Buy Links for Reckless & Ruined (The Chicago War, #2):
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Giveaway Information
Buy (FREE for Kindle Unlimited Subscribers!): Amazon
Synopsis: Play dirty. It’s the only way to win in a war.
Alessa Trentini follows the rules, or so it seems on the outside. A certain Conti has always been able to sway her inner rebel and keep her out of trouble, but even Adriano won’t be able to get her out of her brother’s mess. In a war, no woman is safe if her hand in marriage can advance her family in the world of the mafia. But mistakes of the past have a way of slipping into the present and Alessa will soon learn that even the most shameful of secrets can get her everything she wants.
Adriano Conti’s loyalties are torn as he’s forced to stand at his father’s side while Riley uses his wife’s murder as a way to get higher. Blood comes first and then the Outfit. The one thing he doesn’t question in the war between the families is Alessa Trentini and even that doesn’t seem possible when he’s forced to watch Alessa be used as another man’s pawn. Adriano has his own role to play to get what he wants.
The families in the Outfit have never been more divided than they are now. Blood continues to spill as revenge takes center stage and more lives are lost. But every man in the family is fighting for something different and no one’s intentions can be trusted. Playing a dirty game might be the only way to stay alive.
Even if that means ruining it all.
ALSO IN THE CHICAGO WAR SERIES...
Buy (FREE for Kindle Unlimited Subscribers!): Amazon • Print
Synopsis: Lies and love. This is how a war starts.
A life for a life. That’s the mafia way. Damian Rossi owes his life to a man who is ready to collect. That payment comes in the form of an arranged marriage to the daughter of another leading family in the Chicago Outfit. He’s ready to follow through, even if that means making sure Lily knows she’s his.
Lily DeLuca isn’t being given a choice. Forced home to marry a man she doesn’t know and back into a life she’d rather forget, her world is full of half-truths, buried pain, and uncertainty. But Damian is nothing like she expects. His motives aren’t clear. Her beliefs are being tested.
When it comes to this world, no man can be trusted. Someone is ready to flip the Chicago Outfit on its side all for the promise of something better. But no one runs a clean game and these men play for keeps. When blood begins to paint Chicago red, four families will be divided by loyalty, hatred, and revenge. There is no hiding. There is no safety.
No one is deathless.
No one.
ABOUT BETHANY-KRIS
Bethany-Kris is a Canadian author, lover of much, and mother to three young sons, one cat, and two dogs. A small town in Eastern Canada where she was born and raised is where she has always called home. With her boys under her feet, snuggling cat, barking dogs, and a hubby calling over his shoulder, she is nearly always writing something ... when she can find the time.
To keep up-to-date with new releases from Bethany-Kris, sign up to her New Release Newsletter here:
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GIVEAWAY
EXCERPTS: Reckless
& Ruined by Bethany-Kris
Excerpt #1:
“Did
anybody see you come around?” Alessa asked.
“No,”
he responded. “I parked a few blocks away and jogged down the backroad before
coming in on the property. We’re good.”
Alessa
sighed. “Thanks. I’m sorry I didn’t answer you back the last few days.”
“Are
you?”
“Yes,”
Alessa said. “But I’ve been … stuck in my own head, trying to figure out what I
was going to do. I thought I should let you know so you can stop worrying about
me and move on to your own thing, Adriano.”
“You
are my thing,” Adriano replied. “Don’t you know that?”
Alessa
dipped her head down, keeping her face out of his view. “I can’t be your
thing.”
“Stop
it with that shit. None of this matters to me. It never has.”
“I
can’t be your thing,” Alessa repeated
firmly. “Not anymore. Not now.”
“Hey.”
Adriano took a step forward, and Alessa answered it by taking a step back.
“What is up with you?”
Alessa
shrugged. “It’s been settled. I’m going to have to marry Dean Artino. The
engagement and wedding date isn’t official, but I’m sure Joel will be an
asshole and send an invitation to your father. I wanted you to find out from me
and not someone else through the grape vine.”
Air
cut through Adriano’s lungs with a searing burn. A ball of rage and
possessiveness swirled in his midsection hard and fast, threatening to take him
under with the current. Alessa was, and always had been, his.
Like
fuck was he going to hand her off to some useless bastard like Dean Artino.
Over
his dead body.
It
wouldn’t happen.
“No,”
Adriano said in a growl, stepping closer to her.
Alessa
blinked up at him. “W-what?”
“No.
You’re not marrying Dean.”
“I
don’t think you understand, Adriano.”
“Oh,
I understand perfectly fucking well.” Adriano couldn’t help but notice how
Alessa didn’t back off the closer he came. Once they were toe-to-toe under the
willow tree, she had to look up at him to hold his gaze. “I get it, but it’s
not happening.”
Alessa’s
tongue peeked out to wet her lips. “Right now, it’s just the promise of an
engagement between Dean and me soon, but Joel assured me the wedding would
happen within the next few months. I don’t get a choice and it’s not fair to
you, so let me do what I have to. Okay?”
“No.”
“Adriano—”
“No,”
he repeated darkly.
Excerpt #2:
Alessa
was lost in the feeling of Adriano’s hands gliding over all the curves of her
body as they moved together on the dance floor. Dancing with Adriano was a lot
like fucking Adriano, Alessa knew. He was controlled, demanding, and always got
her sweating for more. With her ass tucked into his groin as their hips moved
to the beat, Alessa was happy.
They
were just another couple on the floor.
For
a few minutes, they were normal.
Under
Adriano’s urging, Alessa turned to face him.
“Hey,”
she said, smiling.
Adriano
laughed. “Hey.”
“No! Not in my club!”
The
shouts from Tommas Rossi chilled Alessa to the bone. Adriano’s grip on her hips
tightened momentarily before she was grabbed around the waist roughly and pulled
backward. Alessa shouted her shock, her gaze flying up to meet Adriano’s as he
too was pulled away from her. Alessa’s arms were jerked behind her back to pin
her in place as she was dragged even further from Adriano.
Adriano’s
shouts cut her straight to her heart. He struggled with men Alessa didn’t know.
A fist landed on Adriano’s midsection with enough force to send him to his
knees. Another landed on the side of his jaw, sending his head flying to the
side.
“Stop!”
Alessa screamed. “Don’t hurt him, please!”
Adriano
could take care of himself, as far as that went. But when he had four men
holding him down and beating on him, it certainly wasn’t fair. Alessa’s heart
was in her throat as blood began to fly. Panic took the air straight from her
lungs as she screamed at the men to stop again.
No
one listened.
A
girl didn’t fucking matter.
“Lissa,
go,” she heard her sister yell from somewhere in the crowd. “Just go!”
Alessa
looked for Abriella but couldn’t find her. In the fast movements of the people
surrounding them, Alessa barely recognized anyone. The sickening voice of Dean
Artino in her ear sent Alessa’s anger spiraling out of control.
“You
just don’t know how to behave, do you?” Dean asked.
Alessa
tried to fight against Dean’s hold, but it was pointless. She couldn’t see
Adriano through the swarm of people anymore, either.
“Not
in my club!” Tommas shouted again.
A
single, loud pop echoed in the space. Three more quickly followed, answering
the first. Alessa knew that sound better than anyone. The gunshot sent people
screaming and scattering. Glasses shattered across the floor and Alessa’s heels
crunched on the shards as Dean forced her closer to the club’s side exit. The
gunfire worried her to no end. The screaming was so loud that Alessa’s ears
rang. A sickness rolled in her stomach.
Where
was Adriano?
Her
sister?
Who
had shot the gun?
“Stop
fighting or I will beat your ass black and blue,” Dean threatened.
Alessa
stilled. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“You
think? Move, right now.”
Despite
every single inch of Alessa that screamed for her to fight against Dean’s
order, she let him drag her out of the club. The very moment after the cool air
of the outside soaked into Alessa’s lungs, she found herself shoved into the
closest wall roughly. The side of her cheek scraped against the bricks as Dean
forced her head into the wall.
She
reacted by striking Dean in the side of the face with her closed fist.
“Let
me fucking go,” Alessa hissed.
His
haughty laughter pissed her off further, but she didn’t get the chance to smack
him again. Dean caught her flying fist and slammed it into the wall, too.
Dean
leaned in close, teeth bared and sneering. “Did you think I wouldn’t find out
that you were out tonight, Alessa?”
Alessa
forced back her rising panic. She wouldn’t give Dean her fear or tears. He
didn’t deserve them and it was all he wanted, anyway.
“I
didn’t do anything wrong,” Alessa spat.
Excerpt #3:
Alessa
gasped when his teeth bit hard enough on her bottom lip to leave a mark.
Adriano kissed her harder, deeper. Like he was starved and thirsty and she was
the buffet spread out for him to take what he wanted. His tongue claimed her
mouth, his teeth smearing her lipstick.
“Christ,”
Alessa breathed when he drove his hands down her sides.
“That’s
bad. We’re in church.”
“That’s
what is bad about this?”
Adriano
chuckled darkly. “Well …”
Alessa
found her hands pinned above her head. Adriano’s fingers ghosted over her wrist
and palms, promising and sweet.
“I’m
going to be busy for a while,” he told her. “Another week, maybe.”
“I
noticed that already.”
“But
I’ll be around.”
Alessa
nodded. “I’ll be waiting.”
Adriano
gave her another sinful smile, kissed the tip of her nose, and let her hands
go. “Don’t wait, just be ready.”
She
didn’t have the first clue what he meant.
Adriano
kissed her hard once more, fixed a wayward curl, and left Alessa confused and
turned on like nothing else alone in the private room. With shaking hands,
Alessa pulled out her phone to call her sister back.
The
lack of something sparkly caught her eye instantly. Her engagement ring was
gone.
Alessa’s
breath caught in her throat. “Oh.”
Sneaky. So jealous.
Adriano
must have took notice of the piece and acted.
Oh,
she loved him and hated him for it.
Selfish
man.
Alessa
wouldn’t try to deny it made her even hotter. Except now she had to explain
where it had went to Dean. She hoped her acting skills were up to the job.
Somehow,
Alessa felt lighter with the ring gone. Adriano probably knew that, too.
Dammit.
She
loved that man.
Excerpt
#4:
“Mmm.
Since when do you miss your alarm?” she asked, breathless and soft.
Since
someone woke him up in the middle of the night and he had a hard time falling
back to sleep. Adriano decided not to mention Damian’s presence the night
before. It wouldn’t do any good except maybe put Alessa on edge.
“You
woke me up, so that’s all that matters.”
Almost.
Adriano
thought about Damian’s demand. “I have to make a detour before taking you home
today. That okay?”
Alessa
swallowed a whine as a tremor rocked her thighs. “Perfect.”
“You
sure? Your brother—”
“Yes.
Abriella said Joel didn’t come home last night. Apparently he left a message
saying he’d be back in the evening. I called her after I woke up. It’s only
five.”
Adriano
checked the clock, noting she was right.
“We
have to get going,” he murmured.
“Not
yet.” Alessa lifted off his body, held the base of his cock, and lowered down
on his length with a slowness that was sure to kill them both. Her heat and
tight channel hugged his cock in the best way. Fucking heaven. A wet, hot
heaven. “Fuck, right there …”
He
grabbed her waist and turned them around fast so Alessa was under him. Her legs
spread wider, letting him get deeper with every hard thrust. She pushed her
hands into his wild mess of hair and pulled, arching off the bed.
So
beautiful.
One
more wasn’t going to hurt anything.
A
few more minutes wouldn’t kill anybody.
“Harder,”
Alessa breathed. “Fuck me harder, Adriano.”
Sweet
Christ.
“One
more time,” Adriano mumbled. “And then we have to go.”
Alessa
nodded, but her eyes were already dazed and her stomach clenched with her need
to come. “One more.”
