Without a doubt, one of the most beloved characters of the Mermaid of Venice series is La Nonna. Not only is she a boundary-defying character as a career-focused woman in her 60s, but she’s also got a cutting sense of humor. She has no trouble putting Gia in her place.

Here’s an excerpt from La Nonna’s first-ever scene. I’m sure you’ll love her as much as I do.

Excerpt from Chapter 21, Mermaid of Venice

September 22nd

They called her La Nonna, The Grandma. She was sixty- seven-years-old and strong. La Nonna swam fifty laps a day, and when she had time, she did one hundred. Of course, there wasn’t much extra time in her days—free time is not excessive when you are on the mafia’s payroll.

Ultimately, she found her nickname quite rude and sexist, as if all a woman is good for is babies and then grand-babies. She did have grandkids, though, five of them, and she loved them. If people wanted to call her La Nonna, then so be it, she thought. In some ways it is better to be underestimated; your enemies never see you coming, because they never saw you as a threat in the first place.

Certain circles of a criminal element came from all over Italy and beyond to her office in Rome. She owned a small, inconspicuous space situated above a cookie factory on a quiet, crumbling street. To be fair, everything in Rome was old and crumbling, but suffice to say that the location was benign and nondescript by Italian standards. There was a small alley beside the cookie factory, and her high- profile clients would park in the back and come in that way. The cookie shop itself had long since been “purchased” from the original family. They still operated it, of course, and they were paid well for doing so, but it was better for them not to know what else went into the delivery trucks beside the biscotti and amaretti. La Nonna, of course, had brokered the deal.

Her real name was Donatella Sapienti, and Gia, like all of the other clients, had come to La Nonna for her discretion and unparal- leled expertise.

“Allora,” La Nonna began, “what is the nature of your visit today?”

“I would like to pay you first,” Gia said, eyeing La Nonna and trying to judge her character solely from her body language.

“No, first I hear the problems, then we set the terms.”

Gia narrowed her gaze, “I am supposed to trust you? Without some kind of agreement in place?”

La Nonna laughed hysterically. “Agreement! This is hilarious. Agreement. You think my other clients make agreements? No. The agreement is I do my job well and they do not kill me. Come on, piccolina.”

Gia exhaled.

“Bene, allora.” La Nonna was losing her patience, as she was wont to do.

“I am having a small problem with my lover.” La Nonna nodded.
“Ah...” Gia hesitated, “you see, he is dead.” “Did you kill him? Do not lie to me.”

“Yes.”

“Madonna!” La Nonna leaned her chair back and spoke to the high heavens, directly with God. “They usually never tell the truth. Incredible.”

***

Haven’t Started the Series Yet?

Dive into the extremely glamorous life of Gia Acquaviva, an ultra-rich Venetian mogul with a portfolio of clubs and casinos around the globe. Gia harbors dark secrets––and an underwater graveyard filled with the bones of her former lovers.

IndieReader Approved with 4.8 of 5 Stars: “MERMAID OF VENICE is an electrifying series starter that immerses readers in a world filled with glamor, sex, murder, and mermaids.”