad part ... something inherently sexual inside her
responded in kind.
Quote 5: There was nothing gentle about this, but there
never usually was.
No, what he and Courtney had was combustible. Hot. Erotic.
Intense.
Quote 6: This thing between them, the chemistry ... it was
already smoking, threatening to set off the fire alarms, and the longer she was
with him, the more she wanted him, the more she craved his smile, his kiss, his
touch. It was a recipe for disaster, and she was hard-pressed to ignore it.
Which was ultimately the problem.
Quote 7: Courtney swallowed hard, mesmerized by the golden
glow of his eyes, intensified by the strobe and colored lights flashing around
them. They were repeatedly pitched into darkness only to be lit up again. But Courtney
didn’t need the light to see the intensity in his gaze. She could feel it.
Quote 8: Their interactions were heated, passionate, and
innately sexual underneath it all.
Beautifully brutal, that was how she’d come to think of this
thing between them.
Quote 9: She’d known from the beginning that Max was a
killer, that he was ruthless and extremely powerful, yet she’d followed this
path, and look what had happened.
She’d fallen in love with a killer.
Quote 10: Just as it had always been between them ...
intense, hot, electric.
Backing her against the wall, he dominated the kiss, never
giving her an ounce of control as he inhaled her.
Fuck.
It was impossible for him to resist her. No matter how
imperative it was that he stay away from her, he just couldn’t fucking do it.
Short excerpt 1: Before RT could say anything else,
Courtney’s cell phone chimed.
She was up and walking across the kitchen before she
realized she’d moved. A wave of dizziness swept over her, letting her know she
was a little on the tipsy side. How many shots had she had? Three? Four? Seven?
Squinting down at the screen, Courtney frowned when she saw
who it was.
Punching the talk button, she put the phone to her ear.
“What do you want?”
“Let me through the gate.”
“No.”
“Courtney.”
God, she hated the way he said her name. It was so...
sexual.
“Let me through.”
Sighing, Courtney hung up the phone and then hit the icon
for the program to allow her to see who was at the main gate of the family
compound. Sure enough, it was Max. More accurately, it was Max’s phantom-black
Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat idling at the gate, waiting for her to grant him
entry.
“Damn it.”
1)
What’s
your affiliation with Sniper 1 Security, for those that may not know yet?
Sniper 1 Security is my family’s business.
My father, Casper Kogan, and his long time friend, Bryce Trexler started the
company more than three decades ago. I guess it seemed logical that I did what
my family did. I’m a personal security specialist – though there are plenty of
names people use to refer to us.
2)
Do
you think of yourself as an adrenaline junky since you like this line of work?
Adrenaline junkie? Hmmm. Sure, I guess I
can see that. I like to live on the edge. I think I’ve proven that.
3)
What
the craziest thing you have done on a dare?
The craziest thing I’ve done on a dare… **smiles**
Not sure how crazy it is, but once,
I stood up on the checkout counter at Wal-Mart. Started yelling that they
needed a cleanup on aisle five-ninety-two. For the record, the Wal-Mart
employees don’t necessarily like that.
4)
If
not this line of work, then what?
It would always be this line of work. I
can’t see myself doing anything else.
5)
Favorite
type of car?
Corvette.
6)
Boys
with Tattoos or no?
Either or. And I guess it depends on the
tattoo. I’ve seen some that I don’t particularly care for. I tried to talk Max
into getting one that said “Property of Courtney”, but he said no. I’m still
working on him though.
7)
Do
you have any tattoos?
Nope. But I’ve been tossing around the idea
for a while. It’s hard to come up with an idea for something that’s so …
permanent. I’m sure I’ll think of something one of these days.
8)
What’s
your go to drink when you’re out on the town?
Fireball and RumChata – I’ll let you look
up what that’s known as. **smiles**
9)
Last
question, ideal Saturday night?
I’m a fan of going out to the clubs with my
friends and I’ve got a favorite that I frequent – Devil’s Playground.
Excerpt (New to Tour)
Courtney spun around,
her gaze slamming into his.
“Check on me? Why the hell would you wanna do that?”
Because it was an excuse to see her. But that wasn’t what
Max told her. “I wanted to make sure you were all right.”
Courtney huffed as she returned to pouring the vodka into a
glass, adding 7-Up from a can sitting on the table. Max’s gaze instantly
strayed to the extra glass, and his frustration rose again.
She tossed him a glare over her shoulder. “Oh, you’re
referrin’ to when you blew some guy’s brains out in the middle of your office?
Don’t you have a dead body to clean up or somethin’?”
He didn’t say a word. His rule was that he’d never own up to
anything. He didn’t feel safe anywhere that wasn’t home, never knew when
someone was trying to trap him. And of all people, Max wasn’t delusional enough
to believe Courtney wouldn’t turn on him with the right motivation. Ultimately,
she was one of the good guys. And that was why they never had been able to find
a middle ground. It was more difficult than it appeared considering they were
at opposite ends of the spectrum—middle ground was just too far away for either
of them.
Not to mention, arguing with Courtney was moot. Max knew
from experience that she would never let up, which was why he’d given up long
ago.
“Oh, right. You have people for that,” she continued, turning
to face him again before taking a sip from her glass. “I’d offer you a drink,
but then you might think you can stay.”
“I’m gonna stay,” he informed her.
Courtney’s eyes narrowed on him, and Max’s body
instinctively reacted, hardening instantaneously.
“You’re not gonna stay,” she retorted, her tone clipped.
“Not today, not tomorrow. Not ever.”
Max shrugged out of his leather jacket, folding it across
the arm of the sofa as he moved closer.
“I’m serious, Max,” Courtney said, her eyes widening as she
backed up until her ass hit the table. “You’re not stayin’. RT’ll be watchin’
my house until you leave. It’s not an option.”
Max continued to stalk her slowly until he was standing only
a few inches away from her. Unable to resist, he cupped her face in his hands,
enjoying the silky smoothness of her skin against his palms.
Damn, how he’d missed her. It’d been damn near a full year
since the last time he’d touched her, since the last time he’d made love to
her. Although touching her now ... it was as though not a minute had passed
since that fateful day.
“I’m stayin’,” he said softly.
Courtney shook her head, opened her mouth, but then snapped
it closed. She wanted to argue; it was evident in the lines that creased her
forehead.
Leaning forward, Max tested the waters, allowing his lips to
brush hers lightly. Even that was nearly more than he could handle. It’d been
too damn long since he’d touched her, tasted her, loved her. And fuck if he
didn’t want to do it all again. Right here. Right fucking now.
“Max, please,”
Courtney pleaded quietly. “Please don’t do this.”
“Do what?” he questioned roughly, pulling back and allowing
his eyes to slide over her beautiful face, down the slender column of her neck,
where he noticed the rapid thump of her pulse.
“We’re through,” she stated, her tone holding a hint of
conviction.
“So you’ve said.” In fact, Courtney had told him they were
over many times during the year they’d been together. And for the year that followed,
right up until this very moment, Max had thought about her every single day,
about the way she’d ended things so abruptly the last time. Didn’t matter that
he’d called her bluff and that had technically been the reason they’d gone
their separate ways.
Had it not been for the crazy shit he had to deal with on a
daily basis, he might’ve actually taken the time to play her games. But there
was another problem with that. He was fucking tired of playing, which was the
only reason he’d allowed her to walk away then.
And that was the real reason he was there tonight. He wanted
to know whether or not this was truly over. For him, it wasn’t. There wasn’t a
chance in hell that he’d ever be able to get over her. Probably not in his
lifetime. But that didn’t mean that moving forward wasn’t possible. With or
without her.
If she didn’t want him, he’d move on. He had business
arrangements dangling in the wind, one in particular that was entirely
dependent on where he stood with Courtney.
“Tell me you want me to leave, Courtney. Tell me to go, and
I’ll never darken your doorstep again. You’ll never have to see me.”
Max could see the surprise in Courtney’s eyes, in the way
her throat worked when she swallowed hard. He’d never made her that promise,
never told her that he’d willingly let her go, although he’d spent the last
year staying away from her. He’d had eyes on her the entire time; he knew every
single move she’d made during those months. He knew for a fact that Courtney
had never brought another man home with her, nor had she ever gone home with a
man. Had she made that choice, Max wasn’t sure how things would be at this
moment, but more than likely, there’d be another dead asshole buried six feet
under.
The point was, she hadn’t.
“Tell me that’s what you want, and I’ll do it, Courtney. But
know this ... if you send me away this time...” Max took a deep breath,
exhaled. “I won’t come back. Whatever this is between us, it’ll never die,
never go away completely, and we’ll both have to live out the rest of our lives
with the decision that you make right here. Tonight.”
“I want...”
The
pause that followed stole the air from the room.
Excerpt #2
Twenty months ago.
Courtney tried to pull away from Max, her heart pounding
against her chest. Max was going to kill Weston, He was going to kill him and
it was all her fault...
At that point, she’d been with Max for several
months, getting deeper and deeper into a relationship with him, but never had
she actually gotten any information to take back to her father. Nothing that
would take Max down, nothing concrete enough to do any damage to the Southern
Boy Mafia and she felt as though she was running out of time.
So, she befriended Weston, pretended to
like him until she convinced him that she wanted him. And then, she’d gotten
his phone number, called him and invited him to meet with her.
He had.
But the young man hadn’t given up any
information that would have hurt Max.
“What’d she offer you?” Max asked Weston.
Weston’s head shifted, his right eye
opened ever so slightly, his gaze meeting hers. She could hardly make out the
color of his iris because the lid was so swollen and purple from the bruises
that marred his once handsome face.
“Did she offer her pussy?” Max asked,
his tone lethal. “Is that what she offered you?”
“God, no!” Courtney screamed.
She hadn’t offered him anything. She’d
merely tried to talk to him. Sure, the flirting might’ve eluded to more, but
she’d never intended to do anything with him. She wasn’t a whore.
“He didn’t…” she uttered, her throat closing around her
words. “He didn’t betray you.”
“No? He met with you in the park, sat with you for two
fucking hours and talked. What’d you talk about? The goddamn weather? If he
didn’t betray me, what did he do, Courtney? Confess his undying love? Ask you
to run away with him? What?”
“I betrayed you.” Weston said through swollen lips. “I
shouldn’t have talked to her.”
“He didn’t!” Courtney yelled. “He didn’t tell me anything.”
“But you tried, didn’t you?” Max yelled at her directly.
“You tried to get him to talk.”
Courtney’s gaze dropped to the floor as she nodded. She’d
tried, but Weston had revealed very little. Not even enough to take back to her
father.
“Anything you have to say to me, Weston?” Max asked.
Lifting her gaze to the broken and battered man in front of
her, she wanted to plead for Max to let him go, but she knew better. He was
going to die. This was what happened in Max’s world. This soulless man was the
leader of the Southern Boy Mafia, the ruler of the dark and dirty underworld
that she found herself living in.
He was the man she’d fallen for. And she
hated that, hated that she’d betrayed herself. Even now, even knowing what was
going to happen, she couldn’t deny her feelings for Max. He was doing what had
to be done. He weeded out the weak links in his organization in order to move
forward. It made sense even if she hated it.
Excerpt #3
Sixteen Months ago.
“Holy shit,” she said softly. “That’s a nice car.”
“You like it?” he asked, sounding proud of himself.
“Who wouldn’t?” The newest model convertible Corvette
Stingray was likely the sexiest car of them all. She’d always had a fondness
for sports cars, but she’d never been truly fond of Corvettes. At least not
until they recently released the Stingray again.
Max stepped in front of the car,
blocking her view of the car. “Happy Birthday.”
“How…?” Confused she studied him. “How
did you know?”
“What? That it was your birthday or that
you’d want that car?”
Courtney peered around him. “That...
That’s for me?”
“It is,” he told her. “Now go check it
out.”
Feeling slightly off kilter, Courtney
slowly moved around the car, her gaze darting between Max and the sleek shark
gray metallic car.
“Seriously, Max. This is… Well, it’s
incredible, but you know I can’t take this car.”
“Yes you can,” he told her simply.
The top was open so she peered inside,
taking in the sexy jet black leather interior. She wondered what it would feel
like behind the wheel.
“Get in,” he told her as he opened the
passenger side door.
When he slipped into the car, she
grinned. What the hell. It wouldn’t hurt to take it for a test drive, right?
And then, when they got back she’d tell
him she couldn’t keep it. Because falling in love with him was one thing,
accepting a car that likely cost him close to a hundred grand was something
entirely different.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
“Pull over,” Max instructed when they
were hidden by a copse of trees deep on his land. He’d wanted her to test drive
the Corvette, but admittedly he’d had something else in mind as well.
Another birthday present for her.
Courtney stopped the car, frowning when
she looked over at him.
“Don’t look so upset,” he said with a
smile. “Now get out.”
If he wasn’t mistaken, there was a hint
of concern in her eyes, but he shrugged it off. He didn’t want to think that
she’d fear him for any reason. She’d surprised him earlier when she muttered
for him not to hurt her and he had to wonder where that was coming from.
Then again, she knew him, knew what he
was capable of. But in the same sense, if she ever thought he would hurt her,
she didn’t know him at all.
Once she met him at the front of the
car. Max turned to her, taking her into his arms and crushing his mouth to
hers, his hands trailing the thin fabric that covered her. She’d worn a skirt,
which had been his suggestion and again, he’d had something in mind when he
made the request. He had to wonder whether she’d figure that out yet or not.
Easing her back onto the hood of the
car, Max pulled back enough to look at her.
“Kick off your shoes. Wouldn’t want you
to scratch the paint.”
Courtney grinned, and her shoes hit the
ground.
“Now for my next gift,” he told her.
“And that would be?” She asked,
grinning.
“An orgasm. On the hood of your car.”
Hmm. I like the sound of that.”
The following Books by Nicole Edwards are ON SALE
Conviction
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Addicted
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Entrusted
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Without Regret (Releasing July)
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About the Author:
New York Times bestselling author Nicole Edwards launched
her professional writing career in July of 2012. Having been an avid reader all
of her life and a huge fan of creative writing, it seemed the likely path for
her to take. Since then, she has released fifteen books and has no plans to
stop. As her full-time career/hobby, Nicole writes steamy contemporary and
erotic romances. Nicole is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author
who was born and raised in Texas. Married with three kids and four dogs, she
has plenty of interaction to keep her imagination brewing. Her books have been
featured in USA Today’s Happy Ever After segment as well as Indie Reader’s best
seller list. She has forged her way as an independent author. Although she has
a bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, she prefers to be hiding out in her
writing cave, talking to the fictional characters that have built up in her
head over the years. When she isn’t writing or plotting her next book
(sometimes translated to “playing on Facebook”), Nicole loves to read and spend
time with her family and her dogs.
$25 Amazon Gift Card
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