I had lost my sister who was my best friend when I was young. Life was never the same, my home wasn't a home anymore. I grew up in the shadow of my dreams, desperately trying to fill Celeste's shoes. I thought I'd grow old never marrying and be alone. Until Luca came into my life like a raging storm. He's someone from my past, someone I will never be rid of even if it's my deepest desire. He has my Hormones going crazy, my mind going insane and my body on fire. He keeps a secret from me, a secret that has me running from him then straight back to him. His world is dangerous, and I somehow get tangled up In his world and lose something precious never to get it back. “No. Don’t, I want to mentally record this moment as you spin for me with your luscious curves being hugged in your sexy lingerie.” His voice is hoarse and his eyes are hooded with pure lust. A surge of seductiveness hits me like a bolt of lightning and awakens the curious inner goddess within me. I slowly start to twirl for him and slide my index finger between my lips. I lightly run my tongue over the top of it before sticking it fully in my mouth and releasing it with a loud pop. I’m rewarded with a loud growl vibrating off the back of his throat. “Crawl onto the bed and hold onto the headboard with your ass sticking out.” He demands, I stop twirling and turn towards the bed stopping at the foot. “Heels on or off?” I ask breathlessly over my shoulder. “On.” He demands in a heavily rasped tone. It was a one-word reply... But it spoke to me on so many levels and it left me feeling exotically aroused for reasons unknown to myself. I have never felt like this so I slowly start to crawl up the bed doing my best to keep my back arched, and my ass raised high enough in the air to give him a front-row seat. Seconds later the bed dips behind me and Luca’s hands gingerly sweep across my bottom before he lightly presses a kiss on each cheek.

Chapter 1 I

The past that haunts me....

The smell of burnt toast lingers in the air as it triggers the smoke alarm to go off. The screeching siren invades my eardrums. As it gets louder I slowly start to submerge into reality from my dreams. The dreams I have of being a famous singer, the dreams I’m ambitious to pursue even though Lily Evans has made it her life’s goal to convince me otherwise. Giovanni says she’s jealous and I think he’s right. Giovanni is Celeste’s babe as in her boyfriend. Shhh... Eeewwww... Mummy and daddy don’t know yet. Celeste said ‘It’s our little secret’. We always shared secrets because we are sisters by birth and best friends by choice. I roll out of my bed and slip my feet into my favourite bunny face slippers and wiggle my toes enjoying the softness and warmth. A shrilling scream breaks through the house and it causes me to jump in fright with an uneasy feeling washing over me. I quickly leave the room and search for mum I didn’t have to walk very far because she’s standing outside Celeste’s room. Celeste was only down the hall from me which was awesome because I knew she was never too far to run to when the nightmares were unbearable. Truth be told... I sometimes faked the nightmares because she gave the best hugs mum and dad aren’t really the hugging kind of people. I get to Celeste’s room and pop my head in and that's when I see her on the bed. She lays there motionless, the rooms lit with the morning sunlight peeking through the gap of her curtains exposing her shiny black hair as it drapes over her beautiful face. One of her hands is loosely clutching onto a bottle with spilled pills scattered on the carpet. The other hand rests on the top of her stomach with a scrunched up note. Tears filled my eyes as I look behind me and see dad barking orders into the phone. He was always barking orders to some poor soul. I turn and look at mum hoping she would see me and wrap me up in her arms. But she never does instead all she did was mumble to herself saying.

“You stupid, stupid girl. Now, look what you have done.”

I didn’t understand what she meant and I didn’t care. There on the bed laid my sister... Alone, so I ran to her wrapping my arms around her crying because deep down I knew what has happened. I've watched enough CSI programmes to understand that my sister has taken her life... Not realising she’s taken mine with her. The life I had... is gone, the days we shared were numbered and I didn’t know. A secret she chose to keep from me. I cried out more when a pair of arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me from her. I kicked and screamed frantically trying to get back to her until Mum slaps me across the face and tells me to...

“Stop being a baby and get a hold of yourself right this instant.”

It was only then that I stopped fighting back and go limp in the pair of arms that are still wrapped around me. Thankful for the support as the blackness starts to claim me and I gladly accept it’s intrusion. Hoping to wake up from the nightmare that will soon be an unwelcomed invasion in my future love life holding me a prisoner to remember my past and test me of how strong of a woman I really am.