PRAISE FOR DEENA REMIEL

Remiel’s stories pull you in, captivate your heart, and make you beg for more.

—USA Today Bestselling Author Laura Wright

"Deena Remiel’s Book Waitress series is a rare find. One part Buffy, another part Exorcist, with an extra large dash of hunky reporter, it’s bound to wind up on your favorite series list. It’s certainly on mine."

—Rebecca Royce, Bestselling Author of the Westervelt Wolves

Deena Remiel’s angelic world will make you swoon.

—Erin Quinn, New York Times Bestselling Author

[Deena’s writing] is always done in such wonderful layers. Intense emotions, beautiful descriptions, and wonderfully woven story. They all come together to form her addictive paranormal tales.

—Kristina’s Books and More

CRAZY IMMORTAL

Pazzo Immortale. That’s what the locals called her. Her music would lead Lorenzo to the steps of the Duomo, the haunting strains of a virtuoso violin, and Stella herself was even more captivating. Like an angel she played…or a devil. Hers was a sad story, of a beautiful young lady who sought escape from a depraved relative and found it, but whose torment continues. In Siena, Italy, there is much beyond the knowledge of men—magic and ghosts and the divine—but a tourist like Lorenzo could never hope to win Stella’s heart or save her from a seemingly eternal torment. A man like himself could never do anything else.

HAUNTING SOLACE

a LOVE AMONG THE RUINS book

Deena Remiel

www.BOROUGHSPUBLISHINGGROUP.com

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, business establishments or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. Boroughs Publishing Group does not have any control over and does not assume responsibility for author or third-party websites, blogs or critiques or their content.

HAUNTING SOLACE

Copyright © 2017 Debra Rosenblum

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. Unless specifically noted, no part of this publication may be reproduced, scanned, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Boroughs Publishing Group. The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or by any other means without the permission of Boroughs Publishing Group is illegal and punishable by law. Participation in the piracy of copyrighted materials violates the author’s rights.

ISBN 978-1-944262-60-0

E-book formatting by Maureen Cutajar

www.gopublished.com

To my muse, who brings me solace.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

What would I ever do without the expert advice of my wonderful editor, JoAnne Soper-Cook? I thank her and Tanya Reynolds most sincerely for their keen eyes and sensibilities, helping me make Haunting Solace the wonderful story it is today. I also need to acknowledge Chris Keeslar, who writes the finest copy around, enticing you to pick up this story in the first place! Working with everyone at Boroughs Publishing Group is always such a joy, and I feel truly blessed. Readers, you keep my imagination alive! You give me reason to create, to write, and to share stories of impossible romance. I thank you.

CONTENTS

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

About the Author

Also by Deena Remiel

HAUNTING SOLACE

Chapter One

Siena, Italy

10 years ago

"Stella, mia dolce nipotina, buon compleanno! Zia Maria squeezed Stella’s frail but maturing body. Her bones, like twigs, threatened to snap under the pressure. She continued in heavily accented English for the sake of her American niece. You are a woman now, no? Turn. Let me see. Her aunt twirled her around, scrutinizing every inch, top to bottom. Thirteen years old today. You could use some meat on your rear, but your breasts, they are coming in nicely. Yes, yes. You’re bound to turn into a beautiful young lady very soon. That is, if you’d just eat a bit more. You get a double serving of birthday cake today. Come, your party awaits!"

Zia Maria never left space in a conversation for anyone else, so Stella simply nodded and offered the obligatory smile. As she followed her aunt down the hallway to the elevator, she shirked off the mortification of being evaluated in such a brusque manner.

You know, my dear niece, one day this hotel will belong to you and Marco. Consider it the best birthday gift ever.

The elevator doors opened. Stella imagined them revealing a bottomless pit of despair and horror. She blinked a few times and the warm, golden glow of brass and incandescent light greeted her. Reality, however, failed to remove the twisted, knotted mass deep in her gut. She doubted it would ever go away.

As much as you may not want to hear it, your uncle and I won’t live forever. But our legacy, our fine hotel here, will live on with Marco and you in charge. Just something to tuck away in your mind for when you’re old enough. You’ll never have to worry about anything because all is provided right here. We can go to our final resting place knowing we did all we could to honor your parents’ wishes. May they rest in peace. You are provided for.

Before Stella could say anything, the elevator doors opened. Friends and hotel workers all sang her a happy birthday wish as she stepped into the lobby. On the fringe of the jubilant crowd stood smug Marco, singing and clapping along. If only he weren’t so tall, she could have ignored his presence. But no, he had to loom large over everything, with his silent, foreboding message ringing loud and clear only for her.

She turned her attention to the safety and comfort of the people nearest to her. Thank you, everyone, for being here today.

Tell us, Armando, the bellhop, shouted. Do you feel any older than yesterday?

I feel a million years old. She offered a polite smile. Funny, I feel exactly one day older!

Everyone laughed. Zia Maria clapped her hands and orchestrated the party, as she was famous for doing. "Everyone to the dining room. È ora di mangiare! There’s plenty of food, so make sure to take seconds and thirds. Oh, remember to take some home to your families."

The party progressed with gastronomic delights from antipasto to cannolis. Music wafted through the cavernous dining room, sweeping up the older set of people in a wave of celebratory dancing. Stella found it hard to fully submit to her birthday frivolities. Too much weighed on her mind.

Her world had been turned upside down three years ago to the day, when her parents were killed in a horrific motorcycle accident. They’d taken an early morning ride before her party at the zoo and never returned. With no other family in the States to care for her, she moved to Italy, where her remaining loving family lived. Grateful to her aunt and uncle at the time, that sentiment soon changed when her cousin Marco asserted his dominance. No amount of protest on her part could dissuade him from leveling degrading abuses and threats. As today marked her thirteenth birthday, it brought to brutal light the deep loss of her parents and the inability to change the nightmarish course of her life.

****

As much as she’d dreaded the last guest’s departure, Stella had to admit she was bone tired. The full moon’s light bathed her room in a wash of white haze. It soothed her racing heart. Surely it was too bright for Marco to bother with her. He’d always come when it was near pitch so she couldn’t see his face as he defiled her. The coward! Maybe he’d only stared at her downstairs to intimidate her on a day that should be joyous. Maybe tonight, he’d let her sleep her birthday sleep in peace. She breathed in deeply, slowly, and then exhaled as she settled into her sumptuous sheets and covers.

Her peace lasted at most ten minutes before she heard the slide of a key and saw the doorknob twist to the right. On her birthday? He would force himself