by Jayne Castle
She loved him.
He still couldn’t quite believe his luck. He realized vaguely that he must have fallen in love with her almost from the beginning. What else could account for his crazy actions? Where was the line between desire and love? Not that it mattered. He’d crossed it long ago with Samantha.
She’d walked away from three years of stalking and planning just because of that bastard Buchanan’s threats to the man she loved.
Sweet idiot.
No, that wasn’t fair, he told himself indulgently. There was nothing lacking with her brainpower. She simply had a set of principles that sometimes got in her way and a sense of loyalty which did the same. He’d seen what she would do out of loyalty. Her determination to help Eric was evidence and so was her confession the other morning about the real reason behind her plot against Buchanan.
He knew he could trust her. But he hadn’t dared to dream that the mutual trust they shared would grow into love. He’d had no right to expect so much.
He shifted slightly, rolling over onto his side. Samantha mumbled a sleepy protest and snuggled more closely against him. For a long moment he studied her as she lay beside him tangled in shadows and sheets. She was a woman he would be able to trust for the rest of his life.
He knew in that moment that he would do anything for her. She was truly his, and he would take care of her, even when she didn’t particularly want to be taken care of. A smile edged the line of his mouth as he considered what living with Samantha was going to be like.
But there were other matters to be cleared up first before he informed Samantha that she was moving in with him.
“Samantha,” he whispered huskily.
She didn’t stir.
“Samantha,” he tried again, putting a hand on her hip.
“Mmmmmf.”
“Honey, wake up. We have to talk.” He lightly patted the intriguing curve of her rear.
She ignored him. Very carefully Gabriel changed the light pat into a small slap.
“Must you always resort to Neanderthal tactics?” she grumbled, flopping over on her back and opening her eyes.
“It does have the merit of getting your attention.”
“Well, you’ve got it.” She yawned, one hand straying into the tangle of hair on his chest, giving it a playful tug.
“Ouch! Now what was so important that you had to wake me up in the middle of the night?”
The smile faded from his mouth to be replaced by a more serious expression. “Samantha, we’re going to have to clean up a few loose ends before we can forget Buchanan.”
“What loose ends? I sign the papers, and he hands over a check for a hundred thousand dollars. That’s it.” She wrinkled her nose at his sober look. “I know you’re not going to make much money on this deal, Gabriel, but at least you’ll recover your investment, and if we split the other fifty thousand, we’ll still make twenty-five apiece. I think I’ll use part of my half to repaint the front porch,” she added thoughtfully.
“Which front porch? Yours or mine?” he asked cautiously.
“Mine, naturally. Yours doesn’t need it. Besides, you don’t actually have a front porch. You have a deck.”
“Samantha,” he said, sighing, “are you planning on staying on that island of yours?”
He felt her sudden stillness. “Were you going to suggest a different arrangement?” she finally asked with seeming carelessness.
“You know damn well I’m going to ask you to move in with me. No”—he moved his head once in a short negative— “not ask, tell you to move in with me. I’m not going to commute to Seattle every couple of days from here. Don’t look so damn stricken, Samantha.”
“I don’t know, Gabriel. Maybe it would be better if we did commute, at least for a while. We’re so different in so many ways. I’m liable to drive you crazy with the way I do things.”
“Don’t worry, take care of the cooking.” He chuckled.
“It’s not just that. I have a business to run, and I want to run it in my own way. Can you honestly see yourself keeping your hands off it? Or are you going to want to ‘guide’ me?”
His stomach tightened as he realized she was seriously concerned. “For Christ’s sake, honey, what are you afraid of? That I’ll take over completely?”
She hesitated and then said wryly, “The thought did cross my mind. For my own good, of course.”
He stared at her. “I can’t believe this! You’re actually afraid I’ll try to run your business for you?”
“Well, you’ve made it clear that you don’t think too much of my business ability,” she muttered.
“I think you were in over your head taking on Buchanan, yes! Most people would be! That doesn’t mean I don’t have a lot of respect for your ability to run your information service and run it well. Samantha, I never quarrel with success, and anyone who can get a business on its feet and running at a profit in only a couple of years with very little capital investment has my complete admiration. Don’t you think I, of all people, know what the odds are against the beginning entrepreneur? I’ve made it my life’s work to finance people like that, remember? I know competency when I see it.”
She looked at him in confusion. “But you didn’t want to finance me on the Buchanan deal.”
“That’s different. As you’ve just discovered,” he added deliberately. “People like Buchanan play rough, and you do have your soft points, sweetheart.”
“Soft point.” She sighed. “You.”
“Apparently.” He grinned lovingly. “Not that I’m complaining. Which does bring us to the reason I woke you.”
“Ummm?” It was obvious she was still mulling over what he had said about her business ability.
Gabriel gave her an impatient shake, trying to get her full attention. “Honey, I made a bad error in judgment that morning when I made it clear to Buchanan that you belonged to me.”
“It was rather disgustingly possessive!”
“It also happens to be true!” he retorted. “Unfortunately the tactic backfired on me. I had meant to give Buchanan the idea that you had protection, namely me. But he immediately discovered that I wasn’t your shield, I was your weak point. You have to hand it to the bastard; he’s as sharp as they come.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter now as long as we hand over the restaurant. Don’t worry, Gabriel, you and your family are safe,” she assured him quickly.
He studied her, feeling a rush of affection and desire and indulgent impatience. “What would you say,” he asked carefully, “if I were to tell you that Buchanan can’t hurt me?”
She gave him a startled glance. “But he could if he started spreading rumors and if he were to find out about Emil Fortune…”
Gabriel shook his head. “Samantha, there’s no way he could smear me in the Arizona papers without smearing himself as well. Don’t you see? If he implies I’m involved with organized crime, then he also implies he’s dealing with organized crime. Didn’t you get suspicious when he volunteered to give you twice what you paid for that damn restaurant? If he’d really been sure of himself, he would have made you hand it over at a loss! He just wanted out and figured the fastest way to do that was threaten me and then follow it up with enough money to partially placate you.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh, my God, Gabriel, I never thought of it that way. You’re right. If he starts spreading rumors in the Arizona papers about you, then people are bound to start wondering why he was dealing with you in the first place. Very bad for the image, and heaven knows Buchanan has to watch out for his image!”
That caught his attention. “Really? Any particular reason other than keeping the corporation name clear?”
“He’s got his eye on a political career,” she told him absently, still thinking over what he had just said. “Hell, Gabriel, I really let myself get hustled by that con man, didn’t I? Again.” She bit her lip. “But what about the threats against your family, though? You wouldn’t want to see their names dragged through th
e mud again.”
“Honey, there’s nothing older than ten-year-old scandals. Buchanan would never be able to find a newspaper interested enough to reprint the story. Not unless there was some tie-in to a current scandal, and that would mean the Arizona deal. And once he involves the Arizona deal… “
“He involves himself,” she concluded in dismay, rolling off him to throw herself back against the pillows in disgust. She stared morosely at the ceiling. “What a fool I was. What a complete idiot!” Her hand clenched at her side. “And if you say ‘I told you so,’ I swear, I’ll…”
He stopped the words with a gentle hand across her mouth. “Samantha, how can I call you an idiot or a fool when this whole mess wrung a confession of love out of you? You could have gone on in this relationship for months before committing yourself that far, couldn’t you? You’re so damned cautious about relationships! And thanks to your mother, probably have a hell of a job talking you into marriage!”
“Marriage!” she mumbled from under his palm. The tortoiseshell eyes filled with astonishment as she pushed his hand away. “Marriage! Gabriel, how can you talk about marriage? We’ve only known each other a couple of weeks, and I’m not really the marrying sort, anyway. I’ve explained that—”
“You’ve explained that you don’t consider marriage one of life’s necessities,” he agreed dryly. “And neither do I. Except in certain circumstances.”
“Such as?” she demanded forebodingly.
“Such as when I’m taking on the task of trying to handle a woman who’s part amazon, part businessperson, and part soft, sexy female. I think marriage is the third link in the chain I need to hold you.”
“And what, may I ask, are the other two?” she hissed.
“I figure I can hold the soft, sensuous female with sex. She seems totally unable to resist me after I get her flat on her back,” he drawled outrageously.
“Such arrogance!” Samantha breathed.
“Ummm. And I think I’ve got the businesswoman under control with that midnight promise of loyalty I had her agree to honor.”
“You don’t think a businesswoman might conveniently forget an oath like that on occasion?” she dared.
“Not one descended from Victor Thorndyke or Vera Maitland.”
“You’ve never met either of them!” she protested.
“I’ve met their daughter. I know all I need to know about both of them from watching her in action.”
“I see,” Samantha said far too pleasantly. “And the amazon? How are you going to hold her?”
“That’s where marriage comes in,” he explained equably. “Nothing like marriage to tie down an amazon.”
“I’ve got news for you. Amazons don’t get married,” Samantha informed him with relish. “They kidnap men and use them for certain limited purposes.”
“But in this case, I’ve reversed that process, haven’t I? And this kidnapped amazon is going to stay kidnapped. She can, of course, use me for certain limited purposes. I’m a generous man.”
“Gabriel, you’re finally beginning to make some sense in this conversation,” Samantha whispered admiringly as she put her arms around his neck and drew him down to her. “Come here and let me use you for certain limited purposes.”
She felt his body begin to awaken once more, pushing against her with familiar demand. Under his hand her nipple stirred eagerly in its burrow. There was something else she wanted to talk about, Samantha realized, something which had begun teasing her thoughts earlier when they had discussed Buchanan’s own vulnerability. Ah, well, it could be handled just as easily in the morning. Right now there were more important things in life,
But long after Gabriel had drifted off to sleep beside her, Samantha lay awake, turning the new idea over and over in her mind, trying to examine it for obvious flaws. It wasn’t until she decided there weren’t any that she finally snuggled into Gabriel and went to sleep.
The next morning as she let him serve her buckwheat cakes and fruit topped with an incredible honey-yogurt mixture, Samantha carefully explained what she intended to do. Gabriel turned from the stove to stare at her in astonishment.
“You’re serious, aren’t you?” he finally growled, half in admiration, half in dismay. He brought the plate of buckwheat cakes to the table.
“I’m not going to let him get away with it, Gabriel. He’s threatened both of us. The man needs a lesson, and I’ve finally found a way to see he gets it.”
“You’re talking about revenge, not business.”
“I’m big on revenge, remember? And I have a growing impression that you’re not always so angel-pure in your motives, either.”
He shot her a thoughtful, hooded glance, and it occurred to Samantha that the rosy-cheeked modern version of angels, the kind one saw on Christmas cards, really bore very little resemblance to the original model. The originals tended to carry flaming swords and wielded catastrophic power. They were quite capable of avenging wrongs and generally did so with devastating impact.
“Why are you smiling at me like that?” Gabriel demanded abruptly.
“I was thinking about avenging angels. You’re furious with Buchanan for the way he used you to get to me, aren’t you?”
“Let’s just say I don’t approve of the way the man does business.”
“Interested in my plan?” she taunted gently.
“I hate to admit it, because it’s as good as admitting that you’ve managed to corrupt my normal approach to business, but, yes, I am. Frankly, it might also be a way to take out a little insurance,” Gabriel said slowly.
“Insurance!”
“You remember how fond I am of insurance?” He smiled at her crookedly.
“Why do you need insurance against Buchanan?”
“Because he’s quite capable of casually crushing your new business in a year or so as a way of teaching you a lesson.”
“Destroy Business Intelligence? But how? Why?”
“The how is easy enough, and even I probably wouldn’t be able to protect you If he starts a campaign to ruin your reputation for reliability and analysis, he might very well succeed. A few words in the ears of the honchos of some of your most important clients. A few comments to the business press. Rumors. Innuendoes about possible conflict of interest situations in which you sell information gained on one company or another. Hell, I don’t know what he’d do, but I do know he’s capable of it, and I think your nasty little scheme has a good chance of tying his hands.” Gabriel nodded to himself as he forked up a large bite of buckwheat cake. “A very good chance. Okay, honey, let’s spread it all out on the table and take a good look.”
“We’re talking about very hardball, here, Gabriel,” she felt obliged to warn. But the excitement was bubbling in her, and she thought she sensed it behind the deceptive placidity of his gaze. They looked at each other for a long moment.
“How do you know,” Gabriel said gently, “that I don’t normally play the game this way?”
“Because you’re not the type!” she exclaimed in surprise.
“Maybe I’ve learned a few things hanging out with you?” He grinned.
I’m not sure I understand you this morning, Gabriel. I thought I’d have a heck of a job talking you into this. I’ve never seen you quite this way before.”
“You’ve never seen me in a lot of ways, Samantha,” he told her gently. Including at work. I think, because you handled me so easily when you tried to induce me to finance you, that you somehow got an erroneous impression of the way I normally do business. Normally,” he emphasized sardonically, “I don’t let myself get pressured with such tactics as blackmail.”
Samantha sucked in her breath, still startled by the unexpected edge of steel she had uncovered. “You let me get away it,” she finally pointed out cautiously.
He grinned again, this time showing lots of teeth. “I have been well compensated.”
“Gabriel, I think your flaming sword is showing,” Samantha told him very seriously, aware th
at she did not know all there was to know about him and even more aware that she would have her hands full holding her own in the future. “Under certain circumstances you could make me very nervous.”
“We’re even, honey. Sometimes you scare the daylights out of me, too.” He went to work on the last of the buckwheat cakes. “So what’s our first step in your little plan?”
“Get a little professional expertise. I’m going to call in that wild-eyed computer maniac of a half brother of mine. He can tell us whether or not we can get the information we need, I think.”
“He can use your computer to do the job,” Gabriel said thoughtfully. “Why don’t you phone him after breakfast and have him meet us at your place in Seattle?”
“You really think my idea has possibilities?” she queried with just a trace of hesitancy. In a partnership, one liked to have the enthusiastic support of the other partner, Samantha realized.
“Believe me, Samantha, if there’s one thing I learned from my father, it’s how vulnerable a politician can be, especially one with Buchanan’s instincts and temperament. There’s no way he could have stayed clean for the past few years. I think you’re right. All we need to do is find the dirt.”
Samantha shivered, staring at Gabriel as if he’d made the transition from angel to devil in one easy step. “I don’t think I would like to have you for an enemy, Gabriel Sinclair.”
“You don’t,” he retorted. “You have me as a friend. And as a lover.”
“And as a business partner.” She chuckled.
“One of life’s more stable relationships.”
Avenging angels, Samantha decided, were far more interesting and a great deal more dangerous than one would have supposed.
***
Two days later at one A.M. in the morning, Samantha carried coffee into the back parlor of her old house. The room was lit by the eerie glow of the computer console screen, and illuminated in the soft glare were the two men who had sent her in search of coffee.
Her brother sat hunched before the keyboard, entering commands with the intuition and skill of a born genius. He was so deeply involved in what he was producing on the screen that he didn’t even bother to glance up when Samantha entered.