TLS Special SNEAK PEEK Feature

The Lemonade Stand has spent so many years bringing you the best the Twilight fandom has to offer, and we are very excited to have the chance to offer you even MORE. We've watched stories grow and develop from first post through COMPLETE, and now we're lucky enough to share previews of the stories that will soon be your new addiction.

This week our feature comes to us from cullenlvr83, author of Il Dottore Della Mafia, Crave, and The Orphan. She's giving us a preview from her upcoming new mafia fic Nemico Del Mio Nemico.

banner by 2browneyes

Nemico Del Mio Nemico

 by

 Cullenlvr83

Summary: Bella’s life implodes one fateful night, leaving her with nothing more than the directive to go to New York and find Edward Cullen. A trip across the country spins her life in an unexpected direction, opening her eyes to the hidden world of the Italian mafia. When things aren’t always as they seem, it can be difficult to separate friend from foe.

oO~~Oo

~Show me a man who has no enemies, and I’ll show you a man who has never stood for anything.~

When someone tells you that their life changed, they can usually pinpoint one moment, one choice, that would have made things go in a completely different direction. When it happens though, it isn’t like that. There is a catalyst but every moment from that point on can create so many different paths for your life to take. Maybe I should have made different choices, but I couldn’t bring myself to regret the decisions I’ve made.

I was twenty years old, taking a year off from college after getting my associate degree, trying to find myself and what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. This led to me moving back in with my parents. I was glad they now lived in Seattle instead of the small town of Forks, where I grew up. My mom was a school administrator and my dad was a cop, but he was offered a position as the Chief of Police in Seattle. Things had been going well over the last few months. I was working part-time. I was getting to spend time with my parents. But like all good things, they don't stay that way for long. I came home one evening from work and found myself in a nightmare.

The door was already standing slightly ajar, and the silence coming from within caused a pit to form in my stomach. My dad and mom were always happy and joyful. They were madly in love with each other, and though I was raised with rules and curfews, they still guided me with advice and affection throughout my life. There was always laughter, shouts of victory, or their mushy confessions of love to each other to gross me out. I stepped inside carefully, the instinct my dad instilled in me kicking into gear. I was quiet as I crept through my house. Regardless of the possible danger, I absolutely lost it when I saw my dad, lying on the floor in a puddle of his own blood. His eyes were glassy and lifeless, the warm light no longer burning there.

I fell to my knees beside his body, dropping my keys and feeling like a little girl again. “Daddy,” I said, knowing he wouldn’t answer.

“Bella,” a weak voice wailed from nearby. I scanned my surroundings and saw my mom, coming out of the kitchen, clutching her stomach, blood seeping between her fingers.

“Mom!” I rushed over to her, horror gripping me tight. “Oh, god, that doesn’t look good. We gotta get you to a hospital.”

“My beautiful girl. It’s too late.” She choked, her bloody hand coming up to caress my face. “I don’t have much time, so listen to me. Go stay on the rez with Billy and Jacob until everything is taken care of. Then get out of here. Go to New York and find Edward Cullen. Tell him who you are and who your parents are. He will make sure you are safe.”

oO~~Oo

Nemico Del Mio Nemico will begin posting soon so remember to put cullenlvr83 on alert.

TLS Special SNEAK PEEK Feature

 

The Lemonade Stand has spent so many years bringing you the best the Twilight fandom has to offer, and we are very excited to have the chance to offer you even MORE. We've watched stories grow and develop from first post through COMPLETE, and now we're lucky enough to share previews of the stories that will soon be your new addiction.

Today's feature comes to us from cullenlvr83, author of Il Dottore Della Mafia, Piano Man and The Orphan. She's giving us a preview from her upcoming fic Call me Crazy.

Banner by PearlyFox

Call me Crazy

 by

 Cullenlvr83

Summary: Being the new kid at school is never easy, but showing up in a small town with a traumatic past is even worse. Bella hears the talk, the gossip, the rumors—but they have no idea what really happened, or what goes on inside her head. When Edward Cullen takes a special interest in Forks High’s newest arrival can she silence the voices in her head telling her all men are the same. Angst, triggering material, dark themes.

~xxXXxx~

I was in purgatory. Well, maybe that was a little dramatic, but somehow, I knew that 11th grade geometry had to be in one of the circles of hell that Dante was always talking about. I had to take this class as a high school senior because I had missed it last school year. I had gotten pulled out of school halfway through the semester because of extenuating circumstances, so now I was playing catch up.

I was now living with my dad, Charlie. He was all right, but I was just looking to do my time before I could finish high school and get the hell out of this town, maybe even this state. As much as this town sucked I was just glad to be away from my bitch of a mom. What had happened was all her fault anyway. I huffed and shook my head, derailing that train of thought. My therapist said I was deflecting, but he could kiss my ass. I wasn’t going to talk or think about it.

The popular theory among the student body was that I had been in a mental institution and my mom refused to take me back when I got out, so they shipped me off to my cop father. Honestly, sometimes I thought that was a better option than the truth. I tucked a lock of my purple hair behind my ear as the bell signaling the end of the period rang. It startled me and some students snickered. Assholes.

I was only halfway through the day and I already was considering getting ahold of one of my dad’s guns to just put my suffering to an end. This was one of those towns that made you have flashbacks of Stepford wives. All the kids in this high school had grown up together and have been in the same classes year after year. Most of the girls would find some loser in this town to marry, get pregnant, be perfect wives until they found out their husband was cheating on them with their secretary that was fifteen years his junior, get divorced, and become bitter old women. No fucking thank you to that.

I was in the last class of the day when I found something that might make this town interesting. He was tall and toned, not bulky, but there was definition there. His face was angular—firm jaw, straight nose, and defined cheekbones. His eyes were green, framed by dark long lashes that women would kill for. He was fucking delicious. He locked eyes with me, and then a slow crooked smile broke out on his face. Game on.

His friend playfully nudged him and turned to me after they both sat in front of me. “You must be the new girl. I would remember a pretty thing like you.”

I gave him my best flirty smile and nodded. “You’re not too bad yourself, handsome. My name is—”

“Isabella Swan,” the teacher intoned. I hadn’t even realized he had been calling roll.

“It’s just Bella,” I said out loud. I could kill my parents for naming me Isabella. I had been correcting teachers all day long. The teacher barely looked my way before continuing with his attendance, so I rolled my eyes.

“Well, just Bella. My name is Emmett,” he said, smiling, showing two perfect dimples. I found myself grinning back at him. Emmett kicked his friend’s foot. “Dude, stop being an ass, introduce yourself. I apologize, Bella, he is usually better behaved than this.”

His friend shook his head, grinned, and licked his lips. I wanted to lick those lips too. “My name is Edward. Nice to meet you, Bella.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Edward.” I gave him my sexy smile that all the guys got stupid over.

He returned a warm smirk that was more polite than dazzled and turned back around when the teacher started his lecture. Emmett winked at me then turned as well.

~xxXXxx~

Be sure to put cullenlvr83 on alert. Call Me Crazy begins posting on October 11.

TLS Special SNEAK PEEK Feature

 

The Lemonade Stand has spent so many years bringing you the best the Twilight fandom has to offer, and we are very excited to have the chance to offer you even MORE. We've watched stories grow and develop from first post through COMPLETE, and now we're lucky enough to share previews of the stories that will soon be your new addiction.

Today's feature comes to us from cullenlvr83, author of Piano Man and The Orphan. She's giving us a preview from her upcoming fic Il Dottore Della Mafia. 

banner by PearlyFox

Il Dottore Della Mafia
by 
Cullenlvr83

Summary: Bella is now finished with her medical residency and is completely broke. After helping a member of the mafia due to witnessing a car accident, they give her an offer that sounds too good to be true. The only bad thing is not taking it could mean sure death. 

~~OOO~~

It was dark out, but it had more to do with the fact that it was winter in Seattle than the hour. Looking at the clock on the dashboard, I saw it was barely eight p.m. I was sitting at a stoplight behind a flashy blue sports car, and honestly, I was a little envious that someone had that much cash to drop on a car. I looked down at a text I received, waiting for the light to change, smiling that Jess was sharing some pictures of their night. As I looked up, I saw an SUV clip the front of the sports car.

“What the actual fuck?” I exclaimed. To make matters worse, the SUV kept going and didn’t stop. The driver’s side door of the sports car flung open, and a man got out, but he seemed to be struggling, before he fell to the asphalt, his movement ceasing. Now, as a doctor, if I saw an accident and the situation was safe, I was obligated to help. I didn’t know if the situation was safe, but with how many emergencies I had helped out with, I turned my car off, grabbed my stethoscope from my clothes bag in the back, and jumped out of the vehicle, going toward the unconscious man. I noticed that the passenger had gotten out of the car too, and was kneeling near the driver, on the phone.

“I’m a doctor. Let me try to help,” I said, hoping the passenger would give me some room. He hung up and nodded as I knelt on the other side of him. “Sir,” I said, trying to get a response out of the man on the ground. He didn’t move at all. “Shit.” I felt for a pulse, and it was strong. I looked him over, assessing what may be wrong. I brushed his hair back from his forehead and saw the pretty sizable gash on his forehead. I turned to his friend. “Can you grab the first aid kit I have in my car? Should be in the back seat.”

The man turned toward my car and was back in a few minutes. I grabbed it from him and pulled out everything I needed to clean and bandage my patient’s forehead. I was going to have to use liquid bandages because I didn’t have a suture kit. Not wanting him to lose any more blood, I started to work on closing his wound.

“So, you’re a doctor?” the other man asked.

“I am. I’m a surgeon,” I answered simply.

“Pretty hot for a doctor. Aren’t surgeons supposed to be like old or something?”

I looked at him over my shoulder and gave him a coy smirk. “Yeah, well I’m really smart.”

He laughed and nodded. “Badass.”

I laughed back while I continued to help my patient, getting the wound closed and cleaned. “He should be waking up. He needs to get to the hospital.”

“Yeah, he may be passed out, but I know he won’t go for being taken to the hospital.”

“Great,” I said sarcastically. This guy was huge, and I didn’t know him, so I wasn’t going to push the subject.

I looked down at the man again, and since most of the emergency was under control, I finally saw how utterly gorgeous this guy was. His head was laying in my lap. He had a jaw that could cut glass with just the right amount of scruff. His lips were perfectly shaped, in a natural pout. His face was completely symmetrical, and he had a nose that looked like it had been broken before, but finding that one imperfection made his impossibly beautiful face just seem more real. I pulled out my penlight and pulled his eyelid up; his eyes dilated like they were supposed to, and his other eye snapped open. His eyes were a startling shade of green. His eyes locked with mine as he gasped and sat up in a hurry, scuffling away from me. In an effort to try to calm him down, I held up my hands.

“Hey. You were in a car crash, and you lost consciousness. I need you to remember red, yellow, and blue. You had a pretty big gash on your forehead. I fixed that as best as I could with the supplies I had, but I have a strong feeling you have a concussion. You might want to take it slow. Can you tell me today’s date and your name?”

I looked over at his friend and tilted my head toward Green Eyes. He nodded and came over to help his friend up, allowing me to stand as well.

“It’s Friday, Dec 15th, and I’m not giving you my name,” he said, and his voice was smooth velvet, and I wanted to just sink into that sound. What the hell was happening? Snap out of it, Bella, I chastised myself. “Who are you?” Green Eyes asked me.

“I’m a doctor, Bella Swan,” I said.

~~OOO~~

Be sure and put cullenlvr83 on alert so you won't miss out when Il Dottore Della Mafia begins posting.