The cost of this coin might just be too high... When
Gabriela finds a mysterious coin in the French Riviera, she is thrust into a
struggle between governments, terrorists, and madmen, all seeking vital
information she doesn't know she has. Richard, the intelligence officer
assigned to protect her, has all he can do to keep her safe--and keep the
stirrings of his heart from endangering them both.
Excerpt
Richard turned and went up the
steps two at a time, locked the French doors, and hurried into the dining
room. He stopped on the threshold. Gabriela was crying softly into her hands,
her elbows resting on the dining room table, her shoulders shaking from her
weeping.
He cursed under his breath, aware
of what he was about to do, knowing he shouldn’t, but nonetheless did. He walked over, lifted her, and wrapped her
in his arms. “Shh,” he crooned, stroking
her hair as she wept silently into his shoulder. He wanted her close, wanted to soothe her
pain. “Don’t cry. Everything will be all right. You’ll see.”
“I feel like I’m in the middle of
a damn Greek tragedy.”
Richard, feeling awkward and
clumsy in his newfound gentleness, unhappily listened to her hushed sobs. “Gabriela, please don’t. I hate to see you cry.”
That made her cry harder.
His arms tightened around
her. If she only knew how her tears
affected him, how she affected him. He
ached, but not from holding her.
She lifted her face, valiantly
attempting to control her emotions. “I’m
okay,” she sniffed. A tear overflowed,
cruising slowly over her damp cheek.
Richard softly brushed it away with his thumb. “I can’t seem to stop making a stupid fool of
myself lately,” she told him in a broken voice.
“I wonder what the hell is going to happen next.”
“Nothing. Not while I’m around.”
“That’s what worries me. I’ve never had to deal with such emotions
before, so much pent-up violence. It
scares me. You scare me.”
He was taken aback. “I wouldn’t harm you for the world.”
“But in order to protect me, you’d
harm others. I saw it in your
eyes.” Her own became troubled. “You are like a simmering volcano, Richard. If you ever explode, you’ll obliterate
everything obstructing your path. I
don’t want to be devoured by it, and I know it will be inevitable if I’m by
your side. That frightens me.”
“Scared of the fire . . . or of
wanting to be devoured?”
Gabriela softly disengaged herself
from his hold and turned her back on him.
She had begun to shake in his arms and it certainly wasn’t from
cold. How could she love one man and be
attracted to another, at the dangerous edge of falling in love with him? She considered herself a mature woman, not
worldly, but honest and forthright. In
all her years of marriage she had never, ever, let a man come near her, had
never responded to any of the advances she had received, refusing some
carefully, others rudely, but always uninterested in any man but her husband.
What was happening to her? She lacked nothing. Her husband loved her. She loved him. She had found women who boasted of their
casual affairs disgusting. What was it
about Richard that made her react to him?
She should be offended and outraged, not responding to him in passion.
“What scares me is your treatment
of my friends,” she said, returning to safer ground. “They’re not your personal punching bags.”
Meet The Author
Maria Elena Alonso-Sierra is a full-time novelist based in
North Carolina. With Cuban roots, she has lived in many countries, including
France, the setting for her first novel, The
Coin. She speaks English, Spanish, French, Italian, and German, and reads
Latin, Middle English, and old French. She holds a Masters in English
literature, specializing in medieval romances, and is currently an active
member of the Carolina Romance Writers. She loves to hear from her readers, and
always hopes to open a dialogue with her fans.
Where To Find Maria
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/MariaElenaAlonsoSierraWrites
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/mariaelenawrite
Blog: http://www.mariaelenawrites.blogspot.com/
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7093896.Maria_Elena_Alonso_Sierra
Giveaway
Signed print copy OR “Authorgraphed” Kindle version OR epub version of The Coin; bookmark; rack card. To enter please leave a comment and an email address.
