A Material Gift (D'Arth Series Book 2)

by Camille Oster

  Exhaling, Sam tried to work through the implications and she had to get up and walk through the hotel to just let her mind think through what she’d just learnt. She even walked across the road to another hotel so she could walk through their facilities as well.

  When she returned, she received a call. Her phone clearly showed a Monaco number, but it wasn’t Sebastian’s or anyone else she knew.

  “Hello?”

  “Miss D’Arth? This is Mrs Muir, Mr Luc’s secretary.” Sam remembered this woman’s voice. She’s been the one Sam had originally spoken to when she’d answered the ad from the paper. “I was just calling to see how you were faring.”

  “How am I faring?” Sam repeated. “Well, I’m slightly confused, to be completely honest.”

  “There have been some unfortunate developments, but I wanted to let you know that you can rely on me for anything you need. You just have to call.”

  Sam felt the tension in her shoulders dissipate a bit. The developments weren’t this woman’s fault and she appreciated her attempts to reach out, even if Sebastian was mysteriously silent through his cavorting around the seedy joints of Monte Carlo.

  “I tried to have a package delivered to your apartment, but it must have caught you at a time when you were out.”

  “I’m in Dubai at the moment,” Sam stated.

  “Oh,” the woman said. “Are you taking a holiday?”

  “I am visiting my uncle for a week. With all the chaos, I needed to get away for a while. I did call Sebastian to tell him, but he wasn’t answering.” There was silence down the phone for a moment.

  “Well, I hope we will see you back soon. Again, if there is anything you need, please don’t hesitate to call,” she said cheerily.

  “Okay, thanks for calling.” Sam said goodbye and threw the phone on her bed. It was reassuring that his staff at least seemed to think everything was normal.

  *

  Sebastian woke by being accosted by bright light. He had to cover his eyes from the pain spearing through his head, but he knew the pain wasn’t just light. Blinking, he trying to find the source of the offending light. His hangover pounded through his head.

  “Sebastian,” Mrs Muir said in that voice she used when she was disappointed. The girl next to him stirred. “I see you have company.” Mrs Muir made no move to leave. “Should I reschedule the meeting with the planners?”

  “No, I’m coming,” he said and sat up, covering himself with a sheet, aware that Mrs Muir was seeing him completely dishevelled and he was naked under the sheet. He groaned as his head protested and padded his way into the shower to get the water to wash away the worst of his hangover and the wool in his head. His mouth tasted like smoke and rotten fruit. At some point he’d been smoking, a habit that only returned when he was very drunk. He’d gone all out last night. He wasn’t exactly proud of himself, but then he was free to do exactly as he wanted—even if Mrs Muir disapproved.

  By the time he returned, the room was empty and he dressed, his stomach feeling a bit queasy. Mrs Muir held out a glass of tomato juice for him by the time he walked into his living room and he kissed her on the cheek in gratitude. “You are the best person ever. Have I told you that?”

  “Your charm doesn’t work on me, Sebastian. Now, I’ve prepared everything you need for the meeting in this folder. You will have to read it on the way.” Mrs Muir marched toward the door, leaving him slightly embarrassed that she’d had to treat him like a child.

  “The girl’s left the country,” Mrs Muir said when he joined her in the back of the car, driven by the company driver.

  “What girl?”

  “Samantha D’Arth.”

  Sebastian felt a spike of concern. “What do you mean left the country?”

  “She’s in Dubai. Apparently she has an uncle there. You will have to be careful, or this girl might just take off.”

  Frowning, Sebastian put this news aside for a moment to deal with later. Right now he had to focus his attention on the folder and the report he needed to absorb ahead of this meeting with the planners. He would think about the mess with the girl later.

  Mrs Muir returned to the office with the car when it dropped him off in front of the municipal building where his meeting was taking place.

  Sebastian worked through his hangover, ignoring the tiredness and pain he felt. He knew how to deal with planners, even if he wasn’t technically at his optimal. The meeting went as he expected, with no unforeseen obstacles being raised.

  As he left, he waved over the car that was waiting for him, and called the girl.

  “Hello?” she said.

  “Samantha?” he said. “This is Sebastian.”

  “So, you’re still alive.” He ignored the comment, but he could hear the tartness in her voice.

  “You’ve left the country,” he said in a low tone. “You’re not allowed to.”

  “I’m not a prisoner,” she stated. “I tried phoning you, but you were off with the faeries.” He bristled slightly at the comment. “And don’t get on my back about visiting my uncle. As for our contract—more importantly—you’re not allowed to simply change your mind and back out of the deal.” Her voice was pointed and laced with indignation. He had to concede that she had a point in that it was rich of him to press her on leaving, considering how they had behaved.

  As for the backing out part, he didn’t quite know what to say. He did not renege on agreements; it didn’t matter what it was. “The contract is still in place,” he said. “Recent developments have been... unfortunate,”—he cursed Shanna yet again—“but nothing has changed.”

  There was silence down the other end of the phone. “Good,” she finally said.

  “When will you be back?”

  “In a few days.”

  “Fine,” he said and hung up. Mrs Muir’s warning resonated through her mind. He had to be more careful with the girl. She’d slipped right through his fingers and out of the country and he hadn’t even been aware. He would be in a spot of bother if she’d just said no, she wasn’t coming back.

  Chapter 11

  “Sam? Do you want to go sailing?” Damon voice came from the living room. It was early the next day—Saturday, and Damon wasn’t working that morning.

  “Sure. When are you going?

  “Now.”

  Sam put away the book she’d actually started getting into. “Alright, I’m coming. What do I need?”

  “Sunblock. Lots of it.”

  Sam shoved sunblock into a bag and changed into a bikini before pulling a stripy dress over it.

  “Do we need to bring anything else?”

  “No, not really. The fridge is stocked in the boat. Maybe some fruit if you want some.”

  “Is Jane coming?”

  “No, she has a Skype call with one of her friends, so she won’t be coming. We’re not going for long.”

  She followed Damon down the elevator and out the front of the hotel. It was only a short walk to the marina from the hotel.

  “You really have everything at arm’s reach, don’t you?”

  “It is pretty convenient,” he said as they walked down along the jetty, along endless rows of boats before stopping in front of a large white sailboat.

  “Is this the same one you had in Auckland?”

  “No, this one is leased, but the sailing is perfect here, so I couldn’t resist.”

  “You could sail around the Med, couldn’t you?”

  “I suppose. If you had time.” Damon prepared the boat, unhooked the power and started the engine before casting off. Sam didn’t really know much about sailing, but took up a perch at the front of the boat.

  The sun was really nice this time of day, but it would heat up quickly. She rubbed sun block on every exposed surface. “Do you think I can swim at some point?” she called back.

  “Sure. Why not?”

  “Your house is an awesome vacation destination. Did I mention that?”

  Damon smiled and stopped the motor after the
y’d cleared the marina. The sails hoisted by motors and the ship started to respond to the wind coming off the land behind them. Sam lay back on the deck and just enjoyed the day as they left the coast behind them.

  When it got warmer, Sam retreated to the back where a shade sail covered the seating area. The sea breeze stopped it from being sweltering.

  “We’re stopping for a while, before we turn. We should get back soon,” Damon said. “If you want to swim, you should do it now. Do you want a drink?”

  “Sure,” Sam said and stripped off her dress before diving into the sea, the cool of the water washing away the building heat of the day. It felt strange diving into the middle of the ocean, where there was no bottom and nothing as far as the eye could see, except for the boat. She swam away from the boat for a while and just enjoyed the stillness around her.

  When she returned to the boat and clambered up the ladder in the back, a lemonade was waiting for her on her seat. She grabbed a towel and left it on her lap. It was actually nicer to just let the air dry her off—that way, she could feel cool for a bit longer.

  Damon was drinking a beer where he was sitting, peeling the label off the green glass bottle. He stared out to sea, looking a bit worried.

  “You alright?” she asked. He didn’t answer immediately.

  “She’s not happy,” he said after a while.

  “Jane?” He didn’t say anything. “She adores you.”

  “Yes, but she’s not happy.” He leaned back and sighed. “I didn’t see that coming. I never foresaw that I would fall in love with someone, and then for them not to be happy with me.”

  “It is a big change for her coming here; she’s had to give up everything. Maybe she’ll settle, find a rhythm to living here. You haven’t been here all that long. You can always send her off on trips. It’s only a few hours to Europe. She could come explore France and visit me.”

  Damon smiled tightly and took a swig of his beer. “And how long would that hold her? I don’t know what to do.”

  “I’m sorry. I guess it’s never easy.” Sam felt a moment of hopelessness. If Jane and Damon couldn’t get it together, who were clearly madly in love with each other, what hope was there for the rest of them? “Maybe if Jane isn’t happy here and misses home, you should just go home.”

  “It isn’t that simple. This is my career.”

  “And apparently you’re not Wonder Woman, Damon—you can’t have it all.”

  “If I go back to New Zealand I will be limiting my career. I won’t be working on the kind of projects I know I’m capable of.”

  “But maybe if you don’t, Jane will be unhappy.”

  Damon got up and walked around the boat, shoving his hands in his pockets as he considered the decisions in front of him. Sam followed him with her eyes. She didn’t envy him the position he was in, but equally she felt she’d spoken the truth. She suspected Damon wasn’t used to compromise in any capacity, but there wasn’t a straight fix for this. Jane had given up everything to be with him and now it turned out that it wasn’t enough to sustain her.

  It made Sam wonder what it was she wanted in life and what would be enough to make her happy. Sam hadn’t actually been serious enough about a guy to wonder what it would be like to be in a long term relationship with him. Her focus over the last three years had been preparing for this working holiday overseas. She hadn’t even given consideration to anything after, or any relationships. Would she would be happy living here in Dubai, waiting for her partner to come home from work every night? Jane had all the material trappings, but Sam guessed that when it came down to it, it was meaningless.

  Sam tried to imagine a picture of her living here with her boyfriend/partner, and the only picture that came to mind was her caring for a baby all day, waiting patiently for the return each night of Sebastian. It was a picture that was both intriguing and disturbing—especially the part where she would kiss him as he came home, which sent butterflies wriggling around her stomach. She did not have a crush on Sebastian Luc—sure, she’d thought he was absolutely gorgeous when she’d a teen, but she’d been a mindless teen, crushing on a celebrity—that wasn’t real. She didn’t even like him. There wasn’t anything outright likable about him—he was arrogant, distant and out sleeping with anything that moved.

  Looking down at her forming bump, she tried to wrap her head around the fact that she was carrying his baby. She lay down on the seat and tried to clear her mind. It was just getting too confusing in there. Damon had started sailing them back and the breeze was lovely as the ship moved. She saw what he liked about sailing—whatever problem you had, being out here made it feel further away.

  *

  Jane was pleased to see them when they returned. Her chat with her friend had gone well, but Sam could tell that Jane was feeling a little homesick after her contact with home. Damon and Jane kissed, in very much a similar manner to how she’d imagined herself kissing Sebastian Luc a short while earlier. Sam blushed and quickly looked away.

  Going to her ensuite, she cleaned up, then they all decided to go down to one of the bars and just relax for a while. The bar teemed with weekend life, being the playtime for Dubai’s expat workforce. There were people of every nationality and Sam hadn’t seen so many casually-clad city types in one place. Everything was new, luxurious and fresh, but this wasn’t Sam’s kind of place. It wasn’t Jane’s kind of place either, it would seem.

  *

  Sam said goodbye a couple of days later. The last few days had been more comfortable—knowing Sebastian wasn’t backing out of the contract had put her mind at ease somewhat, but there were still a lot of uncomfortable thoughts going through her head, even though nothing felt as urgently pressing as when she’d arrived.

  They both came with her to the airport and she gave each a hug goodbye. She couldn’t help feeling sorry for them for the strife they were having. She hoped Damon would do something about it. Jane was so sweet—more than he deserved. She wasn’t like the person Sam had expected Damon to end up with and she was glad—Jane was a vast improvement on the type of women she used to see gracing her uncle’s arm. She hoped he didn’t screw this up.

  Chapter 12

  In her own apartment, Sam woke when her phone pinged, which turned out to be a text from Sebastian saying he would be in Shanghai for the next three weeks and to contact his secretary if she needed anything. Putting the phone down, she groaned because there was no way she was getting back to sleep now.

  Bristling at the text, she got up. He kicked up a stink if she popped over to Dubai for a few days, but was then taking off himself for three weeks. Shaking her head, she decided to dress and get on with the day, starting by getting some milk and a baguette down at the corner store.

  Again, pictures of Sebastian graced the front pages of the gossip rags. It seemed their love affair with him was truly reignited. This time, he was seen dining with some Hollywood starlet, wearing a linen suit and looking ridiculously handsome, while the starlet looked up at him adoringly. He really seemed to be back to his old ways, dating the most gorgeous girls around, being seen at the hottest places.

  Sam put the paper down with a huff. And now he was off to Shanghai. From the partying, starlet wooing and travelling, she had no idea how a baby was going to fit into his life. The thought sent an uncomfortable feeling down her spine. It wasn't him that had wanted this baby to begin with, and she didn't see how this could work out well for the baby if he was returning to his life as the consummate bachelor.

  *

  Sebastian checked his schedule during a meeting with the architects to discuss the issues uncovered during his trip to China. He spotted the appointment with Dr Halmonde and he quickly considered if he could skip it. Firstly, there was nothing he could contribute, but the real reason was that he was uncomfortable around the girl. She was a blatant reminder of how spectacularly his relationship had failed and how he'd gotten himself into a situation he should never have put himself in. He was a man who foresaw risks a
nd elegantly sidestepped potholes that others fell into, but he was in a quagmire of crap now and there was no exit strategy out of this. Frankly, he didn't know what to do.

  But equally, he didn't run from problems and he wouldn't allow himself to indulge in forgoing a meeting about an uncomfortable topic.

  He spotted her sitting at a café table as he drove up in front of the doctor's office. She was sitting with her head down, texting. Getting out of the car, he strode across the street and she looked up as he approached, a hint of suspicion and dismay on her face when she saw him. A nearly finished coffee cup sat on the table next to her. "How long have you been here?"

  "Hello to you, too," she said.

  He felt slightly annoyed that she'd caught him out being rude; he hadn't intended on being so. Now he didn't quite know what to say. "Are you ready to go in?" he said, checking his watch.

  "I wasn't sure you were coming," she said, putting her phone away and standing up. She wore a short black leather jacket and a red shirt showing off a prominent bump on her belly. He couldn't help staring at it—it seemed at the same time the most alien and natural thing in the world.

  She moved quickly across the street and into the doctor's office. Clearly she wanted this over with as well. The doctor's office had the distinct smell of disinfectants, even though efforts had been made to make it look stylish and modern.

  The girl headed straight for the examination table and lay down as they entered the room, which had a disconcerting amount of machinery around.

  "How have you been?" he asked.

  "Fine. The baby has started to move." The news surprised him although he guessed it probably shouldn't. He admittedly knew nothing of babies and their gestation process. He didn't know what to say. As he sat there and waited, he realised that this baby was such an abstract idea, he couldn't even bring himself to imagine it. Her bump was the only tangible sign to this whole thing.

  He actually exhaled with relief when the doctor entered and immediately asked Sam to bare her belly. He almost felt like he should look away when she drew up her shirt and revealed her swollen abdomen. It was strange to see the smooth curves of her stomach, and he was again struck by an erotic reaction to the sight, wondering if he was perverted in some way. He never even noticed pregnant women, let alone found them sexy. Perhaps there was something fundamentally different about a woman who carried his own child—by his own reaction, there must be something to the theory.