He should be with Lexie now. Only God knew how much he missed her. He missed her so damn much it literally made him sick. He had so much planned for them. So much he wanted to share with her, but he would never be himself again if he didn't at least try to fight for Amy. It would destroy him and he wouldn't be able to live with himself because Amy counted on him to try. That went without question.
He looked across to his front door as the handle started to turn.
The vein in his head pulsed even more and his whole body tensed as Sam rose from the sofa getting ready for Jessica to come through. As far as he knew she wasn't aware that he was nigh on taking her to court. He'd seen her and Amy over the weekend at their place, and she was of the belief that he was playing her game.
As the door swung open, he geared up. But his words were lost as he watched Zane stroll in with a suitcase, munching on a big red apple.
"Hey bro, is dinner ready?" Were his first words in typical Zane style. "I am starving and could perish if I'm not fed soon." Sam was too happy to see him to tell him off or wonder how or when he got keys to his house.
"Zane." Sam beamed.
Zane smiled and came closer to give him a pat on his shoulder. "I was hoping to torment you a little longer, but I can't be that cruel. You look terrible, like really bad. Cave man bad, only with better clothes." Zane surveyed him with scrutiny and wrinkled his nose. "Only just. How you holding up man?"
"I'm going crazy." Sam sighed. Zane offered a sympathetic look. "Have...have you seen Lexie?"
"Yes. I gave her some time off. She needed it." He bit the inside of his lip. "Don't worry about her she'll be fine. We'll be here for another two days at the most. That should be plenty time to do all that I have planned."
Sam narrowed his eyes not understanding. "What do you mean?"
Zane smiled wide. "You're going to love this. As we all know one of my specialties is snooping around."
Yes, Sam had to absolutely agree that was definitely one of Zane's specialties. But where was he going with this?
"Ever wondered who Amy's father is?" Zane asked that as casual as if he was asking Sam if he wanted fries with his meal.
Sam just stared at him in shock. "Zane."
"Well let's face it, things are obviously in Jessica's favor. She's Amy's mother, and I doubt she's going to be handing you legal access. So the next best person is the father."
"Zane what are you saying? We don't know who Amy's father is."
"That's not entirely true." He shook his head and smiled. "You don't know who her father is." In true Zane fashion, everything had to be a game, even if you were dying for the information.
"Zane. Do you know who it is?" Sam couldn't believe it. Zane nodded vigorously. Sam didn't want to get too hopeful. His next question was even more imperative. "Will he help me?"
"I hope so. You two were like brothers once, and cousins should help each other out in times of need."
All the blood drained from Sam's body leaving him feeling light-headed.
"Tom?" The words barely came out of his mouth.
Zane nodded.
Chapter 22
Sam couldn't even be angry. There was no point.
And, the anger wouldn't come from the fact that Tom had slept with Jessica while Sam was seeing her, then got her pregnant and he had to deal with it. No, it wouldn't be because of that.
Sure, that should have made him furious. But what superseded all those factors was his anger over the years of lies, his accident, his acrimonious divorce, nearly becoming paralyzed, and the cherry on top was not being with Lexie.
He tried to clear his mind as he entered the reception of Whitmore Investments. Based on the edge of Miami Beach the office had a perfect view of the beautiful sea shore. It was the type of view Sam would love to appreciate on a better day.
Tom had set up the place and had apparently been here for several years, even though he'd told the rest of the family he'd gone traveling. Zane had worked some serious magic to locate him.
Sam remembered the last time he'd seen Tom. It was just after the accident when he just started using his wheelchair. It was a brief visit, and he'd looked distraught at the sight of Sam. After that Tom disappeared on everyone.
As bad as this whole thing was, Sam wished Tom would have just come clean about being Amy's father.
Zane explained that he'd hacked into Jessica's computer to try and find any form of dirt he could on her. He'd gone through her emails, and that was when he stumbled across Tom's messages to her. Years old emails from just after Amy was born, asking her to tell Sam about Amy, and allow Tom to see her, and be her father. It was a story in itself. One Sam didn't have time for right now.
He signed in and was directed by the receptionist to Tom's office. He knocked on the door and opened it when Tom called out to come in.
Tom had his head bent as he flicked through some documents. When he eventually looked up his hand stilled, and his skin went pale at the sight of Sam standing before him.
He looked different. Older and... more mature. Just to look at, you'd never guess that this guy could have gotten up to the crazy shenanigans he'd conjured in the past. With his low cut hair and calm demeanor, he looked so different to the guy Sam knew.
Sam started to wonder when it could have been that Tom and Jessica cheated on him. It had to be a few months before he met Lexie in Vegas.
Tom started to get weird with him about her around that time, and it was worse when Sam told him he was marrying Jessica. Since they were so close, he'd shared that he was marrying her because she was pregnant.
As the years went by their friendship gradually faded. Tom seemed to be always busy, or just unreachable, and because Sam was busy too and miserable he never attempted to find out what happened to the strong bond they used to have.
"Hey." Sam thought he should talk first because Tom looked like he couldn't.
Tom looked at his legs then back up to Sam's face. "You're walking," he remarked.
"Sailing too." Sam was trying to make the tense atmosphere light. It wasn't working though.
Tom bit the inside of his lip and stared ruefully. "You know. Don't you? You know I'm Amy's father." His voice sounded fragile.
Sam squared his jaw. He hadn't expected Tom to be so blunt and direct. Almost like he'd expected Sam's visit or had been waiting for it.
"I just found out."
"I've waited for this day for a long time," Tom confirmed Sam's suspicions. "It's the way you look."
"Why didn't you tell me?" It was the easiest thing to have done. They both knew what Jessica was like and what she put him through.
Tom gave a cynical laugh. "Why? Sam, if I had been more responsible and not such an idiot neither of us would be standing here. I wanted to tell you. I did, but I was too ashamed. It was better to stay away from you. And that bitch just made it easier."
"You should have still come to me," Sam argued. "Tom we used to be best friends."
Tom shook his head. "I just couldn't. And it was worse after your accident. After that, I could hardly live with myself, so I just left. Sam, all of that happened to you because of me."
"You should have just told me," Sam said again.
Tom sat back in his chair and looked at him. "It was complicated." He shook his head. "Before our trip to Vegas, I went to a party and saw her. You guys had one of your break-ups. Her car broke down, so I took her back to her place. She gave me a drink of what I thought was orange juice. It wasn't. I woke up the next day in her bed with her forbidding me to tell you what happened."
Sam bit the inside of his lip and tried to calm his rising blood pressure. Jessica really was a nasty piece of work. The woman had no boundaries, no decency, and no respect. Just pure evil, simply pure evil.
Tom looked at him with troubled eyes. "She drugged me so I would sleep with her. I wanted so badly to tell you, but I just couldn't face you, and what was worse was Jessica forbid me to make contact with Amy. She knew she was mine from day on
e, but she thought she'd have a better life with you. She worried what the truth would do to her image and her chances with you, so she blackmailed me. She threatened to tell you all sorts of lies, and I couldn't bare it. After your accident, I was glad you divorced her, but I thought it would be worse to come out with the truth with everything being so raw. I'm... truly sorry Sam."
Sam understood. It didn't make things right, but he understood. "Tom. I love Amy like she's mine, and she deserves to have me in her life. But she also deserves to know you too."
Tom turned away at the thought. "What if she hates me?"
"That little girl could never hate anyone, and she knows what her mother is like."
Sam filled him in on what Jessica was up to. "I need your help, Tom."
Tom was already nodding before Sam had finished asking the question.
"Whatever you need Sam, whatever you need." There was an air of determination in his composure Sam had never seen before.
Finally, some help. Sam breathed a long mental sigh of relief. Finally, a bit of hope and something to fight back with.
That evening he met with the lawyers and came up with a solution which he took to Jessica's house the next morning. The controlling smile on her face faded when he handed her the court papers.
"What's this?"
"Notice of my intention to take you to court." He informed her. "Tom has given me permission to have contact with Amy, and he'll be contacting you separately to arrange visitation rights."
Jessica went pale. White sheet pale. And her eyes were glued to him.
"How ... How did you find out?" Her voice shook.
"That's not important," he replied firmly. "What is important is that Tom is willing to do whatever 's necessary to help me. Now Jessica," he took on his business voice. "We can play dirty and take this to court, and I will win. Then you'll have both me and Tom to deal with. Or, Jessica, we can settle this outside of court. We can come to a reasonable agreement where I see Amy, and you stay the hell out of my life forever."
Having both he and Tom team up on her in court would make her look terrible. Sam relished the thought but knew it would be draining on Amy. He cleared his throat as she continued to stare at him. "I would prefer if you didn't take too long to think about it. I have things to do." He added firmly. She looked at the paperwork in her hands and stared at it for a few moments longer despite his request.
"Okay," she eventually said.
"Okay what?" He wanted specifics on what okay meant.
"You win."
"I would have won on either choice. What do you choose?" He was in no mood for this.
"We settle out of court."
Sam immediately felt like a fifty-foot ton truck had been lifted off his shoulders. He wanted to verbally tell her what arrangements he wanted to make now, but this time he wanted it done properly. All in writing, everything signed. "I'll have my lawyers contact you to make the arrangements."
"Lawyers? Can't we just talk now?"
"No." Sam shook his head. "This will be official, so you don't ever interfere in my life again." He looked at her relentlessly, for the first time she looked like she got the message to leave him alone.
"Wow, you must really love her." She spoke blankly.
"You know I do. Amy means everything to me."
"Yes, I know that. But I wasn't talking about Amy."
Lexie. Jessica was referring to Lexie.
Sam stood a little taller and said, "yes, I really do love her."
He couldn't help the satisfaction he felt when he watched her icy blue eyes hardened with a tight expression of contempt.
Sam didn't have anything else to say to her and hoped that he would never have to see her for longer than necessary in the future.
Right now he was free. Right now he felt like he'd truly been given a second chance. He just hoped he wasn't too late to fix things with Lexie.
He loved her with all his heart, and he was going to make sure he'd never let her go ever again.
* * *
The last few days were particularly bad, and Lexie found that, that empty, hollow feeling only got worse as the days went by.
Her sisters and her parents had been a massive support, but she wasn't doing well at all. As the time went and she realized that she wasn't going to hear from Sam, she just fell apart. This really was the end.
She'd been grateful to Zane for giving her time away from work. He'd taken one look at her swollen, bloodshot eyes and puffy skin, gave her a comforting hug and told her she looked like hell. She was certain she looked worse than hell now, and her brain felt scrambled.
Days ago she decided, or rather promised herself, that if she didn't hear something soon, she'd strengthen herself and stop looking to hear from Sam. Another week like this would kill her. She'd die from a broken heart.
Her deadline was seven o'clock today, and that had gone by two hours ago. It was probably a stupid idea to put a deadline on something like this, but she had to. For her own sanity, she had to.
And... she had to let Sam go.
It wasn't fair to expect him to do more than he could. She knew she would have heard from him by now if he managed to come up with a resolution. If she continued looking and hoping, there would be nothing left of her.
"Where are you going?" Hayley asked narrowing her eyes with that peeved expression she'd been giving her for the last few days. Her sisters had taken turns in staying over to keep her company.
Lexie had just reached for her jacket when Hayley entered the room. Lexie was going to the marina again, to Sam's boat. She'd been going every day for the last week. At first, it helped her feel closer to Sam because of his love for sailing, but as the days rolled on and she'd heard nothing she started to prepare herself to let him go.
"I won't stay too long," she replied.
"You're going to the boat again?" Hayley huffed.
Lexie nodded.
"I didn't realize it was going to be an everyday thing?"
"It's not. Tonight will be the last time." Her eyes welled with tears at the thought, and she blinked to hold them back. "I'll be back soon."
Hayley rolled her eyes and flicked her hand. "Fine, don't blame me if I have all your chocolate or eat most of dinner."
Lexie attempted a smile.
It was colder tonight than it had been on any other, and the sea breeze enhanced the chill on the edge of the wind. Lexie boarded the yacht and went to the helm where she sat and waited just like yesterday.
Just like yesterday, and the days before that, her mind took her through all her time with Sam. All those memories right from the start. Right from when they first met, and he'd brought light into her dark world.
When he came back into her life, she'd been at a crossroad then too unknown to her. She'd been happy with her research, happy that Cervantes had been saved and life for her could continue the way it was. She didn't know what she'd been missing until she bumped into Sam and he'd unleashed a world filled with unimaginable love. He told her she was everything. She didn't know that what was missing in her life was him.
The truth was Lexie had only ever felt complete when she was with Sam. How was she supposed to just let him go? How could she move on with her life and forget him?
* * *
The minute the plane landed in San Francisco Sam headed straight to Lexie's apartment. He couldn't wait to see her.
He almost felt like when he'd just left grad school. Like life was really about to start. Except now he'd met the woman of his dreams.
He rushed up to her door and rang the bell. Nerves filled him as the door opened, but quickly eased when he saw Hayley standing before him.
"Hayley, hi."
"Sam, look, before you even start to talk please let me know exactly why you're here." She looked thoroughly annoyed.
"I came to see Lexie."
"Well, I didn't think you came to see me." She shook her head at him, looking even more put out. "Lexie isn't here."
"Where
is she?" he asked quickly.
"Sam," Hayley pulled in a thoughtful breath. "I like you. We all do, and we understand what's happened with you. But Lexie can't take any more heartbreak. She's a clever girl, way smarter than me. She knows you're broken up and everything so you don't have to make it official."
Oh no.
Sam bit the inside of his lip. No. They didn't break up in so many words... but really he supposed they had.
"Hayley, I swear to you I'm not here to cause her any more heartbreak. Please just tell me where she is?"
She considered him with narrow, contemplative eyes. "Okay Sam. She went to the boat."
"The boat? Why would she go there?"
"I don't get it either," she huffed shaking her head. "But the other day she said it helped her to let you go."
Lexie said that?
Hayley rolled her eyes and continued. "If it had been me I would have given you the boot, and taken the boat for compensation. I'm sure it would sell for a pretty penny." The helpless look he gave her softened her features, and she changed her aim. "Maybe for her though it's like facing a fear because she knew how much you like to sail. Anyway, we all know my sister is weird with her science and stuff."
He got it. He understood. The yacht was the only possession he had here. That and her. Maybe he was too late. But he would still try.
He got down to the marina in good time, hoping she was still there. The parking lot was reasonably full, so he didn't waste time looking for her car. He just ran straight to the yacht.
He boarded and stopped in his tracks when he saw her standing by the rail with her hair flowing behind her against the wind. Like always her beauty stole his breath away.
She held on to the rail staring ahead and never even heard him as he approached her.
He watched her pull in a breath and said against the wind, "Goodbye... Sam."
Complete Me Page 29