Venice Bound

By Normandie Alleman

Traveling to Venice to be the maid of honor in her best friend’s wedding sounds like a great vacation. But when Allison Fox discovers who the best man is, she is torn between duty and self-preservation. 

ALLISON. It has taken years to put her tumultuous relationship with a rodeo star behind her. But forgetting him turns out to be more difficult than she’d thought.

COLE. The Texas cowboy never got over his love for Allison. When he pursues her again, will she prove strong enough to walk away from the intense passion they share?

NICO. For years the handsome Italian, was committed solely to his work. Nico never expected he’d meet an American beauty who would awaken the desire he thought was long dead. But now that he’s found Allison, Nico vows never to let her go.

It will be a holiday to remember, but who will win Allison’s heart?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Normandie Alleman
• Release date: Apr 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386905974

Normandie Alleman

A former psychologist, Normandie has always been fascinated by human behavior. She loves writing quirky characters that are all too human. Fiber arts, baking, and Pinterest are a few of her favorite pastimes. A shamelessly proud basketball mom, Normandie lives on a farm with a passel of kids, an adorable husband, and a pet pig who’s crazy for Red Bull. 

Book preview

Venice Bound

Venice Bound

Normandie Alleman

Normandie Alleman

Contents

Copyright

Content Information

Venice Bound By Normandie Alleman

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Bonus Content

Daddy Morebucks by Normandie Alleman

Chapter 1

Her Web Master by Normandie Alleman

Prologue

The Baller’s Secret Baby by Normandie Alleman

Chapter 1

About the Author

Also By Normandie Alleman

Venice Bound

©Copyright Normandie

Alleman

2017

Cover Art by Mayhem Cover Creations

2nd edition. This book was first published by Total-E-Bound Publishing in January 2013 under the title Venetian Love Knots.

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This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the author.

This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers

age

18

+.

---

In addition to Venice Bound, three free first chapters from Normandie Alleman’s novels Her Web Master, Daddy Morebucks, and The Baller’s Secret Baby are included at the end of

the

book

.

Venice Bound By Normandie Alleman

Traveling to Venice to be the maid of honor in her best friend’s wedding sounds like a great vacation. But when Allison Fox discovers who the best man is, she is torn between duty and self-preservation.

ALLISON. It has taken years to put her tumultuous relationship with a rodeo star behind her. But forgetting him turns out to be more difficult than she’d thought.

COLE. The Texas cowboy never got over his love for Allison. When he pursues her again, will she prove strong enough to walk away from the intense passion they share?

NICO. For years the handsome Italian, was committed solely to his work. Nico never expected he’d meet an American beauty who would awaken the desire he thought was long dead. But now that he’s found Allison, Nico vows never to let

her

go

.

---

It will be a holiday to remember, but who will win Allison’s heart?

1

Allison held her plastic cup in a death grip as she absently rattled the ice cubes around in it. She stared out of the bubble-shaped window on her flight to Rome. The vodka had done little to calm her nerves. None of the magazines she’d been flipping through distracted her. Her mind was determined to go back to the one man who had caused her more pain and heartache than she had ever known. The man whom she’d soon see for the first time in four years .

She bit her lip and shut her eyes tightly, remembering the day her best friend Marcia had told her that she was getting married in Venice the week of Valentine’s Day. Marcia had asked her to be her maid of honor and Allison had immediately jumped at the chance. She loved to travel, and she wanted to be there for Marcia.

Marcia had been dating Alfonso ever since Allison could remember. The pair had been together since they were kids in grammar school, when Alfonso and his parents moved to Texas from Italy. In fact, Alfonso had lived in the United States so long that no one thought of him as anything other than American, but the rest of his family was still in Italy.

Marcia had explained that it was a family tradition for them to be married in Venice around St Valentine’s Day. Alfonso was very close with his grandmother, who still lived there, and he wanted to carry on the family tradition for her. Marcia had met Alfonso’s Italian family, and had said that they were wonderful.

His grandmother is so cute and little, but she’s a pistol, you know? Plus he has all these Italian cousins. They’re so handsome and polite. And they really know how to throw a party. I bet the whole time we were in Italy we didn’t sleep a wink! Somebody was always throwing a dinner party, or a lunch, or even a brunch for us. It was wild. And Venice… Oh, Allie, you are going to love Venice! Marcia had gone on and on, telling her about the sights she’d seen and all of the art she knew Allison would love. It sounded like something Allison didn’t want

to

miss

.

A couple of weeks later, Allison was returning from the market when she’d got a call from Marcia. "Allie, honey, it’s me, Marsh. Are you sitting down? I need you to

sit

down

."

Allison had set her groceries down on the floor

and

sat

.

Honey, Alfonso has gotten Cole to agree to be his best man,

she’d

said

.

Marcia’s announcement had been met with complete silence.

Allison? You still there? Marcia had asked.

Cole. For years Allison had prayed for indifference towards Cole. She had hated him for years. What she felt for Cole was either unmitigated passion or hate. She didn’t know any in between. And what she had wound up craving was indifference. The last time she’d seen him, four years ago, what she had prayed for, what she had begged God for, was to feel nothing for him. He had almost ruined

her

life

.

Yes, Marcia, I’m here, she said without emotion, and as she’d slumped forward on the chair, the strap of her purse fell from her shoulder.

"Well, Allison, I know this is going to be uncomfortable for you, the way you’ve tried to put the whole Cole thing behind you, but hopefully you won’t have to see each other very much. I mean it is a large wedding party and all. Alfonso says Cole has a girlfriend. I mean she’s not coming or anything, but…well, what do you think? Will you still be my maid of honour?"

Of course, it’s fine, Allison lied, keeping her tone as even as she’d

been

able

.

I’m so sorry about this! Marcia prattled on and Allison had put on a brave face for her friend and pretended that everything would

be

fine

.

Now that she was on her way to Italy, her fears rose to the surface.

It’s fine, she thought to herself sarcastically. That’s why I’m sitting here half-drunk and miserable, worrying about some guy from four years ago. She crossed and uncrossed her legs several times, fractious and annoyed with herself that even thinking about him could still shake her up

so

much

.

Allison Fox’s relationship with Cole Street was a source of shame for her, but it was also secretly how she identified herself. While she was ashamed of what she’d put up with for the relationship, who she was when she was with Cole was how she defined herself as a woman in many ways. And that made her feel even worse about herself.

No one had ever understood how she could stand to be with Cole. He was not the kind of guy she could count on to be there for her. He would stand her up for dates and disappear from her life for months while he was gone on the rodeo circuit. Then Cole would reappear as though everything was just fine. But when they were together things were more than fine. The searing heat between the two of them had been legendary. One glance from him could drop her to her knees, putty in his hands.

For as long as Allison could remember, she had been unable to resist Cole. He was far from romantic, but the raw passion that he had for her was even better as far as she was concerned. His forcefulness, the way he knew his mind and hers, the way he knew that he wanted her and single-mindedly always came for her—all of it made her powerless to resist him. Their intense emotional connection rivalled the physical one, but it was more complicated than that. Cole had always been able to give her what she needed, even when she didn’t understand those needs herself.

The flight attendant strolled down the aisle passing out blankets. Allison took one. Her arms were covered in goose bumps and the hairs stood on end. She hoped it was because the cabin was chilly.

Allison wrapped the blanket around her, and snuggled down into her seat. As she rubbed her arms to try to warm herself, her mind went back to the first time she had

met

Cole

.

---

The music was too loud. She’d gone to the fraternity party with Marcia and Alfonso. Cole was supposed to be her date for the evening. It was a casual set-up and at first Allison didn’t see much potential. Cole wasn’t a traditionally handsome guy, and he ignored her for the