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The last seduction?
Elana and Thom’s rehearsal dinner should be a night to celebrate romance. Instead, Mariella is missing in action, a surprise guest is slipping through the crowd, Luc is fending off blatant requests for a ring from Rachel...and the Fixer is scrambling to keep all Marshalls on message! Seductive distractions loom large for everyone tonight—but are any of them dangerous enough (or sexy enough!) to derail the wedding?
Super Rich. Super Sexy. Super Addictive.
Secrets of the A-List—read all 12 episodes!
Secrets of the A-List (Episode 7 of 12)
Yahrah St. John
“The themes of healing and starting anew will inspire readers in this unpredictable, unique novel.”
—RT Book Reviews on A Chance with You
YAHRAH ST. JOHN is the author of twenty-two books. St. John is the recipient of the 2013 RT Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Kimani Romance for her title A Chance with You. When she’s not at home crafting one of her sexy romances, she can be found in the kitchen cooking one of her gourmet meals discovered on the Food Network for her husband. Or this thrill junkie can be found traveling the globe seeking out her next adventure.
A graduate of Hyde Park Career Academy, she earned a bachelor of arts degree in English from Northwestern University. St. John is a member of Romance Writers of America but is an avid reader of all genres. She lives in sunny Orlando, the City Beautiful, where there’s great weather all year round. For more information, please visit www.yahrahstjohn.com.
To my agent, Christine Witthohn, for encouraging me to write this serial. You’re the best!
Contents
The hits keep coming for Mariella Santiago-Marshall. She’s gotten a call from Harrison’s mistress—his pregnant mistress! No wonder she’s looking for comfort in Joe’s arms. But is she ready to break her marriage vows—and trade her secret (or so she thinks) midnight trysts for a true affair of the heart?
“Make love to me.” Mariella threw herself at Joe, not caring how wanton she seemed. They’d walked a short distance along the shoreline from the parking lot at Arroyo Burro Beach to a cavernous area under the tall mountain bluffs. The beach was a popular favorite for Santa Barbara locals, and Mariella had come because she’d known it would be secluded at this time of night and give them the privacy she craved.
And it was.
Mariella knew she was risking everything asking Joe to make love to her, but in that moment she didn’t care. The phone call she’d received tonight was the last straw—she wouldn’t play the good wife any longer, standing by her philandering husband’s side. The phone call had come from Harrison’s mistress in France during a family dinner at Casa Cat claiming he’d sired a child. Was she the first? God only knew. Since Harrison had been in a coma for nearly a month, Mariella was beginning to learn all sorts of secrets he’d kept hidden from her during their thirty-two-year marriage. First the Fixer. And now this.
Well, no more.
For once in her life, she was going to be selfish and live for herself. Not for Harrison. Not for her children. She was going to live in the moment.
And Mariella wanted to be with Joe. Joe Reynolds. The man who’d stood on the sidelines for over three decades. She’d always thought of Joe as nothing more than a friend until Harrison’s accident had her looking at him as a man. The attraction between them had been simmering underneath the surface for weeks. She’d tried her best to deny it, but the other day at the mansion, she’d given in to it. Why had it taken Joe so long to make a move? Had he been waiting for her to see the truth about her husband—that he was a liar and couldn’t be trusted? Thanks to the constant bombshells, Mariella was learning just that. Perhaps she’d put her trust in the wrong man.
Tonight she would rectify that mistake.
* * *
Joe stared back at Mariella. She was so damn beautiful. She was wearing a black wrap dress that might look simple on another woman but showed off her svelte curves. Her long dark hair hung in wave after luxurious wave down her back, and her brown eyes were so expressive. They showed the desire lurking in their fiery depths. Like a fine wine, Mariella had only gotten more stunning as the years had gone by. Nary a wrinkle could be seen on her tawny skin. And the words she’d just whispered to Joe were the words he’d longed to hear since he and Harrison first saw her. Back then, he’d been too shy to approach Mariella and Harrison had swooped in.
And right now, he was just as hesitant as he’d been back then. There was the possibility that his investigation into Harrison could have caused his accident and put all of them in this quagmire. But more than that, Mariella’s marriage was crumbling and fate was giving him a window to have the woman he’d always wanted. Here. Tonight. Should he take it?
He finally spoke his thoughts aloud. “Mariella, I don’t want you to do anything you’re going to regret later.”
It would kill him if they made