Risky Business (15 page)

RISKY BUSINESS
follows Magdalena Ludzecky, a career woman extraordinaire, who has everything, including Logan Price, her coworker and best friend outside of the family. But then they find attraction growing between them. And no, they both think, this can’t happen! Do they have a chance at romance or are Logan and Magdalena going to lose each other forever? Plot twists abound in this friends
to lovers tale.

In
THE WAY WE WERE
, Ana Ludzecky had it all—a sexy husband, a beautiful daughter, a great job and the best extended family in the world. Then, tragedy strikes and her life turns upside down. Unable to bear the suffering of her sisters, she has trouble settling back into life with her husband Jared Creswell and their daughter. But Jared makes some bad choices that eventually lead to the dissolution
of their marriage. Thrown together again, will the love that has never died surface and save them both?

At sixteen, Sofia Ludzecky, from
HANDLE WITH CARE
, was diagnosed with leukemia and the disease changed her future. She’s chosen a Zen lifestyle as a yoga studio owner and teacher. When she meets football Coach Max Walker at the high school where she’s running a class, his outgoing personality, his bent for competition and his boisterous family upset her. But Max wants Sofia, and he’s always
gotten what he wants.

In
LOVE STORY
, Elizabeita Ludzecky fears deeply for her family, which has been fraught with tragedy. She copes by being the carefree, risk-taking baby of the family, as well as an up-and-coming curator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. But when hardened cop Nick Casella goes undercover at the museum, he sees the real Elizabeita and he’s shockingly attracted to this beautiful too-young-for-him
woman. Elizabeita returns his feelings and goes after him with all she has. With secret and lies as the basis of a relationship, does this one have any chance of surviving?

Continue reading for some exciting excerpts from related stories:

Click here for a look at THE WAY WE WERE, Ana’s story.

Click here for a peek at CLOSE TO YOU, Caterina’s story.

Click here for a look at PROMISES TO KEEP, Luke’s story.
He’s the older brother of all these females!

Copyright 2015 Kathryn Shay

Cover art by Patricia Ryan

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Valentine’s Day

“The dinner was awesome, Daddy.” Opal smiled at her father like she always did, as if he’d hung the moon.

“I’m glad you liked it, princess.”

“Mom does, too.” Her dark haired, green-eyed daughter looked over at Ana. “Right, Mom?”

“Yep, my favorite of all your dad’s dishes.”

“Did you know, Opalinski,”
his Polish nickname for her “that I made this meal for Mom the first Valentine’s Day after you were born?” Opal had turned ten in October.

“How come you didn’t go out then?”

Ana steeled her heart against the story. She transferred her gaze to the family room, where a fire blazed in the hearth and could be seen from the table in the kitchen.

“We had a babysitter all lined up—Aunt Magdalena.
But when she got here, your mother started to cry.” His expression, when turned on Ana, was the one he used to give her when he loved her. “She didn’t want to leave you on your first Valentine’s Day. So I went out to the store, got ingredients for this meal, and we ate at home.”

And, Ana thought, made sweet love that night. Memories of how good they were together could choke the life out of
her, so she stood. “I’ll clean up.”

Jared’s gaze intensified. God, it wasn’t fair that he looked better a thirty-nine than when she’d met him. He had a touch of gray hair at his temples, but it made his eyes stand out like emeralds. “Does that have to be done right away?”

She pretended to inspect Opal. Both her height and her slender frame mirrored Jared’s more than her Ana’s. And now
her face was tense. “I think our daughter is tired.” As if the suggestion made it so, Opal’s shoulders sagged. “I am, some.” She bit her lip. “I can’t wait till this is all over.”

“I know.” Jared stood and kissed the top of her head. “How about if you get ready for bed, and you and I read some?”

“Will you read to me?”

“And do all those voices in
Huckleberry Finn?
That’d be great.”

Their daughter left the room, and they heard her footsteps on the stairs. Ana crossed quickly to the sink with dishes in her hand. She began rinsing them, but Opal’s situation hit her at the oddest times. Combined with Jared’s trip down memory lane, emotion welled up and clogged her eyes.
Please don’t let me cry.

Unaware her emotional state, Jared began to clear the table. When he brought
his and Opal’s plates to the sink, he stopped. She knew her body began to shake. “Annie.” His pet name for her. He moved in close so his front, his heat touched her. His hands went to her shoulders and held them. “You don’t have to suffer alone. Please, let me comfort you. Let’s comfort each other.”

Without her mind’s conscious consent, she leaned back against him. She couldn’t help it. Because
she did that, he slid his arms around her waist and held her to him. His breath at her ear, he said, “We can get through this together. I promise.”

Though she knew he made a lot of promises he hadn’t kept, she let herself believe this one. She had to. The surgery was in seven days away and she’d expended all her strength on getting through the last two weeks.

This time, he kissed
her
hair.

The, loudly, too loudly, she heard, “Daddy, I’m done…what are you doing?”

He stepped away. Ana straightened. “Just helping Mom clean up.” He cleared his throat. “I’ll be right up.”

Ana could hear that Opal didn’t move. So she ducked out from in front of Jared and pasted a smile on her face. “You look cute in those new jammies Aunt Mags gave you.” Red and black they had dogs on them.

“Yeah, to take to the hospital.” Again, she bit her lip. Looked like Ana wasn’t the only emotional one tonight. Crossing to her daughter, she embraced her. Her rare kidney disorder made it necessary to move the ureter from the top to the bottom of her kidney, which would prevent the fluid buildup she was now suffering. Problem was, she’d lose most of the function in that kidney.

Ana wished
she could keep her child close, not turn her over to doctors who work on her. But she couldn’t; she had to be strong. “I promise we’ll be there for you, Opal. You’re not alone in this.”

“Daddy, too?” she asked in a whisper.

Ana glanced at Jared. His face was taut and he’d gone stiff. She could tell he was as worried as she. “Yes, Daddy, too. I promise. We both promise.”

SECRET SERVICE AGENT C.J. (Caterina) Ludzecky and her three colleagues hustled into New York City’s Memorial Hospital on the heels of the Second Lady and the vice president of the United States. Though she kept her emotions at bay when she was on the job, C.J. couldn’t help but empathize with Bailey O’Neil, the vice president’s wife of two years.
She remembered well the night her own father had died in an institution far too similar to this one. She’d been fifteen, and she and her brother, Lukasz, had taken it the hardest, probably because they were the oldest of his eight children. Briefly, C.J. wondered how Bailey’s brothers were faring. Embedded in her memory was the image of holding a weeping Luke in her arms. His vulnerability had
crushed her. She considered saying a prayer for this family, but dismissed the notion; she didn’t believe in that anymore.

The group of six reached the admittance desk and were met by a man dressed in an impeccable suit. “Mr. Vice President. Ms. O’Neil. I’m sorry to meet you under these circumstances. I’m James Jones. I manage New York Memorial.”

Bailey and Clay shook hands with the administrator.
“Thank you for coming in at this hour,” the vice president said.

C.J. watched Clay slide his arm around his wife’s shoulders; Bailey leaned into him. They had to be the most demonstrative political couple she’d ever encountered in the six years she’d been with the secret service. Their open affection for each other was often a topic of discussion among the who’s who in Washington—much of it
not always kind. Since Bailey was four months pregnant, Clay was even more attentive than usual.

As they spoke with the doctor, C.J. scanned the forty-by-forty hospital reception area. The other three agents did the same, though her partner, Mitch Calloway, who headed the Second Lady’s detail, and Tim Jenkins, the special agent in charge of the vice presidential force, moved in close to the
protectees.