Center Stage (21 page)

“Do you remember?” Regan shouted again.

Arianna cleared her mind. He used to teach them to stop, drop, and roll. She knew if she let her body go loose, she’d slide from his grip and fall to the floor. Then she could roll away.

But what was Regan going to do? What could…her gun! Regan had her gun!

“One.” She heard Regan’s voice grow closer. “Two.” She’d taken another step. “Three.”

Arianna let her body become fluid, and she dropped out of Alexander’s arms. The knife scraped against her cheek as she fell to the floor and rolled away. At that moment an explosion ripped through the smoky air, and the man who had held her captive fell down to the ground next to her—lifeless.

Regan hurried to her and grabbed her arm as the flames around them began to move in.

Arianna struggled to her knees and over to Clara.

He’d hit her on the head, but her eyes were open. Blood dripped from above her eyebrow.

“Can you walk?” Arianna shouted against the sound of cracking wood.

Clara stood up and Arianna followed. Just as they pushed open the doors to the theater, they could hear the sounds of sirens coming around the corner.

The three of them made it to the street before the entire roof of the theater caved in.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Arianna woke up in a hospital bed. She hadn’t remembered getting there.

“Honey, are you okay?”

It was John’s voice.

Arianna turned her head. He was next to her in a chair, holding her hand.

She tried to sit up, but she couldn’t. Her eyes burned. She took a breath, and her chest ached. It was then she realized she had an oxygen mask on her face.

She lifted her arm to remove it, but she couldn’t find the strength. John stood and sat down on the edge of her bed.

Arianna was comforted by that. She’d been afraid something worse had happened to him.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” he said softly.

She couldn’t see his face clearly, but she could hear the tears.

As well as she could, she motioned for him to take the mask off of her.

“You’re okay?” Her voice was raspy, only a whisper.

“I’m fine. I have a few staples in the back of my head.”

“Curtis?”

She felt another set of hands on her leg. “I’m right here. The son-of-a-bitch stole my truck and wrecked it while I was in surgery. Simone and Avery are okay, too.”

Arianna nodded.

“Regan?”

John brushed her hair from her forehead. “She’s in the other room. Zach is in there with her. Your mom is in the waiting room with the boys.”

“Clara?” The tears came when she asked.

John brushed them away. “She’s fine. They have her sucking back some oxygen, and she has a big bandage on her forehead. Nothing more than a scrape. Madeline, Carlos, and the boys are with her.”

John placed the oxygen back on her face, and Curtis moved closer to her.

“You have stitches in your cheek. You got cut pretty bad,” he told her.

She nodded.

“They confirmed that Hamilton is dead.”

She knew that, but it didn’t bring her any peace.

Curtis looked at John. “I’m going to go tell Mom and Dad she’s awake.” He left the room and she noticed John’s head fall and tears roll from his cheeks.

“The theater is a complete loss. I knew I’d lost you.” He wiped his eyes. “I’ve never felt pain like that before.”

Arianna finally moved her arm and pulled the mask from her face. “I’m here. Everything is okay.”

He nodded. “They gave me this.” He pulled her ring from his pocket. “I’ll give it back to you when you’re not all bandaged up.”

She looked down at her hands. There were cuts and bandages over her hands and arms.

John bit down on his lip and took a deep breath. “I guess we rebuild?”

She nodded. “Bigger and better.”

He laughed through his tears. “That’s my girl.”

“I need a vacation.”

“I think we should extend our trip to San Francisco. Where else do you want to go?”

Arianna closed her eyes and opened them slowly. She could see him more clearly now. “Back to New York as newlyweds.”

His mouth had dropped open and then formed into that sexy smile she’d fallen in love with.

“Newlyweds?”

“When you give me that ring back, it better come with an offer to change my name.”

“You’re sure?”

She nodded and blinked her eyes with heavy lids. When she opened them again, he was smiling wide.

“I’ll take that deal.”

She smiled. “I guess my days being center stage are over. No one wants an actress with a huge scar across her cheek.”

John leaned in and kissed her forehead. “You’ll always be my star, and our life together will be your center stage.”

I hope you enjoyed Arianna and John’s story in
Center Stage. Please join us for a preview of
Eduardo Keller’s story—

Lost and Found

Available May 2013

Chapter One

Ed Keller leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up on his desk. The view from his office would never cease to amaze him. The view from his uncle’s office was much more spectacular, but he had no reason to complain.

Who would have thought, nearly twenty years ago when he’d asked for an after-school job to afford a limo ride to take a girl to prom, that he’d end up with the title Vice President on his business cards?

He laughed. He couldn’t even think of the girl’s name that had squeezed at his heart. She’d been older. That he’d remembered. But he’d never done well with older women.

Now he sat atop an empire that his uncle’s grandfather had started and his uncle’s father had carried on. But it was Zach Benson who made it what it was today.

Benson, Benson, and Hart built big—built on time—and built under budget. Nothing had changed.

Ed didn’t have a foreman like Zach had. His other uncle, John Forrester, had been the best foreman any company could have asked for. A loyal employee until Ed’s Aunt Arianna made him retire only two years earlier. But another would come along. Right now he had to focus on a new assistant.

Interviewing people for a position shouldn’t be an issue. He’d been doing it for years. But a personal assistant had to be in your business, and he didn’t like that.

He’d fought it for years. Temps were good. They came, did the work, and left. He figured it was kind of like dating the wrong girl. There weren’t any he wanted to spend his life with.

Perhaps his expectations were too high. After all, his Aunt Regan had been Zach’s assistant. They’d been married nearly twenty-five years, and she still took care of him. It wouldn’t be long before Tyler and Spencer, their sons, would be sitting in Ed’s seat.

Ed dropped his feet to the floor and pushed up from his chair. When the time was right, he’d find the assistant of his dreams. He’d given up on the woman of his dreams, so an assistant would have to do.

He walked to the elevator and pressed the button to go down to the lobby. There was a Starbucks there now, and he’d grown very fond of caramel lattes, thanks to his Aunt Arianna, though he didn’t go for the skinny version. His Uncle John would say it was a bit too frilly a drink for a man in the construction business. His Uncle Zach, on the other hand, would argue that it was a good stress reliever.

Ed laughed at himself. What an eclectic bunch of people he had in his family. And even without them there with him, he still enjoyed them.

The gathering of the masses in the Starbucks also entertained him, almost as much as the thoughts of his family and their differences.

Ed ordered his drink and stood at the counter waiting for it to be handed to him.

He could look around the store, spot and name each kind of person. There was the tourist, the executive, and the assistant. There was couple, obviously just downtown for the day and…hmmm, one that stumped him.

She was professional, probably interviewing by the way she was dressed, but she wasn’t comfortable with the big building and the mass of people. She was using Starbucks as a common ground, something familiar, to ease her nerves.

He listened as she ordered her drink—decaf and nonfat. What fun was in that, he wondered.

She tucked her change back into her purse and walked to the end of the counter to wait for her drink next to Ed.

Flowery perfume filled his nose. She had a sweet side.

The lady behind the counter handed Ed his iced caramel latte. He turned to leave and, he’d say so himself, that was when things got interesting.

The woman who had been standing behind him, searching in her bag for something, looked up just as Ed turned around. She shifted to move out of his way, but instead she moved right into him.

Ed’s hands slipped from the condensation on the cup, and the entire, cold drink poured down the front of the woman.

She let out a stifled scream, and her hands went into the air. “Oh-my-God!”

“I’m very sorry.”

Ed turned toward the counter and grabbed a handful of napkins. He would have helped to mop up her clothes, but he noticed that the white silk shirt clung to her and decided it just wasn’t a good idea to try.

“Look what you did!” She ripped the napkins from his hand and began to blot away the coffee which had already stained the shirt.

“Sorry, but I think you ran into me.”

She snapped her head up again. “Oh, men. You’re not always right, you know. Sometimes you do make mistakes.”

Not only was she not as sweet as her flowery perfume, she was jaded. Bad news.

“Again, I’m very sorry. How can I help you?” He turned and reached for more napkins, but when she pulled them from his hand, he noticed she was crying.

“I think you’ve done enough.”

“I still think I can help in some way.”

“Listen. My suit is ruined. This is the only one I have. I was searching for a job, and I can’t do that now. I can’t hand out resumes looking like this.”

Ed watched as the woman continued to wipe off her blouse, but to no avail. It was ruined, but he still wasn’t going to take the blame.

“Are you looking for a job in this building?”

She let out a grunt. “Why else would I be here?”

“I was just asking. I know most of the businesses in the building. Perhaps I can help you out.”

The woman pursed her lips. “I don’t need your charity.”

“It’s not charity. You seem to be in need of a job, and I’m sure I can help you find one.”

“What, do you own this place?” She waved her arms in the air.

“Let me see your resume.”

The woman stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. That wasn’t new. You didn’t run a multi-million dollar company in your mid-thirties without people giving you a shifty eye.

Her coffee was set on the counter. He moved in to grab it, but she moved quicker. “I’ll get this. I can’t afford to waste a sip of this. It’s my breakfast and lunch.”

She picked up the coffee and moved to a table where she set down the cup and pulled a resume from her bag. She handed it to Ed. “Here it is. I hate to say it, but I’m desperate. If I don’t find a job in three days, I have to go home.”

“Why? Does that suit turn back into a pumpkin and your glass slipper breaks?”

“Have you ever been desperate for anything in your life?”

He didn’t have anything to say. The only desperate thing he’d ever done was ask his uncle for a job at fifteen so he could get that limo to prom. Look where it landed him twenty years later. She was right. He’d never been desperate for anything.

“How do you feel about assistant work for a commercial builder?”

“You actually know of a job?”

“I actually know of a job.” He folded her resume and tucked it into his pocket. “Ed Keller is an executive at Benson, Benson, and Hart. He needs an assistant.”

Her face went pale, and her lips parted. This reaction went past him spilling his drink on her. “That was the business I was going to leave my resume with.”

“You’re into architecture?”

He watched as she swallowed hard, but the color hadn’t returned to her cheeks yet. “Not exactly, but you think you can get me in there?”

“I’m sure I can.”

She nodded and picked up her coffee. “You don’t think Mr. Keller will mind my attire?”

Ed smiled. “I guarantee he will be fine. Your resume is impressive. I’m sure that he’d understand that accidents happen.”

She nodded again, nervously. “I’m still mad that you ruined my suit.”

“And I’m sorry that you bumped into me. But if you’ll come with me, I’ll get you a job. And, if you’re hungry for lunch later, there is a hot dog cart out back. I’d love to buy you some lunch.”

Darcy watched the elevator doors close. She was alone with the man who had ruined her day, but also had offered her an opportunity. She was scared to death.

She’d planned this day for so long. Now she was in the building, and she was headed to the company offices of Benson, Benson, and Hart.

Her heart pounded in her chest. She hadn’t expected this. It was in her plans, but as the doors opened to the floor and the name was before her on the wall in big, shiny letters, she thought she might just throw up.

She only knew one thing about herself—her past—and it had led her to Benson, Benson, and Hart. She’d planned to attempt to, at least, get in the door since all the other jobs she’d applied for had fallen through. The journey to find out about herself wasn’t supposed to drop her in the office where she knew her all her answers would lie. This was supposed to be months down the road when she’d had time to explore more about herself and where she’d come from. Now what?

The man exited the elevator and looked at her. “Are you coming?”

“I seem to be very nervous.”

He reached for her hand and pulled her gently from the elevator. He took off his suit coat and draped it over her shoulders. It was a courteous move to hide her huge stained blouse, which she knew she’d caused because she wasn’t paying attention, but she still wasn’t going to let him think he didn’t do it. Men would use you if you weren’t careful.