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They tried to get her to say more, but Sam shook her head and beat a hasty retreat to the front door, where only Tom followed her.
‘Are you OK, Sam?’ he asked in concern, and it was nearly her undoing. She had to swallow furiously in order to answer.
‘I’m fine. Really. I’m furious with Tony, and upset for Mum and Dad, but we’ll muddle through as we always do. Now I really must go,’ she insisted, and hurried down the path, feeling his eyes on her back all the way.
Feeling as brittle as eggshell, Sam climbed into her car. Knowing that Tom was still watching, she drove off, but, having turned a couple of corners, she pulled the car over and turned off the engine. She sat back, and her head dropped in defeat. What could she do? How could she live with herself if she turned her back on her parents and let them suffer for their wayward son? She wished she could do it, for she didn’t want to have to give Ransom up, but it wasn’t in her. Her parents had sacrificed so much to give their children a better life, and it was about time someone did something for them. The burden had fallen on her shoulders, and she had to be the one to make the sacrifice.
Her eyes burned with the sting of unshed tears as she thought of what she had to do. It was going to break her heart, but when she told Ransom why she was going to marry Leno Grimaldi she was sure he would understand that she had no choice. Her family had to come first. She drew in a shaky breath. Would it be too much to hope they could part as friends? Honesty forced her to admit it probably was. Life simply didn’t work that way.
Yet she couldn’t dwell on that and do what she had to do. So she took several deep breaths and pulled herself together. She had things to do, and they would set in motion a course of events that would be irreversible.
Sam knew where Leno Grimaldi lived, and she drove right over there despite the advancing hour. Leno answered the door to her knock himself, and much to her relief he didn’t look the least bit smug or self-satisfied. He was politeness itself as he invited her in.
‘Sam, my dear, it’s so lovely to see you. Come in. Come in. You’ll find your brother in the lounge,’ he declared warmly, making it seem as if there were nothing out of the ordinary about this visit. ‘This way,’ he went on, pointing to a half-open door.
When she walked into the extremely elegant room, her brother Tony shot to his feet, looking pale and worried. ‘Hi, Sam,’ he greeted her, trying to sound cheerful, but it foundered when he met the icy look in her eye.
‘Can I get you something to drink?’ Leno Grimaldi asked, but Sam shook her head. She hadn’t eaten, and alcohol on an empty stomach was inadvisable.
‘Thank you, no. I’d better keep a clear head.’
Leno Grimaldi smiled faintly. ‘Always wise when talking business,’ he agreed easily, indicating she should take a chair opposite her brother.
‘Business?’ Tony queried, looking from one to the other as they sat down.
‘Your sister is here to discuss your future,’ Leno explained to him. ‘And our own.’
Seeing her brother about to ask more questions, Sam cut him off. ‘For once in your life just sit there and be quiet. You’ve done quite enough,’ she snapped at him, then turned to the older man. ‘Forgive my bluntness, but I don’t think there’s anything to be gained by beating about the bush. Is this offer for real? If I marry you, you’ll replace the money Tony took?’ she asked baldly, and though he winced a little Leno inclined his head.
‘It will be my wedding gift to your family,’ he confirmed. ‘You agree?’
Sam looked at him, seeing a handsome middle-aged man who, for all his good points, was not above using her family’s crisis to his own ends. She felt nothing for him, but for her family she would marry the devil himself. ‘I agree,’ she said flatly, and heard a door slam in her mind, telling her there was no turning back now.
‘No, Sam! You can’t!’ Tony protested, suddenly seeming to realise what was going on. She looked at him, and registered the horror on his face.
‘I can and I am. But don’t think I’m doing it for you. This is for Mum and Dad. They deserve better than what you were going to put them through,’ she told him coldly.
Leno said nothing, merely rose to his feet. ‘The money will be replaced in the morning and we will not mention it again. However, there are some papers that I need you all to sign,’ he told her as he went to a bureau that stood against the wall and took a sheaf of papers from it.
This was something Sam hadn’t expected. ‘Papers?’
He smiled at her benignly. ‘Nothing serious. I’m sure you can appreciate that it would not be good for business if this incident, and the arrangements made to rectify it, should ever become public knowledge. Therefore this is a simple agreement that you will not tell anyone what has gone on here, with the exception of your parents and your brother. All of you will sign it and be bound by it. No one is to ever speak of it again. Should it get out, the debt will have to be paid in full. It is therefore in your own best interest, and that of your family, to say nothing. Is that understood?’
Sam realised that she should have known Leno would insist on something like this. He was first and foremost a businessman. He would not want this ever getting out, and that meant that she could not now tell Ransom the truth. The implications of that were something she could not think about right that minute. She had given her word and was caught. All she could do was agree and sign on the dotted line. Which she did, and then watched over her brother whilst he did the same.
‘Once your parents have signed, that will be that, my dearest Sam,’ Leno declared, taking her hand and kissing it gently. ‘And I…I promise you that I will do everything in my power to make you as happy as you have made me.’
Sam closed her eyes momentarily, as for a fleeting moment she was made achingly aware of what she would be giving up. However, her family was everything. They needed the help only she could afford them. So she cleared her throat. ‘I shall do my best to be a good wife to you, Leno. However, there is one other thing I would ask of you.’
If he was surprised he did not show it. ‘Name it.’
‘I would like us to be married as quickly as possible.’ Now that she had given her word she did not want to have too much time to think.
Leno smiled and took both of her hands in his this time. ‘Ah, we think alike, you and I. I will make the arrangements. Then, after we are married, we will take a long honeymoon in Italy. I have always wanted to go back home one day. I will show you where I grew up. You will love it there.’
Right then Sam didn’t know if she would ever care for anything again, but she agreed with his plan. Frankly, it didn’t matter where they went or what they did, for she would only be going through the motions. Her life had just changed for ever.
All Sam wanted to do was leave, but she didn’t know how to. Having just agreed to marry this man, how could she simply walk out? Whether he realised her discomfort or not, it was Leno who came to her rescue.
‘I’m sure you will want to take your brother home and tell your parents what has happened here tonight. We will have dinner together Saturday to discuss our plans, my dear Sam,’ he said conversationally as he walked them to the door. ‘Ah, and please tell your father I will call on him tomorrow. Good night, my dear,’ he added as he bent and kissed her on either cheek.
Sam had braced herself for the brush of his lips on hers, but this he did not do, and she was grateful for his forbearance. ‘Good night,’ she responded gruffly, and, taking Tony by the arm, hustled him to where she had parked the car.
She drove her brother back to their parents’ house, and it was only then that he spoke.
‘I’m sorry, Sam,’ he apologised. ‘I got in over my head and I didn’t know what to do.’
Sam looked at his forlorn figure and was torn between justifiable anger and love. ‘You were lucky this time, but don’t expect that to happen again. You have to stop gambling, Tony, and if that means seeking help, then get it.’
He drew in a shaky breath. ‘I will. I promise. Are you coming in?’
She shook her head. ‘Not now. You tell Mum and Dad what happened, and what Leno said. I’ll phone them tomorrow.’
Tony climbed out, then bent down to look in at her. ‘Oh, God, Sam, have I ruined your life?’
Sam felt pain tear through her as she heard his words. Though she felt like crying, she managed to shake her head. ‘Hey, you know what they say. Life is what happens whilst you’re making other plans. Now go in. Don’t keep them worrying any longer. Remember, say nothing to the others.’
‘I won’t let you down, Sam. I promise,’ he told her, then squared his shoulders and went inside.
Alone in the car, Sam closed her eyes for a moment, then put the car in gear and drove off. How could she tell her brother he had ruined her life, even if he had? It wasn’t in her nature. All she asked was that he kept his promise. That he came good. For then any sacrifice would have been worth it.
By the time she reached her bedsit, it was late and she was exhausted. It didn’t help to have missed a meal, but she didn’t feel like eating. Glancing around her, she could see the things she had tossed here and there only that morning when Ransom had dropped her off. Then she had thought the whole of the future was theirs for the taking. Now she knew for ever had been a mere handful of hours.
Sinking onto the lumpy couch, she placed a trembling hand over her heart and could almost feel it breaking. Ransom. His name was an unremitting ache deep inside. She longed to see him, but dared not. Not until she knew what she was going to do. But she could talk to him. To hear his voice would pour some balm on the open wound where her heart had been.
Reaching for the telephone, she had to swallow hard before she had enough composure to dial his number. When he picked up and growled into the handset, a crystal tear blurred her vision.
‘Hi. Did I wake you?’ she asked softly, visualising him sitting up in bed and switching on the lamp so he could see the clock.
‘Sam? Is everything OK?’ Ransom queried immediately, seeing how late it was.
A lump started to grow in her throat, making it hard to speak. ‘Um-hmm. I just wanted to hear the sound of your voice.’ Had needed it so badly. ‘How did it go today?’
‘The jury’s still out. We’re hoping for a result tomorrow. How was dinner with your family?’ he asked, stifling a yawn at the same time.
She wanted to cry out that the sky had fallen in, but couldn’t. ‘Noisy, as usual. I would rather have been with you.’ How she wished she had never gone home tonight, but it would only have put off the inevitable. Had she not gone to her parents, then they would certainly have come to her.
‘They sound like my kind of people,’ he said, and she could hear the humour in his tone. ‘Next time I’ll join you, then you won’t have to miss me.’
The tear overflowed down her cheek. ‘I like the sound of that,’ she agreed, whilst her heart contracted at the knowledge that there would be no next time.
‘God, I wish you were with me right now. This bed is too damn big and lonely without you in it,’ Ransom told her gruffly, and Sam hastily stifled a sob behind her hand.
‘It’s only one night,’ she pointed out when she was able to control her voice. She hated herself for lying, but there was nothing else she could do. She realised now that calling him had been a mistake. She was going to feel worse, not better.
‘I guess you’re right. To make up for it, have lunch with me tomorrow. I can’t go the better part of forty-eight hours without seeing you,’ he urged and though she knew it probably wasn’t wise, she held onto the lifeline he threw her.
‘Lunch would be lovely. Name the place and time and I’ll be there,’ she promised. It would be all right. By then she should have decided how she was going to break off their affair. Lunch would be a final good memory. She would need all of those she could get.
Ransom named a restaurant close to the court, and she agreed to meet him at the time he suggested. He yawned again, and she knew she had to go. ‘I’ll let you get back to sleep now.’
‘I’m glad you rang. ’Night, sweetheart.’
‘Good night, Ransom,’ she said back, and held the receiver to her ear until she heard the sound of his phone going down.
Hugging the phone to her chest, she finally gave way to tears. They carried with them a wealth of helplessness. Of loss and utter despair. They tolled out the knell of her dreams, and the prospect of a future that promised to be bleak and empty without the man she loved in it.
CHAPTER TWO
SAM sat at a small table set in the restaurant’s window embrasure and waited for Ransom to arrive. Her watch told her he was a little late, but she wasn’t worried yet. It wasn’t easy to get away from the court on time. She felt…strangely numb. Which was odd, because between crying and thinking she hadn’t got much sleep last night.
Thinking of that, she reached into her handbag for a mirror to check her appearance. Thankfully the puffiness around her eyes had gone, and any redness had been hidden by make-up. She looked normal, which was all she could hope for. The numbness was welcome, but it would wear off all too soon. All she asked was that it would last the day out.
Sighing, she rested her chin on her linked fingers and stared at the world passing by outside. She had spent the night refining the details of how she would break things off with Ransom. She had been prohibited from telling the truth, so her options were limited. Of course, she could declare baldly that she didn’t want to see him any more, but Ransom was not the kind of man to accept that without a good reason. In the cold light of dawn, she had known that she would have to end their relationship in such a way that he would not want to see her again. The only way to do that was to make him hate her. However, she would only be able to put on a creditable performance once, so she had to get it right the first time.
Hands on her shoulders made her jump and look up. Ransom stood there, smiling down at her, and as her heart turned over he stooped and pressed a kiss to her startled lips.
‘You were miles away. What were you dreaming about?’ he asked her as he sat down opposite. Reaching across the table, he took one of her hands and held it between his own.
Sam gave a little shrug. ‘Nothing, really. Just this and that.’
One eyebrow quirked. ‘And here I was thinking you were dreaming about me.’
He made her smile, something she hadn’t felt like doing all morning. Lord, but she was going to miss him so much. ‘I don’t want you to get big-headed.’
Ransom grinned wickedly. ‘Meaning you think I’m perfect as I am? Well, now, I can’t argue with that.’ He stared at her, taking in every feature, and shook his head. ‘You are so beautiful. I can’t get over how beautiful you are.’
Sam uttered a tiny laugh, amazed at how easily he could take her breath away. ‘I’m not beautiful.’ She considered herself ordinary. There was nothing special about a swathe of silver-blonde hair and a pair of large blue eyes. Not having a vain bone in her body, she thought of herself as moderately attractive rather than beautiful. Her bones were fine, but her features were cool rather than animated. She had no idea that her smile transformed her face, making many a man do a double take. As for her figure, she had always considered that average at best. She went in and out in the right places, but a model she was not.
‘You are to me,’ he contradicted, holding her gaze with his intense one.
‘You’re only saying that because you think it will get you somewhere,’ she teased him back, whilst inside she could sense the numbness melting away.
Laughing, he released her hand and picked up the menu. ‘You’re right, young woman. I have definite plans for you.’
‘Oh, yes? I’ll have to check my diary to see if I’m available,’ Sam replied, feeling her heart squeeze tightly.
‘You will be,’ he told her confidently.
His confidence was unbearably painful, and Sam stared down at her own menu, though the words were unfocussed. She had planned to tell him goodbye here, where the restraints of being in public would limit what he could say, but she knew she couldn’t do it. The numbness was wearing off second by second now that he was here. Everything he said had her control slipping, so if she tried to reject him she would only end up in tears and that would never do. It was the wrong moment. She had to regroup and try again another time.
‘I’ve been thinking,’ Ransom broke into her troubled thoughts, and she looked up to find him watching her over the top of his menu. ‘I have some leave left, and you must have some too. Why don’t we go off together for a week? We could drive down to the coast and I can initiate you into the joys of sailing. What do you think?’
‘I didn’t know you were a sailor,’ Sam remarked in surprise.
Ransom grinned. ‘You don’t know everything about me yet,’ he teased. ‘If you must know, I could sail before I could walk, so my mother tells me. I love it, but I don’t have a boat of my own yet. One day I will, then we’ll sail off around the world together and not come back until we’re good and ready. What do you say?’
It was a wonderful dream, and she only wished she would be sharing it with him. ‘It sounds perfect, but we should try the week first in case I turn out to be a bad sailor.’
‘That’s a deal, then,’ he declared happily, and returned to studying the dishes on offer. ‘What are you having?’ he asked, and Sam forced herself to focus on the menu.
‘A pasta salad, I think,’ she decided. Something light that wouldn’t choke her when she tried to swallow.
‘Mmm, I’ve a fancy for pasta myself. What if we—?’ Whatever he was about to say ended abruptly as the beeper he carried with him went off. ‘Damn,’ he muttered under his breath as he pulled it from his jacket pocket and studied it. When he glanced up, his expression was rueful. ‘Sorry, darling, but I’ve got to go. It’s from Ian, which means the jury must be coming back. Listen, you’re having dinner with me tonight. Eight o’clock my place. Don’t be late!’ he commanded, leaving her no time to argue as he stood up, kissed her quickly then hurried to the door and was gone.
Sam let out a shaky breath and sank back in her seat. This was awful. Here he was making plans for a future they would never have, and she hadn’t had the strength to tell him. Tonight she would have to be firm, for it wasn’t fair to him. She had to nip everything in the bud before it went too far. The prospect took away what was left of her appetite, so she dropped some money on the table and left. A condemned person, she was coming to realise, rarely ate a hearty meal.
That evening she drove herself to Ransom’s flat in a mood of steely resolve. She had spoken to her parents that morning and resisted all their attempts to persuade her to change her mind. When she contacted them again later, they had signed the agreement, and arrangements were already being made for Tony to go and stay with relatives in Australia. Which left only herself with unfinished business.
Of course, it would probably have been easier to simply phone him and say she couldn’t see him any more, but that seemed like the coward’s way out. He deserved she should tell him to his face. What she said would have to give him no room for hope, because there wasn’t any. Sam knew that the best she could do for him now would be to make him never want to see her again. She had to think only of causing him the least pain, not on shielding herself.
Ransom took a moment or two to answer the door, and she had to smile when he did. He was wearing jeans and a shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Around his waist he had tucked a tea towel, and she realised he was cooking dinner himself. A curl of hair had fallen over his forehead, and to Sam he looked endearingly handsome.
He, in turn, looked her over and she saw the flicker of flame in his eyes. Clearly he liked what he saw. She had chosen to wear a sapphire-blue lacy top to match her eyes and black evening trousers to seduce him. It had been important to make herself look good for the task ahead of her. It was meant as a confidence booster.
‘I don’t know whether to eat dinner or you,’ he declared huskily as he shut the door with one hand and pulled her against him with the other. His arms tightened around her as he lowered his head and kissed her.
Though it wasn’t what she had planned, Sam couldn’t help but kiss him back in silent desperation. One kiss was not enough, and as others followed passion deepened. As their teeth nipped and tongues duelled and incited, she could feel her body turning molten with desire. She wanted him so badly and needed him so very much, and yet she dared not go further. It wouldn’t be fair or right.
A thought that finally gave her the strength to break off their kiss and ease herself to arm’s length. ‘You invited me here for dinner, not to be dinner, remember,’ she told him in a breathless voice, knowing she looked thoroughly kissed.
He lifted his hands to her shoulders, his smile rueful. ‘You can think of food at a time like this?’
Sam glanced towards the kitchenette and wrinkled her nose. ‘I think you should too. Something’s starting to burn.’
Ransom released her immediately and hurried into the small kitchen. He removed a frying pan from the heat and checked the contents. ‘It’s OK. Just a little singed around the edges. It’s your fault for making me forget about everything else,’ he called back to her.
Sam was eying the table he had set. There were napkins and crystal glasses. Two perfect rosebuds and candles. To even an untutored eye, this was a special occasion. ‘What are we celebrating?’ she asked curiously, then a thought struck her. ‘Of course. You won the case.’
Ransom came back into the room carrying a bowl of salad, which he set on the table. ‘That too,’ he confirmed. ‘Light the candles, would you?’ he said before vanishing again.
She did as he asked, telling herself it would be churlish to leave so soon. The case was important to him. The least she could do was celebrate its successful outcome. Then she would do what she had come to do and leave. Inside she knew she was putting off the dreaded moment to the last minute, but she couldn’t help it. Just a few more hours wouldn’t hurt, surely.
It was a bittersweet time, when she shared Ransom’s moment of glory. They laughed and chatted, and toasted his success with a bottle of fine white wine. The evening fairly flew by, and when Ransom went to make the coffee Sam knew she had done herself no favours by staying, yet she couldn’t regret it. So she smiled at him when he returned and enjoyed these final fleeting moments of happiness.
Sam would never remember what she was laughing at when she suddenly realised he was quietly sitting there staring at her as if she was the most precious thing he had ever come across. The laughter died away as their eyes met.
‘Marry me,’ Ransom said simply, and the two words sent her world spinning.
