“There is no such thing as too much joy,” he corrected, smoothing his thumbs over my cheekbones. “There is nothing too great for me to give you, least of all this. It’s not only your dream, capisci? To see you as a mother holding a baby we made together? I can’t imagine a greater gift. If we are patient, one day, it will be ours.”

“Is that your Christmas wish?” I asked, joking through the tightness in my throat and the heaviness in my heart.

“It’s a promise, for now,” he pledged. “And one day it will be a gift.”

As it turned out, Dante had already given me the best Christmas gift I had ever known because on that night, outside in the cold and dark where we had both spent so much of our lives, struggling and alone, together we had made our wish come true.

Nine months later, after twenty-eight hours of painful labor, our two Christmas miracles were born: Amadeo and Chiara Salvatore.

*     *     *

Thank you for reading Baby, It’s Cold Outside! If you were intrigued by the scarred Tiernan Morelli, DANGEROUS TEMPTATION is a brand-new book…

He arrives all dressed in black. Diamond cufflinks. A watch on his tanned wrist that cost more than we would ever see in a lifetime of work. He carries a single red rose for my mother.

Months later, Tiernan Morelli lays red roses on my mother’s grave. That same day, he tells me that he is my new guardian.

I should have known from the very start that he had more in common with the thorns than the rose. Now I know the truth: I’m a pawn in his dangerous game of revenge. I was too young and naive. Now it’s too late to save myself from his clutches.

Now I belong to him.

ONE-CLICK DANGEROUS TEMPTATION NOW >

And if you are curious about Elena and Dante, check out their forbidden love, mafia duet, Anti-Heroes in Love now, starting with WHEN HEROES FALL.

This Christmas

Theodora Taylor

Chapter One

The First Christmas

Josh

A heavy thunk ripped Josh out of a black sleep.

The enemy was here—his unit was under attack again. He reached for the P226 sidearm he kept fully loaded on top of his footlocker, adrenaline surging through his body.

“Don’t go pulling your gun on me again, man. I come bearing gifts.”

Bobkowski’s familiar voice stopped him from doing exactly that.

Christ. He’d almost pulled his sidearm on his bunkmate. Again. In the tent that was only sweltering because it was located in a Middle Eastern desert—on a well-guarded base safe from enemy attacks.

Even so, his adrenaline refused to back down despite the threat having been ruled out. His heart continued to pound in his ears like a drum, threatening to make him lose it again.