A warm love bytes welcome to author S.A. Stovall joining us today to share an exclusive excerpt of new release “Vice Enforcer”.
Welcome S.A. 🙂
Vice Enforcer (Vice City #2) by SA Stovall
Beep boop, everyone! Stovall here to bring you my latest installment of m/m goodness! This time around I have a sequel to my debut novel, VICE CITY! This sequel, VICE ENFORCER, is a direct follow up to the last story—I don’t want to give away too many of the twists from the first book, but let’s just say Pierce is trying to lead a “normal” life and having a hard (but hilarious) time of it. That is… until someone on the police force figures out he’s an ex-mobster.
Take a look at this excerpt and hopefully you all enjoy!
Synopsis
Holding on to a life worth living can be hard when the nightmares of the past come knocking.
Eight months ago, Nicholas Pierce, ex-mob enforcer, faked his death and assumed a new identity to escape sadistic mob boss Jeremy Vice. With no contacts outside the underworld, Pierce finds work with a washed-up PI. It’s an easy enough gig—until investigating a human trafficking ring drags him back to his old stomping grounds.
Miles Devonport, Pierce’s partner, is top of his class at the police academy while single-handedly holding his family together. But when one lieutenant questions Pierce’s past and his involvement in the investigation, Miles must put his future on the line to keep Pierce’s secrets.
The situation becomes dire when it’s discovered the traffickers have connections to the Vice family. The lives of everyone Pierce cares about are in danger—not least of all his own, if Jeremy Vice learns he’s back from the dead. Pierce and Miles face a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels—one that will gladly destroy them to keep operating. As Pierce uses every dirty trick he learned from organized crime to protect the new life he’s building, he realizes that no matter how hard he tries, he might never escape his past.
But he’s not going down without a fight.
The midafternoon sun is marred only by the occasional cloud overhead. The fleeting shadows are nice. I loathe working in the harshness of unabated light.
And I also loathe this fucking garden.
I throw down my hand spade and glare at the myriad of dead plants scattered throughout my elevated garden box. Seven and half months ago, when we moved into this shithole, I decided I would try my hand at domestic life. Gardening seemed easy then. I even bought a goddamn book on the subject.
But nothing works. It’s like the Grim Reaper himself toiled over the soil before I started planting.
That’s not entirely true. One single radish is still alive.
I lean over it and graze the green leaves with the tips of my fingers. The thing feels limp. I glance through my gardening book, attempting to find a solution. Maybe I can save this one sad-sack radish. Then I can say I wasn’t a complete failure.
I find a passage about caring for plants midgrowth. It reads: talking to your plants is one surefire way to perk them up!
Talk to the plants? What do you say to a plant?
“Grow, you little piece of shit,” I say. “Don’t you wanna live? Fucking act like it.”
I swear the radish wilts a little more the moment I’m done talking.
Miles opens the back sliding glass door and steps out into our backyard. He’s dressed in his police academy uniform—some shiny black shoes, dark blue cargo pants, and a tight matching T-shirt. He looks like a cop already, in part due to all the rigorous training he’s gone through to make sure he can pass all the obstacle course tests.
“Pierce,” he says as he approaches. “I’m going to go pick up Jayden and Lacy from their tutoring lesson.” He glances from me to the garden box. “Who were you talking to?”
“The last of my sanity,” I quip. “Is that all you wanted to tell me?”
“Yeah. I’ll be back in a little bit.”
I nod.
Miles walks over and kisses me. I don’t protest, but it’s not like our backyard is a bastion of privacy. There are missing fence boards on all sides, sometimes multiple in a row. I can see into each neighbor’s yard, and I’m sure they can do the same.
“Why’re you in uniform?” I ask him as he turns back for the house.
“I went to the shooting range this morning.”
“Hm.”
Miles disappears inside, leaving me with my failed attempt at a simple life.
I’m not in the mood for company.
Jayden and Lacy, Miles’s siblings, are the sole reason we didn’t leave Illinois after I broke away from the mob. Miles wants to help his brother get back on track with his life, and he also wants to get to know his sister more than not at all. They’re also the reason why we rent a shitty house and use a junker as our vehicle of choice.
We’ll get better things once we’re away from here. Well, that’s the plan, at least. I didn’t leave the mob poor. I took half a million dollars in savings when I left—which is what we live on now. That’ll keep us going for a while without worry, but not forever.
I return my attention to the dead vegetation and sigh. A small piece of me worries. If I can’t make this simple hobby work, what chance do I have of making a life for myself once the money runs out?
“Stop crowding them together.”
I snap my attention to the sound of the scratchy voice. Our neighbor, some old crone, stands on the other side of the fence, staring through the missing fence boards. Her sunbaked face scrunches into a long frown. Given the heavy age lines and sagging skin, I’d say she’s somewhere in her seventies.
I ignore her and start the process of ripping up all the dead produce. After a few moments, she clears her throat. I stop and return my gaze to her, this time glaring.
“The soil isn’t ready for planting yet,” she says in the tone of a disapproving grump.
I’m not in the mood for this bullshit. “Did I ask for your input? Keep to your own business, Grandma.”
She answers with a huff and holds both her hands on the small of her back. “I’ve been forced to watch you muddle in the mud for months now. If this isn’t a cry for help, I don’t know what is.”
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S.A. Stovall grew up in California’s central valley with a single mother and little brother. Despite no one in her family having a degree higher than a GED, she put herself through college (earning a BA in History), and then continued on to law school where she obtained her Juris Doctorate.
As a child, Stovall’s favorite novel was Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell. The adventure on a deserted island opened her mind to ideas and realities she had never given thought before—and it was the moment Stovall realized that story telling (specifically fiction) became her passion. Anything that told a story, be it a movie, book, video game or comic, she had to experience. Now, as a professor and author, Stovall wants to add her voice to the myriad of stories in the world, and she hopes you enjoy.
You can contact her at the following addresses.
Social Media
Twitter: @GameOverStation
Website: https://sastovallauthor.com/
Awards
Vice City Rainbow Award Winner