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I am a Killer. A Rapist. A Monster.
I know only pain and survival.
That is until the Cappo's sister walked into my life.
And changed everything.
She's a light who makes my darkness darker, her smile makes
my heart turn to ice, and I can't escape the fear her seductive looks
instill--knowing it's only a matter of time before I fail--again, and take her
for myself.
This is the story of my redemption.
But it's not pretty...I died, and now I'm alive, but not
living, breathing but not surviving. I am Phoenix De Lange, son to a murdered
mob boss, estranged brother, horrible friend, monster in the making, newest
leader to one of the most powerful families in the Cosa Nostra.
And I will have my vengeance.
Or die trying.
I am Phoenix De Lange.
Death is all I know.
Until she offers me a piece of life--I can't resist taking.
I wasn’t
sure how to act. Wasn’t sure if I should apologize for attacking him or thank
him for not laughing in my face. Embarrassed and irritated that he was most
likely going to ignore whatever it was between us even if it killed him, I
stared hard at the cement floor.
“How are you
feeling, little girl?”
“I’m not
little.”
“You want me
to call you fat?”
“No.” I
lifted my head. “Call me gorgeous like you did last night.”
“Well,
shit.” Phoenix ran his hands over his face then grabbed my arm and dragged me
down the hall into a darkened corner. “You remember?”
“You kissed
me.”
“Prove it.”
“What’s
wrong with you?” I pushed against his chest. “You like me! Admit it!”
Phoenix made
a face. “You were drunk, launched yourself at me, and I caught you. Did we
kiss?” His eyes went completely black. “Yeah, we did, but it meant nothing.”
“Really?”
“Really.” He
hissed out a breath through his teeth.
“Prove it.”
“What?”
I pushed him
against the wall. “Prove it meant nothing. Let me kiss you now, and if it meant
nothing it will be like… what? Kissing your sister.”
“I’ve sworn
off women.”
“So this
should be an easy test then, right?”
“Bee…”
Phoenix’s face was pained, as if I was holding a gun to his head rather than
offering to kiss him. Was the idea so abhorrent? “Please…” His voice had a
pleading tone I’d never heard before. “Don’t do this.”
“One.
Little. Test.” I rose up on my tip toes and kissed him full on the mouth.
His lips
refused to move against mine.
I wrapped my
arms around his neck.
He stiffened
even more.
Irritated, I
bit his lower lip. He gasped, and I slid my tongue inside his mouth. He pushed
me away with a curse then wiped his lips. “Done. Your little test is done. I
didn’t respond. Happy now?”
His eyes
were furious; the blue flashed like lightning against his skin. His fingertips
shook as he made a fist.
“You like
me.”
“Bee…”
Phoenix pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingertips. “…find someone your
own age, someone who’s interested in you in the way you deserve, alright?” His
tone was gentle, and maybe that was what hurt the most.
It was like
he was letting me down slowly, hoping I didn’t break.
But the joke
was on him.
Because I
was already broken.
I didn’t
want boys my age — I wanted him.
“You’re a
good liar.” My eyes narrowed. “And you’re lucky I’m patient.”
“Lucky?” He
sputtered out a laugh. “That you like toying with me?”
“No, lucky that
even though you constantly push me away…I keep coming back for more. But,
Phoenix… everyone’s time eventually runs out.”
“Go to
breakfast, Bee.”
“Go to hell,
Phoenix.”
I’m sure you guys are tired of reading my RVD
reviews. All I do is rave about how much I idolize Rachel and how much I adore
her writing. Ember is definitely
different from the rest of the books in the Eagle
Elite series. This book is about Phoenix, the guy we grew to hate in book
one of the series, Elite. I didn’t
know what to expect going into it. Was I really going to fall in love with one
of the once perceived bad guys? Was I eventually going to forgive him for being
one of the darkest characters in the series? Those questions combined with my
everlasting love for this series were enough to make me dive into the book.
“Pushing her away was for the best. Because
the only other option was holding her close. And nobody wanted the monster to
get the girl—that wasn’t how stories were told, that was not how happy endings
were found. I deserved my darkness, and only a truly selfish individual would
be all right with tugging the innocent into hell with them.”
I know this might be hard to actually determine,
but I want to say that Phoenix is the most complicated out of all the mafia men
we have previously encountered, fallen in love with, and swooned over (i.e.
Nixon, Chase, and Tex). Yeah sure, they’re all mafia mob bosses and they’re all
bound by the ties of family and tradition, but Phoenix has other emotional issues
that sets him aside from all the other boys—figuratively and literally. It’s
hard for him to think that he deserves a life. It’s hard for him to let people
in (hard is an understatement). It’s hard for him to let go of the past. It’s
hard for him to escape all his inner demons. All of these are what set him
apart from the rest of the world and most importantly, Bee.
“I…love…you. I may not react perfectly in
every moment. Hell, I may look terrified, angry frustrated, but Bee, I would
never walk away from you. Ever. I don’t have it in me. Don’t mistake my silence
or anger for a lack of love—most of the time it’s because I love you so much
that I react. I know that’s no excuse, but you’re the most precious thing in my
world.”
Bee has had a rough life as well. She has never
really been allowed to have a life. She’s been in the care of those who don’t
really care about her. Then, we find out that she’s Tex’s sister and she’s put
under the care of Phoenix. Phoenix becomes her only friend, which is sad
considering how much Phoenix pushes her away. You can’t help but feel bad for
Bee. She’s so quirky and adorable, and all she really wants is Phoenix. But, he’s
insistent that he’s too much of a monster for him.
“If I stay, I can’t make any promises that I
won’t touch you. I can’t promise you that I won’t kiss you. I can’t promise
that I’ll stay in the corner, and because I can’t promise that, it also means I
can’t promise I won’t hurt you.”
So begins the angsty ride that is Phoenix and Bee’s
love story. Their banter was awesome—Bee knows just how to push Phoenix. There
are so many reasons why they can’t be together, but Bee is stubborn enough to
not care about any of them. No matter that the biggest reason is that Tex will
murder Phoenix if he so much as touches Bee. I loved seeing them come to the
realization that they need each other as much as they need air to breathe.
There are tonssss of surprises and plot twists in Ember that I found myself easily sucked into my favorite Italian
mafia world all over again. I was eventually able to root for Phoenix and Bee.
Although Phoenix will never be my top choice out of the alpha males, he does
hold a special place in my heart. The biggest surprise of all out of this was
how much I’m looking forward to Sergio’s book. The next book was set up
throughout Ember and I seriously can’t
wait to see what’s next in store for the Elite.
“One more kiss?”
“And then what? What then?”
“That’s just the thing, Phoenix. The world
is ours.”
Elect:
Entice:
Elicit:
BANG BANG:
ENFORCE:
She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband and their snoring Boxer, Sir Winston Churchill. She loves to hear from readers! You can follow her writing journey at www.rachelvandykenauthor.com
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