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I had gone to high school with Gabriel Gordon. Despite his heavenly name and matching beauty, Gabriel was anything but angelic. Rich, spoiled, and far too cynical for his age, he could easily charm the skirt off a prim beauty or a young teacher or two. Gabriel Gordon was mad, bad, and ...well, you probably know the rest.
The years hadn't changed him, despite taking over his father's company and expanding it into a multinational corporation. Unfortunately, it was just my luck that I found myself working in Gabriel's building. Although I had managed to avoid him for the better part of a month, a chance encounter in the elevator proved he was still an arrogant man who showed far too much interest in the shape of my mouth and nape of my neck.
From then on, Gabriel bedeviled me, teased me, and more often than not, made me want to throw things at his head. Still, just as in high school, I couldn't help but see the pain behind his lazy grin and the shadows in his crystalline gaze. When Gabriel confessed his love for me, I should have been the happiest woman in the world. Too bad I couldn't believe him...
Emma Adams had always considered herself level-headed, even-tempered, and most of all, sane. So how did she become someone who couldn't seem to push Gabriel Gordon away? No matter how sweet his words could be or how easily passion exploded between them, getting involved with the outrageously wealthy playboy had to be the height of insanity. Given their tumultuous natures and personal demons, there was only way a relationship between them could survive: in madness.
________
The years hadn't changed him, despite taking over his father's company and expanding it into a multinational corporation. Unfortunately, it was just my luck that I found myself working in Gabriel's building. Although I had managed to avoid him for the better part of a month, a chance encounter in the elevator proved he was still an arrogant man who showed far too much interest in the shape of my mouth and nape of my neck.
From then on, Gabriel bedeviled me, teased me, and more often than not, made me want to throw things at his head. Still, just as in high school, I couldn't help but see the pain behind his lazy grin and the shadows in his crystalline gaze. When Gabriel confessed his love for me, I should have been the happiest woman in the world. Too bad I couldn't believe him...
Emma Adams had always considered herself level-headed, even-tempered, and most of all, sane. So how did she become someone who couldn't seem to push Gabriel Gordon away? No matter how sweet his words could be or how easily passion exploded between them, getting involved with the outrageously wealthy playboy had to be the height of insanity. Given their tumultuous natures and personal demons, there was only way a relationship between them could survive: in madness.
________
Book I in the "Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Love" series. Approximately 54,500 words or 218 pages.
Amazon-US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DLR7FOI
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mad-for-you-anna-antonia/1115814325?ean=2940016713182&itm=1&usri=2940016713182
“Emma, open the door!”
“Go away, Gabriel!”
The door knob rattled violently. “Emma, please! Don’t do this!”
I almost slammed my hand against the wall, only pulling back at the last
moment. I clenched my fingers into a tight fist. “I’m not going to talk to
you right now. I can’t.”
I heard what sounded like his forehead hitting the stout door. Gabriel’s
voice came out low and tortured. “Baby, please don’t do this. Don’t shut
me out. It kills me when you do it.”
Just like that my anger drained through the sieve of my heart. My palm
rested where I imagined his beautiful face to be. “It hurts me too.”
“Then let me in, Emma. I need to be with you. I love you…”
I slid down to the door, feeling tears roll slowly down my waxen cheeks. I
wondered how the hell I was going to last the next five minutes without
him, much less the rest of my life. I couldn’t breathe through the pain. I
whispered his name softly. He heard me and whispered mine in return.
“Please, Emma…”
Sitting there, legs sprawled and body battered with longing for the man
only inches away from me, I wandered back through the corridors of my
mind. Past the last devastating hours, further back to a time when I was a
young girl who had done everything to stay out of Gabriel’s ruined sphere.
Back before he was Gabriel Gordon, photogenic billionaire and world’s most
eligible bachelor, he was simply Gabriel Gordon—heartbreaker of Pine Woods
High.
Gabriel Gordon was mad, bad, and ...well, you probably know the rest.
Despite his heavenly name and matching beauty, Gabriel was anything but
angelic. Rich, spoiled, and far too cynical for his age, he could easily
charm the skirt off a prim beauty or a young teacher or two. I watched him
from afar in equal parts disgust and fascination for four years.
Logically, I had understood the allure. He spoke the right words, courting
his targets with just the right amount of disinterest and zeal. Reputation
notwithstanding, Gabriel managed to make each one think she was
special—the one. Not necessarily through lies, but by showing just enough
of the vulnerable boy hiding behind the exterior of polished arrogance to
make him worth loving.
It always fell apart.
Sometimes quietly with just a note of farewell and our lively, lovely
French teacher replaced in mid-year. Usually, it was a spectacle of
gossipy delight that had the tongues wagging for weeks to come. I had
stepped past enough dustups in the hallways to wonder what it was about
Gabriel that made those previously well-mannered girls beat against his
wide chest in rage, heartache, and more than a bit of desperate longing.
Gabriel’s eyes would lock onto mine as he bore their abuse just as
stoically as he had their love—never yelling in return or raising a hand
in defense.
And if it seemed that his gaze softened, looking apologetic and
ashamed…well, that surely must’ve been my imagination. Studying the silent
boy and the screaming red-faced girl, while skirting the ever-widening
crowd, I couldn’t help but judge the tantrum that would forever mar how
the rest of our classmates looked upon them.
Fallen. Ruined. Insane.
About Anna
Anna is a lover of all things dark and passionate. Living in the Southeastern United States, she enjoys antiquing, DIY thrift store finds, sedate hiking along trails, and spending time with her family and menagerie of pets. Being the only girl in a household full of men makes it hard to always be a lady, but she gives it a good old college try.
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