Lotte R. James

Barista meets billionaire crime-boss in this sexy, contemporary mafia romance. 

SAM

I’m pretty sure it’s bad form to pick up a guy in a hospital.
Pretty sure it’s even worse to show up uninvited at his brother’s funeral.
Or let him…have you at the wake.
It’s definitely not a smart move to let him into your apartment when he shows up uninvited after you made the reasonable choice to ditch him at said wake.
Still, I let him in.
Because… I’m messed up. And so is he.
Besides, he’s also yummy, and we’re both adults, and we have needs.
Needs that don’t include getting attached, or telling each other our secrets.
Which I know he has. Then again, don’t we all?
Except the longer we carry on with this arrangement, the harder it gets to remember the deal.
Even if I know that giving into our inexplicable connection will change my life forever.
And that Edward’s secrets will either destroy us, or…
Open the door to a world I never could have imagined.

EDWARD
A stranger’s kindness on one of the worst days of my life shouldn’t hold so much importance.
Except it does, and I can’t seem to get the stranger out of my head.
Then she shows up at my brother’s funeral.
Comforts me, and gives me strength like I’ve never known before.
I shouldn’t want more. I can’t have more. I can’t have her; risk dragging her into my world.
Knowing that doesn’t stop me from finding her, and begging her for…time. Companionship.
Whatever she’ll give me.
While I find my feet, and learn how to…lead.
Learn to become the boss I was never meant to be. Never wanted to be.
Only, it’s that, or let our company, our family, fall apart.
Though it might still. Blades are being sharpened in the dark, and an unknown threat lurks just beyond my field of vision.
It should be enough to get me to let Sam go; before it’s too late. For either of us.
But I can’t, even if I know I can’t keep her. Not forever.
Unless…
Maybe it isn’t my world.
Maybe it can be our world.

Note to readers: liminal ends on a cliff-hanger - Edward & Sam will be back in book two of the Traversing series. Please also be aware this book contains profanity, open-door sex scenes, and themes/subject matter, which may be difficult for some readers.