Excerpt: Unfinished Business (PG13/Contemporary Roman​ce)

TITLE: Unfinished Business
AUTHOR: Stephanie Morris
AUTHOR URL: http://www.stephaniemorris.webs.com
GENRE/THEME: Contemporary Interracial Romance
URL TO THE BUYING PAGE: http://www.bookstrand.com/unfinished-business
SERIES: Indulgence – Book 3 of 6

Blurb:
There is one man that Daníella Mangino has never been able to resist or say no to—her ex-husband—Carlo Carabelli. The moment he asked her to marry him, she’d known it would be forever...or so she thought. Still, the last thing she expects is for him to return, asking her for a second chance at their relationship. The timing couldn’t be worse. She has just broken up with her unfaithful boyfriend. But what Carlo Carabelli wants, he gets and he wants her.

Carlo Carabelli regrets the day that he asked his ex-wife Daníella Mangino for a divorce. The car wreck that left him struggling with learning how to walk again had nearly crushed him. He couldn’t be the man for Daníella that he sworn he’d always be. Truth be told, he has never stopped loving her, but he has a secret that once discovered might just mean a permanent end for him and Daníella.

One thing is certain, Daníella and Carlo have unfinished business...


Excerpt:
Daníella went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. The corners of her mouth curved upward when she spotted the secret weapon she needed. As sadistic as it seemed, she took her time heading back up the stairs to her room where the couple was still locked in a passionate embrace. They weren’t going anytime soon from what she’d seen. Why rush?

After pushing the door wide open, she walked over to the writhing couple. Either the woman was a good actress, or Ignacio might have been worth the trouble she’d gone through. Oh well. She would never find out for herself. Daníella took a deep breath and poured the pitcher of ice water on the couple in her bed. A small hysterical giggle bubbled up from her throat as she had the pleasure of watching the couple jerk apart in a mixture of shock and surprise.

She turned around and walked out of the room, the sounds of Italian curses following her out of the room. A moment later Ignacio bellowed.

“Daníella!”

Daníella smiled at the anger and shock coloring his voice.

Good. Now he knew how it felt.

Not breaking stride, she kept walking but heard the sounds of her bed creaking, followed by his footsteps. She was appalled that he had the audacity to come after her. But what else should she expect? Continuing down the stairs, she focused on getting as far away from Ignacio as possible. The sooner he was gone, the better.

“Daníella, where the hell are you going?”

She stopped on the bottom stair before turning to look back at him.

“The question is where are you and your whore going, Ignacio, or did you forget this is my home?”

Daníella had the pleasure of seeing him flush with embarrassment, or it could have been anger. Either way, she didn’t care.

“That’s what I thought. Now, I would appreciate it if the two of you could get dressed and remove yourselves from my apartment.”

Daníella turned back around and went to step off the stairs when Ignacio’s next words stopped her.

“If you had called to let me know you would be home early, we could have saved ourselves this unpleasantness.”

Her mouth almost hit the floor with shock. How dare he try to turn this back on her like it was her fault that she’d walked into her own home to catch him screwing another woman in her bed.

“Excuse me?”

Her tone was so hostile Ignacio stopped on the stairs he’d begun to descend. Ignacio immediately tried to smooth over his approach.

“Oh, come on. I am a man. What do you expect?”

The look of contempt she shot in his direction made him flinch. “I expect you to control yourself and behave like a man, not rut like an animal.”

The woman he’d been in her bed with appeared at the top of the stairs behind him, giving Daníella more ammunition to accuse him with—and fortunately she had the decency to put her clothes on.

“Then again, with a woman who looks like that, how could you?”

It was a direct shot at the woman who now resembled a drowned rat after the ice bath she received. Still, she had the nerve to give Daníella a haughty look.

“Ignacio, who is this awful woman?”
Daníella felt her eyebrows shoot up at the description. “Yes, Ignacio, please tell your whore who this awful woman is?”

A feminine gasp of outrage sounded as Ignacio began stammering, trying to explain his relationship to either woman. Daníella cut him off effectively.

“What lover boy here is trying to say is I’m the woman he’s been dating for over a year and the owner of this apartment.”

Daníella watched the woman frown, but it actually looked more like a pout, and she fought the urge to roll her eyes.

“But, Ignacio, you told me this was your place.”

Daníella almost lost it, grabbing onto the railing for support. The man had actually claimed her apartment for his own?

That was it.

Her teeth were clenched when she spoke. “I sincerely suggest both of you remove yourselves from my home as quickly as you can before I find something hot to douse the two of you with.”

Ignacio seemed to be lacking the little intelligence he had left because he started toward her.

“Daníella, she means nothing to me. This is just a fling.”

Is? Not was?

Her eyes widened in shock—which was more of a response than the one his lover emitted. Either she was used to being degraded, or she had no class. Maybe it was a little of both.

“That may be, Ignacio, but I’m sure this isn’t the first fling and it won’t be the last. But this will be the last time you see me.”

He gave her a pleading look. “What was I supposed to do? You weren’t willing to have sex with me.”

Before she could stop herself, Daníella struck him. She was seething with anger. The fact that he was trying to make this her fault because she had wanted to save herself for the right moment pissed her off.

“Get the hell out of here, Ignacio. Now.”

“But—”

Daníella growled and turned to walk away from the infuriating man before she did resort to violence. Right now she was very close. What she needed more than anything was to get away from this whole situation so she could think clearly. Just a little time to try to figure out why she hadn’t listened to her friend’s advice about Ignacio. Better yet, to figure out why she’d wasted over two years of her time on this loser. She should have known better.
Daníella had barely taken another step before she ran into a warm solid mass. A solid mass that shouldn’t be there, and her first instinct was to fight, especially when solid arms encircled her to keep her from falling backward. Inhaling deeply, she stiffened as soon as a familiar scent drifted over her—one she would recognize as long as she lived.