“Morning, baby,” Samuel said as he walked into my office carrying two steaming mugs.
We’d spent every night together since I’d come back from London and I had to admit, seeing a sleep-rumpled Samuel first thing in the morning was quickly becoming more addictive than the coffee he held in his hands. With no shirt on and his sleep pants riding low on his hips, I wanted to trace that thin line of hair that disappeared right under the waistband with my tongue. That morning, however, I was too distracted to enjoy the view.
I held a shaky finger up to him as I finished listening to the person on the other end of the phone. Samuel’s forehead wrinkled, a look of concern crossing his features as he noticed my distress. He set the mugs down on the desk and quickly walked behind me, bending down and kissing the top of my head as he wrapped his arms around my chest. I placed one hand on his strong forearm and squeezed. The feel of having him near was the only thing holding me together at that point.
“Are you absolutely sure?” I asked weakly. I listened to the man’s reply. “Okay. Thank you very much for your time.” I ended the call and threw my phone down on my desk. Leaning forward, I buried my face in my hands, my fingers digging into my scalp. I felt like I’d been sucker punched.
“What’s wrong, baby? You’re scaring me.” Samuel swung my chair around and knelt in front of me, pulling my hands away from my face so he could see me. His hands cupped my jaw as his blue eyes raked over me.
“Oh, God, Samuel, I trus…tru…trusted…” My eyes swam with tears that had started to spill over and I knew I probably wasn’t making any sense, but I just couldn’t manage to spit the poisonous truth out. Throwing my arms around him, I buried my face in his neck and cried, big wracking sobs that felt like they were being torn straight from the depths of my soul. I’d never felt so violated, betrayed or so utterly stupid in my entire life.
Samuel wrapped me up in his arms and hugged me tightly, letting me unburden myself on him. When I was all cried out, I leaned back, swiping the tears that had gathered on my lashes. He handed me a tissue and I blew my nose. His eyes were full of love and compassion and not for the first time, I thanked God for bringing him into my life.
“Talk to me, baby.”
I drew in a ragged breath and started from the beginning, telling him about my credit card being declined at the coffee shop, Korey’s moodiness and his increasing push for me to work harder, longer days. Samuel listened to all of it without interrupting. If I hadn’t already memorized every single inch of him, I might have missed the subtle tightening around his mouth or the hard edge his eyes had begun to take.
“Korey’s seemed so stressed lately, so I figured I’d look into it instead of adding even more to his plate. But when I called the card company, they said I was over my limit. I told him that was impossible because I have a really high limit and I rarely use that card. He read off some of the higher-priced purchases done recently and I just knew. I called the other card companies and found out they were all over or near their limit as well.” My eyes welled up with fresh tears and Samuel squeezed my hands as they rested in my lap.
“That was the bank manager I was talking to when you came in. He let me know that my account is empty. That was my life savings, Samuel. That money was there so I could buy a home one day and to use for my retirement, but it’s all gone. It’s all gone and I’m to my eyeballs in debt because Korey’s been stealing from me.” Tears ran freely down my cheeks. I could feel the anger rolling off of him in waves, but his touch remained gentle as he brushed them away with his thumbs.
“Why would he do this, Samuel? I thought he cared about me. I thought he was my friend.” I looked at him imploringly, hoping he would be able to make sense of this mess; wanting him to find some other explanation for how this could’ve happened that didn’t end in Korey betraying me. But the look on his face told me he couldn’t do that, and I started to cry again.
“I’m so stupid,” I mumbled.
“Hey, don’t say that!” Samuel scolded.
“It’s true!” I insisted, brushing my tears away angrily and standing up so I could pace. “If I hadn’t let him put his name on those accounts, he never would’ve been able to get to that money. I was stupid and naïve and now, there’s nothing I can do about it because technically he didn’t steal anything. As far as the bank and credit card companies are concerned, those were shared accounts and the money belonged to Korey as much as it did to me.”
“Listen to me,” Samuel said, catching hold of my arm and turning me to face him. “Your only mistake was in trusting the wrong person. You aren’t responsible for Korey’s actions, only he is. He took you under his wing and made you believe that he had your best interests at heart. And he followed through on his promise to get your career up and running, so you had no reason to doubt his sincerity. The fact that he took advantage of that trust is on him and he’ll pay for it.”
I arched a brow at him. “I don’t usually like to wield this around, but the situation sort of calls for it this time. My agency was featured in Forbes magazine last year as one of the leading privately owned advertising agencies in the country. I hold a certain amount of clout and I have a lot of connections in the fashion industry. All I have to do is make a few phone calls and Korey Duncan will be a pariah, a laughing stock. No one will want to work with him ever again.”
I shivered at his growly, possessive tone and I idly thought that I wouldn’t mind seeing that dominant attitude in the bedroom occasionally. Samuel was full of surprises, but one thing that didn’t surprise me was how protective he was of those he loved. It just so happened that the list of people he loved now included me. My heart filled with love and gratitude for this man. I’d grown stronger over the last few years. I knew that I could’ve handled this situation on my own if needed, but with Samuel by my side, I didn’t have to.
I slid my arms around his waist and rested my head on his shoulder. His arms circled around me and he kissed the side of my face. I was angry and hurt by what Korey did, but I wouldn’t allow him to destroy me. Sure, it would suck having to dig myself out of the financial hole Korey had created, but thankfully, I had a lot of money tucked away in other private accounts that would get me through while I worked to rebuild. A few extra modeling shoots each month, and I’d eventually have those cards paid off.
“I know this has been quite a shock to you, but we shouldn’t wait too long to confront him,” he said carefully, probably afraid of sending me falling into another fit of tears. I was done crying, for the moment at least. I had business to take care of. I could fall apart later.
Picking up my phone, I fired off a quick text then turned to Samuel. “We need to get dressed. Korey will be here in an hour. I figured we shouldn’t meet somewhere public. If things go the way I expect them to go…well, let’s just say, the tabloids aren’t the kind of magazines I want to be on the cover of. Plus, it won’t hurt that we’ll have the home court advantage.”
“Have I ever told you how brilliant you are?” He gave me a proud grin.
Exactly an hour later, a knock on the door sent my heart into my throat. Regardless of how pissed I was, I was still nervous about how this was all going to go down. I laid a hand on the doorknob then glanced over my shoulder. Samuel stood just a few steps away, looking formidable with his arms crossed and a firm set to his jaw. He sent me a quick wink which settled something inside me and I twisted the handle, confident that no matter what happened, he would always have my back.
Korey smiled as I opened the door and held up a white takeout bag. “I brought some of those little pastries you were eyeing at that French restaurant. I figured we could go over the schedule. I know you said you wanted to cut back, but I got you a contract…” His words trailed off as he stepped inside and noticed Samuel standing there. “Sorry. I didn’t realize you had a friend over or I would’ve brought more pastries.”
I tilted my head at him, feeling like I was truly seeing him for the first time. Gone were the rose-colored glasses that had only let me see with blind trust, gratitude and maybe even a hint of hero worship. I was wearing clearer lenses now and they were able to reveal all the lies, the manipulation and the greed that surrounded Korey Duncan.
“Have a seat. We need to talk.” My tone must’ve alerted him to the fact that something wasn’t right because his eyes narrowed.
“What’s this about?” he asked, bristling a bit.
“Oh, I’m pretty sure you know what it’s about, but why don’t you take a seat and tell us what you did with my money?”
His face was almost comical; eyes bulging as they darted back and forth between me and Samuel, jaw dropping and sweat pebbling up on his forehead. Turning to me, he held his hands up in a placating gesture.
“Oliver, sweetheart…”
