by Dani Collins
“What is it, darling?” Ana asked, touching his hand.
Rachel’s humor had fallen away. She was pinning a narrow-eyed gaze on Gabe, who didn’t notice, too busy showing disdain as he removed his hand from beneath his mother’s.
Luc set his wrist on the back of Rachel’s chair but wore a stiff expression and seemed fixated on the view.
Rafe was pretending great interest in Elana’s complaint about a traffic mishap, which didn’t seem that traumatic, but she was furious about it.
Thom gave his wineglass a rotation, clearly trying to keep a low profile.
There were so many undercurrents, Mariella felt she was becoming unmoored by them. No, it was the talk about the family that was making her paranoid. She was looking for a problem that didn’t exist, trying to put out fires before they flamed.
It was time to get on with the one she knew existed.
“Thank you all for coming this evening. I had some business I wanted to discuss, so I appreciate your being here.” With a small breath, she revealed, “It seems people are talking about us. Not in the way we would prefer.”
In her heightened state, it seemed every pair of eyes widened with culpability as they all turned their attention to her. The only sound was the distant sound of traffic and wind in the trees, both carrying on the still air.
“About?” Gabe prompted cautiously.
“You know, Gabe. We spoke about this.” She didn’t recap all the horrible things that had been said about Elana’s wedding. Thankfully Elana had been in Bali for the worst of it.
“Oh, right. Of course.” He relaxed and sat back. “Please, carry on.”
Ana’s mouth pinched. “Yes, do tell us what you two are conspiring.”
“It’s not a conspiracy.” Mariella gritted her teeth, sadly unconvinced there weren’t any against her. The way her life was going lately, there had to be dozens. “The Marshall brand is struggling.”
She didn’t look at Ana. Her sister had to be wearing a smug cat-with-the-canary look over that admission.
“Obviously, the actual company isn’t struggling,” she made a point of stating for Ana’s benefit, “but our every move is being judged. Marshall International is seen as weak without Harrison at the helm. We need to keep sending the message that it is business as usual. To that end, Gabe and I have decided a masquerade ball for Halloween would be a good idea. We know time is tight, but MSM has all hands on deck. We’ve done successful events in less time, so I’m not worried. We need this.”
“But what about—” Rachel was the first to pipe up, clearly fixated on an engagement party for her and Luc.
“Something fresh and exciting. Not so family focused as our latest big events have been,” Mariella said, subtly conveying another engagement party would not do the trick.
Rachel quickly read the situation and said, “A masked ball is a fantastic idea!”
Yes, she was a future wife of a politician. Luc had better be prepared for that.
“Thank you, Rachel.”
“Do you think that’s wise with Dad still so ill?” Rafe asked. “Some of the talk is because we went ahead with Elana’s wedding while he was still in the hospital.”
“Some people can’t be pleased,” Mariella said smoothly. “If we’d canceled, we would have been labeled coldhearted for denying the suppliers and servers their night of work.”
“True, but the wedding was in the works for a few months, not something you’re planning while he’s still sick,” Luc said, scratching the back of his head. “I think keeping a low profile is a better strategy as we concentrate on Dad’s care. Take a wait-and-see approach?”
“On Dad?” Elana asked sharply.
“No,” Luc said impatiently. “On the business. Until we have a better idea on whether Dad will recover.”
“What is that supposed to mean? That you don’t think he will?” Elana cried.
Before Luc could answer, Gabe cut in. “Uncle Harrison would want us to keep the company going.” He paused for the barest of seconds, jaw hardening. “In whatever way necessary. He spent his entire life building Marshall International. He wouldn’t want it to crumble because he’s not here to run it.”
“And what better way to keep it going?” Ana said with a smirk. “Than to invite his competitors and detractors to dance on his grave. In costume.”
Mariella sent her a killing look.
“Oh my God! Don’t say that! What is wrong with all of you?” Elana’s eyes welled. She blinked hard, spilling tears over her thick lashes. “He’s going to r-recover! Soon!” She balled up her napkin against her trembling lips.
“Elana...” Mariella couldn’t recall her daughter acting out like this since the first time she’d gotten her period.
Thom set a concerned arm around her. “He is. Of course, he is, baby.”
“Don’t—!” Elana shrugged him off abruptly. “Don’t call me that. Ever. I’m fine! Stop staring at me.” She reached for her wine and sipped, but the glass trembled. The liquid sloshed as she set it back down before the liquid had barely touched her lips.
Everyone was staring. This was completely unlike her. Elana might throw fits of temper, but not tears.
“Seriously,” she bit out. “Stop looking at me.”
Their main course came as a suitable distraction, but Mariella continued to watch her daughter as the lamb chops with green beans and kale were served. Was she looking for things that weren’t there? Or was Elana hiding something? Please, God, don’t let her be taking up with Jarrod again. That’s all they needed—for the highly criticized wedding to fall apart weeks after the honeymoon.
Now she was back to stressing about fires and gossip and how to stamp out both. Taking a breath that burned her lungs, Mariella said, “We have to face reality.” She was looking at her daughter, but speaking to the table. “We can and should maintain hope. But the fact is, Harrison may not come back.” The words caught in her chest like a barbed hook, making her voice crack. “He may not come back to us as he was. We don’t know.”
She took a sip of wine, wetting a throat that rasped, aware of the lethal silence she had induced.
“We have to preserve his legacy and prepare ourselves to let him go.”
* * *
Pain. At least, he thought it was pain. He both felt it and didn’t. Like the light that pierced as he tried to open his heavy eyelids. It was awareness without full comprehension.
Where was he? It was so damned bright. Ceiling tiles? Fluorescent lights, but sunlight, too, coming from a window on his right. Or was that some kind of floodlight?
There was an annoying beeping sound impacting his inner ear like a hammer, dragging him awake against his wishes, like an alarm clock set for the wrong time. He wanted to slap it off, but his arms were leaden. Too heavy to lift.
The pain grew strong enough to make him nauseous.
There was movement, too. Someone, maybe several people, were scurrying around him, speaking, but his brain couldn’t make sense of what they were saying.
He searched his memory for where he was supposed to be. He was always going somewhere, meeting someone. Home, office, airport, Mariella, Gabe, kids, women...
Had he had a heart attack? A stroke? Something made him think he’d been in the Bugatti. He hadn’t crashed it, had he? Damn. He loved that car.
“M-mm.” He tried to ask for Mariella, but there was something in his throat. An obstruction. What the hell?
Panicked, he tried to get it out, but his arm was too heavy to lift.
Where the fuck am I?
* * * * *
Harrison is finally awake! What will he have to say about his car accident, the Fixer, even his pregnant mistress? (He’d better have a good answer for that last one!) Surely the best and most powerful entrepreneur in the country
can come up with an answer that’ll appease his sure-to-be-pissed-off wife. If not, he can always ask the Fixer for help...
Read SECRETS OF THE A-LIST (Episode 11 of 12)
by Maya Blake
to find out what happens next!
Available now from Harlequin Serials
wherever Harlequin ebooks are sold
Don’t miss a single installment of the
SECRETS OF THE A-LIST series:
SECRETS OF THE A-LIST (Episode 1 of 12)
by Joss Wood
SECRETS OF THE A-LIST (Episode 2 of 12)
by Clare Connelly
SECRETS OF THE A-LIST (Episode 3 of 12)
by Donna Hill
SECRETS OF THE A-LIST (Episode 4 of 12)
by Reese Ryan
SECRETS OF THE A-LIST (Episode 5 of 12)
by Helen Lacey
SECRETS OF THE A-LIST (Episode 6 of 12)
by Michelle Major
SECRETS OF THE A-LIST (Episode 7 of 12)
by Yahrah St. John
SECRETS OF THE A-LIST (Episode 8 of 12)
by Cat Schield
SECRETS OF THE A-LIST (Episode 9 of 12)
by Maya Blake
SECRETS OF THE A-LIST (Episode 10 of 12)
by USA TODAY Bestselling Author Dani Collins
SECRETS OF THE A-LIST (Episode 11 of 12)
by Maya Blake
SECRETS OF THE A-LIST (Episode 12 of 12)
by Karen Booth
Available now from Harlequin Serials
wherever Harlequin ebooks are sold
And don’t miss two linked romances also featuring the Marshall family from Harlequin Desire®:
CONVENIENT CINDERELLA BRIDE
by Joss Wood
On sale now
and
SNOWED IN WITH A BILLIONAIRE
by Karen Booth
Coming in December 2017
ISBN-13: 9781488082887
Secrets of the A-List (Episode 10 of 12)
Copyright © 2017 by Harlequin Books S.A.
Special thanks and acknowledgment to Dani Collins for her contribution to the Secrets of the A-List serial.
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com