Marie Ferrarella - Forgotten Honeymoon

I can no longer bear to stay silent. My family is crumbling, and Jake needs my support. I believe all the plots to destroy the Fortunes have been unearthed. Now we must unite and stand proud against our enemies. It’s not easy being rich and powerful, always in the spotlight. Everyone wants a piece of you. But I know that together we can triumph over any adversity. I know justice will prevail and Jake’s innocence will be proven. Then we can get back to what really matters—love and family.

Dear Reader,

I have always been a firm believer in family and family ties. The idea of big family gatherings has always filled me with a warm, nostalgic feeling. And year after year, I still manage to get choked up at those greeting-card commercials. You know, the ones where siblings and children overcome great obstacles to walk into a house and a warm hug just in time for the holidays. They never fail to make me misty.

For the longest time, my own family was tiny—just my two brothers, my parents and me. I can remember envying people with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. That was why it was such a treat to be one of the authors included in the FORTUNE’S CHILDREN series. While writing Forgotten Honeymoon, I could close my eyes, put myself in Kristina’s place and pretend to have scads of family scattered all around the country. Family that, no matter what the differences involved might be, come through for you when the chips are down. And after all, isn’t that, along with having five different flavors of ice cream in the refrigerator, what the American Dream is really all about? To always have people to rely on, to watch over and to have watch over you?

I hope you enjoy reading Forgotten Honeymoon half as much as I enjoyed writing it. Now go and hug someone close to you.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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To Jessi and Nikky, the beginning of my legacy

is a RITA ®Award-winner and USA TODAY bestselling author with over 140 titles for Silhouette Books.

Marie was born in Germany, raised in New York City and currently lives in Southern California with her husband, their two children and a German shepherd named Rocky. She holds a Masters of Arts degree with a concentration in Shakespearean comedy from Queens College. Her interests include old movies, old songs and musical theater, and her motto is Always Be Prepared. (She sewed her own wedding dress and made it wash-and-wear “just in case”!)

Meet the Fortunes—three generations of a family with a legacy of wealth, influence and power. As they unite to face an unknown enemy, shocking family secrets are revealed…and passionate new romances are ignited.

KRISTINA FORTUNE: She is beautiful and wealthy, but there’s more to Kristina than her spoiled rich-girl attitude. However, it isn’t until she loses her memory that she proves she is more than just another pretty face….

MAX COOPER: The tough blue-collar loner has had to make his own way in life. He resents that pushy and pampered Kristina is his new business partner. And when amnesia renders her at his mercy, he decides to teach her a lesson…. But could he be the one who ends up learning about love?

JAKE FORTUNE: He stands accused of murder. But will justice set him free, or will he end up imprisoned for life?

KATE FORTUNE: She can no longer stay hidden while her family faces a relentless adversary driven to destroy them. So she reappears to provide the emotional support that binds the Fortunes together in their crisis.

REBECCA FORTUNE: The mystery writer and amateur sleuth is determined to unravel the clues and prove Jake innocent of murder. Will her investigation succeed before it’s too late?

LIZ JONES—CELEBRITY GOSSIP

Kate Fortune is alive and well! Many friends and family members grieved the death of this wonderful woman. But apparently the crafty matriarch of the Fortune family has been hiding out. She survived the plane crash—which was an attempted murder, not an accident!—and has remained in hiding, trying to discover who’s been out to destroy her family. With Monica Malone dead and Jake on trial for murder, Kate could no longer remain silent. She’s back to support the family and resurrect the mighty Fortune empire.

Go, Kate!

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Epilogue

K ristina Fortune hung up the telephone. A bittersweet smile played on her lips, a reflection of her ambivalent feelings. Grant was getting married. And while she felt happy for her older half brother, she couldn’t help feeling sad for herself. She doubted it would ever come to pass for her, that knock-your-shoes-off kind of love that left you tingling and wanting more.

Especially since she wasn’t about to let her guard down anymore. Not after David.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, she thought. And nothing ripped apart.

With a sigh, she wandered over to the window. The view from the fourteenth floor of the Fortune Building was next to nonexistent today. Visibility, according to the radio, was zero. Air traffic was at a standstill. Looking out the window was like looking into the interior of a cloud. A dense fog was embracing the city, swirling its long tentacles around the tall Minneapolis skyline and smothering it like a white feather boa thrown about the shoulders of a call girl.

She remained standing there, staring, though there was nothing to see. Staring and thinking.

There was no doubt about it, she felt restless. Edgy. Grant’s phone call had just brought it to the fore. It was as if there was no place within the chrome-and-black-enamel office where she could comfortably alight. So she didn’t bother moving at all.

The feeling of restlessness, of dissatisfaction, was due largely to her grandmother’s sudden death.

Kristina still couldn’t believe it.

Death happened every day. The newspapers and the rest of the media were full of it. But it was always someone else’s family, not hers. Death wasn’t something that she wanted to think about at twenty-four. It had no place in her life.