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Secrets Of The A-List
Helen Lacey
Sex, shopping…and scandal!Tensions are running high in the Marshall clan—but temptations are running higher. Escaping to Paris for some pre-wedding shopping, Elana and Rafe come face-to-face with a mysterious stranger – one with an explosive secret link to their family. And speaking of connections—those are some white-hot sparks flying between Mariella and Joe. But who spies their tryst with her little eye?
Secrets of the A-List (Episode 5 of 12)
Helen Lacey
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Sex, shopping...and scandal!
Tensions are running high in the Marshall clan—but temptations are running higher. Escaping to Paris for some pre-wedding shopping, Elana and Rafe come face-to-face with a mysterious stranger—one with an explosive secret link to their family. And speaking of connections—those are some white-hot sparks flying between Mariella and Joe. But who spies their tryst with her little eye?
Super Rich. Super Sexy. Super Addictive.
Secrets of the A-List—read all 12 episodes!
Praise for Helen Lacey (#u6b853970-b359-5a90-a7d9-2437676a36ab)
“The...chemistry is off the charts, in spite of their boxing-ring-worthy feuds.”
—RT Book Reviews on Three Reasons to Wed
About the Author (#u6b853970-b359-5a90-a7d9-2437676a36ab)
HELEN LACEY grew up reading Black Beauty and Little House on the Prairie. These childhood classics inspired her to write her first book when she was seven, a story about a girl and her horse. She loves writing for Harlequin Special Edition, where she can create strong heroes with soft hearts and heroines with gumption who get their happily-ever-after. For more about Helen, visit her website, helenlacey.com (http://www.helenlacey.com).
Dedication (#u6b853970-b359-5a90-a7d9-2437676a36ab)
Thank you to my always supportive editor Susan Litman for inviting me to be a part of this fabulous serial and for the opportunity to work alongside a group of such talented and inspirational authors.
Contents
Cover (#ud8582dcd-dd89-5ec1-8fbb-29bb76d01bbe)
Back Cover Text (#ub2ba16ab-165f-5846-82d5-ac071b2a9a2c)
Title Page (#ubf612df6-7ad7-5c41-8b90-c2df768be212)
Praise (#u8f6b7509-3ac3-57e7-a218-b3d1c2df9b24)
About the Author (#ufdf896ba-2a52-5746-8a3b-503a1d8f85dd)
Dedication (#u2de7deec-c19b-53bc-9244-5a6adab4d80c)
Episode Five (#ub1de8ed8-c228-5c85-9f39-2987d88b2d26)
Chapter One (#u76d499f4-3596-5689-93ce-65b98ea4b699)
Chapter Two (#u3819ad3f-e009-5bc7-aea5-733344b5fb58)
Chapter Three (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Episode Five (#u6b853970-b359-5a90-a7d9-2437676a36ab)
Gabe is the Fixer? His top-secret role in Harrison’s side business has been going on beneath the eyes of the Marshall family over the years and no one had any idea! But now Thom knows. And what Thom does with this information could be life changing...or ending. Either way, it’s just another day’s work for the Fixer.
Chapter One (#u6b853970-b359-5a90-a7d9-2437676a36ab)
Gabe Santiago stared at Thom. The last thing he wanted to do was get into anything with the other man. Not tonight. Not when he had so many other things on his mind. But he would do what he had to do. What his job demanded. As he always did.
“This is business?” Thom shook his head, then he spoke again, his voice quiet. “How long have you been doing this stuff?”
Gabe kept his emotions in check. “This stuff?”
Thom shrugged one shoulder nervously. “You know...the fixing stuff.”
He sensed it would be wrong to smile, despite the overdramatic near fear in Thom’s voice. There was nothing remotely amusing about his work. It was serious stuff. Sometimes life and death serious.
“Does it really matter?”
Thom shifted on his feet, clearly uncomfortable as he exhaled a shuddering breath. “I guess not. I just thought...”
“You thought what?”
The other man looked as though he wanted to plummet into a sinkhole. “I wondered why it’s all such a big secret.”
“Because it has to be. Secrets are secrets for a reason,” Gabe reminded him. “You should know that...considering.”
Gabe noticed Thom’s response in a microsecond. The other man’s jaw tightened. His hands curled into fists. His shoulders straightened. Which was the usual comeback when someone felt cornered. Gabe was well acquainted with the fight-or-flight response in people. And Thom, to his credit, didn’t look as though he wanted to bail. He looked like he wanted to knock Gabe on his ass. But Gabe wasn’t about to start a fight with his cousin’s fiancé. If he broke Thom’s nose or gave him a black eye—or worse—he’d have some serious explaining to do to Elana and Mariella. Besides, Luc and Rafe’s recent scuffle that had been caught on camera already had the rumor mills churning about the family and how they were coping after Harrison’s accident. It had taken some effort to pull the plug on the photos and video circulating on the internet.
“You’d really resort to blackmail?” Thom asked, his lips pressed together.
Gabe nodded, suddenly bored with the whole conversation. “I’ll do whatever I have to do to ensure the family is protected. Maintaining anonymity ensures their protection. If you force me out of the closet—figuratively speaking,” Gabe said calmly, “I’ll do the same.” He took a long breath and glanced backward briefly. Inside the restaurant, the party was going on without them. Gabe could hear music and Elana’s bubbly laughter and the clinking of glasses. He needed to keep it together. While Harrison was out of action, Gabe needed to be the glue that kept everyone together and the family afloat. He knew what the truth about Thom would do to the family. He knew Elana would be hurt and Thom’s parents, Samuel and Caroline Scott, would be outraged. It was better that everything remained a secret. Hidden. Off the grid. As it had been for so long.
Gabe took another deep breath and spoke again. “And since it will not only upset Elana, but also ruin the relationship with your parents that you clearly want to protect, you should think hard before you open your mouth to the family...or the press.”
“Is that a threat?”
Gabe shrugged loosely. “Take it as you like. I get things done. Things that other people don’t want to do.”
“As Harrison’s hired thug, you mean?”
“As someone who will do whatever needs to be done to protect the people in that room,” he replied, hooking a thumb in the direction of the party. “You’d do well to remember that since you’re soon to become part of this family.”
Thom ran a hand through his short-cropped hair. “This is seriously fucked-up.”
“This is real life,” Gabe said harshly. “Get used to it.”
“I thought we were friends.”
Friends. Gabe wondered how long it had been since he’d considered anyone a friend. Luc, maybe, a long time ago. When they were kids, before Harrison’s eldest son started resenting Gabe for his close relationship with the older man. And he’d never really been friends with Thom. He liked him well enough, but he would forget him in a heartbeat if he needed to.
“There are no friends in business,” Gabe said coolly and saw Thom’s eyes flash. “But if you want to keep this friendly, then keep your mouth shut. Do that, and the photos will stay hidden and no one will know the truth about you.”
Thom took a couple of steps closer to the edge of the balcony. The crashing waves of the Pacific were at odds with the uneasy quiet around them, and even the music from inside the restaurant seemed to have dropped in volume. There was a long drop to the rocks below, and as Gabe watched, the other man stared down into the darkness. For a moment, he wondered if Thom felt so cornered and out of control that he would end things and jump. Of course, Gabe would stop him. He wasn’t totally without compassion. Thom was okay, even if he believed the upcoming wedding was complete farce. But it wasn’t Gabe’s place or his job to get involved. He didn’t do involvement. He stayed on the sidelines, working, watching everyone else screw up so he could fix things.
“I do love Elana,” Thom said quietly. “Despite what you think.”
“I don’t think anything,” Gabe replied.
Thom shrugged loosely and spun around. “I’m not gay.”
Gabe met his gaze head-on and tapped his coat pocket. “Really? I’ve known you a long time. And I know everything about you.”
Thom visibly swallowed, clearly unhappy. “They don’t prove anything.”
Gabe raised a brow. “Maybe not. They don’t really have to prove anything. They exist...that’s enough for it to become a problem.”
“It wasn’t how it looked. Nothing happened.”
Gabe almost laughed. “Doesn’t matter. But your secret is safe, Thom. Make sure you don’t do anything to change that.”
“Or else?”
Gabe took a long breath, his hands thrust in his pockets. “Or else.”
“You don’t scare me.”
Gabe was pretty sure he did, but a part of him admired the other man’s resilience. “That’s not my intention. Just making sure we’re on the same page.”
“The same page?” Thom echoed incredulously. “Are you kidding me?”
“I never kid. I act. I respond. You’d do well to remember that, Thom.”
“You really are a fucking devious bastard,” Thom said and shook his head.
Irritation coursed up Gabe’s spine. He was tired of the conversation. Tired of Thom’s voice. Maybe he should punch Thom in the face. Maybe he just needed a long workout at the gym or to get laid to ease the tension cramping his entire body. It had been too long since he’d screwed his brains out to forget things for a few mindless hours.
The music suddenly got louder, and they both turned toward the patio entrance. Mariella came through the door, and some of the tension constricting Gabe’s chest disappeared. His aunt always calmed him. Maybe it was a DNA thing, a blood tie that couldn’t be denied. She’d been more of a mother to him than his own ever had, that was for sure.
“What are you two doing out here?” she inquired, arms now crossed, tapping long nails on her elbows.
Gabe knew his aunt well and sensed her disappointment in Thom’s quick departure from the restaurant and his aborted speech. “Nothing, Tía,” he assured her. “Just guy talk.”
“I’ve been looking for you, Thom,” she said quietly, her voice a little sterner than usual. “Elana is concerned that you—”
“I’m fine,” Thom said in a rush. “I just needed some air, like I said.”
“What happened in there?”
He shrugged. “I couldn’t—”
“Couldn’t what?” she pressed. “Manage a short speech to celebrate your engagement to my daughter?”
Thom nodded. “I know. As I said right after it happened, I’m truly sorry...”
“It’s just cold feet, Tía,” Gabe said and tapped Thom on the shoulder. “Typical prewedding jitters. Nothing to worry about. I was just telling Thom how every groom feels that way.”
The other man flashed him a how-the-hell-would-you-know kind of look. Which made sense, since Gabe had never been married, engaged, or trapped in any kind of long-term, committed relationship. Commitment meant laying a heart on the line, and that was out of the question. Romantic love was for fools. Sex was all he allowed himself. Hot, meaningless sex with faceless women. One night, maybe two. Nothing serious. Nothing that could lead to rejection or heartbreak. For a moment, and against his better judgment, he allowed himself to remember a girl with long blond hair and deep blue eyes. A girl he’d loved and lost. But that was a long time ago, more of a shadow now than a memory. The pain was still there, though, deep down, in his dark place. He shook the thought off, switching back to what mattered. The family. Elana’s engagement. Harrison getting better. Finding out if someone had tried to kill the man who’d raised him. His work as the Fixer remaining a secret.
“Cold feet?” Mariella said, her dramatic brows now at a steep angle.
Thom looked instantly on the defensive. Mariella’s disapproval had a way of doing that to people. Thom was as eager to please her as everyone else. “I’m good now.”
“I hope so,” Mariella said quietly. “Elana, as wonderful and enchanting as she is, is easily spooked. I don’t want her thinking that you aren’t one hundred percent committed to this relationship.”
“I am committed,” Thom said on a rush of breath and glanced toward Gabe. “I love her. Only her.”
“I’m pleased to hear that. I’d hate to think you were going to bail on my daughter because of cold feet. Or anything else.”
Gabe heard something in Mariella’s voice. Did she suspect Thom wasn’t being entirely honest with Elana? As far as he knew, he was the only one who knew of Thom’s inclinations. Maybe Mariella knew more than he thought. If she did, she wasn’t letting on.
“I’m sure Thom has no intention of upsetting Elana,” Gabe said and glanced at the other man. “Right, Thom?”
“Right,” Thom replied. “Of course. I was stupid for a moment. It won’t happen again.” He tugged at his collar. “And I should probably get back inside and talk to Elana.”
“You won’t upset her?” Mariella said.
Thom shook his head. “No. I’m good now. But I need to talk to my fiancée.”
Gabe’s suspicions rose. Thom sounded off. Running scared. Mariella was frowning and clearly sensed it, too. The last thing he wanted was Thom getting an attack of conscience and telling Elana that he was gay. “I’ll go with you,” he said quietly and waited until Thom walked on ahead a few steps before he spoke to his aunt. “It’s okay, Tía...it’s all under control.”
“Make sure it is,” Mariella said quietly, almost gravely. “I don’t want anything to ruin my daughter’s wedding.”
“I’ve got it covered,” he assured her before he headed back into the restaurant. “You know I will always protect the family. No matter what the cost.”
* * *
Thom wasn’t sure how the hell he was supposed to talk to Elana with Gabe breathing down his neck. Dammit, but the dark and brooding Gabriel Santiago made him feel like an insecure sixteen-year-old. The truth was, Gabe was more Marshall than Santiago. He was more like Harrison than either Luc or Rafe. He possessed the old man’s grit and coldness...the same steely-eyed determination and ruthlessness. No wonder Gabe was the Fixer. It all made perfect sense now. Harrison was the money man, Gabe the muscle. It was clearly the perfect combination. As he walked toward his fiancée, Thom recalled the conversation he’d overheard at the house. The names. The numbers. The things that needed to be done. The Fixer fixing things while Harrison lay in a coma.
This is so fucked up.
