Almost There

By Rhonda McKnight

Three people at the brink of achieving all they've dreamed of since childhood…will the past get in their way?

Zannia Morrow is blazing a path to stardom as supermodel, Zane. Her million dollar face and body have landed her the most coveted modeling contract in the business, but Zannia has a problem. It's one that money and success can't fix.

Bonita Jones ran away from home at 16 and now she's Benxi, a hot new R&B singer with the right voice and look to take her right up the charts. Her future is bright, but she's done some things she'll do anything to keep the world from knowing, even if includes sacrificing the success that's right within her reach.

Mekhi Johnson's had success as a music producer. He's got the talent, connections, and drive to take him all the way to the top. He just needs the right artist to make it happen. Will he be able to sign Benxi, or will an old enemy stand between him and his next level?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rhonda McKnight
• Release date: Feb 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393874782

Rhonda McKnight

Rhonda McKnight is the author of several bestselling novels, including An Inconvenient Friend and What Kind of Fool. She is the winner of the 2015 Emma Award for Inspirational Romance of the Year. She loves reading and writing books that touch the heart of women through complex plots and interesting characters in crisis. Themes of faith, forgiveness, and hope are central to her stories. Originally from a small coastal town in New Jersey, Rhonda writes from the comfort of her South Carolina home. Visit her online at rhondamcknight.com; Instagram: @authorrhondamcknight; Twitter: @rhondamcknight; Facebook: @BooksByRhonda; and Pinterest: @rhondamcknight1.

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Rhonda McKnight

Copyright © 2016 by Rhonda McKnight

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This is a work of fiction. Any references or similarities to actual events, real people, living or dead, or to real locales are intended to give the story a sense of reality. Any similarity in other names, characters, places and incidents is entirely coincidental.

This Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This Book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite Book retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Also by Rhonda McKnight

__________________

Samaritan Woman Series

An Inconvenient Friend

What Kind of Fool

Righteous Ways

Shame On You

Jordan Family Series

Give A Little Love

Live A Little

Love A Little

Second Chances Series

Breaking All The Rules

Unbreak My Heart

The Restoration Series

The Winter Reunion

The Winter Wedding

The Winter Baby

The Bennett Family Series

All She Wants

All He Needs

All They Need – coming April 2021

Other

When She Loves

A Woman’s Revenge

Secrets and Lies

Dedication

For Micah...You challenge me to do something different every day!

Acknowledgments

My children ...you love me and overlook much as I write. You also inspire me to be my personal best. I love you! My parents (Bessie and Jimmie McKnight) and siblings (Cynthia and Kenneth McKnight) ...thank you for the encouragement, love, and support.

Thanks to author, Marsha Malcolm, for helping me with the Jamaican in this story. ☺

I appreciate Tia McCollors’s husband, Wayne Anthony McCollors, for letting me know what a man WON’T do!!!

My destiny-sisters, Sherri Lewis and Tia McCollors. Love you both for encouraging me/cheering me on/checking me in love and for listening to all those long Voxes. Muah!

I know a lot of book clubs read my books, but this year the ladies of Majestic Bloom Book Club of Atlanta and Victorious Ladies Reading Book Club of Raleigh/Durham made my time with you very special. Thank you for supporting me for each and every book. You ladies rock!!!

Thanks to all my readers for loving this series. You have challenged me to deliver my best with each story. I appreciate your love and support.  And to one special reader, Tiffany Carter, you remind me that I’m late! Thank you for loving my characters! Your notes make my heart smile. ☺

Synopsis

Zane, Benxi, and Mekhi's careers are on the brink of superstardom. But each has a past that's threatening to catch up with them. While some of their demons are deep emotional wounds, others are flesh and blood enemies who will stop at nothing to keep them from achieving the fame they've worked so hard for.

Chapter 1

Zane

Go Home.

Go Back to Jamaica.

Go Die.

Gangsta witches.

I stared at the text messages again, raised my eyes, and scanned the faces of the women in the room. Like me, they were all models in varying stages of getting dressed or undressed.

One of these witches had sent me those text messages. Eight pairs of eyes looked back at me. Some were filled with murderous venom and others were empty...vacant. Those would be filled with hate too if the light in them weren’t dimmed by drugs. I was warned this kind of jealous drama would happen. I expected notes or unfriendly behavior, not people getting access to my personal cell phone number. I returned the phone to my bag, stood, and straightened the bust of my dress.

"I’m going to put some tape along your back to hold the dress so it doesn’t slip. Alyssa, my wardrobe assistant, pushed the tacky surface against my skin.

The girl was a beauty in her own right. Too short to model, but her face, thin frame, and graceful movements would work for her well one day.

You’re excited, no? Alyssa asked.

Was she kidding? Photo sessions were not exciting. Maybe the girl was new. You’re from Italy? I’d recognized her accent the first time we’d worked together, but I didn’t ask before.

Yes, Sicily. I’ve been here five months.

I wondered how easy it was for a girl to get to the U.S. from Italy. She was the right color, so I ventured not as difficult as it had been for me. But still, she’d left her home and probably her family and friends behind. I remembered what that had been like and tried to be nice to her.

The Donna Karan jacket I wore yesterday...they gave it to me. I watched her eyes turn into saucers. Her bottom lip actually trembled. Was she going to salivate? You can have it."

Alyssa clapped her hands together.  Thank you. I love Donna Karan and I don’t own anything designer yet. She paused and then, It’s beautiful. Are you sure?

The sleeves are too short.

She clapped again before dancing to a nearby table, picking up more tape and resuming her work on my dress.

I wished her energy was contagious, but it wasn’t catching. I released a long breath. I was tired. I was trying to be excited. I wanted to be over the moon, but this job – this perfect opportunity – was scary. New York was the first of many trips that included Paris, Italy, London, Japan and at least twenty other countries. Twenty more countries that would separate me from Mekhi. Not that he wanted anything to do with me, but still, I hoped he’d change his mind. I hoped he was missing me.  

All done? I twisted my head as if I could see my back. Alyssa held up a mirror. It wasn’t my job to assess her performance, but I could see she’d gotten me properly fixed up.

We’re ready for you, Zane!

Right on time. Alyssa smiled. You’re the prettiest Belle ever.

Her words swirled around in my head. I wondered if she really meant them.

Let me know if you need anything, she added.

I nodded. I walked through the opening of the tent transformed fitting room toward the pool. Two of the guys helped me step down into the water. I knew I’d be in here for hours. Jumping, splashing, laughing, throwing my head back, kicking my legs up and smiling...always smiling. The evening gown sank under the weight of the water. It was already heavy when it was dry. It would weigh a ton wet. The set assistant waded toward me, bringing a fur jacket. More weight.

She draped it across my shoulders and I thanked her.  

Do you need anything before we get started? she asked. Water?

I shook my head. I better not. I don’t want to have to pee.

Even though she and I were the only ones that could hear, she raised a hand to whisper, It’s a pool. You’re the only one in the water.

I scrunched up my nose. Peeing in a ten thousand-dollar dress. That won’t be what I’m remembered for.

She smiled and then gave everyone waiting a thumbs up and made her way out of the water.  A powerful fan began to blow. The long, red wig they’d pinned on my head floated in waves behind me.

Okay, Zane, let’s get warmed up here. The photographer was the world renowned Dino Riche. I couldn’t believe I was standing in front of him. Pose for me.

I sprang into action.

A smile, iridescent and bright, filled my face. I couldn’t actually see my face, but I knew what I was doing. The magic I’d practiced my entire life. The magic my mother had taught me. Mommy assumed I would be a front desk person in one of the local hotels on the Jamaican coast, like she had been and her mother before her.

"We have the gift of beauty in our family. The people at the hotels like to put pretty girls on the desk, even if they haven’t been to university. So you learn to smile, Zannia. You use your smile to get you the job you want."

I moved with swiftness as I jumped and kicked up my leg. The stage under the water was solid, but in heels it didn’t feel so. I knew my torso and thighs would hurt later. This kind of balance in heels, in water, on a stage required the use of every muscle in my core and below.

Passersby began to stop. People couldn’t help but stare at the beautiful, black goddess in the water. I twirled my neck, threw up my arms and continued to smile. Continued to give everyone the show they wanted to see.

I was the new Belle. The model everyone would want to see for the next year or two or how ever long I lasted. Belles were the world’s most photographic models. They made life look fun no matter what they were doing; sitting in a cafe in Paris, on safari in Kenya or on a freezing cold set in Switzerland. The job was to sell fun and happiness.

Kathy Latimore, the model who was going out, had a reputation for being easy to work with. Good natured, funny, sweet, and extremely gracious were a few of the words thrown in my face about her. I had a lot to live up to. I had to make sure to have the same kind of reputation. Ugliness in modeling was not tolerated on the set, not in public, and certainly not from a black girl from Jamaica.

Back to me, Zane, Riche called. I turned on command, making sure not to fall as I moved. Drop your chin a little and pout.

A pout was easy. I had a pout in my belly. I wanted to pout all day. Pout about Mekhi. Pout about my broken heart. The broken dream of having found the man I’d wanted to be with. My lip trembled. My pout turned into a frown that I had to fix before Riche noticed.

I needed to stop thinking about Mekhi. But he