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The Blurb
Hell’s Kitchen (Hell’s Kitchen #1)
*From International
Bestselling authors Callie Hart and Lili St. Germain comes a tale of two
families co-existing in a melting pot of violence, murder and drugs in the
seedy underbelly of New York City*
Hell’s Kitchen
Theo and Sal Barbieri are
brothers, tasked by their Mafioso father Roberto with a very clear purpose:
kidnap Kaitlin McLaughlin. The beautiful daughter of Roberto’s Irish enemy.
It’s high time Kaitlin was punished for her father’s sins—not to mention, her
own.
And Operation: Kidnap
Kaitlin is a roaring success… until it isn’t. When Kaitlin escapes into the
busy streets of New York City, it’s a race against the clock to find her before
Sal and Theo become the hunted.
Zeth Mayfair has traded his
life as a hitman for a quieter existence, but it isn’t long before the past
catches up with him in the form of Roberto Barbieri. Will he succumb to the
lure of power that Roberto is offering? Or will he retaliate by killing every
last Barbieri in New York to get them off his back?
Jason Ross is running.
Woken in the night by a tip that the Gypsy Brothers are coming for him, he
packs a bag and gets his girlfriend the hell out of dodge. Arriving in New York
City in the midst of a heatwave is one thing, but being tailed by an entire drug
cartel is another.
Worlds collide in Hell’s
Kitchen as secrets come to light and sins are punished. Because we might be
different in the light of day, but in the darkness, we’re all connected
somehow.
Hell’s Kitchen is a serial comprising three volumes:
Hell’s Kitchen, Tribeca and Bleecker Street. Volume One releases on March 3rd
with a limited-time sale price of 99 cents
Teasers-
Meet some of the players...
Excerpt #1
“What time
they due to land?” Sal asks. He loops a tie, pre-knotted and ready to go, over
his head.
“Twenty minutes.” With traffic the way it is, we’ll be there in ten.
Sal tightens the tie around his neck, placing the ridiculous fucking
chauffeur’s hat on his head. He tucks his hair back behind his ears. He needs
to cut it, but will the bastard listen? Hell, no. He never listens to a word I
say. “Are you ready?” he asks.
I take my eyes off the road, arching an eyebrow at him. Who the hell does he
think he’s talking to? I’ve been doing this job longer than him, after all.
I’ve never blinked. Never not been ready. He gets the point pretty damn
quickly.
“All right, man, I’m sorry.”
When we arrive at the airfield, we’re directed to hangar twelve, no questions
asked. Paddy McLaughlin’s own men would have arrived around now—if we hadn’t
already beaten the shit out of them and handcuffed them to a pillar inside an
old cardboard factory down on the wharf—so we’re expected. Kaitlin McLaughlin’s
plane is delayed. I’m already bored and itching to go by the time the private
jet touches down. Sal climbs out of the car and leans against the front
passenger door, waiting for the prissy Irish princess and her entourage to exit
the plane. When she does, we’re in luck.
Normally, Paddy doesn’t send his little girl anywhere without two personal
bodyguards. Today, she’s only accompanied by one. Sal taps the hood of the car
as he goes out to take her bags. I have the engine purring in anticipation as
he opens the back passenger side door for her and she climbs inside.
Huge sunglasses cover her eyes. That full mouth of hers is perfectly visible in
the rearview, though. “Where the fuck is Ray?” she asks. Her father may be
first generation Irish, but Kaitlin was born and raised in the States—she
sounds like a spoiled little Yank bitch.
“Mr. McLaughlin needed him for something else. He sent us instead.”
She slides the sunglasses down the bridge of her nose, peering at me over the
car’s half-raised privacy screen. “And who are you?”
I give her a tight-lipped smile, doing my best to keep my tongue in my head. We
need the bodyguard to get in the car, and then we’re golden. Until then, I’m
Jerry, the friendly town car driver. “Jerry. My buddy there, that’s Gareth.
We’re new.”
“I can see that.” She makes a low, humming sound at the back of her throat. She
sounds like she approves. Sorry, sweetheart. I don’t touch crazy pussy. But I
will introduce you to my old man, all the same. He just can’t wait to fucking
meet you.
The door behind me opens and I feel the car dip as someone gets in—I didn’t
notice before, but the lone bodyguard with Kaitlin is a woman. Must be the
chick Roberto was talking about. I get a good look at her in the rearview and
find myself taking a second one for good measure. She’s blisteringly hot. Maybe
in her mid-twenties? Long dark hair, tied back into a braid. High cheekbones. A
mouth to rival Kaitlin’s. Her tits strain against her tight black shirt as she
twists to put on her seatbelt. You can tell she works out; her clothes fit her
far too well for her not to know she looks good in them, too.
Just like Kaitlin, she asks, “Where’s Ray?”
“Busy doing something for Daddy,” Kaitlin informs her, which saves me from
spinning the lie again.
“Okay. Straight to the bar, then.” The body guard’s head doesn’t even lift, but
she’s a professional. She assesses me in the mirror just as I’ve assessed her.
I pretend not to notice as Sal folds himself into the passenger seat.
“Of course.” I press the button for the privacy screen, raising it the rest of
the way, blocking out all sound from the back of the car. Sal turns and gives
me one of his wicked, crazy-ass grins. He’s enjoying this already. “All right,
then, big brother. Let’s do this.” He leans forward and hits a button on the dash—and
every single door on the town car automatically locks. “No backing out now.”
I burn out of the hangar to the sounds of muffled thuds from the back of the
car. The bodyguard’s not stupid. She’s heard the doors locking and knows
something isn’t right. “Motherfucker! Open this up right now!”
Normally there’s an intercom in these cars, but this one’s different. Sal and I
smashed the shit out of this car’s intercom with two lump hammers and ripped
out the wiring. We also lined the roof with lead. The girls in the back aren’t
striking up a conversation with us any time soon. And they aren’t making any
phone calls to dear old Papa McLaughlin, either.
As I head back toward the city, the shouting from the back gets louder. It’s
accompanied by the dull thudding of feet trying to smash out the privacy
screen. Sal raps his knuckles against the glass, grinning again. “Bitch sounds
crazy back there. I don’t think she likes the modifications we’ve made.”
I allow myself a small smile as we hit the George Washington Bridge, heading
back toward North Manhattan. So far Operation: Kidnap Kaitlin has been a
roaring success. Sal pulls out his cell and starts tapping into it with quick
fingers. “Telling the old man we’re on our way?”
He nods. “Bastard better give us credit where credit’s due. He’s probably still
organising his own fucking birthday party. Meanwhile, we have just successfully
taken our mark hostage. We’re on the homeward stretch.”
The fucking homeward stretch.
The thing about saying you’re on the homeward stretch is that often it’s like
waving a red flag at a bull. Fate must hear that phrase and decide to fuck over
the poor schmuck who was dumb enough to utter it every single fucking time.
It’s only seconds after Sal’s parted with those words that the electric window
behind me—the bodyguard’s side window—shatters. We knew the bodyguard would be
armed, but we didn’t expect anyone to be shooting out the damn side windows. An
eruption of fragmented diamonds explodes sideways, spraying a bright yellow
smart car with a million shards of glass. The sound of the firing gun is almost
deafening.
“What the fuck?”
The smart car veers sideways, smashing into us; I press my foot to the floor,
grinding my teeth at the sound of screeching metal and more hammering from the
back as I swerve through the traffic. Sal twists in his seat, pulling his gun
and pressing it to the glass of the privacy screen. His finger’s on the
trigger. “She’s going fucking crazy. I’m gonna shoot the bitch.”
Excerpt #2
“When
he lunges for me, I’m ready. I deflect the hand he was going to grab me with,
slapping it downward, and then I grab onto his wrist, pulling him off balance.
He seesaws forward but then rips his wrist out of my hand. I don’t expect him
to turn his slight fumble to his own advantage, but he does. Dropping to the
floor, he rolls and kicks out, landing a solid strike to my leg. I have less
than a second to brace myself before I’m hitting the concrete.
Then he’s on top of me. “Oh, this is fun, sweetheart. But I don’t really have
time to be playing games with you right now.”
He’s reaching for my arms, about to pin me to the ground, but I jab, landing a
solid hit with my extended fingertips right in the base of his throat, in his
windpipe. He chokes, his body falling sideways, and then I’m on top of him.
Through watering eyes and a clearly sore throat, the guy grins up at me,
shaking his head. “Well, if you wanna fuck me, I guess I could make some time.”
Thrusting upward, he tries to unseat me, but I know this is what’s coming and
I’m ready again. I compensate, leaning forward, pressing my gun into the guy’s
neck.
“Who are you?”
His body goes still, his hands lifting so they’re palm up in front of him. “You
know who I am, sweetheart. I’m the enemy.”
“My boss has quite a few enemy camps. Which one do you belong to?”
“The biggest one,” the guy says, smiling. “The Italian one.”
“So you work for Barbieri?”
“I am a Barbieri.” Lightning fast, he snaps his hand out and clamps it around
my throat. The move catches me off guard, has me panicking for the first time.
My gun is gone, then, knocked to the ground, skittering away across the
blacktop. The guy’s hand tightens around the column of my neck, threatening to
squeeze even harder. “What’s wrong?” he asks. “Feeling a little lightheaded?”
About
the Authors
Callie Hart
Callie
has experienced many changes throughout her life, and gone through many ups and
downs that have all worked towards shaping and molding her into the person she
is today: fun loving, active, social, and hard working. The only thing that has
remained a constant throughout her life is writing. Creating characters who
will tear your conscience in two is a favorite pastime of Callie’s. There are
few real saints and sinners in her books; more often, the denizens of her
stories are all very human. Broken, flawed, and always with the potential for
redemption.
Despite
the subject matter being markedly hot and heavy in comparison to the stories
she wrote in elementary school, there will always be an element of fairytale to
her work.
Lili Saint Germain
Lili writes dark romance, suspense
and paranormal stories. Her serial novel, Seven Sons, was released in early
2014, with the following books in the series to be released in quick
succession. Lili quit corporate life to focus on writing and so far is loving
every minute of it. Her other loves in life include her gorgeous husband and
beautiful daughter, good coffee, Tarantino movies and spending hours on
Pinterest.
She loves to read almost as much as
she loves to write.
Release event information & graphic
Leather & Lace - Las Vegas
Callie Hart & Lili St. Germain are
coming back to the US! Just in time for the release of their joint project Hell's
Kitchen. Join Callie and Lili, Saturday March 14th, at the super cool Inspire News Cafe from 5-7 for a
special printing and signing of their newest book and a Q& A session.
Then, come upstairs to the Wayfarer Bar,
from 7-9 for cocktails (cash bar) and laughs. It'll be a fun evening with
Hell's Kitchen chatter, some themed cocktails, light bites and a chance to
spend some more time talking about all things Hart St Germain.
**Books that are printed will be
available for purchase for around $10. Exact price to be confirmed closer to
event date. This is pretty awesome! The machine that prints books while you
watch is one of only 30 in the world! You'll be able to take away your unique,
limited edition of Hell's Kitchen, signed by both authors - There will never be
others that look like the ones printed in Vegas.
**Snack foods will be provided.
**All drinks are your responsibility
The
Venues
Inspire
News Cafe
(downstairs) and Wayfarer
Bar
(upstairs) are both gorgeous, hip venues with kick ass atmosphere! The Wayfarer
bar is where we'll finish the night and is a gorgeous, mad-men inspired bar
that will be closed just for attendees!
Thank you!!!
