‘Okay. How?’
I couldn’t help but frown. Sometimes I got fed up of always being the rational one who had to come up with the solutions while my partner sat back — or worse still, went off half-cocked, often creating more problems than he solved.
‘By doing what we do. We run a security company, Seb. There’s already security in place at the flats. We’ll put an extra body on the front desk. And for the foreseeable future, someone should probably drive her to and from work. It’s likely this prick knows her routine.’
Sebastian nodded. ‘Okay. But you’ll have to drive her. You know that? I don’t trust anyone else.’
For reasons unknown to both me and Sebastian, Samantha refused to drive. She could drive. She’d passed her test at the age of seventeen in her attempts to get as far away from the place where she’d grown up as fast as possible. A little over twelve months later, she’d packed up her little Metro and driven off to university where she had met Jackson Carver, and had never looked back — until a few months ago at least.
‘Okay,’ I agreed. As if I didn’t have enough on my plate already. But Samantha would run rings around anyone else we put on the job. She had a fierce hatred of feeling like she was being protected — or mollycoddled, as she called it. Besides, I wasn’t sure if I trusted anyone else enough to do it either. Samantha had once been like a little sister to me. And now she was … well, I didn’t want to think about that.
‘Tell her I’m making you do it.’ Sebastian added. ‘She’ll go easier on you then.’
I nodded. I would tell her that it was her father’s idea. It would make things easier for me, but not for the reasons Sebastian thought. The truth was I wanted to protect Samantha as much as he did, and I couldn’t admit that to him or her or they might realise I was starting to have feelings for her that I had no right having.
Chapter 13
Samantha
Rubbing my temples, I tried to ease the headache that was threatening. It had been a long day. Nick had tried to insist that I go home after the incident with Garvey earlier that morning, but I preferred to be in work and keeping busy. And that’s exactly what I’d done, barely lifting my head to speak to anyone. I used my work as an escape. It had been one of my primary means of coping when I’d been married to Jackson. It was the one area of my life where he encouraged me to excel. I supposed it looked good for him that his wife was also a successful solicitor. He tried to pressure me into taking the bar and becoming a barrister a few times, but I was much happier being a solicitor.
The shrill ring of the phone on my desk broke my train of thought. Glancing at the caller display I saw the call was from reception.
‘Yes, Beth?’ I answered.
‘There’s a Gabriel Sullivan here to see you, Samantha.’
I shook my head in annoyance. What the hell was he doing here? I hadn’t heard from him or my father since I’d chased them out of my office earlier. ‘Send him through,’ I replied with a sigh.
Walking into my office in a dark navy suit, and a white shirt, open at the collar, Gabriel oozed confidence. My breath caught in my throat at the sight of him. Did he have to look so damn fine all the time!
‘Hey,’ he smiled at me, his green eyes twinkling.
‘Hi, Gabe. What can I do for you?’
I watched him take a deep breath, as if bracing himself for an onslaught, and my heart sank. I already knew I wasn’t going to like what he had to say.
‘Your dad asked me to drive you home.’
‘What? Why?’ I snapped.
‘He wants to make sure you get home safely, that’s all.’
I felt the colour flushing my cheeks. This was exactly what I’d been worried about. I had fought hard for my independence and I hated to be treated like someone who was incapable of looking after herself. Especially by Gabriel. I wanted him to look at me and see the strong woman I’d become, and not a little girl who still needed him to look out for her. ‘Well, you’ve had a wasted journey. I’ll be taking the tube home, like I do every night. I don’t need a bodyguard.’
‘You have to understand why he’s doing this, Samantha?’ Gabriel said with a sigh. ‘He’s worried about you. Some psycho is threatening to kill you. He just wants to protect you.’
‘Tell my father I can protect myself. I’m not some fragile little girl, despite what he thinks. And as for a psychopath who wants to kill me, I lived with one for twelve years. And yet, here I am.’
Gabriel stood firm, and placed his hands in his trouser pockets, causing the material to stretch taut over his muscular thighs. I had to make a conscious effort not to stare at his whole trouser region.
‘Well, I’m not leaving. I’m here to take you home. There will be a car at your apartment building every morning, and I’ll be here every night until that nutter is where he belongs,’ he said.
I glared at him. ‘What the hell does that mean? I told you and my father that I don’t want you doing anything about Garvey.’
Gabriel nodded. ‘And we won’t. But we can make sure you’re safe until the police do their job.’
‘And I get no say in this?’ I snapped.
Gabriel shrugged. ‘It’s not just Garvey. He’s worried that it might be Jackson trying to get to you.’
I shook my head. ‘You don’t understand. Jackson is not some wannabe gangster trying to take over your turf, or some dealer who’s terrified of you. You have no idea what type of man he is, or what he’s capable of. Trust me, if Jackson wants to get to me, no-one can stop him. Not my father — and certainly not you.’
Gabriel continued to stand there, showing no reaction to my outburst which conversely only served to annoy me more. Did they seriously think I was a child? Or a feeble woman unable to look after myself?
‘Why are you here then, Gabriel? Why isn’t my father here himself if he’s so worried about me? Surely you have better ways to spend an evening? Isn’t there some nineteen year old blonde somewhere, just dying for your company right now?’
‘You already know your dad lost his licence. Besides, he’s dealing with some other business.’
‘Oh yes. He’s the brains and you’re the brawn — that’s right, isn’t it?’
Gabriel shrugged, his face still showing no hint of emotion.
‘So you just do whatever he tells you?’ I went on, desperate to provoke some sort of reaction from him. ‘He says jump and you ask how high?’
I knew that wasn’t true, aware that Gabriel and my father had an equal partnership and that they were more like brothers than friends, but I was so on edge and his presence was only making me feel more irritated.
Ignoring my barbs, Gabriel sat down on a chair in my office. ‘I’ll just wait here until you’re ready to leave,’ he said, his voice low and gravelly.
‘Fine,’ I snapped. ‘But I work late most nights, so you’re going to be here a while.’
He simply nodded in response.
I swore under my breath. I’d been planning on going home early, but would have to stay late now, if only to inconvenience Gabriel, hoping that he’d soon get fed up of babysitting me. Besides, the idea of keeping him from any potential nineteen year old blonde, or any woman for that matter, was surprisingly pleasing to me.
Realising I was going to be around for another couple of hours, I dialled reception. ‘Beth, could you bring me a coffee please? You can head off home then.’ I looked at Gabriel. ‘Would you like one?’
He nodded. ‘Black, no sugar.’
‘Can you bring my bodyguard one too please? Black. No sugar. Thanks.’
A few minutes later, Beth came in carrying two mugs of coffee. Looking at the dark brown liquid, I sighed. Beth was new to the job and always got my coffee wrong. I was tired of pointing this out to her and thanked her anyway. She handed Gabriel his coffee while smiling sweetly at him and I watched with interest as they exchanged a look that suggested they might do more than smile at each other if I wasn’t in the room.
Engrossed in highligh
ting pages of witness testimony, I had almost forgotten about Gabriel, who had been reading his way through the magazines in my office, until he piped up.
‘Why did you ask for coffee if you weren’t going to drink it?’ He nodded towards the untouched cup on my desk.
‘It’s not made how I like it. I can’t touch it.’ I said before realising that statement made me sound incredibly precious. ‘I can only drink very weak coffee, with lots of milk and four sugars,’ I replied, feeling the need to explain myself. ‘I don’t really like to taste the coffee. Beth never gets it right. I don’t know why I bother. I’m sure she got yours right though?’
‘Well, it’s pretty hard to fuck up black coffee, isn’t it?’ he replied with a grin.
‘Suppose so.’ I smiled back before returning to my highlighting.
‘So, why do you drink it then?’
‘What?’ my head snapped up. Couldn’t he see I was busy?
‘You said you don’t like to taste the coffee. So why drink it?’
I studied him for a moment. How could I answer that question without revealing more about my life with Jackson? I couldn’t. ‘It’s a long story,’ I answered with a smile. ‘Now, can you let me get back to work?’
‘You look like you could do with a break. How about I make you a fresh coffee and then you can take five minutes off to tell me about it. Deal?’
I put down my highlighter pen and rubbed my temples. I could do with a break. I was tired, and I should go home — if only I wasn’t being so stubborn. A hot coffee the way I liked it would be nice. ‘Deal,’ I relented.
A few moments later Gabriel walked back into my office and handed me a fresh drink. I could already tell from the pale colour that it was better than Beth’s earlier effort. Taking a sip, I realised it was perfect. ‘Thank you,’ I said.
‘So?’ he smiled.
I sighed. I was going to sound like a fruit-loop. But a deal was a deal. ‘I only drink coffee because Jackson would drink nothing but tea. Every morning he insisted on a fresh pot of tea. I’d never been a big fan of coffee or tea but he claimed that even the smell of coffee made him feel nauseous. So, we only ever had tea in the house, and in the office — even for guests or clients. He insisted that I drink tea too. How could I not like the taste of tea, right? So, as soon as I left him, I started drinking coffee. Like some small rebellion. But I don’t actually like it that much. I’m learning to tolerate the taste of it — by adding lots of milk and sugar.’
I looked at him, waiting for some reaction. He stared at me for a few moments before nodding his head and sitting back in the chair. He continued to flick through one of the magazines and I wondered why he’d even bothered to ask.
It was dark outside when I finally finished working on my case. I looked up to see Gabriel. Of course, he was still there, staring out of the window with a frown on his face.
I watched him for a few moments and wondered what he was thinking about. ‘I’m ready to go,’ I finally said.
He nodded at me and stood up, handing me my coat and handbag as I walked around to his side of the desk.
Gabriel and I stepped out into the cold and took the short walk to his car. He opened the door to his car and I climbed inside. I was so tired. Leaning my head back against the plush leather seats, I closed my eyes.
‘Wake up sleepy head,’ Gabriel’s voice jolted me awake and I realised I’d slept the whole way home.
I rubbed my eyes before picking up my handbag from the foot-well.
‘There will be a black Range Rover here at 8am, Samantha. The driver’s name is Scott Thomas. If you don’t get in the car, he’ll never hear the end of it. In fact, your bad-tempered father is likely to fire him, so can you please just let him drive you to work?’ Gabriel asked as he stared at me — his eyes full of concern.
I stared back at him. God, I hated the way he looked at me now — the pity was unbearable. I understood my father’s desire to protect me from all that was wrong with the world. It was his job. And given what he’d learned of my life with Jackson Carver, I accepted that he would always be over-protective, despite me being a grown woman. But it made my heart physically hurt to know that was how Gabriel saw me too. I was so much more than what he saw before him, and he would never know. I choked back the emotion. Swallowing it down, the way I’d learned to.
‘Okay,’ I said. I didn’t appreciate the emotional blackmail either. As much as I hated their fussing and over-protectiveness, I didn’t want some poor unsuspecting employee of theirs getting into trouble. I wouldn’t put it past my father to sack the poor man. I climbed out of the car without another word. Not even a mumbled thank-you for the lift home. As I walked to my apartment building I felt a pang of guilt and had to force myself not to look back and smile at Gabriel. Perhaps I’d send him a text to say thanks when I got inside?
No! I wouldn’t. Hopefully he’d tell my father I’d acted like a complete bitch and he would refuse to babysit me ever again.
Chapter 14
Gabriel
I rubbed my temples as I sat in the dark booth of the half empty nightclub. I’d arranged for one of our most trusted employees to pick Samantha up from her apartment every morning and drive her to work. I had thought about doing it myself, as Sebastian had requested, but any time in her company always seemed to leave me with a throbbing head — and a throbbing cock. And both were things I could do without at the start of every day. Besides, I sensed Samantha’s resentment at my intrusion into her life, and it pissed me off. There had been a time when she had enjoyed my company. There had been a time when she had flirted with me every chance she got.
One of the barmaids, Ellie, brought a large whisky over to my table and I downed it in one. I was so tightly wound, I thought I might explode if I didn’t get some fucking relief soon. Ever since Samantha Donovan walked back into my life, she occupied my thoughts constantly. But God she was so fucking prickly. She’d changed so much from the girl I’d known. Well, of course she had. After what she’d been through, who wouldn’t?
I still saw still glimpses of the old Samantha. The Samantha who could make me laugh harder than anyone else I knew. The Samantha who would cross the street to help a kid who’d fallen off their bike, or to stroke a stray dog. When she’d been telling me about the coffee, I’d sensed I was finally getting through her armour. But then she clammed up again, and barely spoke another word to me, except to make sarcastic comments. After that, all I could think about was putting that smart mouth of hers to much better use before fucking her brains out.
Ellie brought me a second whisky, interrupting my thoughts. ‘Are you okay, Gabriel?’ she asked with a smile.
‘Yeah, thanks Ellie. Just having a rough night.’
She ran a fingertip over my bicep. ‘I’m sure I could help you take the edge off?’ she purred.
I considered her. She was pretty. Big blue eyes and high cheekbones. She was a hit with the customers and I could see why. Maybe I should take her up on her offer? It might make me feel better to bury my face in Ellie’s neck and pretend that she was Samantha?
‘I’m sure you could. But I need to get home,’ I replied with a smile. It wasn’t like I was against a quick, meaningless fuck. It was one of my favourite ways to relieve tension. But Ellie wasn’t my type, and besides, I wasn’t in the habit of fucking my employees.
‘Okay. But you know where I am if you change your mind,’ she said before walking back to the bar.
Chapter 15
Samantha
I was standing near the window of my large office when I saw Gabriel walking up the steps. Damn that man made a suit look like a work of art. I was sure he must have them all professionally tailored. They fit the contours of his body perfectly. It was the fourth day of him being my bodyguard and although I would never admit it, even to myself, I was starting to look forward to seeing him at the end of each day.
‘We’re all going clubbing tomorrow, Gabriel. Do you fancy coming?’ my receptionist, Beth asked as she wal
ked into my office behind him. ‘It’s for my birthday.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘I don’t really do clubbing. Thanks for the invite though,’ he replied, much to my relief. I could do without watching him and Beth flirting together all night. I thought I might have built up some resistance to him by now, but each encounter with him left me a hot, dripping mess.
Beth shrugged her shoulders. ‘See you tomorrow, Samantha,’ she chirped as she left.
I sat down at my desk with a stack of case files in front of me. If Gabriel was going to keep insisting on driving me home, then he would have to wait.
‘Coffee?’ he asked.
‘Yes, please. Plenty of milk-'
‘And thirty–four sugars. Yes, I remember,’ he said with a smile before disappearing out of my office again.
A few moments later, he came back in carrying two mugs and handed me one.
‘Are you off clubbing too then?’ he asked.
‘Yes, of course. I haven’t been clubbing for years. And it can’t be a team night out without one half of Donovan Cook now, can it?’ I grinned at him.
It was Friday night in Dagenham’s newest nightclub and Sadie and I were dancing on a table when a burly bouncer approached us.
‘Can you both get down please?’ he asked politely.
‘Spoilsport!’ We both laughed at him before climbing down and continuing to dance on the floor. Nick was sitting on a nearby stool grinning inanely and holding a bottle of Budweiser like it was his baby. I scanned the room to look for Beth and spotted her with her friend, Leon, who had come along with us, and saw them grinding against each other on the dance-floor.
‘I’ll go get us another drink,’ Sadie mouthed over the deafening music.
Dark Angel: A Dark Romance: London Ruthless Series Book 1 (The London Ruthless Series) Page 5