Sempre

Book excerpt: A sexy novel about two seventeen-year-olds—one a victim of human trafficking; the other the son of the man who enslaved her—who fall in love and question everything they ever believed… THIS IS A STORY ABOUT SACRIFICE . . . DEATH . . . LOVE . . . FREEDOM. THIS IS A STORY ABOUT FOREVER. Seventeen-year-old Haven Antonelli has never known freedom. From the time she was a little girl, she and her mother have been slaves— victims of human trafficking orchestrated by a vast Mafia network. But when Haven attempts to escape and is caught, one man gives her a choice: go with him or die. Agreeing to leave with Dr. Vincent DeMarco, Haven arrives at his home and meets the doctor’s defiant—yet intriguing—son Carmine. Though Carmine’s privileged upbringing is a world away from hers, Haven senses the things they share. And soon her tenuous friendship with Carmine blossoms into an unexpected love. Carmine has breezed through life breaking every rule, scorning attachments— until he meets this strange, timid girl his father has brought home. Her inno­cence draws him in a way he cannot understand, and makes him feel in ways he never thought he’d experience. And when he learns the Mafia isn’t through with her, he becomes bent on protecting her . . . no matter the cost.