Blood in the Valencian Soil (Secrets of Spain) (44 page)

ALSO BY CAROLINE ANGUS BAKER

THE ‘CANNA MEDICI’ SERIES

PART I -
NIGHT WANTS TO FORGET

Canna Medici is a hedonistic young woman who flees her home and an abusive relationship in Italy, and finds herself in a new life in London. She becomes the new assistant of Virtuosi, a small opera group who are about to embark on a tour of ten of Europe’s greatest opera houses. When Canna soon becomes romantically involved with English tenor Dane Porter, trouble comes in the form of fellow Virtuosi singer Claudio Ramos Ibáñez, the dark, brooding Spanish baritone. Canna and Claudio have crossed paths once before with vicious consequences, and each are desperate for the truth to remain hidden.

As Claudio becomes more and more entangled in Canna’s violent and addictive secrets, Dane is forced to re-evaluate his life – his morals and stereotypes are going to be tested in order to accept her dark past. Canna continues to pursue pleasure at any cost, exploiting the weaknesses of those around her in an effort to hide her demons. All of the men and women in Virtuosi are going to be hurt by Canna’s narcissism unless she can overcome her inner torment.

Canna is night and Dane is day, and while the night wants to forget, another night is calling to her in a form very close to home, and love holds on too tight…

PART II – VIOLENT DAYLIGHT

Forgetting the night and coming into the daylight isn’t as easy as first thought…

Canna Medici is free. Her tyrant husband, Giuseppe Savelli, is dead and can’t hurt her anymore. Or so she thought. Now that the recovering drug-addict is the head of Caraceni Industries and heiress to Giuseppe’s billions, Canna finds that the riches are more dangerous than ever. Giorgio Savelli, the charismatic but volatile nephew of the deceased family patriarch, wants the Caraceni fortune, and Canna needs to decide how to eliminate Giorgio and be the sole heir of the dirty money.

Operatic music group Virtuosi are in the throes of stardom; world tours, new albums and legions of fans beckon. All baritone Claudio Ramos Ibáñez wants is to be with his lover, Canna, whose business dealings take her to Milan far more often than he likes. The Virtuosi group adapt to the new relationship between Canna and Claudio, but tenor Dane Porter isn’t sure of how he feels about Canna. Dane finds himself in a situation where he can destroy Canna and Claudio’s already strained ‘happily ever after’, and Virtuosi risk a descent into jealousy and madness.

When a brutal murder occurs, and Virtuosi get caught up in the scandal, Canna begins to question if she can have a future with Claudio. As the bodies of enemies and loved ones begin to pile up, the dark desires of drugs and self-mutilation dominate Canna’s mind. The truth won’t set anyone free, and Canna’s life is again under threat, this time from her most dangerous adversary – herself.

Acknowledgements

The than
ks for this book goes to four fine young gentlemen – Grayson, Torben, Espen and Lachlan, who (mostly) give their mother space to write. Special thanks needs to go to Martyn Baker, my help, support and occasional human thesaurus, for all time and space given to me. There are no words to express my gratitude.

A big thank you to Sue Sharpe, for taking the time to read through and edit BITVS, and guide me along the way to making this book perfect.

Thanks to Stuart Angus, for being genuinely interested in this novel. All we have be through this year, and you still stopped to ask how the book was coming along. I’ve always got your back.

There are many people based in Spain to thank, especially the Writers and Bloggers about Spain group, with all their help with the modern day storyline. Even the simplest things you say make their way into my work. I am looking forward to meeting people and getting lost in Valencia again really soon. Thank you to the International Brigade Memorial Trust with help on the wartime storyline.

The plight of New Zealanders who fought to save Spain during the civil war has gone largely undocumented and unrecognised. The kiwi attitude of “making do and getting by” did all it could, far from home. Thank you to the families of the New Zealand men and women who took the time to share their relatives’ experiences in Spain with me, especially the family of New Zealand nurse René Shadbolt.

Lastly, and most importantly, to my father, Scott Angus, who passed away before I managed to finish the book. All those years of watching war documentaries must have rubbed off on me. And don’t worry, the next book in the series will follow the thread you suggested. You leave behind a hole that cannot ever be filled.