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A Shadow of Guilt (Sicily's Corretti Dynasty Book 3), by Abby Green
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Driven and Determined: To Forgive a Corretti
Valentina Ferranti has always blamed Gio Corretti and his reckless behavior for her brother's death. The last time she saw Gio she slammed the door on him and her youthful infatuation.
Now, broke and with her name slandered by the infamous Carmela Corretti, Val needs help. There's only one person she can turn to…the cold, inscrutable man from her past whose green eyes flash with guilt, regret and a passion that calls to her.
Valentina may have had the strength to ask for help, but does she have the willpower to resist all that entails?
- Sales Rank: #198966 in eBooks
- Published on: 2013-07-01
- Released on: 2013-07-01
- Format: Kindle eBook
About the Author
Abby Green worked for twelve years in the film industry. The glamour of four a.m. starts, dealing with precious egos, the mucky fields, driving rain...all became too much. After stumbling across a guide to writing romance, she took it as a sign and saw her way out, capitalising on her long-time love for romance books. Now she is very happy to sit in her nice warm house while others are out in the rain and muck! She lives and works in Dublin.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
He should be in that coffin, and not his irrepressible best friend.
Giacomo Corretti stood in the shadow of the tall pine tree and watched as the coffin was lowered into the ground just a few feet away from where he was effectively hidden. The tight ball of ice firmly lodged in his gut was slowly spreading out to every extremity. He welcomed this even as he castigated himself for being a coward.
The small group of people around the coffin started to move, the priest's final words of blessing lingering on the warm spring air along with the pungent scent of incense. It shouldn't be warm, Gio suddenly realised, it shouldn't be spring. The sea shouldn't be twinkling benignly under a cerulean sky. He desperately wanted apocalyptic clouds to roll in off stormy waters, for everything to darken and for thunder and lightning to lash this place. To lash him to pieces.
He could hear the heartbreaking sound of Mario's mother sobbing as she leant on her aged husband. The sound cut him in two. Gio would never have merited this outpouring of grief. The realisation was stark but brought with it no sense of self-pity.
In contrast, beside them with a stoically straight back stood their tall and narrow-shouldered daughter, Valentina. Her long chestnut hair was tied back in a plait and on her head was a black scarf. The ill-fitting black jacket and skirt she wore hinted at the coltish seventeen-year-old body underneath.
She didn't have to look around for Gio to know every line on her face with instant recall. Pale olive skin as soft as a rose petal. The lush curve of her mouth and lips which more than hinted at a burgeoning womanly sensuality. She had the most extraordinarily coloured eyes, golden brown like amber.
Tiger's eyes.
He could picture them flashing now with mock anger and a little bit of very real anger and fear whenever she'd caught her beloved older brother and Gio flirting with the danger they had loved so much.
As if the intensity of his gaze and thoughts had touched her, Valentina Ferranti turned around and pinpointed the exact spot where Gio stood, those almond-shaped eyes narrowing on him.
It was too late, he couldn't run. She turned fully and looked at him for a long moment. She was pale and her beautiful face was puffy from crying. Her eyes were shadowed and grief-stricken in a way that no one should ever have to deal with before their time. He had done that to her. He had caused this irreparable damage.
His careless words came back to him from that night: 'Don't worry, I'll have him back to his books before midnight just like Cinderella....'
Valentina's desolation reached out to touch Gio and mock him. And then she was stalking towards him with long slim legs; her hands were curled to fists much like his, by her sides. Her face was contorted with the mad anger of grief.
She stopped just inches away. So close that he could smell her sweet fresh scent. It was incongruous in the midst of such misery.
'You are not welcome here, Corretti.' Her voice was rough and husky from crying and Gio's insides contracted so much he wondered how he stayed conscious when he couldn't breathe. But he was breathing and he marvelled at the human body's instinct to survive, no matter what.
He took a breath. 'I…' He stopped when the familiar tightening of his vocal chords warned of humiliation to come but he ignored it. 'I…know.'
The fact that he hadn't stumbled over those completely ineffectual words came as small comfort. Mario, her brother and his friend, had been the one who had patiently helped Gio to overcome his chronic stutter which had lasted well into his early teens.
At twenty-two now, the sting of years of humiliation was still like a scar branding his skin. And yet in this moment, he longed to feel that humiliation again. So that he could be subjected to Valentina's cruel laugh and ridicule. Except…she wouldn't do that, she had never done that. She'd always been sweet and shy, and when he had stuttered in front of her she'd never used it as a tool to hurt, as almost everyone else had. Especially his family.
Suddenly Valentina lashed out, taking him by surprise. Her small fist connected with Gio's chest with enough force to send him staggering backwards. Her voice throbbed with pain, 'He was everything to us and thanks to you he's gone. He was going to graduate from university next year and be a success, and you…?'
Valentina's voice was sneering now. 'What can you do for us now? Nothing. Get out of here, Corretti. You taint this place with your presence.'
Brokenly she added, 'If you hadn't encouraged him to go out that night—' She stopped and bit her lip fiercely.
The blood drained from Gio's face completely. 'I'm sorry…so sorry,' he said faintly.
Valentina gathered herself once more, eyes dead. 'It's your fault. I hate you, Corretti—I'll hate you for ever because you're alive and he's not.'
Her words fell like splinters of glass all over Gio's skin. She was looking at him now as if she would push him all the way off the nearby cliff and happily watch him crash to pieces on the rocks below.
'Come, Valentina, it's time to go.'
They were both startled from the dark taut energy surrounding them when Valentina's father materialised to take her arm. His voice was thin and weary. 'This is not the time or place.'
Valentina seemed to crumple visibly and without looking at Gio again she allowed her father to turn her and lead her away. After a couple of metres though Mario's father stopped. He looked back to Gio with impossibly mournful eyes and just shook his head sadly. The man had aged ten years in the space of just a few days. It was worse than if he'd spat at Gio's feet or even punched him as Valentina had.
The truth was stark—if Gio hadn't had the unlikeliest of friendships with Mario in the first place, if he hadn't cajoled and pleaded with him to come out that night, this never would have happened.
In that moment Gio wanted to die more than anything else in the world. So badly he could taste it. Everything and anyone he'd ever loved was gone now. For ever. Everything good and promising and hopeful was broken and destroyed.
But, he knew with a bitter taste in his mouth that suicide would be too easy. Far easier than living with this pain every day. Living with the pain of knowing he had decimated an entire family and reduced them to this aching loss. This was his inheritance and he would live with it for the rest of his life.
Seven years later…
It was the wedding of the decade. Two of the most powerful families in Sicily uniting in holy matrimony. Valentina's mouth thinned into a cynical line. Except everyone knew it wasn't a love match between Alessandro Corretti and Alessia Battaglia. It was a bid for the ultimate power play, a way for the Corretti family to go on undefeated into the future for generations to come. If merging with their one-time bitter rivals was what it took, then so be it.
Valentina stopped what she was doing for a moment and put a hand to her chest. Even just thinking of the name Corretti made her feel slightly bilious. Not to mention the fact that she was at this very moment working at their behest.
Much as she would have loved to have been able to tell Carmela Corretti—the mother of the groom—where she could shove her job offer, Valentina didn't have that luxury. She was the owner of a tiny struggling catering company and she'd sweated blood and tears to start it up and try to keep it afloat with her minimal staff. It was the only thing supporting her aged and ailing parents.
Carmela had a reputation, despite the vast Corretti wealth, of being very tight with money, and Valentina knew that part of the reason she'd been lucky enough to get the job had been due to her very reasonable prices. Read: ridiculously cheap. But it was the kudos of being hired for something as exclusive as this that would count in the long run, and the payment, in spite of not charging as much as her competitors.
As Valentina put the finishing touches to some beluga caviar canapes she couldn't help recalling Carmela's overly made-up and expressionless face when she'd looked down her patrician nose at Valentina a few weeks previously. 'This has to be the most sophisticated event of the decade—the budget for the food itself will of course be limitless. If you mess this up, Ms Ferranti, you do know you won't ever work on this island again, don't you?'
Valentina had struggled not to look as panic-stricken as she'd felt. The very prospect of having to go to the mainland and leave her parents behind was not an option. Carmela was right though; if Valentina failed at this she would be lucky to get work as a part-time waitress in a pizza joint in Naples.
So she'd stifled the panic and said meekly, 'Of course, Mrs Corretti, I know how important this is.'
And now she and her staff were being paid a pittance to create the most expensive caviar hors d'oeuvres in the world. Carmela had presided over a tasting of the sample menu Valentina had devised and that hour had been the most nerve-racking of Valentina's career so far. And then she'd approved the menu with a mere dismissive flick of her impeccably manicured hand. Valentina had stood there in shock for a long moment before the older woman had spat out, 'Well? What are you waiting for? You have work to do.'
On being given the go-ahead, regal salmon caviar had been flown all the way from Scotland, along with smoked salmon. The beef for the main luncheon had come from Ireland. The beluga caviar had naturally come straight from Russia. The champagne reserved for the head table alone was from the year 1907, salvaged from an infamous shipwreck, its price too astronomical for Valentina to get her head around. The rest of the champagne was merely Bollinger.
No, money was no object when making sure people saw and tasted the Corretti wealth, they just didn't mind scrimping on the labour behind it.
Valentina blew an errant hair out of her hot face and stood back. Her own two personal staff came by her side and Franco said in awestruck tones at the array of trays of hors d'oeuvres, 'They're like works of art. Val, you've outdone yourself this time.'
Valentina smiled ruefully. 'As much as we need to create the effect, we want them to be eaten.'
She had to admit then that the regal salmon caviar with its distinctive orange colour, wrapped in smoked salmon and in a toasted bread cup, did look enticing. Her stomach rumbled and she looked up at the clock and let out a squeak, tearing off her apron as she did. She fired off commands as she looked for her suit bag which contained her uniform for the day. 'Franco, make sure the chefs are on schedule for the main meal, and, Sara, make sure the serving staff are dressed and ready to take these trays up. We should take the rest of the canapes out of the fridges now. And get Tomasso to check that all the champagne bottles are in the ice buckets upstairs—tell him to replace the frozen rose ice if it's melting.'
Valentina left her staff buzzing around following instructions. Thankfully as the reception was being held in the sumptuous flagship Corretti Hotel—which was right across a verdant square from the beautiful medieval basilica where the wedding was being celebrated—she had full access to their facilities, house chefs and staff. The eponymous restaurant here was Michelin-starred, so she couldn't have asked for more. She merely had to oversee everything but was ultimately responsible for the entire menu.
Valentina found the changing area and struggled out of her jeans and T-shirt and changed into her one smart black suit and white shirt. She surmised grimly that Car-mela was far too canny to have things go wrong in the Corretti name. Far better to be able to blame an outside caterer. Valentina told herself that it was still the opportunity of a lifetime and all she had to do was make sure nothing went wrong. Simple!
After a couple of minutes she stood in her stocking feet and looked at herself in the mirror. She made a face at her flushed cheeks and the shadows under her eyes and scrabbled for her make-up bag, hands trembling from the excess adrenalin as she did her best to counteract the ravages of several sleepless nights.
She'd had nightmares of people choking on a canape, or epidemic levels of food poisoning after the wedding lunch. The thought of felling the entire Corretti and Battaglia clans was enough to make her an insomniac for years to come! Grimacing at her far too vivid imagination, Valen-tina wound up her hair into a high bun at the back of her head and gave herself a quick cursory once-over. No jewellery, minimal make-up. All designed to fade as much into the background as possible. Then she gathered up her things and slipped on a pair of mid-height black court shoes.
It was only as she walking back out to the preparation area that the rogue thought slipped into her mind like a sly traitor waiting in the wings. What if he's here? He won't be, Valentina assured herself with something bordering uncomfortably on panic. Why would he be here when it was common knowledge he'd left home at sixteen and become completely independent of his family? The fact that he'd since carved out a stupendously successful career breeding and training thoroughbred horses had served to further that estrangement from his own family business and legacy.
He won't be here, Valentina assured herself again. Because if he was… Her mind froze as a yawning chasm of grief and pain and anger washed through her, along with something much more disturbing and hard to define.
He wouldn't be. He couldn't be. She was far too vulnerable today to deal with seeing Giacomo Corretti.
If there was any mercy in this world, Valentina told herself fervently, he would be kept away by the sheer psychic force of her anger and hatred. And yet, her heart beat a little faster as she went about her business.
Gio put his fingers between his bow-tied shirt and neck, trying in vain to ease the constriction he felt. He gave up with a muffled curse, leaving his white bow tie slightly askew. The problem was that the constriction was in his chest, and had nothing to do with his tie. He cursed again and wished he was on the other side of the island in his habitual uniform of T-shirt, jeans and boots, with his horses.
He could see people milling about outside the hotel and in the lush landscaped square that was between the huge imposing church and the Corretti Hotel. Clearly the wedding had ended but the luncheon hadn't started yet.
Damn. He'd almost hoped he'd be too late entirely. The only reason he'd come at all had been because his mother had pleaded with him. 'Gio, you never see your brothers, or anyone else. You can't go on isolating yourself like this. Please come.'
He'd had to bite back the frustration—the urge to lash out and say something like, Why the hell should I? But he hadn't, he'd been immediately disgusted by his own pathetic self-pity and his relationship with his mother was tenuous at the best of times.
Most helpful customer reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful.
Didn't care for this one
By K. Brittain
Let me begin by saying I've read the previous books in this series starting with Carol Marinelli's Uncovering the Correttis which introduced us to this powerful family and enjoyed them. That is until I got to this one. Unlike the other 2 reviewers I did not enjoy reading Gio's story. Nothing wrong with Gio. I had a problem with the heroine Valentina. She blames the hero totally for her brother Mario's death.
SPOILER ALERT!!!
And yes Gio did persuade Mario to go out with him that tragic night BUT he did not tell Mario nor force him to get on that wild horse. It was Mario's decision to ride that wild animal and since he was an adult then he should be held responsible. I found it extremely annoying that Valentina kept blaming Gio and it just went on and on and on...for years. Yes death is horrible but her dead brother was not faultless! Even her parents acknowledged this. And Gio suffered. So much that he even contemplated suicide but felt that would be too easy. That a lifetime of pain was what he deserved even though he did not make Mario get on that horse. All he did was persuade Mario to leave his studies so they can go out and have some fun. Mario was the one that said he would only go if Gio allowed him to get on the horse. Gio was very reluctant at first because he knew the horse was dangerous but ultimately agreed when Mario taunted him with "You're saying you're the only one who can handle him?". Mario was persistent and determined and Gio finally caved. It's not Gio's fault Mario made riding the horse a condition. And Valentina was right there when this conversation occurred so she knew how stubborn her brother was, how he wouldn't take no for an answer.
Also in this book Valentina had no problem telling Gio off yet she was like a doormat with Gio's aunt. The woman insults her and refuses to pay her and what does she do? Where is her backbone? Oh yeah she only grows one around Gio and blames him for everything that is wrong in her life it seems. She even demanded Gio give her a job which he did. When her father collapsed he was there for her. He would do anything to please her and all we have is her whining about this or that. He couldn't seem to do anything right. Ugh!
Gio was one of the nicer Harlequin heroes and in my humble opinion deserved a better heroine. Someone more like Taylor (the heroine in Sarah Morgan's An Invitation to Sin)a previous book in this series. Taylor did not have an easy life but she was not whiny or insecure. She had spirit and a backbone - my favorite type of heroine. And that book rocked! This one did not.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Reviewed by Desere Steenberg
By Desere Steenberg
Someone's death is never really our fault but yet sometimes you do blame yourself or another, even though deep down inside you know it not to be true. The real regret comes when having to learn to live with you actions or accusations.
The new Abby Green read shows how two people learn to live with their actions of guilt, despair, anger, hurt and ultimately regret and love found. The read is about Valentina years ago her brothers best friend Gio's actions caused her brother Mario's death and she vowed never to forgive him or to ever let herself love someone that can be ripped away from her in a heartbeat.
However the time comes for her to swallow her pride and ask the wrap-your-legs-around-me-and-I'll-help-you-to-fly Gio for help when she realises she has no one else to turn to.
Gio immediately jumps at the opportunity after all she might hate him for her brothers death but at least he can help in any way he can think of, as for seeing the only woman that has always been the one fuel to his soul but also off limits, in pain and distress is something he cannot stand by and watch.
But very soon a series of revealing secrets open up old wounds from the past and the author shows just how much the past being revealed can possibly destroy a perfect future.
The characters of Gio and Val were both written perfectly and so well it was as if they were going to leap from the pages any minute, I could feel and touch their every emotion, feel their pain and suffer along with their heart ache.
I loved that the characters were both so very different from what the author has given me as reader before Val had a lot and I really mean a lot of pent up anger only she was directing the anger at Gio instead of herself, the author revealing the final mystery as to why completely took me aback and I was in total amazement, I truly did not see the truth coming. Normally we find a heroine that is in touch with her own feelings and accepting them instead of burring them until the point where it comes into perspective for her.
Gio, ah poor, tortured, lost and found Gio was absolutely the perfect hero, but again different from what I have read before, it is not often I find a hero attempting to rid the world of his presence at any and every given opportunity. No usually they want to make themselves known especially to the woman who they simply must have.
The backdrop setting was exquisitely depicted by the author, she let the isolation of of Gio's soul blend in perfectly with the area of Syracuse and his Castello. But the author also gave me as reader the painful moments of heart ache as she took us back in time to a fateful day and also the excitement from the action at the racetrack.
The dialogue was spectacular, the author used her words to really get deep to the heart of the matter at hand and let each and every word draw me deeper and deeper into wanting to learn the truth and get to what lies beneath.
This author's books have always been a favourite of mine but this time she has more than outdone herself, it was if she loaded this book of hers with so much more emotion, passion and a deeper meaning of life into it all, that I found myself not only crying but truly wishing I could step inside the world of Gio and Val and help them reach their happy ending.
And if you know Abby's books you will also know that she laces her sex scenes with blazing red hot passion, and this time around it was no different but even better, the absolutely incredible care taken during Gio and Val's first sexual encounter is guaranteed to bring any woman to her knees and instantly forgive this hero anything, yes ladies the man is that amazing and considerate unlike some hero's from these books that sometimes have no finesse and tend to just go through motions to get to the end and the ultimate satisfaction.
There is also no way I will ever be able to really look at a bike and not think of this book, Abby that bike ride was a gorgeous touch! This is without a doubt the best book ever written by this author.
I highly recommend this read for all fans of Abby Green but also if you have never tried a romance book this is the one that will change your outlook and you will never be able to turn back, you will be as myself begging for the next one to be penned by a truly remarkable, phenomenal author guaranteed to bring you a best seller each and every time.
5/5 star review
"Erasing the quilt of the past one heart soul searing kiss at a time"
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Another Corretti Delight
By Amazon Customer
I was very pleased with the third installment in the Corretti series. So far, I have loved them all and Abby Green is one of my favorite writers.
I liked the fact that Gio had some different weaknesses, i.e. stuttering badly as a child added onto the fact that the entire Corretti family seem to be morally bankrupt. However, he matures in to a strong, wonderful man though he is tormented by his involvement in his best friend's death. Unfortunately, Valentina also holds him responsible for the death. This was her brother and she's been very vocal about it, to the point of shrewish. A lesser man would have stood up for himself more against her continual tirades, but he loves her and has done since before the tragedy. She clearly loves him too, but is too stubborn to admit it. Watching their relationship unfold is equal parts painful and touching. The heroine does come off as a bit of a shrew and it's kind of painful to watch the hero just suck it up and take it as his due. This is too bad because he's really not responsible for his friend's death. His involvement is solely that he talked him in to leaving his studies to go out and have some fun. The friend/brother saddled the horse himself and got on it by himself. The heroine is crushed so she takes it out on Gio. Repeatedly. Her total reasoning behind her behavior comes out at the end. I also like that this author often touches lightly on some of her past books and this one was one of those.
It was overall a good book and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the series.
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