27 Days To Release Day!
Well, excitement abounds at the Palatial Horvath Estate today, because I found out that HOLD ME is available for preorder at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Wheeee!! It’s like it’s all real or something. 😀
But for today’s countdown post, I had something a little different in mind. Today I wanted to talk to you about the bad guy.
In romantic suspense, things can’t be all sunshine and lollipops. The hero and heroine can’t run away screaming, “KITTENS! AHH, THE PURRING!”.
No. In a romantic suspense novel, there needs to be a bad guy.
The bad guy in HOLD ME is named Frankie Silvano. Frankie is a hit man for the mob. On top of that, he has a reputation for never having been arrested. And, oh yeah, he’s a little…nuts.
Here’s Katie’s impression of him the first time she sees him:
He was a little man. Short. Not too much taller than she was, but he had an almost kinetic energy, the illusion of both strength and madness.
Today I’d like to share an excerpt from the first time we really meet Frankie Silvano. I hope you enjoy it! 😉 (potty mouth language warning)
[spoiler effect=”simple” show=”Click To Read Excerpt “]
The Dream Net Casino was huge, one of the biggest in Atlantic City, and Joey Silvano ran the place. So Frankie figured it was a measure of his father’s affection that he’d been given an office the size of a postage stamp right next to the loading dock. Half the time he couldn’t even hear himself think because of trucks idling outside. Poppa used the whole fucking penthouse and mostly he wasn’t even there, but Frankie was shoved into a broom closet. Fucking old bastard.
Frankie sat behind his desk and toyed with a pencil, tapping it repeatedly. When somebody knocked on the door, he called out permission to enter. Arlo Kravitz walked into the room.
“You wanted to see me, boss?” Arlo asked. His face was placid, eager. He was a big man, far bigger than Frankie himself, with a muscular build turning to fat. A beer belly hung over the waistband of his brown trousers and there was no way the jacket would close. He’d been wearing the same suit on Friday.
Friday.
Frankie heard a pop and saw that he’d snapped the pencil in half. He threw it away with a quick gesture.
“Arlo,” he said. “Thanks for coming. Sit.”
“Sure, sure.” Arlo sounded almost pathetically grateful. With some effort, he squeezed himself into one of the visitors’ chairs. “Thanks for understanding, boss.” Arlo leaned forward once he was settled. “You know, about the car.”
Frankie swiveled back and forth in his chair. “You mean, the car you were driving?”
“Yeah, yeah. I wasn’t sure—”
“The car you were driving when you got pushed into a quarry pit?”
Arlo looked concerned now. “Uh—”
“The car you were driving when you got me arrested?”
Arlo sat straighter, definitely on edge. “Boss—”
Frankie studied him. “I’ve never been arrested before, did you know that?”
“Um, yeah. Yeah, I knew that.” Arlo definitely sounded nervous. Sweat beaded on his broad face.
“And the woman, the woman who was driving the other car? She’s a secretary. Did you know that too?” Frankie kept his voice even, but his fingers tapped restlessly on the desk.
“Uh, no. I mean, Yeah.” Arlo was practically babbling now. “I think one of the guys told me after.”
“Turns out she’s not a Fed. Not a cop. Hasn’t had any kind of training, as far as I know. In fact, she’s probably never been involved in a car chase in her life. But she pushed your car into a quarry pit.”
Arlo was mute, eyes huge. He looked like he was finally grasping the seriousness of his situation.
“And I got arrested. And humiliated. She took me out with her purse. The cops, they laughed, did you know that? Laughed at me.” He tamped down the anger bubbling just beneath the surface.
“I’m sorry, boss.” The big man swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
“I had to tell my father. Did you know that as well?” he continued as if Arlo hadn’t spoken. That had been the worst part, really. Telling Poppa. Seeing the triumph in his eyes. The glee. Knowing that inside, the old bastard was laughing at him too.
“No. Boss, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Arlo struggled to get out of the chair, his breathing fast, the sweat running. “I’ll fix it. I’ll make it right. Whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it. Just give me a chance to—”
“Too late,” Frankie said, softly.[/spoiler]
