“She’s not moving to L.A.” Sam’s dad insists from his stance on the stairway. The parents have come out to listen.
“No, she’s not.” I confirm and shake my head. “She’s had interviews here in town this week.”
“Why didn’t she say anything?” Luke asks.
“This is Sam we’re talking about.” I remind him with a rueful laugh. “She’s stubborn as hell. She also didn’t want anyone to worry.” I turn back to Luke and get in his face. “So if you think I’d let a rag get their hands on something like that.” I point at the phone clenched tightly in Stacy’s fingers. “You’re sorely mistaken. The bitch will be fired. I know about Scott.” The last sentence is whispered, for Luke and Mark’s ears only.
His surprised gaze finds mine and then he sighs deeply. “Fuck.”
***
~Samantha~
What the fuck just happened? I run out the front door toward Leo’s car and realize that not only didn’t I drive, but I don’t have any keys.
I can’t leave.
Damn it!
“Sam.” Natalie’s soft voice comes from behind me and I turn to find her standing on the porch, her green eyes worried and wet.
“Go back inside, Nat,” I just want to be alone. God, my heart hurts. He fucking told them.
He told them after I told him not to. And what in the name of all that’s holy is up with that photo?
“Sam, talk to me.” Nat insists, and walks to me, her arms wrapped tightly around her middle.
“Nothing to say.” I plant my hands on my hips and stare off down the driveway.
“Spill it, Williams.” Nat’s voice is hard. I glance over at my gorgeous sister-in-law, so thankful for her.
“I told Leo not to tell the family about my job.” I finally admit.
“Why?” She asks with a frown. “We would have helped you.”
“That’s why.” I kick at a rock on the pavement. “Luke would have tried to fix it, or pay off my mortgage, or something stupid like that.”
“I’m pretty sure your mortgage will be paid for by tomorrow afternoon,” Nat agrees with a grin.
“He better not.” I warn her and then feel tears start to fall from my eyes, which pisses me off more. “Damn it.”
“You know, we all love you.” Nat smirks when I start to cry harder. The bitch. “You distance yourself from us, from everyone really, but we love you so much. Your brothers would do anything for you.”
“I know,” I whisper.
“I have a feeling Leo feels the same way.” I shake my head but she just laughs at me. “Sam, did you take a second to see his face when he saw that picture?”
No. I shake my head.
“It devastated him. He’ll make it right,” she states confidently and smiles gently.
“Why are you so nice to me?” I ask her. “I was horrible to you.”
“Because I know why you were, and because I love you for wanting to protect my husband.”
I shake my head and wipe the tears off my cheeks.
“Are you crying because of that photo?” She asks softly.
“No.” I shake my head and wipe my nose on the back of my hand. “I feel betrayed by that tattooed asshole in there, and embarrassed that everyone heard that I’d lost my job.”
Nat nods and then frowns. “You’ll get another job you know.”
I shrug. “They’re not knocking down my door.”
“You will. What does Leo say?”
“He’s moving up here to be near Meg more and the band is going to record the next album here.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” She narrows her eyes at me, making me laugh.
“God, you’re such a gold digger.” I fling at her with a laugh. She chuckles and nods her head.
“Yeah, don’t tell Luke. He thinks I love him for his good looks.”
I wipe the rest of the tears from my cheeks and sigh. “Leo says he’ll take care of me.”
“I bet that pissed you off, too,” she correctly observes.
“Hell yes, it did. I don’t need him to take care of me.”
“Nope,” she agrees with a grin.
“What is it with men thinking they can just take care of everything? I’m not a damsel in distress. I got this shit.”
“I hear you.” She shrugs. “But it is kind of nice to know you don’t have to do it all on your own. I like it that Luke has my back.”
“I think he prefers your front.” I smirk.
“No, he loves my ass.” She laughs.
“You have a good ass.” I confirm with a nod and then frown. “I’m still really, really pissed at him. He shouldn’t have told the family.”
“No, that was yours to tell.” Natalie puts her arm around my shoulders. “I’m sorry you’re hurt.”
The front door opens and I expect to see Luke, or my parents, come outside, but instead it’s Leo, moving quickly, a scowl on his face.
“Get in the fucking car.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’ll see you later,” Nat whispers and kisses my cheek before letting herself back inside.
“You heard me.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.” I stand my ground; my arms crossed and glare defiantly at him.
“The fuck you’re not. Get in.”
“No.”
He stops and turns to me, his gray eyes angrier than I’ve ever seen them. He gets in my face, his voice low and deceptively calm. “Get in the motherfucking car before I put you there myself.”
“Leo…”
“Get in the fucking car!”
Jesus, Mary and Joseph he’s pissed.
Chapter Twenty-One
~Leo~
“Damn, you piss me off,” I mutter and grip the steering wheel tightly, enjoying the rumble of the engine as I stomp on the gas and tear out of Will’s drive way.
“You’re going to kill us both,” she mutters and glares at me.
“No, if I decide to kill you, I’ll choke the shit out of you.” She has the audacity to laugh.
“Do you think that’s the first time I’ve been threatened with a choking?”
“No, sweetheart, I’m sure that happens on a regular basis. You’re so fucking stubborn.”
She glares again and looks out the passenger window.
I’m so angry with her, I dare not touch her. I’m pissed on so many levels; I don’t even know where it starts and how to dig through to the root of it.
I just know that I haven’t been this angry since I was sixteen years old.
“Leo,” she begins, but I cut her off.
“Stop talking.”
Her startled gaze whips to mine, and I glare at her, seething.
“You’re really upset,” she whispers and sits quietly while I navigate through downtown Seattle to her building. I park, and take the car out of gear so her door unlocks and she can get out.
“I’ll talk to you later.”
“You’re not coming in?” She asks, surprised.
“No.”
“Leo, come inside and talk to me.” I glance over at her, and her eyes are scared, and a piece of me softens. She’s worried I won’t be back.
“Fine.” I turn off the ignition, round the hood of the car and pull her out of her seat, walk briskly into her building and press the elevator button. When the doors close, she tries to speak, but I cut her off.
“No, you want me to talk, fine, I’ll talk. When we get into your place.”
She frowns up at me, about to argue, but she shuts her lips and looks straight ahead. At her floor, I stomp ahead to her door and wait for her to unlock it and walk inside.
“Sit.”
“No, I’m not a fucking dog, Leo. If you’re pissed, talk. If you’re just going to be an asshole, go home. I’m sick of you bullying me.”
“Bullying you?” I round on her, the rage rising anew. “Bullying you. I fucking stuck up for you, Samantha.”
“No, my brothers did that.” She r
esponds, her eyes on fire. “You betrayed me.”
I stumble backward, as if she’d physically struck me.
“You know, for a smart woman, you can be unbelievably stupid.” Her eyes flash but I glare at her, shutting her up. “You want to talk this out? Fine, I’ll talk, and you’re going to listen to every motherfucking word I say.”
~Samantha~
If he swears at me like that one more time, I swear to God I’m going to throw him out on his ass.
“Who the hell do you think you are to treat your family like that?” He plants his hands on his hips and pins me in a glare. “You have a family who adores you. Your brothers would do anything for you. Jesus, Sam, even the Montgomerys would kill for you.” He stomps away and begins pacing about my living room, his face tight with anger.
“Do you know what I would have given for just a moment of that when I was growing up?” He turns to face me and I feel all the blood drain from my head. “I would have crawled through fire to have such a big family that loved me. To have siblings to fight with and defend when someone else tried to fuck with them. But do you know what I got instead?”
Oh, God, I don’t know if I want to know this. He begins to pace again, his eyes distant, and I realize that it’s not really me that he’s angry with.
He’s just angry.
“My folks died when I was twelve, and they didn’t have siblings, so there was no one to take me. Instead I was thrown into foster care. The first place wasn’t too bad, but they couldn’t keep me for long, so I kept getting shuffled about, from home to home, until I was about sixteen. Most of the homes were okay. Some of the dads liked to hit, which I learned to deal with.” He shrugs and goes to look out my window to the busy street below.
“What happened when you were sixteen?” I whisper, my stomach roiling in anger and pain and sheer horror.
“I woke up one night.” His voice is so low I can barely hear it, so I quietly inch closer. “And the man I lived with was on top of me, trying to get my pants off.”
Holy fucking shit.
“I was always a tall kid, but by the time I was sixteen, I was strong too, and I fought the fat fucker off of me. Blackened his eye.” He braces his forehead against the glass, lost in the horrific memories running through his head. “I woke up like that, almost every night for a week. He just wouldn’t give up. It got to where I would fight sleep, doing everything in my power to stay awake and sleep during class in the day time, but I would inevitably fall asleep.”
He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. “Then they brought in this other kid, a few years younger than me, named Tom. He was weaker than me. He had the bed next to mine.”
“Oh, God,” I whisper, my hand over my mouth.
“Yeah, he wasn’t as lucky,” he whispers. “But worse than that, Meg came along.”
“Don’t tell me…”
“No, the bastard preferred young boys, but I made it my mission in life to protect her and make sure that no one ever touched her like that.” He turns to me, his face carefully void of any emotion at all. His balled hands are at his sides, and every muscle in his body is clenched. “That’s what family does, Samantha. They protect each other. Instead of you giving your brothers, your parents, your friends the opportunity to help you, you shut them out.”
“I don’t need their charity,” I begin but his face hardens once again and I cringe. “That’s not what I mean. I don’t want them to feel obligated to help me.”
“They don’t feel obligated. They feel love, damn it!”
“I don’t deserve it!” I yell back at him. “I’ve never done anything to deserve to be in this family, with all of these wonderful, beautiful people.”
“What are you talking about?” He asks, his face completely confused.
“I’m not anyone special. I don’t have any amazing talents, I don’t make a ton of money, I’m not even a very nice person. The only thing I have is famous family members.” I shake my head and move across the room, my back to him. “Do you know that aside from family and people I’m related to by marriage I don’t have one person that I consider my friend? Not one. And that’s not a coincidence.” I turn back to him. He’s watching me like I’ve gone crazy.
He could be right.
“Why?” He asks.
“Because someone always wants something from me, Leo. In high school, they wanted to get close to Luke or Mark, so they’d pretend to be my friend so they could hang out at our house and try to get glimpses of them. When Luke got famous, it intensified by a thousand. Hell, a million.” I laugh ruefully. “I finally got smart and separated myself from it, found a career I like and am good at, and even that fucked me over.”
I brace my head in my hands, rubbing my forehead with my fingertips. “I learned a long time ago to look out for myself, and not depend on others to take care of me. Fame is fleeting and honestly, it’s just a lie.” I find his eyes and shrug. “Being famous doesn’t make anyone happy. It’s just… scary.”
“Sam, you deserve your family. They love you.”
“Yes, they do.” I nod and then shake my head. “And I love them more than anything. But I don’t deserve to have them pick up the pieces when my life falls apart. I’m in my thirties, for the love of Christ, Leo, I need to pick up my own pieces.”
“I notice you’re not including me anywhere in this equation,” he murmurs and shoves his hands in his pockets.
“I don’t need you to fix anything either,” I tell him firmly.
“No, you don’t need me to fix anything, but supporting you and being there for you is not fixing.”
“I don’t need your fame,” I mutter and turn my back on him, shuffling back and forth across my small living room.
“What do you need?” He asks, his voice tight with frustration, but I don’t answer. I just continue to pace.
“I don’t need your money,” I mutter again and push my hands through my hair.
“Okay.” He’s right behind me now, and I can feel the frustration rolling off him in waves, but he places his hands gently on my shoulders and his touch is my undoing. “What do you need, sunshine?”
“You!” I spin and clasp my arms around his middle, press my face to his chest so I don’t have to look him in the eye and let the tears come. “I just need you,” I whisper.
“Sam,” he whispers and wraps those warm, strong arms around my shoulders, hugging me close. “You have me, baby.”
“It pisses me off.” I lean my forehead against his chest. “I don’t like this feeling. In the car, I thought you were dropping me off and not coming back, and it killed me. I don’t want to depend on you.”
“Hey.” He tips my chin up so I have to look him in the eye. “You make me so angry, I just didn’t think I could talk with you without wanting to throttle you. Sam, you have to work on this whole not feeling worthy thing. Your family adores you, and you feel the same. You need to trust them.”
“I know.” I drop my gaze to his mouth and frown.
“And another thing.” He kisses my forehead. “You are a nice person, whether you like it or not. You are the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. If you keep talking shit about my woman, I’ll have to punish you.”
“No more tosses into pools.” I smile.
“I’m sorry you feel like I betrayed you.” His face sobers, his eyes are sad. “That’s the very last thing I would ever do.”
“I know, but I told you…”
“You know, one of the things that you’ll learn about me,” he kisses my forehead softly, “Is that I will always have your best interests at heart. Your family deserved to know.”
“And I deserved to tell them.” I stand strong. “I need you beside me, not fighting my battles for me.”
A slow grin spreads across his face and he cups my face in his hands before lowering his lips to mine. “Well put. As long as I’m in the picture.”
“Leo, you are the picture.”
He stills, his eyes searching mine, and then
he kisses me, softly at first, and then demandingly. He bends and scoops me into his arms and carries me to my bedroom.
“I need to get you naked and lose myself in you. Is that okay?” He asks, his gray eyes have softened.
“Yeah, that’s okay.” I pull his shirt up over his head when he sets me on my feet. We quickly undress each other and tumble onto the bed. Leo rises over me, his leg resting between my own, and pulls his fingertips down my face.
“I love you, Samantha Williams. Every damn day, I love you.” His lips capture mine again before I can answer, and he contentedly kisses me, brushing his mouth over mine, letting me bite and pull on his piercing, his thumb tracing circles on my cheek.
His erection is pressing against my hip, but when I try to reach down for it, he captures my hand in his and kisses my fingers. “Not yet,” he whispers.
“What’s wrong?”
“We have all night. This isn’t a quick fuck, sunshine.” He nibbles the corner of my mouth and down to my jaw line. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I’m going to lose myself in you. I’m going to make love to you, baby.”
“I don’t know…”
“Yes, you do.” He interrupts, and eyes on mine, and kisses me again. “You do know.”
I glide my fingertips down his side to his ass and my hands clench when his fingertip circles around my nipple, tightening the sensitive skin.
“I love your breasts,” he whispers and pulls the nipple into his mouth, suckling gently. “So responsive.”
“I love your mouth.” I squirm beneath him as he gently bites the tight nipple. “Can’t get enough of it.”
“Good.” He chuckles and kisses my jawline again and up to my lips. He continues to kiss my mouth, his tongue teasing mine, as his hand glides down my torso, over my stomach, to my core, and pushes two fingers over my clit and into my folds.
“Oh, God.” My back automatically arches, pushing me against his hand. “God, you have good hands.”
“I love how wet you get,” he whispers. “You’re so fucking sexy, baby.”
He nibbles down to my collarbones and farther still to my breasts, paying them both close attention. His fingers are moving rhythmically through the lips of my labia, almost tickling me.