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Revenge is sweet… or is it?
Christina Matteo had a humiliating prank pulled on her in high school by rich, party boy Bill Havenwood. It changed her whole life and she never forgot it—or him. Older, wiser and tougher, she meets him again years later and decides to get even. She wants revenge and comes up with a perfect plan. But things don't go her way when she stupidly crashes her car into his expensive sportscar while tailing him one day.
Not recognizing her, Bill blackmails the cash-poor Christina into helping him stay in his billionaire father's good graces by pretending to be his fiancée for one month. Christina decides to go along with his ruse. After all, who knows what dirt she can find out about the jerk from the inside?
But as Christina scams Bill and Bill scams his father—his father scams the both of them. William Havenwood Sr. knows all about their phony engagement and begins to push the couple to marry for real in order to get them to crack under pressure.
And then Christina's little revenge plan begins to spiral out of control when she finds herself actually falling in love with her avowed enemy, Bill. It's enough to make a girl sick to her stomach! But can she really continue to go through with her plans to make him pay when she's so attracted to the creep? Christina is just stubborn enough to find out!
HER PERFECT REVENGE is a story where its three strong and smart main characters—Christina, Bill and his father, William—find themselves engaged in a clever battle of wits where games, lies, secrets and deceptions rule the day. Who will win? And will Christina risk everything to get her payback?
Excerpt:
Chapter 1
16 Years Earlier...
Was it her imagination or was everyone staring at her? No,
everyone was staring at her—and they were laughing too!
Putting her head down, fourteen-year-old Christina Matteo
walked quickly down the school hall, trying to avoid catching
anyone's eye. Clutching her books to her chest, she increased her
speed but as she went by a gaggle of girls lurking at their lockers,
the girls suddenly burst out laughing.
Ignoring them, Christina continued her brisk pace down the
hall towards her locker. It was probably just her imagination. This
was only her third week of her freshman year at Cloverdale Public
High School. She didn't know anybody here—and they didn't
know her.
Super shy and self-conscious, Christina had kept to herself
since school had started. Except for her girlfriend Jenny, she hadn't
socialized with anyone. Not that anyone would want to anyway.
After all, short, dumpy girls who wore glasses and railroad tracks
on their teeth weren't exactly on everyone's party list.
"Hey, baby."
Christina swiveled her head to her right. Tall, skinny Gary
Porter, a senior at the school, was in a corner with his friend, Barry
Mahoney.
"Why don't we party tonight and you can do me?" Gary
puckered his lips and made a slurping, sucking sound at Christina.
Barry burst out laughing.
Mortified, Christina swung away and kept walking. What the
hell was happening? Reaching her locker, Christina fumbled with
the combination lock. She just wanted to get her stuff and get the
hell out of the hallway.
"Chrissy?"
Nervous and tense, Christina jumped. She turned to find a very
out-of-breath Jenny beside her.
Jenny rambled on. "I ran all the way here. I thought I was late
again and..." Suddenly, she stopped her speech as she noticed
Christina's pale face. "Chrissy, what's wrong?"
"Nothing." Embarrassed, Christina kept fumbling with her
lock.
Jenny studied her friend. Her street smarts were telling her
something was wrong. Even though they were the same age, Jenny
was taller and more developed than Christina. She was also more
confident and tougher, but still not a member of the A clique, or the
B, or C—not even the D, but she didn't care. Jenny was lower class
and knew how to fight dirty.
The two girls had been best friends since grade school.
Christina had begged her parents to send her to Cloverdale High
when she'd found out Jenny was going. Although her parents had
wanted her to go to St. Joseph's, an all-girl, private boarding school
outside Philadelphia, they'd relented after an entire summer of
pleading from their daughter.
Not rich by any means, Nunzio and Gabriella Matteo had
scrimped and saved, and had wanted the very best for their little
girl. That meant a private, convent school. But their resolve had
melted with Christina's tears and they allowed her to stay at home
in Bensonhurst, New York, and attend public school.
Jenny continued to study Christina's bent head. "Chrissy, what's
happened?"
"Nothing," Christina mumbled, as her lock finally released.
As she swung open her locker door, an envelope fluttered out.
Jenny bent down to pick it up. It was an envelope addressed to
'Chrissy Matteo'. She handed it to her friend. Perplexed, Christina
quickly tore it open. Whomever it was from had wedged it between
the door and upper frame of her locker.
It was a letter from the Anderson Family Planning Clinic—and
—shocked, Christina looked up at her friend.
Jenny snatched it from her shaking hands and began reading it
out loud.
"Dear Miss Matteo... We regret to inform you that a sexual
partner of yours, who has requested to remain anonymous, has
contracted gonorrhea and is currently being treated at our clinic.
We are writing to urge you to seek medical attention as soon as
possible to determine whether you have also been infected... holy
crap! Is this...?" Jenny looked up at Christina with new eyes.
"No, it's not true! Jenny, how can I get that... that disease when
I've never even kissed a guy?" Christina hissed.
"Well, you don't get it from kissing."
"Jenny!"
"Okay, okay. But why is this addressed to you? And in your
locker?"
"I don't know." Panic coursed through Christina's system and
she felt weak.
Jenny was studying the letter again. "You know what this is?
It's a joke."
"What?"
"Chrissy, official letters from medical clinics don't get stuffed
into student lockers. And look." She held up the envelope. "There's
no stamp on it. These kinds of letters get mailed to you or they try
to contact you on the phone."
"But who would do that? We don't know anybody here."
"I don't know but we're going to find out." Jenny's face set with
determination.
"Jenny, no!" Christina shouted, as the first bell rang warning
everyone to get to class. "If my parents find out, they'll ship me off
to convent school and you know how much I had to beg to stay
here." Christina snatched the letter from Jenny's hands and stuffed
it into her sweater pocket. "Promise me you won't say anything to
anybody." Jenny stubbornly remained silent. "Jenny?"
"Okay, I won't."
Inside their English 101 classroom, Christina and Jenny took
their seats along with the other freshmen. The final bell hadn't rung
yet and their teacher, Mrs. Lauder still hadn't arrived.
Jenny leaned over to Christina and whispered, "Maybe it's
Ashford over there." She nodded toward Stevie Ashford, a big,
bulky kid who excelled in sports but not in school. "I think he likes
you."
Christina gave Stevie a sideways look before turning back to
Jenny. She kept her voice low. "If he likes me, why would he do
that? It doesn't make sense."
"Maybe you're right. I'll bet he can't even spell gonorrhea."
"Jenny, shut up. Somebody's gonna hear you."
"Maybe it's..."
"Hey, you're Chrissy, right?"
Christina looked up to see Billy Havenwood, class leader and
super hunk, sidle up to her desk and place his elbows on it. He
leaned forward into her face and the room went deathly quiet.
"Y...Yes," she replied.
Christina was wary. Billy Havenwood had never spoken to her.
The school term had only begun three weeks ago and everyone had
already been pigeonholed into his or her clichéd roles—class
clown, nerd, jock, wannabe. Billy was none of those. He and his
best friend, Jake Monroe, were the superstars. Popular, brash,
arrogant and gorgeous, they knew what they had and what they
could command.
Rumor had it that Billy came from a wealthy family. His mom,
a liberal, hippy-type, had insisted her son attend public school in
order to learn how 'normal' people lived. His businessman father
had sternly objected but then finally relented.
And Billy? Well, he didn't care where he went as long as he
could party. His drinking exploits in his first few weeks of school
had already made him a semi-legend. Even the seniors were
impressed.
Christina was not—although she did have a secret crush on
him. All the girls did. But why was he talking to her now with that
wild, glazed look in his eyes?
"I've got some advice for you." He slurred his words slightly.
Repulsed by the smell of beer on his breath, Christina leaned
back. "W...What?"
A slow smirk spread across Billy's face. "Next time you wanna
hump, use one of these." He threw a wrapped condom at her. As if
on cue, the entire class burst out laughing. Then Billy yelled,
"Now." And, suddenly, the other students pelted Christina with
condoms.
Christina sat there in shock as a hot fire of humiliation spread
from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.
Looking around at the sea of laughing faces, her breathing
stopped. Billy stumbled back to his seat and gave his friend Jake a
high five.
Aghast, Jenny jumped up and started yelling around the room.
"Stop it! Stop it!"
No one paid any attention. They just kept laughing.
Suddenly, both Christina and Jenny spotted a photocopy of
Christina's family planning clinic letter tacked onto the bulletin
board. Everyone had seen it!
Christina's bottom lip quivered. She had never been so
embarrassed in all her life. What was going on? And why?
Summoning all her courage, she finally spoke up.
"It's... it's a lie. It's not t...true." She spoke louder. "It's not
true."
Jenny made a beeline for the letter and tore it off the board.
"All of you, shut up," she ordered.
As if on cue, the other classmates pulled out their own copies
and held them high. Everyone had one. Christina finally broke
down. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she grabbed her
books and turned to her peers.
"W... why are you all being so m...mean to me? I never did
anything to any of you!" She sobbed and screamed.
The laughter died down and Christina looked into their faces.
This couldn't be happening to her—her of all people. She’d
always done everything right. She'd been nice to everyone, always
blended into the wallpaper, and never made waves. Why this? Why
now? Why her?
With a final cry of anguish, she clutched her books and ran
from the room in tea
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