A Madaris Bride for Christmas. Brenda Jackson

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СКАЧАТЬ the man of her dreams. I love you, girl, but had it been me, I would have married Joel months ago. He’s the best.”

      And she really meant it. The guy Heather had met and fallen in love with last year, Joel Garcia, was CEO of a marketing firm in Spain, where they would make their home. The wedding was planned for next month. A June wedding. And Carly was the maid of honor.

      “Don’t forget that you have that job interview with the hotel in Vegas next week,” Heather reminded her, standing too.

      Carly nodded. She had gotten a call from one of her instructors from the Parisian culinary school she had attended. He’d advised her that a newly opened hotel in Las Vegas was looking for a pastry chef and he had thought of her. He had wanted her to apply for the job and promised that he would highly recommend her for the position.

      That Chef LaPierre would go out of his way to call her and offer her a recommendation was all the encouragement she’d needed. A few weeks later she’d received a letter inviting her to Vegas to be interviewed.

      “After last night, I’m going to need the trip.”

      “And the job would be nice too,” Heather said, laughing.

      “Of course.”

      Carly had made the right decision, moving to Miami with Heather three years ago. Heather’s job as program coordinator with a major cruise line had transferred her here, and Carly had just broken up with Nathaniel Knox, the minister she’d met while volunteering to feed the needy, after a serious relationship. At the time, leaving Porter, Connecticut, had been the best thing.

      Although Carly liked Miami, there was really nothing to keep her here once Heather married and moved to Spain.

      “Yes, the job in Vegas would be nice, but if that doesn’t work out, I’ll be fine here. Rumor has it that Chef Renaldo has his eye on that position opening up at a restaurant in South Beach.”

      “And you hope he gets it, right?”

      Carly smiled. “It would definitely make my life easier. The man can be simply horrid.”

      “Well, I’m hoping something works out with that interview. Moving to Vegas would be good for you.”

      Carly chuckled. “Yeah, me and Sin City. If I do get the job, the next time I go home, Aunt Ruthie is sure to pray all over me.” Ruth Briggs was the grand-aunt who’d raised her since she was a baby.

      Heather threw her head back and laughed. “Yes, I can see your aunt doing that.”

      Carly bade Heather good-night and made her way to her bedroom. Without Heather to distract her, her thoughts shifted back to what she’d heard through the vent earlier that evening.

      She had checked the alley for victims. She’d given the police a tip. There was really nothing more she could do. First thing in the morning she would check the newspapers to see if anything was mentioned. If not, she would no longer lose sleep wondering what did or did not happen in the alley.

      One week later

      In the middle of the night, four men gathered in an empty warehouse near the Miami Beach marina. Even through the steel walls, the sound of waves, remnants of last week’s tropical storm, beat against the sides of the boats docked outside.

      “Why was this meeting called, Palmer?” The man’s voice was deep, authoritarian and annoyed. “I thought we wouldn’t meet again until—”

      “Some woman called the tip line about Harrison. Wouldn’t give a lot of information, only said she thought someone had been killed in the alley,” Palmer said. “I heard the tip but couldn’t trace the call.”

      The room quieted and all gazes turned to another of the men, Addison Bracey. “I got the word earlier today from our inside man. Luckily, he intercepted the tip. He went out himself to make sure you didn’t get clumsy that night, Nash. I wish nothing had been done with Harrison until I got back from Chicago.”

      There was a snort and Nash’s deep, raspy voice said, “Couldn’t wait when we found out he was a traitor. I handled it, and I didn’t get clumsy.”

      “With no evidence left behind, right, Nash?” the deep authoritarian voice asked.

      “No evidence was left behind,” Magnus Nash agreed. “Like I said, the problem was taken care of.”

      “And the person who called the tip line?” the authoritarian voice asked.

      “No one was in the alley that night, I’d swear it. But if there’s a loose end, I’ll take care of it,” Nash said haughtily.

      The others were quiet until the man with the deep voice said, “Make sure that you do. My concentration needs to be on expanding the business, not on taking care of traitors. That’s your job. This meeting is adjourned.”

      Chapter 1

      Four months later

      Lee Madaris glanced at the clock on his wall before rubbing away the tension forming in the back of his neck. Although it was nearing midnight, he was still in his office working. It was imperative that he do so.

      Five potential investors would be arriving tomorrow and spending four days at the Grand MD Vegas hotel. He would be catering to them at a level that was unprecedented. The five men had enough cumulative capital to balance the national budget, if they’d chosen to do so. However, balancing the national budget wasn’t Lee’s goal. His objective was to get them to invest in his next hotel—the Grand MD Paris.

      After the success of the Grand MD Dubai, as well as all the attention the hotel in Vegas had received since opening its doors four months ago, a number of investors were ready to provide funds for his next venture. But he didn’t want just anyone; he wanted men willing to take a chance on a hotel that would be astonishingly different from its two predecessors. It would be a hotel of the future.

      Both Grand MD hotels had been Madaris–Di Meglio joint ventures—highly successful and breaking sales records. But the third hotel, the one planned for Paris, France, would use state-of-the-art technology while maintaining the rich architectural design Paris was known for.

      Lee’s cousin and the architect in the family, Slade Madaris, had designed the first two Grand MDs and would likewise design the one proposed for Paris. Slade’s design was nothing short of a masterpiece and would be unveiled at one of the meetings this week. Slade’s twin brother, Blade, would be the structural engineer. No two Grand MD hotels would look the same. Each would have its own unique architecture and appeal.

      Pulling in a deep breath, Lee returned his attention to the documents in front of him—bios on the five men. The name that topped the list was that of his grand-uncle Jake Madaris. Lee didn’t need to read his uncle’s bio.

      The man was a walking genius when it came to playing the stock market, and as far back as Lee could remember, Jake had been financial adviser to the entire Madaris family. If it hadn’t been for his uncle’s smart move of establishing a trust fund for all his nieces and nephews when they were still in high school, Lee would not have had the money to partner with his good friend DeAngelo Di Meglio to build their first two hotels.

      Jake and another family friend, Mitch Farrell, had been СКАЧАТЬ