Publisher's Synopsis
Dr. Erica Matthews bears the burden of a profession where she's trained to be a robot. Erica is a young, female Attending Physician in the Emergency Room at a St. Louis hospital and is growing increasingly jaded by an unforgiving society. Besieged by work and newly broken up with her longtime slacker/artist boyfriend, Erica's spirit is nearly broken while suffering a painful emotional breakdown over the loss of her patient. Erica enjoys being a doctor, and helping people, but is beginning to have difficulty coping with a society that begs for a cure in the form of prescription pills and who fail to learn their lesson. Erica has one major downfall: bills. Erica is a shopaholic and is in trouble with credit cards and her student loans. Erica knows she must get everything under control but there is no easy way to do it. Stricken with grief from her mini-breakdown over a patient, Erica makes a few bad decisions that plummet her into depression. The first major hurtle towards getting her life together is setting her mind right. Originally planned as a vacation to Paris with her then live-in now Ex-Boyfriend, Erica decides to continue with her trip. Instead of Europe however, Erica winds up rushing off with her church on a mission to Haiti to help bring fresh water to the struggling nation as a result of the recent earthquake. Once there, Erica's spirit is reawakened, and she finds her profession enjoyable again...despite almost being killed. Upon her return, Erica, temporarily refreshed and invigorated, is reunited with the pain of her profession. Grief threatens to compound itself in every aspect of her life. Until, that is, she meets...him. His name is Dino Zucherello and Erica begins a relationship with the local mafia hood. Dino was supposed to be a brief indiscretion, an accidental, unprofessional make-out session with a mobster while in the emergency room. When Erica resurfaces after her trip to Haiti, Dino offers her a side job. "50k for a few days of work...keeping an old man alive while we search for dough that may or may not be there." Dino goes on convincingly suggesting that she'd only be doing what she normally does and that is help people. In between her shifts even. Burdened by the blood of mafia royalty, Dino Zuccherello is a young man struggling with his own expectations and goals. Recently removed from a legit job owning his own restaurant out west, Dino is disenfranchised by the whole mobster life. Dino delights in doing things that go against his father's wishes. His desire to remove himself from debt and the lure of easy money from the mob offers no escape. He is not purely some thug or cold-blooded killer. He is smart. Smarter than all the other wiseguys that offer no sympathy. Dino falls in love with Erica and longs to become something better than his father. Dino is struggling with the fact that his life is basically over now that he is bankrupt and must listen and do whatever his Father orders. Hit men all over the city are taking their shots at him in order to weaken the family before Dino's old man gets out of the joint. With the rivals moving in and set to wipe everybody out, Dino fails to see the damn point to it all, but takes charge. He falls for Erica and attempts to understand what his life is all about. Only when Dino discovers the true identity of the rival gangs does he come to accept what he thinks his life to be. Dino strikes back viciously and is forced to decide on the strength of his love for Erica and what he must do to right himself and whether Erica will be with him or become a casualty of his Father's carelessness. Does he care enough to walk away from her in order to save her? Does Erica have the strength to detach herself from a loving relationship in order to save her career? For both to get what they want they'll need to sacrifice...perhaps everything.
