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Mikael Giovanni, King of the Giovanni gypsy tribe, has been cursed to live forever. Jaded and bitter with the life he’d been dealt, he meets Allie Tremont, a woman with her own demons to battle.
Allie’s life is threatened when Mikael’s considerable past catches up to him, thrusting her in the middle of a centuries old gypsy feud. Facing the possibility of eternity without the love it took centuries to find, Mikael must confront the past before it destroys his last chance at a forever kind of thing.
Excerpt
“You call it a gift. I call it a curse.”
She shook her head. He didn’t get it. “Just think of all the things you could see, the advances in medicine, the technology. You could watch the world take shape, then
change and take shape again.” She got excited just thinking about it.
“Think about the last two hundred years, Allie. The battles fought, the wars won and lost, the people who lived and died and barely survived. In the last two hundred years there have been two world wars, not to mention the hundreds upon hundreds of smaller wars. There’s been famine and plague and Hitler.”
“Two hundred years ago, Mikael, women died in childbirth, there was cholera and small pox. Since then those things have been virtually wiped out. We’ve seen
the advent of the car, electricity, telephones, vaccinations...”
“The atomic bomb.”
“Air conditioning.”
“AIDS.”
“Indoor plumbing with flushing toilets.”
“Sadam Hussein.”
“Mother Theresa.”
“Cell phones.”
She paused to look at him. “You think cell phones are
bad?”
He shrugged. “I don’t like that anyone can contact me
anytime, anywhere.”
“Okay.” She thought for a moment, her face scrunched up. Then she smiled. “Velcro!”
Mikael threw up his hands in mock surrender. “I give up.” He laughed, a deep, hearty laugh she hadn’t heard from him before. “I can’t beat Velcro. You’re hopelessly
optimistic.”
Her smile faded a little. “Not hopelessly. There are some things I’m not optimistic about at all.”
He reached out and caressed her cheek with the back of his knuckles. “Even if I knew you for an eternity, I don’t think I’d be able to unlock all your secrets.”
She turned her face and planted a kiss on his palm. “If you knew me for eternity you would be bored.”
“I doubt that,” he said, his voice husky. “Tell me, Allie, would you want to live forever?”
“I’d want more time than I’ve been given.”
“What if it was all or nothing?”
“Then I’d take all.”
She shook her head. He didn’t get it. “Just think of all the things you could see, the advances in medicine, the technology. You could watch the world take shape, then
change and take shape again.” She got excited just thinking about it.
“Think about the last two hundred years, Allie. The battles fought, the wars won and lost, the people who lived and died and barely survived. In the last two hundred years there have been two world wars, not to mention the hundreds upon hundreds of smaller wars. There’s been famine and plague and Hitler.”
“Two hundred years ago, Mikael, women died in childbirth, there was cholera and small pox. Since then those things have been virtually wiped out. We’ve seen
the advent of the car, electricity, telephones, vaccinations...”
“The atomic bomb.”
“Air conditioning.”
“AIDS.”
“Indoor plumbing with flushing toilets.”
“Sadam Hussein.”
“Mother Theresa.”
“Cell phones.”
She paused to look at him. “You think cell phones are
bad?”
He shrugged. “I don’t like that anyone can contact me
anytime, anywhere.”
“Okay.” She thought for a moment, her face scrunched up. Then she smiled. “Velcro!”
Mikael threw up his hands in mock surrender. “I give up.” He laughed, a deep, hearty laugh she hadn’t heard from him before. “I can’t beat Velcro. You’re hopelessly
optimistic.”
Her smile faded a little. “Not hopelessly. There are some things I’m not optimistic about at all.”
He reached out and caressed her cheek with the back of his knuckles. “Even if I knew you for an eternity, I don’t think I’d be able to unlock all your secrets.”
She turned her face and planted a kiss on his palm. “If you knew me for eternity you would be bored.”
“I doubt that,” he said, his voice husky. “Tell me, Allie, would you want to live forever?”
“I’d want more time than I’ve been given.”
“What if it was all or nothing?”
“Then I’d take all.”