A Beautiful Lie
Coda Languez
(Birth of a Sin, #1)
Publication date: June 1st 2022
Genres: Adult, Dark Romance, Mafia, Romance
Could the love between a Sinner and a Saint only end in flames?
Ira owned the city. As the head of the Dante family, she had the law in her pocket and her red manicured nails in every criminal enterprise.
But when she met Tristan – a man with ocean blue eyes and an angelic smile – it was love at first sight. It didn’t matter that he owned nothing to his name and lived in the worst part of her city. Anything he could desire, she could give him.
There was just a tiny problem.
Tristan was a vigilante. A partner of the hero whose mission was to take down Ira’s empire.
Will their relationship, built on pretty promises and beautiful lies, unravel under his secret, or does that really matter?
Either way, Ira had her eyes set on her prize and she always gets what she wants. Damn his feelings on the matter.
Originally on Kindle Vella!
Book Excerpt
Boots trampling against dirt joined the choir of screams outside. The hissing wisps and pops of bullets hitting flesh echoed against the cement walls. Fear squeezed her heart tightly as she held her crying brother against her. His sobs were the only thing distracting her from the iron and copper in the air, wafting into the darkness they hid in.
A presence stayed with them, trying to shield them, one that felt so warm and yet out of reach. Ira prayed that the high-pitched hiss of a bullet would not end against their flesh and pounding sound of boots would not enter her ruined home. She choked on her own sobs, humming through burning tears to comfort her little brother, crying against her chest.
“Listen to me.”
She looked at the voice calling to her and a gentle grip fell onto her left hand. Her fingers returned the grip as she tried to pay attention to the voice.
“Stay here! Don’t let anyone find you.”
That voice was stern, yet hitched with panic. She released a shuddering gasp as the screams grew louder, an explosion coiling and grasping her mind, her heart pounding, like drums.
War drums.
“I promise I’ll be back! I’ll find help!”
That voice faded against the chaos, and the presence slipped away, its grip leaving her. “N-no no...don’t!” She held onto it even tighter. Her head turned towards that dimming voice, finally seeing the presence, silhouetted by a bright white light, beams of warmth against her face. It tried to pull away, to go into that light.
Apart from her trembling, terrified brother.
Away from her.
The sound of a bullet ripped through the rock. She could’ve sworn one had penetrated the darkness, spinning into the wall. It made her grip loosen, and the presence, her only shield, slipped away. “Protect Ori. Keep him safe. I’ll come back for you!”
What she had been fighting back against finally fell; tears, burning against her skin, traveled down her cheeks. The cries of her brother mingling with the wails screaming in the darkness and blood filled her mouth. “Don’t leave...”
“Protect Ori! Keep him safe! Promise me!”
Only wisps remained of that gentle light. Her own fingers held onto those of the presence, as hard as she could, “I-I promise! I’ll protect him! I’ll keep him safe!”
Her fingers were empty. That light, was out of reach. Her hand clawed against the darkness, reaching out for that vanishing light, “No-NO! DON’T LEAVE ME!”
The smell of ash and blood filled her nostrils and muffled her screams.
“PLEASE DON’T LEAVE ME!”
* * *
“...Don’t leave me...”
A soft breeze and the gentle rocking of a ceiling fan welcomed her to reality. She blinked, her eyes heavy and…
Wet.
Her left shoulder was lifted, reaching towards that ceiling fan, and a sensation she hadn’t felt for a long time overwhelmed her. Her left side was heavy and empty, a sharp pain shooting from her shoulder, running through her harried nerves. She ground her teeth, closing her eyes tightly as the fear, the pain, the loss erupted into a much more familiar emotion.
Rage.
“FUCK!” Her right fist slammed down onto the nightstand. The granite top shattered and the wooden legs buckled under the impact. Her shuddering breaths in fury of her own weakness. Can’t she have one peaceful night? One night where she was not tingling with blood lust or haunted by unwanted memories. Her left shoulder sunk into satin pillows, her body drowning in the sheets.
She pulled her hand back to gaze at it, scowling at her trembling fingers. Nothing, there was nothing. She willed her heart to slow down, the adrenaline to return into depths.
Ori was safe.
She was in no danger here.
Not anymore.
‘I’ll come back...’
“Liar.”
She seethed, her hand resting over her tired eyes. “You fucking liar...”
Another shuddering breath, letting the fiery anguish consume it, leaving nothing but ash.
Her eyes fluttered before she yawned, loudly.
Oh, this sucked.
It was too early to be awake.
She sat up with a grunt and pressed the button above the nightstand wreckage. Slowly the blinds opened, revealing the just rising sun, casting pinks and yellows over the pale blue sky. She ground her teeth again, glaring at the view of the skyline, before leaning down to pick up her phone. It survived the nightstands collision with her fist; the time blinking before her eyes.
5:30 am.
“It’s too fucking early for this shit.”
God, she was pissed.
Pissed at Edward for his stupid proposal, at the two vigilantes causing her family stress. At her mind, for conjuring up the WORST POSSIBLE memory during her restless sleep. She kicked her legs over the side of the bed, stomping over to her dresser to put on leggings and a tank top. She shook and growled like a large cat, about to pounce on its latest meal. “I need to beat the shit out of something.”
Author Bio:
Coda Languez is a Software Engineer by day and an Artist/Author by night. She is lover of all things anime, horror, and comic related, making her a true geek in all aspects. Heavily influenced by the works of Satoshi Kon, Kouta Hirano, Francesca Lia Block, and Clive Barker, Coda mixes black comedy, horror, magic realism, and dark romance into her works, creating an ‘it’s complicated’ relationship between readers and her anti-heroic, even villainous protagonists.
When she is not programming in her day job or writing psychological terrifying romances and dark action comedies in the night hours, Coda often binges on anime, fantasy, and sci-fi sagas and indulges in competition reality tv (a guilty pleasure). She is the mother of an adorable toddler and his Pembroke Welsh Corgi brothers, and wife to an awesome and often exasperated husband.
For information on Coda’s latest works, visit codemonkeyarts.com or connect with her on social media via @codemonkeyarts.
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