Passionately Ever After. Metsy Hingle

      

      December’s menu

       BARONESSA GELATERIA

       in Boston’s North End

      In addition to our regular flavors of gelato, this month we are featuring:

       Blueberry tartGorgeous blue eyes, ebony hair just a tad too long to fit a successful millionaire, broad shoulders and long legs—Steven Conti was drop-dead handsome. But those incredible eyes…the sky-colored orbs went from liquid to flame in an instant, trapping Maria in their heat and stealing her breath….

       Baby cakes sprinkled with powdered sugarHiding herself and her unborn child in the snow-dusted pines of Big Sky Country wasn’t the answer, but Maria needed time. Time to sort out her feelings and her future. But when Steven found her, she knew the tingling inside her had nothing to do with her pregnancy. She belonged to Steven in a deep, elemental, primitive way….

       Hot toddies laced with 100 proof rumOne kiss from Steven and Maria felt drunk, light-headed, unable to stand. How could she deny herself another night in his arms? But would going to bed with Steven Conti be like sleeping with the enemy? As the Montana winds raged outside, his body heat beckoned. And it was a call she could not deny….

      Buon appetito!

      Dear Reader,

      Thanks for choosing Silhouette Desire, where we bring you the ultimate in powerful, passionate and provocative love stories. Our immensely popular series DYNASTIES: THE BARONES comes to a rollicking conclusion this month with Metsy Hingle’s Passionately Ever After. But don’t worry, another wonderful family saga is on the horizon. Come back next month when Barbara McCauley launches DYNASTIES: THE DANFORTHS. Full of Southern charm—and sultry scandals—this is a series not to be missed!

      The wonderful Dixie Browning is back with an immersing tale in Social Graces. And Brenda Jackson treats readers to another unforgettable—and unbelievably hot!—hero in Thorn’s Challenge. Kathie DeNosky continues her trilogy about hard-to-tame men with the fabulous Lonetree Ranchers: Colt.

      Also this month is another exciting installment in the TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB: THE STOLEN BABY series. Laura Wright pens a powerful story with Locked Up With a Lawman—I think the title says it all. And welcome back author Susan Crosby who kicks off her brand-new series, BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, with the compelling Christmas Bonus, Strings Attached.

      With wishes for a happy, healthy holiday season,

      Melissa Jeglinski

       Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

      Passionately Ever After

      Metsy Hingle

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      For Diane Hingle Anding,

       sister by marriage & friend by choice

      METSY HINGLE

      is an award-winning, bestselling author of romance who resides across the lake from her native New Orleans. Married for more than twenty years to her own hero, she is the busy mother of four children. She recently traded in her business suits and a fast-paced life in the hotel and public-relations arena to pursue writing full-time. Metsy has a strong belief in the power of love and romance. She also believes in happy endings, which she continues to demonstrate with each new story she writes. She loves hearing from readers. For a free doorknob hanger or bookmark, write to Metsy at P.O. Box 3224, Covington, LA 70433.

      Meet the Barones of Boston—an elite clan caught in a web of danger, deceit…and desire!

      Who’s Who in

       PASSIONATELY EVER AFTER

      Steven Conti—A millionaire by age twenty-five, he had it all—the prestige, the wealth, the good looks. But he wanted something he could never have. He wanted…

      Maria Barone—The feisty youngest sibling of the Barone clan, she never ran away from anything in her life—except Steven. But she had to protect her heart and her unborn baby from the legendary curse of…

      Lucia Conti—Seventy years ago, as a jilted teen, she called a curse upon the Barones for all eternity. Was it enduring fact or just a Sicilian superstition?

      Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Epilogue

      One

      Her luck had just run out.

      Steven had found her.

      Maria Barone didn’t know how she knew that the strange black SUV parked in front of the Calderones’ place belonged to Steven. She only knew that she did. Easing her car around the bend in the road, she barely noticed the snow-dusted Ponderosa pines or the darkening December sky. All her thoughts, all her energy, were focused on the impending confrontation. Because she had no doubts whatsoever that there would be a confrontation.

      Ever since her cousin Karen had phoned a few days ago to warn her that Steven was searching for her, she’d known it would only be a matter of time before he stumbled onto her hiding place in Silver Valley, Montana. Perhaps that was why from the moment she’d awakened that morning, she’d been plagued by a fluttering in her belly that had nothing to do with the baby growing inside her and everything to do with some sixth sense warning her that her days of eluding Steven Conti were about to come to an end.

      Pulling her compact to a stop alongside the empty SUV, Maria sat behind the wheel of her car for several moments. For the space of a heartbeat, she considered turning the vehicle around and leaving to avoid what was bound to be a messy, emotional scene. Just as quickly, she dismissed the idea. She wasn’t a coward, she reminded herself firmly. And until recently she’d never run away from a thing in her life. Besides, in another two and a half months Steven and everyone else would know her secret. Determinedly she switched off the car’s engine.

      All right. Time to face the music.

      Mustering her courage, Maria exited the vehicle. After gathering her packages from the back seat, she made her way up the shoveled walkway. When she reached the front door, she drew in a deep breath, filling her lungs with the cool, crisp air in an effort to steady her nerves. She’d known for months now that this day would come—the day when she would have to tell Steven about the baby and lay out her plan for their child’s future. Yet she was no closer now to figuring out what that plan entailed than she had been when she’d left Boston more than two months ago. All she knew was that she loved Steven, and she loved her family. And no matter what she decided, someone she loved was going to be hurt. Worse, in choosing, she was going to lose either Steven or her family. Or possibly both.

      Maria swallowed hard at that thought. And not for the first time, she wondered why the powers that be had played such a cruel trick on her.

      Fate, the voice inside her head whispered. Perhaps it was fate, she thought. How else could she explain that the man she’d fallen in love with was a Conti—the one man in the world with whom she couldn’t possibly