From Italy With Love
(2026)(The fifth book in the Valentinetti Crime Family series)
A novel by Rebecca Joyce
~ If love is measured by what a man is willing to sacrifice, then loving her will cost me everything.
I was born into a world where love could be exploited, loyalty could be purchased, and the truth could get everyone you cherished killed.
Then there was her.
She was never supposed to become my weakness. I wasn’t supposed to memorize the sound of her laughter, dream of giving her a life untouched by the sins surrounding us, or love her so completely that every future without her became unbearable.
For a little while, we escaped. We built something beautiful in the shadows and pretended the darkness couldn’t find us. But love doesn’t erase the past.
It only gives the darkness something precious to take.
There are truths I can’t share, dangers she can’t see, and promises I made long before she became the only promise that mattered. Every day brings the shadows closer, threatening the fragile life we created and the future I once believed we deserved.
Now, I’m beginning to understand that sometimes loving someone means becoming the wound they must survive.
I was born into a world where love could be exploited, loyalty could be purchased, and the truth could get everyone you cherished killed.
Then there was her.
She was never supposed to become my weakness. I wasn’t supposed to memorize the sound of her laughter, dream of giving her a life untouched by the sins surrounding us, or love her so completely that every future without her became unbearable.
For a little while, we escaped. We built something beautiful in the shadows and pretended the darkness couldn’t find us. But love doesn’t erase the past.
It only gives the darkness something precious to take.
There are truths I can’t share, dangers she can’t see, and promises I made long before she became the only promise that mattered. Every day brings the shadows closer, threatening the fragile life we created and the future I once believed we deserved.
Now, I’m beginning to understand that sometimes loving someone means becoming the wound they must survive.