Amanda's Dragonfly, The San Francisco Mystery Series, Book 2

Alexi Venice

Description

From Amazon Bestselling Author Alexi Venice Amandas desire overtakes her, beckoning her to explore the depths and nuances of Jenpossessing her, protecting her and risking her career for her. Amanda Hawthorne is a powerful District Attorney in San Francisco, defined by her beauty, intellect and an unwavering sense of justice. While she is renowned for prosecuting murder cases, when a war erupts between the DAs Office and the Italian mafiawith a Russian billionaire lurking in the backgroundAmanda must decide how far she is willing to go to protect her lover, Dr. Jen Dawson. Outmanned and outgunned, Amanda faces dark temptations in the midst of battle. Jen Dawson is facing monumental personal changes and dangerous threats from mobsters. Under life-or-death conditions, Jen sees a new side of Amanda that challenges her previous perceptionsleaving her a little unsettled. Jen struggles for independence and survival as Amandas war hijacks her life. Meanwhile, Jen thought she had put Detective Tommy Viettiher ex-loverbehind her, but discovers she and Amanda need to track him down for unfinished business that binds the three of them. Tommy Vietti intentionally dropped off the matrix after Jen left him for Amanda, his longtime colleague. Feeling viciously betrayed by both of them, the last thing he wants is for them to find him in paradise because they each need himfor very different reasons. As a seasoned detective, Tommy is no stranger to drama and danger, but Amandas mobster case generates more than even he could imagine.

Sujets

• Political
• Politics
• Thriller

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 24 mars 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781456628529
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Amanda’s Dragonfly
The San Francisco Mystery Series, Book 2
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ALEXI VENICE
Copyright © 2017 Alexi Venice. Second Edition Copyright © 2019. All rights reserved.
 
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
http://www.eBookIt.com
 
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-2852-9
 
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, corporations, countries, medicines and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Professionally edited by Rob Bignell at Inventing Reality Editing Service. inventingrealityediting.wordpress.com/home
 
Books by Alexi Venice
 
The San Francisco Mystery Series
Bourbon Chase, Book 1
Amanda’s Dragonfly, Book 2
Stabscotch, Book 3
Tinted Chapstick, Book 4
Sativa Strain, Book 5
 
Empty Nest Does Not Mean Naked Nest! A collection of blog posts
 
The Pepper McCallan Series
Ebola Vaccine Wars
Svea’s Sins
Victus – Margaret River Winery (Part I)
Margaret River Winery (Part II)
 
Hit up Alexi’s blog at www.alexiveniceblog.com
 
 
 
 
 
Dedicated to San Francisco, where I fell in love twenty-eight years ago, and continue my love affair to this day.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Message from the Author
 
Chapter 1
San Francisco
The morning sun kissed Amanda in her Sea Cliff bedroom where she was comfortably tucked into Jen’s tender embrace.
Amanda’s eyes fluttered open in the golden light, signaling it was later than she normally rose. Briefly worrying that she had missed a meeting or a court hearing, she remembered it was the weekend, so she inhaled deeply, relaxing again. She lay her hand over Jen’s, wiggling her petite derriere into Jen’s satin bikinis, trying to reclaim sleep.
The rise and fall of Jen’s chest against Amanda’s back was so intimate, so sensual, so right, that Amanda took refuge in Jen’s calming presence.
Try as she might, she couldn’t recapture the bliss. Once her analytical mind sprang to life, there was no turning it off. As the District Attorney for San Francisco, she was a tireless advocate, juggling her own caseload of criminal files in addition to overseeing hundreds of cases that the lawyers in her office prosecuted.
Her train of thought picked up where it had left off at work, mulling over preparations for the preliminary hearing of Susie Sangiolo-Wallace, who was charged with twice attempting to murder her husband, Dr. Lane Wallace, and for succeeding in killing his lover, Natasha Farber.
Amanda wanted to roll over and whisper softly that she loved Jen, but she didn’t have the courage. Neither had said the “L” word yet, and Amanda didn’t want to scare Jen away by being too intense. She was determined to bide her time—a new challenge for her.
This is Jen’s first lesbian relationship, so I have to take it slow, she kept telling herself. Not that she was in the habit of telling lovers she actually loved them. Jen would be the first, but Amanda had known from their first kiss that she had fallen fast and hard for Jen.
She opened her eyes again. Blue sky shown out her sliding door. The nocturnal fog had burned off over her house, which was perched on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Amanda interpreted the crystalline sky as a good omen for their monumental day.
Outdoors, below her balcony, a strident meow shattered the neighborhood peace. Then another one. And another one. The calls were insistent and angry. Zumba was undoubtedly at the sliding door to her kitchen, pacing and twitching his tail in protest at being ignored. Fucking spoiled cat , she thought.
In a moment of weakness, she had taken him in as a stray, but she didn’t love him, and he was pushing his luck for her continued benevolence. He was psycho, one minute licking her feet for milk, the next, biting her toes. Every time she opened the fridge, he marched over, demanding his favorite drink. Once he got it, he treated her like a doormat, washing his face, licking himself, then going outside to tomcat around the neighborhood.
Amanda groaned. Between Zumba’s incessant howling and her racing mind, she was doomed.
“What?” Jen asked against Amanda’s neck, her voice groggy.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You groaned, and I can feel your mind working. You’re wound up like a top. What’s wrong?”
“It’s Zumba. Can’t you hear him down there?”
“Yeah. I think it’s funny. Typical male. Needs attention.”
“I can’t get back to sleep with him carrying on like that.”
“We should probably get up, anyway. The sun is already shining.” Jen stretched her lithe body against Amanda’s back.
“I know.” Amanda turned into Jen, kissing her cheek. “I just like cuddling with you.”
“Not sure how I feel about that word. I thought we were sleeping.” A moan escaped Jen at the feel of Amanda’s lips on her.
“We don’t have to do either.” Amanda gently nibbled Jen’s neck.
“There’s another option?”
“Let me show you.” Amanda parted Jen’s full lips with her tongue, doing deliciously hot swirls in her mouth—giving her a taste of what was to come. She trailed kisses down Jen’s neck, to her breasts, then lower. She slowly moved under the covers, sampling and tasting.
Jen twined her fingers through Amanda’s curly hair, which was tickling her inner thighs. “I want you at the same time.”
“Are you sure?” Amanda asked, just inches away from Jen’s pussy.
“Yes.” Jen removed her bikinis while Amanda swiveled around.
They melded their hot bodies together, curling into a ball, mirror images, but black and blonde. Each woman’s energy was focused on the other, simultaneously pleasing and taking in equal measure. Where words stopped, and physical touch was the only form of expression, arcs of electricity flowed through their veins, glowing as they hurtled through the universe as one, warping their sense of time—their conjoined bodies empowered with momentum—wanting to stretch the erotic sensation as long as possible, but working toward inevitable release, until they became a single paroxysm of desire, shattering in a finale of ecstasy that showered them with unparalleled satisfaction.
Afterward, they lay entwined and content, dozing off. A while later, they again woke to Zumba’s howls, his voice hoarse from the sustained effort.
“I have to feed Zumba.” Amanda threw back the covers and got out of bed. “I can’t believe he screeched all this time.”
“It was great background music for morning sex, though. Don’t you think?”
“I thought the opposite—that sex with you was great despite Zumba’s angry serenade.”
“Do I have time for a run before we leave for your parents’ house?” Jen asked.
“A short one. I told Chloe that we’d be there by mid-afternoon.”
“You don’t call her ‘Mom?’”
“Ahh, no,” Amanda said.
“Why not?”
“You haven’t met Chloe. She’s a little cold, all business, and not very mom-like.”
“I don’t believe you. She raised you, and you’re not cold.”
“Some people think I am,” Amanda said, her voice low from sleep and sex.
“Who?” Jen asked, laughing. She came to Amanda and nibbled her lower lip while rubbing tiny circles on her ass.
“You know—people,” Amanda insisted.
“What people?” Jen broke away and dug through the clean clothes basket, looking for her running tights.
“People I work with.” Amanda threw up her arms in exasperation.
“You’re the boss. You’re supposed to be a little detached, not their best friend.”
“I know, but sometimes it hurts—especially since Tommy left. I feel like the entire police force is giving me the cold shoulder, except George, of course,” Amanda said, referring to her personal security detail, George Banks.
“It’s because you stole me! I was Tommy’s perfect girlfriend. There’s a code of loyalty among the officers, so they’re going to stick up for him. They’ll get over it as soon as he returns.”
“Do you know something I don’t about Tommy returning?”
“I haven’t heard a word from him, but he’ll come back—eventually.”
“Yeah, well, I need him back right now. He’s my star witness,” Amanda said.
“I thought I was your star witness.”
“You’re my star, but I’m trying to keep you from being a star witness in the courtroom. Trust me, you don’t want to be the star of a murder trial when the Italian mafia is backing the defendant.”
“How do you know the mafia is backing Susie?” Jen pulled on a sports bra and tank.
“Her lover is Nick Nutini, and he’s a known mobster. He served time on the East Coast before moving out here a decade ago.”
“How did he hook up with Susie?”
“His company sells liquor to her bar at Sangiolo Art Gallery.”
“Were they a couple before Lane stepped out on Susie?” Lane was Jen’s physician colleague at San Francisco Community Hospital.
“Probably. Tommy told me that Susie and Nick were pretty hot and heavy when he watched them on the dance floor at her gallery, and that was only a few days after Susie killed Natasha.”
“Why would Susie kill Natasha if she already had Nutini? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Remember—she was trying to kill Lane, making it look like he either died of sudden heart failure or that Natasha killed him by poisoning the bourbon he kept at her apartment.”
“Same analysis then. Why would Susie give two hoots about Lane if she already had Nutini?” Jen asked.
“In my experience, jealousy and hate can overtake their victim, convincing her to do what she ordinarily wouldn’t. Susie thinks of herself as a really hot, avant-garde