‘God, I need you, Sam,’ he groaned.
‘I need you too, Gabe, but we should phone my dad. He’s still looking for you and he’s out of his mind with worry.’
Gabriel stepped back and nodded. ‘Yeah, of course. Let’s ring him.’
I hadn’t even dialled my father’s number when I heard the front door opening. ‘Dad! We’re in here,’ I shouted.
I heard him running down the hallway and his face broke into the biggest smile I had ever seen when he walked into the kitchen and saw his best mate standing there as large as life.
‘Where the fuck have you been?’ he said as he bounded across the kitchen and wrapped Gabriel in one of his famous bear hugs.
‘Sit down, and I’ll tell you,’ Gabriel said when my father finally released him.
A moment later the three of us were sitting at the table and Gabriel looked anxiously between my father and me.
‘I was on my way to meet Graham Johnson last night, when two men stopped me. I could tell they were ex-special forces straight away. They told me their boss wanted a word with me. There was a car waiting for me with another two of them in the front. I didn’t have much choice but to go. They kept me there until this morning, when their boss finally made an appearance.’
‘So who was he? And what the fuck did he want you for?’ my father snapped.
Gabriel’s tongue darted out of his mouth and he licked the dried blood on his lip. Then he looked at me and I felt a churning in my stomach. I didn’t know what he was going to say next, but I knew I wasn’t going to like it.
‘Milton Carver,’ he said and I almost passed out from shock. I felt the tea I’d been drinking half an hour earlier threatening to make a reappearance.
‘What?’ was all I could gasp.
Milton Carver was the disgraced brother of my ex-husband, Jackson. He’d been cut off from the family twelve years earlier, at the age of thirty-two after a series of scandalous and embarrassing exploits. The Carvers were a sick and twisted lot, but they generally liked to keep their vile tendencies private. To the outside world, they were a respectable and incredibly wealthy family, dripping in privilege and old money. Behind closed doors, however, was an entirely different matter. They were a family of narcissists, psychopaths and cruel individuals. To be disowned by that lot, meant you were a special kind of fucked up.
I’d only met Milton a handful of times when I’d been married to Jackson. Each of those times had been thoroughly unpleasant. The last I’d heard of him, he was living in L.A.
What the hell was he doing back here and what did he want with Gabriel?
‘He was the one who paid Garvey to threaten you, Sam. You were right all along. There was someone else behind it.’
‘But why?’ I shook my head. ‘Milton is a vile excuse for a human being, but I’ve never done anything to make him come after me. And it couldn’t be about Jackson. The two of them hated each other. So what does he want from me? And why has he come after you?’
‘Money,’ Gabriel replied. ‘Nothing more complicated than that.’
‘Money? I don’t have any money.’
Gabriel reached out and squeezed my hand. ‘Actually, Sam, you have fuckloads of it. Apparently, Jackson left everything to you in the will. Didn’t you know that?’
I shook my head in horror. ‘I was invited to the will reading, but I didn’t go. And then I’ve had a few calls from his family solicitors, but I’ve been so busy, I didn’t call them back. Jesus! Why would he leave it to me?’
‘Because you were his wife,’ my dad interrupted. ‘That’s kind of how it works, isn’t it? Who else did he have except his brother who he hated?’
‘Still, he would have hated me to have it too, I’m sure. He mustn’t have had the chance to change it after we separated. But we were divorced when he died. Milton has legal grounds to contest the will anyway.’ I sat back against the chair. ‘And what was the whole thing with Garvey about? That was before Jackson was even killed? What the hell was Milton trying to achieve?’
‘With Jackson serving life in prison, he wanted to make a claim on the family’s assets. And with you as Jackson’s beneficiary, he needed you out of the way to do that,’ Gabriel replied.
‘Wow!’ I blew out a slow breath and rubbed the back of my neck with my hand.
‘Are you okay?’ Gabriel asked.
‘No. No, I’m not okay. Milton Carver has just had you kidnapped because he thinks I want his family’s money. Why didn’t he just speak to me? I’d be happy to sign the lot over to him. I don’t want a penny of it,’ I shuddered.
‘Well, he thought he’d speak to me instead of you.’
‘Why?’ I snapped.
‘You’d rather he kidnapped you then?’ he frowned at me. ‘Because I fucking wouldn’t.’
My father nodded his agreement. ‘I second that.’
‘No. But I don’t see why there was a need to kidnap anyone. He can have every single penny of his rotten family’s money. I’ll have some papers drawn up as soon as possible relinquishing my claim to it. How do we get in contact with him?’
‘I have his solicitor’s details. I’ll deal with them,’ Gabriel replied.
‘No you won’t. I can deal with this myself. I’m not helpless.’
Gabriel rolled his eyes and my father sighed.
‘What?’ I snapped at them. ‘You know how I feel about being mollycoddled by you both. I can handle Milton Carver. If all he wants is money, then I’ll give it to him.’
Gabriel and my father shared a look that I couldn’t quite work out. Even from the grave, it seemed that my ex-husband was still trying to ruin my life. All of my old survival instincts were kicking in. Pushing people away, convincing everyone I was invincible, handling everything myself and not having to rely on anyone. They were instincts that had served me well in the past, and they were hard habits to break.
‘What is it?’ I demanded. I was on edge. I was nervous and scared. My anxieties about feeling weak and needing to be protected were playing out and it felt like there was nothing I could do to stop them. I had to let my subconscious do its thing and recognise it for what it was.
‘Tell her what you’re thinking,’ my father said.
‘Tell me what?’ I snapped.
‘Sam, he had four ex-special forces bodyguards working for him. You already said he’s so crazy even the Carvers disowned him. I’m not sure paying him off is going to get rid of him. Men like that don’t just stop,’ Gabriel said.
‘So, what are you saying?’ I asked.
‘I’m saying, that let us think through what we’re going to do first. Please let us handle this. This is what we do.’
I shook my head. ‘All he wants is the money. All he’s interested in is the money. And I definitely don’t want it, so I’ll sign it over and he can be out of our lives.’
My father opened his mouth to speak, but Gabriel gave him a subtle shake of his head. It annoyed me. They were going to do what they liked anyway. They would discuss it when I wasn’t in the room and decide what they were going to do whether I liked it or not.
I looked at the clock. ‘Shit! I have to get to work. I have a meeting with a Judge at nine o’clock.’
‘Let me drive you,’ Gabriel said.
‘No. There’s no need. Simon is picking me up this morning. He’s in this meeting too.’ I stood up from the table.
I was angry and annoyed – not at Gabriel or my father, but I just wanted out of the room. I needed some time and space to think and breathe. ‘I’ll talk to you both later. I need to get ready for work.’
I walked out of the kitchen and left Gabriel and my father sitting there in silence. I showered and dressed and all I could think about was how much I wished I’d never laid eyes on Jackson Carver. And now Gabriel was at risk – and probably my father too. And it was because of me. The sooner I relinquished my right to the Carver family money and left it open for Milton to claim, the better.
Chapter 28
Gabriel
I’d wanted to drive Samantha to work. I wanted to be near her. I was worried about her safety now that Milton had made his intentions clear, and I still needed to tell her about Jennifer. But, she’d understandably not taken the news well that Milton was back and that he’d been the man behind the attacks on her earlier this year.
I’d known she’d revert to her defence mode of pushing anyone who wanted to protect or care for her away. It was the way she functioned – the way she’d to learn to survive her twelve year marriage to a psychopath.
I knew that I had to let her push me away before she’d let me back in. It was infuriating, but it was the only way to handle her. So, I’d let her go. I’d let her get into Simon Hardaker’s car and drive away.
I didn’t trust him. There was something about him that set my teeth on edge, and my instincts were rarely wrong. But I had nothing on him – yet.
Now it was just Sebastian and I sitting in his kitchen.
Sebastian was seething with rage. ‘I can’t believe that fucker was behind the threats to Sam. I can’t believe he had the fucking brass neck to kidnap you.’
‘Yeah, well, like I said, better me than her,’ I replied.
Sebastian nodded in agreement. ‘What are we going to do about him?’ he snarled.
‘Well, we both know there is no way he’s going to back off just because she signs over that money to him.’
Sebastian nodded and slammed his fist on the table. ‘I know. Haven’t that family of cunts taken enough from her?’
‘You’d think,’ I said with a sigh. ‘We can’t take any chances, Seb. We need to plan this carefully, but we need to remove the threat of Milton Carver for good.’
Sebastian nodded. ‘I couldn’t agree more. So when?’
‘I think we should let Sam sign over the money first. That will buy us some time and placate him for a while. It will give me time to look into him a bit more.’
‘Why do we need to look into him?’ Sebastian asked. ‘Let’s just bury him.’
‘Knowledge is power, my friend, you know that. Besides, he’s got four ex-special forces as his personal bodyguards. He’s not going to be that easy to get to.’
‘We have a few ex-special forces working for us.’
I nodded. ‘I know. I’ve already sent one of them a message asking him to meet us at the office later. He might be able to find out who is working for Milton. I got the impression they didn’t particularly like him, and if that’s the case, we can definitely use it to our advantage.’
‘Yeah. Good.’
‘Now, I need to get home and have a shower before I go and see Sam and try and persuade her to let me handle Milton.’
‘Yeah? Well, good luck with that, mate,’ he said with a grin and a shake of his head. ‘She loves you though, you know. She was so worried last night. We both were.’
‘I know,’ I said. ‘It’s not her loving me that’s the problem, it’s whether she can forgive me.’
‘She will,’ Sebastian nodded. ‘Just give her time.’
I stood up and cracked my neck. My limbs ached from being tied to a chair all night. I could do with a long bath and an even longer sleep. But, that would have to wait.
Chapter 29
Gabriel
I walked into the offices of Donovan Cook and nodded a greeting to Beth, the receptionist.
‘Good morning, Gabriel,’ she said.
Samantha’s business partner, Nick Cook was coming out of his office and we almost bumped into each other.
‘Gabriel,’ he said with a smile. ‘How are you, mate?’
‘Losing my fucking mind, Nick. You?’
Nick gave me a sympathetic nod. ‘I hope you two sort this out. I’ve never seen her so bloody miserable, and it’s making her unbearable to work with. I hope you’ve got your tin hat with you if you’re planning on going in there,’ he nodded towards Samantha’s office. ‘She’s like a bear with a sore head today.’
‘Better wish me luck then,’ I replied as I patted Nick on the shoulder.
I knocked before pushing open the door to Samantha’s office and stepping inside. God, she was even more fucking beautiful now than she’d been earlier that morning. Pregnancy looked good on her.
‘I’m not in the mood for a lecture, Gabe,’ she said with a shake of her head.
I held up my hands in surrender. ‘Then I promise not to lecture you. I just wanted to say how sorry I am for worrying you.’
She blinked at me. ‘Well, you don’t have to apologise for that. It wasn’t exactly your fault, was it? I’m sorry that my psychopathic ex-husband and his family are still trying to ruin my life and you got caught up in that.’
‘You have nothing to apologise for, Sam. And like I said, I’m glad that they came to me and not you.’
‘Well, I’m really happy you’re okay. But, I can’t really talk right now. I’m busy. Can you go and we can talk later?’
I ignored her request and sat on the chair opposite her. She blanked me for a few moments, but I sat and waited, watching her as she pretended to work. But she had been scanning the same page for the past five minutes.
‘We should probably talk about Milton, and what we’re going to do next.’
She shook her head. ‘There’s nothing to do. I’m going to have some papers drawn up that will make it clear I have no right to a current or future claim on the Carver family fortune. Then he can have it all. The sooner, the better.’
‘Let me help.’
‘I don’t need your help. I can handle it,’ she snapped.
I frowned at her. ‘God, you are in a bad mood today, aren’t you?’
Her head snapped back up. ‘Of course I’m in a bad mood. I’m fat. None of my clothes fit me any more. I have indigestion almost permanently. My ex-husband and his crazy family are still trying to ruin my life. I spent most of the night worrying that the father of my baby was dead in some ditch and I’d never see him again. But now that you’re back, there’s still no escaping the fact that you knocked up your bloody ex-wife too. And to top it all off, this pregnancy has turned me into the horniest woman alive.’ She blew a strand of hair out of her eyes and glared at me.
I felt my dick standing to attention at her last revelation and I shifted in my seat to relieve the pressure.
I looked at her calmly and smiled. ‘You’re not fat. You’re five and a half months pregnant. Your clothes are uncomfortable because you won’t buy any maternity clothes and insist on continuing to wear those sexy little pencil skirts. Stop eating ice cream for dinner and the indigestion might ease a little. I will deal with Milton Carver and I’m sorry that I worried you. I did not in fact knock up my lying, cheating ex-wife. And as for being the horniest woman alive, I’m not sure you can blame your pregnancy for that. But, give me five minutes and I’ll take the edge off for you. Give me a few hours and I’ll make sure you can still feel me inside you until the baby is born.’
She continued to stare at me and I saw the blush creeping up her neck. She bit her bottom lip and her hands gripped the arms of her chair. I knew that she would be thinking about that offer and it turned the twitch in my cock into a throb.
‘Wait. What?’ she said, suddenly.
‘I said, give me five –’
‘Not that, you sex pest. I meant what about you not knocking your ex-wife up?’
‘Oh, that? I wondered if you’d heard me or were too distracted by your raging hormones. It turns out Jennifer is still a lying, cheating bitch and she lied about her due date. Her baby is due six weeks before ours.’
She sat back in her chair and gasped. ‘So, it’s not yours?’
‘Not a chance. I had sex with her once and that was two weeks before your dad’s engagement party. So, I was definitely nowhere near the scene of that crime.’
‘God. How did you find out?’
‘I took her to one of those 4D scans. The due date was there on the screen.’
‘Of course. The scan?’ she nodded.
> ‘Wait. Did you know about that?’
‘Yes. I phoned there yesterday morning and spoke to someone to find out more about them. When I said you were my baby’s father, she assumed I was Jennifer.’
‘Fuck! I’m sorry, Sam,’ I sighed. ‘Is that why you were so pissed off with me yesterday?’
She nodded.
‘So, when she asked who I was to you, you said I was your baby’s father and nothing more?’ I frowned at her.
No wonder they’d thought she was Jennifer. I knew the woman who owned the clinic well, and she knew that Samantha was so much more to me than that.
‘Well, what else was I supposed to say, Gabe? That you were the man I’d thought I’d spend the rest of my life with but you’d knocked up your ex-wife too and I didn’t know what I was to you any more? I wasn’t sure she needed that level of detail.’
I didn’t answer her. I rubbed a hand over my jaw and wondered what the fuck I was to Samantha any more too.
‘Anyway. Tell me about Jennifer. Did she know her dates, or did she think …?’
‘Oh, she knew exactly what she was doing,’ I said
She shook her head. ‘Jesus Christ. What a bitch!’
‘I know.’
‘Imagine if you’d never found out. Imagine if …’
‘I know,’ I said softly. ‘And I know it doesn’t change the fact that I had sex with her, Sam. But I only did that because I thought you and me were over.’
She closed her eyes. ‘It’s a lot to take in,’ she said as she let out a long breath and lifted her hand to her forehead.
I picked up the bottle of water from her desk and handed it to her. ‘Are you okay?’
She nodded. ‘I’m just hot. And tired.’
I looked at her. What had I been hoping for? That she’d run into my arms and realise it had all been one huge mistake? That wasn’t the Samantha I knew. She was the most stubborn woman I had ever met in my life. I would have to give her space to make a decision in her own time, as much as it killed me to walk away from her.
Fallen Angel (The London Ruthless Series Book 2) Page 10
