Moonshine & Madness [Love on the Rocks 2] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) Read online

  Love on the Rocks 2

  Moonshine & Madness

  Gianna isn't looking for complications in her life, but meeting six sexy, hot men within forty-eight hours of one another seems like the kind of complicated she deserves. She doesn't want to choose, but the possibility of having to is breathing down her neck until that first date. Then she discovers that all six men are brothers, and boy are they willing to share.

  Gianna is a caring, giving, plus-size woman with a lot of heart, and she is adventurous, too. Falling in love with six men is an adventure of its own. Becoming part of a homicide investigation—and ultimately becoming a killer's next prey—may be the last adventure she will ever go on. She's tough, resourceful, and determined to stay alive long enough for the police to capture the serial killer.

  Her men are also resourceful, are in the center of the investigation, and know what Gianna is facing alone. It’s a race against time, and the one to win will be the person willing to die for what is right.

  Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Romantic Suspense

  Length: 56,580 words

  MOONSHINE & MADNESS

  Love on the Rocks 2

  Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  LOVEXTREME FOREVER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: LoveXtreme Forever

  MOONSHINE & MADNESS

  Copyright © 2016 by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-68295-557-4

  First E-book Publication: October 2016

  Cover design by Les Byerley

  All art and logo copyright © 2016 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Moonshine & Madness by Dixie Lynn Dwyer from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Dixie Lynn Dwyer’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Dixie Lynn Dwyer’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  Dear readers,

  Thank you for purchasing this legal copy of Moonshine & Madness. Gianna is one tough woman, but she wasn’t always so strong and determined. Her experiences with men haven’t exactly been wonderful, and one even messed with her mind so much her self-confidence was destroyed. Time and experience have a way of healing old wounds, and in this case patience pays off and Gianna finds romance when she least expects it, and with a little moonshine & madness. May you enjoy her story.

  Happy reading.

  Hugs!

  Dixie

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  MOONSHINE & MADNESS

  Love on the Rocks 2

  DIXIE LYNN DWYER

  Copyright © 2016

  Prologue

  Gianna Cuccione was running late. She had been talking to her friend Cherie and listening to her talk about Hawaii and being interested in Venetia’s brothers, though they lived in New York and Gianna lived in South Carolina. Then she had to hear about these job interviews in New Jersey and that maybe she should consider checking them out because they would be closer to New York and Venetia’s brothers, with whom she’d really hit it off.

  Gianna sighed. She wished she could meet some nice guy, but most men she met liked the skinny model types. She was not skinny. She was considered plus size: big boned, sexy curves, voluptuous. She was also five foot seven, which shorter men found intimidating. She was actually the shortest child in the Cuccione family. Her brothers, cousins, aunts, and uncles were all over six feet tall.

  She was in great physical condition. She was solid, tight, and had a flat belly and toned thighs. She was like a white version of Beyoncé. She chuckled just thinking about that. Gianna had a bigger bust.

  She thought about the dinner meeting she had this Friday at some place called Steak-N-Shine. It was an upscale restaurant known for its superb menu of steaks and various flavors of moonshine. She had completed the final editing on a very large nonfiction book by a famous historian in the area, and they were celebrating the completion of the book before it went to paperback. It would be her, Mrs. Fields, and four of the executives of the publishing house Gianna worked for.

  Another client, Giselle Matters, was working on a book about the best places to eat when visiting South Carolina. Steak-N-Shine was on the preliminary list, and they were supposed to make plans to dine at the place next week and see what it had to offer. Gianna hoped the food was good and the atmosphere, too, since she would be eating there twice.

  Gianna played with the button for the radio station. She found a song she liked and listened to the words as she drove along the empty road—something about meeting, falling in love, and taking a chance on an instant attraction. The words drew her in, making her imagine what it would be like to actually love someone with all her heart and soul. Would it ever happen to her, or was her bad luck with men a sign of worse to come? Not that she was a very experienced woman. But Gianna had made some mistakes, and the biggest one had been sleeping with Ivan.

  He did nothing for her, and because of her lack of self-esteem in college, she’d allowed him to make her feel like the problem was with her and not him. She learned later on that she was dissatisfied with him in bed because he didn’t know how to please a woman. He was a stick-it-in-and-get-himself-off kind of guy. Real men engaged in foreplay.

  She hated thinking about this. She felt a little embarrassed thinking about finding a man to fulfill her fantasies. Was it normal to want a man’s mouth on every part of her, feasting on her as if she were the most delectable thing on the planet? Was that asking too much, to be the center of a man’s universe?

  Her gut clenched and she gripped the wheel. There was no one for her. It seemed that her size and her shyness might be standing in the way after all. Why couldn’t she meet a man even half as perfect as one of Venetia’s men? They adored her, loved her every moment, and always put her first. Gianna was tired of giving and being with men who took and never gave back. It made her feel worthless and as if she wasn’t good enough. Two lovers and no orgasm ever. Even her toys couldn’t bring her to orgasm.

  Her cheeks felt warm at the thought and she chuckled.

  She was heading back to the office now and driving down the side roads to avoid any slower traffic on the main roadways.

  When she came to the intersection and stopped at the red traffic light, she noticed the small gray car heading through the green light, and then, from right behind Gianna’s car, a blue truck came speeding up. It happened so quickly. The blue truck slammed into the gray car, sending the vehicle into the telephone pole and some sort of utility box. The truck screeched its tires, turned right, spun
around, and passed by her. She saw the man’s face, tan and angry. She caught sight of the license plate: Z27GR—

  A large explosion shook her vehicle and she saw that the car was on fire, along with whatever was in the green box the car slammed into.

  She pulled out her cell phone and dialed 911. She gave a description of the driver, the license plate, and the make of the truck, and then she got out of the car. No one else was around. It was a side road that only locals really used. Then she heard the screaming.

  “Oh God, there are kids in the car. It’s on fire, hurry,” she told the operator.

  Gianna didn’t know what to do as she dropped the cell phone and ran toward the car. Another small bang stopped her in her tracks and she covered her face and head. The flames went up and then dissipated. She reached for the door, noticing the driver. The woman was bleeding near her temple.

  “I’m going to help you. How badly are you hurt? Can you move?”

  “Babies. My babies,” she said, and the smoke was making Gianna cough when she saw and heard the babies crying in the backseat. Both of the babies were in car seats. One looked about four years old, and the other a toddler.

  “Okay. Everything is going to be okay. I’m going to help you,” she said, voice cracking. She could feel her arms shaking, and she prayed she could get them out of the car before they all blew up, including her. The heat from the flames outside the car could be felt within. It made her move faster.

  She got the mother’s seat belt undone, could see her broken arm and messed-up leg, but the gash on her head looked to be the worst. Gianna’s hands were trembling, and she was desperate to get the woman out so she would have enough time to get the kids next. She cringed at the lacerations to her head and neck. The smell of fuel was terrible, and Gianna coughed and felt shaky.

  “I’m going to get you out of here and then get your babies. Help is on the way,” she told the woman.

  She struggled to pull her from the seat. The dashboard was bent, and the woman screamed as Gianna pulled her from the car. She tugged and tugged.

  “Help me so I can save your babies, too. Help me,” Gianna told her.

  “Do it. Just pull,” the woman cried, and Gianna tugged harder and they tumbled from the car. Gianna dragged her across the way, then ran back. As she did, the front of the car was engulfed in flames.

  The kids were crying as Gianna reached inside over the driver’s seat. She felt something pinch her skin but had to reach farther into the backseat to undo the first child’s harness.

  She had never been so scared in her entire life. Here she was, in a car filling with smoke, the fuel fumes burning her eyes and her nostrils, and she was stretching over the backseat to get the kids out.

  “Help me get your sister. Come on and undo her belt,” she told the older girl. The girl was crying so hard and Gianna was quivering terribly. “Together, baby girls, so we can get to Mommy,” she said, and the little girl with shaking hands began to undo her sister’s seat belt. The poor baby was wailing now.

  The belt freed and Gianna got her out of the car, sliding her across the driver’s seat and onto the road. The little girl waited right there for Gianna to get her sister, then to tell her what to do next.

  Gianna reached inside to get the baby and had to stretch deeper into the car where the metal had pushed in from the middle console. She felt the metal scrape her side and cut her. She gasped but her adrenaline was pumping as she pulled out the baby from the awkward position. Her back ached, but she was determined to get her out alive. She lifted up the toddler, who was bleeding from her arm and cheek, and ran them both across the road to their mother. Sirens blared in the distance. Fire engines roared and the car exploded. Gianna leaped to cover the children and their mother.

  She looked around, hearing the emergency responders coming, but not seeing anyone. The mother’s head continued to gush blood.

  “My name is Gianna. I’m staying right here with you and your mama,” she told the crying babies. The little girl lay on her mom’s side, and Gianna held the baby on her lap. She needed to stop that bleeding and apply pressure to the wound until help arrived. She pulled off her top, rolled it into a ball, and pressed it to the mother’s head as she continued to hold on to the babies. The toddler gripped her arms and neck, squeezing tight, shaking in her arms. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the paramedics, police, and fire engines arrived on scene.

  Gianna could hardly breath she was so terrified. She was also sitting there in only a white lace bra as multiple first responders got to her and the kids.

  “Okay, what happened? Are you hurt?” the state trooper asked her.

  “The mother is the worst injured. Broken bones, cut head. This was all I had. I didn’t know what to do. I just stopped at the red light, and then a truck slammed into this car, and the mother was screaming and the babies were crying, there was fire, and—”

  He placed his hand on her shoulder, and her eyes widened as a spark of something caused her to stop talking. He bent down as paramedics started working on the mother and others took the two babies from her.

  “You’re okay, miss. It looks like you got cut, too. Let me get a paramedic to look at that and I’ll get you something to put on.” He helped her up and she looked at the babies crying, then back to the trooper who helped her.

  “Will they be okay? I promised I would stay with them,” she said, looking back at the kids and trying to use her arm to cover her chest, which was completely impossible.

  “They’re in good hands. Let’s get you over to another paramedic,” he said and helped her walk.

  “I can’t stop shaking.”

  “That’s why I want Nixon to take a look at you.”

  As he helped her to the other ambulance, another tall, very attractive paramedic looked her over and then quickly cleared his throat and helped her sit down. Another paramedic tossed him a sheet, and he placed it around her shoulders.

  Just then, an additional explosion went off. People screamed and she felt both the trooper and paramedic cover her with their bodies. She gripped on to both. “Oh God!” she cried out.

  “You’re okay. You’re safe with us,” the trooper said. She looked up as they slowly released her. Both men kept hands on her and gave her reassuring smiles.

  “What’s your name, honey?” the trooper asked her.

  “Gianna.”

  He nodded. “I’m Trooper Darius Law. This here is my brother Nixon.”

  “Brother?” she asked, her teeth chattering, her jaw not keeping up with her words and making her sound weird.

  Nixon gave her a smile.

  “I can’t stop shaking,” she said.

  Nixon placed his hand on her shoulder, over the sheet that barely covered her breasts.

  “I want you to try to relax while I look over this cut. I think you may need stitches,” Nixon told her. He was tall, about six foot three, with tanned skin, bold brown eyes, and muscles galore. The blue shirt he wore was stretched across the muscles, and it was hard not to find the man attractive. His brother Trooper Law, who looked like some sexual fantasy in a uniform, was just as attractive. In fact, they looked so much alike that only the uniform and a more intense expression on Darius’s face separated the two.

  “Twins?” she asked.

  “Triplets, actually,” Nixon said and began to wipe away the blood by her side.

  “Can you explain to me what happened exactly?” he asked. Now other police and state troopers were there and they gathered around her. She was feeling so exposed like this and pulled the sheet tighter.

  “You’re going to have to go to the hospital. You’ll need a tetanus shot and some stitches.” More sirens honked and blared in the distance. The fire was out of control in the car and that green electrical box.