by Maya Blake
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
What happens in Vegas...
The Fixer has been hustling to keep the Marshall family’s scandals at a simmer, but nothing turns up the heat like the very public opening of a new nightclub. And when Vegas nights turn to Vegas fights, things look ready to boil over. They don’t call it Sin City for nothing. But between vicious jealousies and staggering betrayals, is anyone ready to confess their sins? Remember, dear Marshalls, social climbing has no safety net...
Super Rich. Super Sexy. Super Addictive.
Secrets of the A-List
SECRETS OF THE A-LIST
(Episode 11 of 12)
Maya Blake
About the Author
Maya Blake’s hopes of becoming a writer were born when she picked up her first romance at thirteen. Little did she know her dream would come true! Does she still pinch herself every now and then to make sure it’s not a dream? Yes, she does! Feel free to pinch her, too, via Twitter, Facebook or Goodreads! Happy reading!
Visit her Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for other titles.
Contents
Episode Eleven
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Episode Eleven
As the Marshalls get ready to open their newest nightclub in Vegas, they push the town’s code of secrecy and bad behavior to the very limits! Rachel pursues her plan to deal with her competition—but alters the stakes. And Elana’s family discovers her secret, leaving her uneasy—and her husband oddly happy. And Harrison Marshall is out of his coma! But is he out of danger?
Chapter One
He’s awake.
Harrison is awake.
Mariella Santiago-Marshall hurried down the corridor of Whispering Oaks, her heels playing an off-tune staccato beat to the rest of her family’s as they raced after her. She tried to draw comfort from their presence as they headed for Harrison’s room. But her heart was beating too hard, her insides churning anxiously with what awaited them.
Harrison was awake, which meant she would finally get a few much-needed answers. But would she like those answers? Would her beloved husband redeem himself with his words, or would what he had to say drive a deeper wedge in the family she feared was fracturing beyond repair?
The other question, the one she’d tried to hide from but hadn’t been able to avoid lately was, what about her and what she’d done with Joe? How could she look Harrison in the eyes now without exposing herself as a cheater, too? Was she a good enough actress to hide her sins from the man she’d been intimate with for several decades? The man who’d fathered her children?
Her steps slowed as she reached the closed doors.
So much had changed in so short a time. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that she wasn’t the same woman who’d raced to her husband’s side that first day following his accident. Trouble was, would Harrison be able to live with the new Mariella?
Only one way to find out.
Hand shaking, she grasped the handle, swallowed and turned it.
A strong male hand touched the small of her back. She started a little, at once relieved and disappointed when she turned to find Luc beside her rather than Joe. She smiled at her son before her gaze flicked to Joe. Her lover’s gaze met hers, but the look in his eyes was a little hard to read. Much like how she was feeling, she couldn’t tell whether he was pleased or anxious about the news of Harrison’s return to consciousness. For one blind second, she wanted to go to him, comfort him.
Of course she did no such thing. Instead, she braced herself and pushed the door open.
Dr. Aebischer and a clutch of nurses stood clustered around Harrison’s bed, barring her immediate view of her husband.
She quickened her footsteps. “Harrison?” Her voice emerged as shaky as she felt, perhaps because she knew nothing would ever be the same again. She straightened her spine as she crossed the last few steps to her husband’s bedside. And found him just as unresponsive as he’d been yesterday.
She frowned. “Harrison?” Her voice was sharper this time, because now that she could see him better, he looked even worse than he’d been before.
“What the hell is going on, Doctor?” Rafe demanded, his frowning gaze moving from Dr. Aebischer to Harrison’s prone form.
“You told us my father was awake,” Luc accused, turning to face the doctor.
Dr. Aebischer pocketed the penlight he’d been shining in Harrison’s eyes and cleared his throat. “And he was. For a brief period, he was conscious and aware of his surroundings.”
“But?” Mariella demanded, her hand gripping the foot of the bed frame for support as her gaze flitted over the beeping machines and returned to Harrison. From where she was standing, nothing had changed. Surely if he’d woken up there would be some positive signs?
“Is he...is he...?” Elana stumbled toward the bed, her hand pressed against her mouth, unable to complete the sentence everyone was too afraid to ask. When her chest began to rise and fall in agitation, Thom laid a calming hand on her shoulder.
“He’s still alive, but I’m afraid he’s slipped back into his coma,” Dr. Aebischer informed them.
“But how is that possible? Weren’t you supposed to bring him out of his coma and keep him out?” Luc snarled, his hands bunched into tight fists.
“There are certainly positive signs. His brain activity is heightened, which gives me cause to be cautiously optimistic—”
“We’re not paying you for your optimism,” Rafe barked.
Mariella shook her head, unable to drag her gaze from Harrison’s still body. She wanted to stalk around to his side and beat her hand against his chest. Scream at him to wake up. Minutes ago, she hadn’t been sure whether she wanted to face him. But with even that uncertainty now shattered, anger and frustration bubbled like a lethal cocktail within her.
“You say he woke up briefly? How long was briefly?” Joe asked. He’d quietly maneuvered his way to her side. And although he didn’t put his hand on her, Mariella felt his solid presence and quiet support. Felt it and guiltily welcomed it. She let the sensation seep into her depleted spirit as she stared defiantly at her husband. Her very comatose husband.
“A matter of minutes. As was to be expected, he was confused—”
“Did he say anything?” Gabe demanded.
Dr. Aebischer shook his head. “We didn’t get the chance to take the tube out of his mouth before he fell back under. I’m sorry this all proved to be a false alarm. I got the nurses to call you back to let you know, but you were already on your way here.”
“So this was all a fucking waste of time, is that what you’re saying?” Luc growled.
“Well...” Dr. Aebischer started.
Mariella straightened. “I take it there’s nothing more to be done for him right now?”
“Except make him comfor
table and keep monitoring him, no.”
Rafe swore under his breath. Elana suppressed a quiet sob and wilted against Thom. Joe took a half step closer to Mariella. Luc paced in a tight circle, his anger barely contained. Gabe just leaned against the wall, his arms folded as his gaze rested on Harrison.
Her family.
Hers.
It was time to stop sitting back and hoping for the best. It was time to take control.
“Give us the room, Doctor.” She infused her voice with enough grit to make sure he understood it wasn’t a request. “And tell your staff that we don’t want to be disturbed.”
If the doctor found her request a little strange, he chose not to voice it. They weren’t paying him for mindless chitchat.
She felt the weighted stares of her family as Dr. Aebischer left the room but waited until the doctor’s footsteps had stopped echoing before she strolled around to the top of her husband’s bed. For a moment she stood looking down at him.
“Mom, what’s going on?” Rafe prompted.
With a deep breath, she turned around. “We can’t keep going on like this. We can’t wait for your father to wake up.”
Elana gasped, her face going a pasty white. “What? You’re not going to pull the plug on him, are you? I—we won’t let you—”
“Dios mío, of course I’m not going to pull the plug on him! Why would you even think that?” She frowned. What on earth was wrong with Elana? She’d been acting oddly since she got back from her honeymoon, with her emotions seesawing all over the place. God, she hoped she wasn’t flaking out at being married already. She would need to keep a closer eye on her. Something else that needed taking care of.
She stared at her daughter until Elana gave a tight-lipped nod. “Sorry... I just...this is so hard,” Elana said.
Mariella suppressed a sigh. “It’s fine. We’re all under a lot of pressure. Which is exactly my point. We’ve been hoping for a miracle, one that might yet happen. Who knows? But we need to mitigate that with a little bit of reality.”
