Angry despite the perfect day and recent success, Adriano yanked the curtains shut over the bustling life of his adopted home and returned to his laptop, the fan whirring softly and emitting ribbons of heat to graze his wrists. He had much work to do. First, he had to e-mail one of his agents in Turkey for a task that would require finesse and much patience—that Lady was a handful, two hands full, with generous curves and a smile to melt steel. Her picture presently occupied half his screen as he perused the article that had caught his eye the week before. He had the perfect man for it.
If his Gentlemen thought he was tasking them to help Ladies, Adriano wasn’t about to let them think otherwise. Yet he personally saw it more as a reciprocal venture, wherein a man helped a woman with her helping him in turn. A circle. Life worked in circles, never in straight lines. Love did as well.
Adriano wondered when—if—his own circle would be complete once more. Sometimes, he suspected, feared, he’d be doomed to a life of solitude, that nothing would ever soothe the hurt in his spirit and fill the abyss in his heart. He shook away the depressing thought so he could focus on the present file. Feeling sorry for himself had worked for the first year or so after Isabella’s passing, but it wouldn’t work now. Not after so long.
He’d decided to put his time and fortune to better use, play Cupid in a sense to his unwitting Gentlemen and Ladies, and wouldn’t stop now. Somewhere there was a woman, a Lady, facing unfair odds, excessive adversity or even direct threat to her wellbeing—as one of his recent tasks had revealed, one he’d been more than happy to “correct” with a particularly convincing agent…her belligerent ex would think twice before raising his hand on a woman again. In the meantime and with others he’d researched, Adriano de Luca would make sure, damn sure, to do what he could.
Because he was a Gentleman.
About Nathalie Gray
I am a mother, spouse, older sister, writer, ex-soldier, high school drop-out, dog owner (or dog owned), half couch potato/half intermittent jogger, wannabe renovator and avid reader who watches too much television, sinks too much money in clothes, likes animals more than humans, recycles, wore braces, never downloads copyrighted stuff, was a nerd without the grades, has a belly laugh that turns heads in theaters, can't stand bullying, is mother hawk more than mother hen, votes even if candidates aren't that great and thinks formal education is highly overrated (probably because she has none).
Nathalie welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email addresses on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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Print books by Nathalie Gray
Acid Rayne
Femme Metal 1: Femme Metal
Gentlemen Inc 1: Tease
Immortal Damnation
Lycan Warriors 1: Feral
Lycan Warriors 2: Primal
Lycan Warriors 3: Carnal
Lycan Warriors 4: Animal
Mechanical Rose
Shades of Silver
The Hussies: Gladius
The Hussies: Hussies anthology
Timely Defense
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
www.ellorascave.com
Tease
ISBN 9781419911996
Tease Copyright © 2007 Nathalie Gray
Cover design by Syneca
Electronic book publication October 2007
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