Blackmailed Merger (15 page)

“
You planned it perfectly Dante”
.

His hands gripping the steering wheel tighter as she had continued

“I always wondered why a prize holiday would be for three people.........I guess it
was
easier to
separate one person from a group of three than just two”
.

Dante’s
mouth had set in a firm line as she had once more grown silent.  A denial sat on his lip
before anger at her accusing voice
had made him look over at her.  How dare she the daughter of his enemy speak to him like that
, even though what she said was true, suddenly knowing that now was the time for the truth
.

Looking fixedly at the windscreen he had bitten out
.

“Like you said Sam easier to split up a group of three”

Moving the car into the
underground
parking,
he had once more concentrated on the road as
Samantha
had
said nothing to his words,
silently turning to look unseeingly out of the window
, the hurt flooding through
every part of
her.

As the car had pulled to a stop, she had pushed open the door, not waiting for him as she had moved to the
elevator
quickly using her key to
select the penthouse suite, Dante quickly joining her, watching as she had stood with her back to him moving out quickly as they had reached their floor
.  As she had moved towards the stairs, he had finally caught up with her, his hand pulling her around to look up at him
.

“Samantha, I am sorry that you got caught up in all this” he had began, seeing as she had given him a
n
incredulous
look
.

“But
It’s
shouldn’t matter to us, like you said you and your father don’t get along so why should you care what he thinks
.
Let’s
just put this all behind us and get on with our lives
, nothing has changed
.
”

Samantha could hardly believe what
s
he was
hearing
.  Forget what had happened, forget how they had met, how he had deliberately
targeted
her to get to her father.  She had felt the tears once more rising to
her eyes as she had looked back,
the hurt stamped on
her
delicate
features
.

“Why?”

was all she could say, seeing as he had looked
guiltily
back
, his hands dropping
from
her as he had pulled at his tie, one hand running through his hair
.

“Your father and I are competitors” he had started, guiding her over to a chair so that the two of them could sit facing each other
.

“He took my
father’s
business from him when
I was a child
.  I was thirteen and
my father couldn’t handle it
....
and
in the end
he took his own life.  My mother went to pie
ces, started to drink
, she died when I
was sixteen
”
.

He had paused to look at her, seeing no change as she had continued to look down at her hands in silence
.

“I swore that I would get back what had been taken from us..........and I did.  By the time
I
was 21 I had recovered everything that my father had lost.  That was when
Daniel
, your father,
started to really come after me”
.

She had felt as he had shifted beside her, keeping her eyes averted
.

“
Then I realised that the only way to really protect myself from him and to get real revenge for what he had done was to take his business from him.  Which was when I found out about
you;
found out that he had only one heir to his whole
Company
”

He had reached for her hands
, but Samantha had pulled them from him as he had sighed
.

“I thought that if you and I married that he would have no choice but to see me as his successor, and that finally I would have revenge on him
and ensure the safety of my company
”
.

Sam had bitten her lip at the cold-bloodedness of his plan
.

“I
thought
you
would
be like your friend Kate, like your father even, but you were nothing like I expected Samantha.  I
truly
found myself caring for you, wanting you to be in my life.  I don’t want us to be over
...
I want us to get past this.......we can if you want to
.  I still want you for my wife
... and not because of your father Sam...because we are good together
”
.

Sam had looked up
in disbelief, finally speaking
her tone emotionless
.

“You are unbelievable Dante”
h
er voice bitter. 
Seeing his mouth open to speak she had continued,
more emotion coming to her
.

“My
father
is
an abusive controlling animal and my mother left him to sleep with any man who could make her feel better about herself
.  But neither of them has treated me as badly as you have
just done Dante
.
”

Feeling the
prickling of tears at the back of her eyes she had glared at him, her eyes becoming harder, accusing
.

“I thought you were special, I loved you
.  But
y
ou are n
o different from
him....
in fact you are worse
.

He had
jumped
to his feet, his face full of anger now
.

“I am nothing like your father Samantha” he had bit out as she had
nodded
her head
, her voice cracking with emotion
.

“You are
EXACTLY like him...
You think nothing of using other people to get what you want.  My father used your
father
and
you used me.  The only things that got hurt here
were your
pride
...and me
........so do not tell me that you are not alike...........you make me sick
, just leave me alone
”
.

With that she had
turned, run
n
ing
upstairs, Dante sitting back down, letting his head fall into his hands, guilt filling him.
  After ten minutes he had heard
her moving back down,
knowing that he had to make it right, had to find a way to make up for what he had done to her, knowing that he didn’t want to lose her.

Looking up
Dante
had frowned.  Samantha had changed from the
dress she
had worn for their shopping trip
, to
jeans and a shirt, her bag which she had brought on holiday with her pulled over her shoulder.  As she had moved wordlessly to the door, he had leapt up moving in front of her making her stop in her tracks
.

“What the hell are you doing
?
” he had asked
in confusion
, Samantha looking up at him
.

“What does it look like
I’m
doing
?
” she had replied, her voice taut
.

“You
wanted your
revenge
Dante;
please do not think that
I’m
going to be stupid enough to stay so that you can enjoy
finish
ing
what you started.  To use me to get to my father and his business
”
.

He had placed his hands on either side of her shoulder looking into her eyes, trying to make her see his sincerity
.

“I said I was sorry Sam.....Please, we can move past this
...
I want you to stay
.  We don’t have to get married...let me prove to you that it is you I am interested in...please
”
.

She however had looked silently at one of his hands, her message so clear as he had removed
them
from her.  She had then looked back at him, and he could see that she had been crying, her eyes red
,
and her
voice now sad
.

“I don’t believe you Dante
, you are a
liar
and a user
.....I loved you and you used me.......I
can’t
be anywhere near you now”
.

He had felt anger rise within him, along with what felt like panic as he had stepped back, stung by her words
.

“Fine......then leave”
.