The Perfect Choice: Seven Sins Series, #3

By Sophie Adams

Damien Callaughan was an ambitious man. Rich, handsome, and very successful, he had the world in his hands and was willing to do anything to stay on top of power.
Sweet young Gabrielle Clark moved to Raleigh looking for a new life, away from the sad memories of her past.
When Damien and Gabby crossed paths, desire and passion surrounded them, even though they both knew their worlds were very different. Contrary to all expectations, they built an intense long-term relationship, but full of secrets.
To be together, Damien needed to make a choice and Gabby needed to learn to trust. Are they ready to let go of their fears and follow their hearts?
The perfect choice is the third tale in the Seven Sins series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sophie Adams
• Release date: Oct 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781071573365

Book preview

The perfect choice

Seven Sins: Avarice

Sophie Adams

Translation: Gabriel Oliveira

Copyright © 2017 Sophie Adams

Cover and editorial production: Luizyana Poletto - Bookmarks Brasil

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All rights reserved and protected under Brazilian Law 9.610 of 02/19/1998.

No part of this book, without prior written authorization from the author, may be reproduced or transmitted by any means employed: electronic, mechanical, photographic, recording, or any other means, except for the use of brief citations in the book reviews. Fonts are used with permission from Microsoft.

Violation of copyright is a crime established by Brazilian law no. 9,610/98 and punished by article 184 of its Penal Code.

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are fictitious, products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Index:

Summary..........................................................................................................................4

Author's note: ..................................................................................................................5

Avarice............................................................................................................................6

Gabrielle.................................................................................7, 12, 19, 29, 41, 47, 57, 67

Damien........................................................................................ 9, 16, 25, 35, 44, 52, 62

Epilogue.........................................................................................................................67

Other books of the Seven Sins Series............................................................................69

Summary

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Damien Callaughan was an ambitious man. Rich, handsome, and very successful, he had the world in his hands and was willing to do anything to stay on top of power.

Sweet young Gabrielle Clark went to Raleigh in search of a new life, away from the sad memories of her past.

When Damien and Gabby crossed paths, desire and passion surrounded them, even though they both knew their worlds were very different. Contrary to all expectations, they built an intense long-term relationship, but full of secrets.

To be together, Damien needed to make a choice and Gabby needed to learn to trust. Are they ready to let go of their fears and follow their hearts?

The perfect choice is the third tale in the Seven Sins series.

Author's Note:

Seven sins. Seven human attitudes contrary to divine laws. Seven mistakes that all of us, at some point in our lives, make or encounter ourselves.

Envy, Lust, Avarice, Wrath, Gluttony, Vanity, and Laziness. Each tale in the Seven Sins series is inspired by one of these attitudes. All stories have a beginning, middle, and end, and can intertwine with characters that are present in previous stories.

What's worth more: love or money? In The Perfect Choice, we will meet Damien, a rich and powerful man, who has the world in his hands, and Gabby, a sweet and innocent young woman, with some secrets from the past, but willing to start over. When the worlds of the two meet, it is impossible to resist the passion. But, what they don't know, is that fate always charges the price for the wrong choices we make... so, they must make the perfect choice.

At the end of the reading, be sure to rate the book and recommend it to your friends. Your rating allows other readers to be interested in the stories told.

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With love,

Sophie Adams

Avarice [av-er-is]

feminine noun

Quality or characteristic of someone who is stingy, who has an excessive attachment to money, to wealth.

ext. Lack of magnanimity, generosity; stinginess.

Gabrielle

I heard the first chords of the piano and smoothly ran my hands over the sides of the dress, made of silk as blue as my eyes. Rod, the pianist, introduced Have I Told You Lately, by his namesake Rod Stewart, and I approached the microphone to start singing. I could hardly imagine how the verses of this beautiful song would reflect my feelings soon.

While the piano chords sounded, I could hear the buzz of conversation from Richmont's, a very exclusive five-star restaurant in the upscale area of Raleigh, North Carolina. The elegant place was frequented by people of the highest order: successful businessmen, politicians, celebrities, and anyone and everyone who could afford to pay at least four hundred dollars for a dinner. Which, of course, was not my case, even though Louie Richmont, the owner of the place, paid very well for three weekly shows.

I had been hired just over three months ago and knew most of the regulars. After the shows, Louie insisted that I went over between the tables, receiving compliments for my performance on the stage, or acting as a kind of hostess, making the customers feel welcome. Thinking about it made me consider the huge difference from my previous life, far away from there, in New York, when I sang in one of those smoky and noisy bars in one of the worst areas of the city. Forget it, Gabby. This story was left behind, I told myself, not wanting to remember all the loss and pain I went through in recent years. I was there to start over and that was what I would do, starting with my career.

After a few moments, Rod gave the cue and I started to murmur the first lines, feeling gradual - as always - the conversation ceases and the attention turns to the stage.

Have I told you lately that I love you?

Have I told you there`s no one else above you?

You fill my heart with gladness, take away all my sadness,

Ease my troubles, that's what you do.

The second stanza was followed up by the deepest silence, even the sound of moving silverware silenced so that the piano notes could flow crystal clear around the room with excellent acoustics, something that Louie was deeply proud of.

With my eyes closed and immersed in the song, I let myself be carried away by the sweet words of love. The stage was the only place that I allowed myself to feel passion since life had shown me, countless times, that I couldn't trust anyone but myself.

Not anymore.

At that stage, I was no longer the dreamy girl who ran away from the nightmare that was her life in NY. There, wearing that beautiful dress and singing to an audience of respectable and incredibly successful people, I was someone to be admired. Even if it was just because of my voice since I would never be on the same level as anyone who was here.

I murmured the last few lines and, as Rod's piano resonated with the last notes of the song, I opened my eyes, still affected by the intensity of the song, and my attention was drawn to the restaurant entrance. Standing there, wearing a three-piece suit, probably tailor-made, with black hair very well cut and exuding power and wealth, was the most magnificent man I had ever seen in my life. The moment his eyes turned to the stage and caught my eye, I knew I would never be the same again.

Damien

My head was pounding after facing the long and complicated audience of former congressman Josh MacGregor, followed by the incessant chatter of David Crosby Jr, the new office intern, and son of Senator Crosby, who had been working with me for three months to fulfill a request of the influential father. Thinking about it reminded me that since the pedantic, immature and completely inexperienced boy started working here, I haven't gone out to dinner with friends or socializing with beautiful women anymore. Adept at silence, all that talk of the boy left me exhausted at the end of the day, and all I could wish for was the silence of my home, on Blound St., one of the most exclusive and expensive addresses in the city.

Crosby Jr. already saturated, I interrupted him in the corridor on