Book Review: Second

Title: Second
Author: Penelope Sky
Genre: Romance, Dark Romance, Fantasy

What It’s About: Annabella continues to work at the Tuscan Rose with Sofia, and hasn’t seen Damien for some time, but as time goes on, Damien often joins Hades, Sofia, and Annabella for lunch or dinner, because the three of them are friends. He often gets left alone with her at the restaurant because Hades and Sofia have to go to take care of their kid, Andrew, so they spend a lot of time talking and acting awkward, though Annabella tries to not to think about him.

Annabella is at one of Liam’s fights, and she hates being there, but Damien is left to guard her so he makes sure to take care of her and speak to her to calm her down. Liam is victorious in the fight and kisses her after the fight before going back into his room to shower and change. Then, there is an incident in which Sofia starts feeling unwell, and Annabella takes her to the hospital. Annabella freaks out because she had a miscarriage, which is what brought on the infidelity on Liam’s side. Damien sees that insecurity when he comes to the hospital with Hades, and tells her that Sofia will be okay. He also tells her that he’s certain it’s a boy—and it indeed turns out that Sofia is well, and the baby is a boy which surprises Annabella, but he doesn’t want to tell her how he knows.

During a party at the Tuscan Rose, Damien follows Annabella out onto the patio in the winter, and he kisses her. She tells him off and pushes him away. Then he tries to visit her to speak with her and apologize, but she doesn’t want him near her. When he won’t leave her room, she calls Sofia over the intercom, and then Damien leaves. Later, he finds her in the parking lot, and she slaps him, hard enough that the palm print is on him for the rest of the day. He visits his dad with his sister, Catalina, who makes fun of it, and they both tell their dad that he is moving in with Damien. At first, he tries to fight them, but then realizes that he has no chance, so he ends up agreeing to move in with Damien. Damien then visits Sofia and Hades for dinner, and they also comment on the palm print, but Damien claims that he ran into a wall. But he admits finally what happened to Sofia, and later asks her to help him apologize to Annabella, which she does do. He tells Annabella in the apology that he can’t seem to think or care about anything else beyond her, and ultimately tells her the truth—he didn’t break up with her because he wanted to but because he had to as a result of Heath taking things from him and harming people. He tells her he still wouldn’t leave his job the way that Hades left his, but she tells him that he should have told her that because it would have been her decision to stay, and she would have stayed, but now it’s too late. They agree to be friends, though Damien tells her that he doesn’t know if it will be possible.

Annabella and Liam have issues, because she’s still in love with Damien, though she won’t mention his name or tell Liam who he is, and they’re not as close as they should be for a married couple. They are just comfortable. Things turn for the worse because Damien and Hades are working with Liam as a client, and are managers of his fights. Hades specifically wants Liam to get back into Death Fighting because it makes a lot of money for them all. While they are having drinks at the bar, and Hades steps away, Damien tells Liam to speak with Annabella because he just got her back and that he wouldn’t want to go behind her back. Liam agrees and does talk to Annabella, but they get into a fight about it because she had said no and she spends the night in the hotel. Damien visits her, they talk, and watch a movie as friends.

Liam has a fight, then gets provoked into a Death Fight by another fighter, and Damien tries to talk him out of it, but Liam doesn’t care that it will hurt Annabella and that he’s going against the agreement. He tells Damien that she won’t know if she isn’t told. Hades isn’t going to do anything about it, so instead, Damien calls Annabella, and she comes storming into the pit, where she yells at Liam. Liam decides to abandon the fight, and goes home after she left him stranded. She returns home, packs her bags, and puts her engagement ring on the bedside, intending to leave, but they end up making up and she stays with him.

At the bank the next day, with a furious Hades, Damien admits that he loves Annabella, and that changes Hades’s own demeanor towards Liam—he tells Damien that he needs to go after her, and that Liam doesn’t matter. So Damien finds her in the reception room after a wedding at the Tuscan Rose, and tells her his true feelings for her. They kiss, but Annabella tells him that he’s too late—she loves him back, but she’s not willing to go back on her commitment to Liam no matter what as he’s not going to do anything against her. Besides, Liam agreed to drop fighting for her so they’re really willing to make it work. Damien is miserable with the decision but isn’t about to do anything about it. Hades recalls the fortune from the Gypsy in Marrakech, but Damien doesn’t remember it word for word, so they return to Marrakech with Catalina in tow, where the Gypsy repeats the prophecy that he will love one woman, but she will basically be unavailable. Separately, she tells him that the woman will be unavailable so long as she is married, and when Damien tells Hades this, he figures out what it means. Damien visits Annabella again, and tells her the truth about the prophecy from the Gypsy both for Hades and Sofia, as well as for himself. Annabella hears it but she doesn’t want to leave Liam because of the commitment and that she will not be like he was to her—a cheater. Damien leaves it be.

Annabella has sex with Liam and she calls out Damien’s name when she comes. Liam is furious, so he leaves the house, and goes to the casino where Damien and Hades run into him at the bar. They notice that Liam is making out with another woman that is not Annabella, and Damien gets angry, but Hades stops him and tells him to think about it—this will make Annabella leave Liam again, and it gets Damien what he wants. He videotapes what is going on, and then leaves—when Damien speaks to Liam, he tells him that Annabella had called out Damien’s name during sex, and that he will do whatever he wants, including fighting to the Death again. He then leaves with another woman from the bar. He is gone for three days before he returns home, and says nothing to Annabella. They argue about what had happened regarding her using Damien’s name during sex, and she tells Liam that she had never been untruthful with him. He decides that they are moving to London to get away from it, and she gets him to agree to give a two week notice so she can wrap things up at the Tuscan Rose. She gives her resignation to Sofia when she sees her, and tells her about their move. Damien finds out, and he realizes that Liam never told her the truth—he had cheated on her—so he takes the videos from Hades and goes to see her in her office, where he reveals the truth.

This leads to another fight between Annabella and Liam, and he does not deny the fact that he cheated on her, but he tries to get her to agree to leave to London with him, anyway. She does not, and leaves to the hotel, telling him that she is truly done with him. She brings the divorce papers by the house another day, and forces him to sign it, threatening to call the police if he tries to keep her in the house against her will. He does, and she leaves again, moving into a new apartment, where Damien visits her. They talk, but she tells him that she is done with men, and tells him to get out. Damien goes to the Casino with Hades, and finds Liam at the bar, alone. Liam tells him things and suddenly puts it together that Damien was there that night when Liam cheated on her, so it means that Damien is the guy she’s been sleeping with. He yells at him and tells him that he’s dead.

My Thoughts: I wasn’t surprised about how the relationship between Annabella and Liam turned out, and ended. That said, I did not expect the book to turn out the way that it did with Damien getting involved in her relationship before finally realizing and admitting that he loves her. He’s a softer character than Hades was in that he was the kind of person do to anything to make sure that the person he loves is happy. Either way, I really did enjoy the story line and I am looking forward to see what happens in the next book with Annabella, Liam, and Damien.