Blackmailed Merger (9 page)

Her whole body exuding happiness she had told them of the evening, Bella making
awww
noises at all the right points, as Kate had groaned declaring them both to be
harlequin
rejects.

At this Sam had grinned over at Bella, her eyes all soft
.

“It really really was” feeling the pillow hit he
r as the three ha
d
collapsed together laughing. 
A
s
they had calmed down Kate had taken her hands, her face suddenly so serious
.

“I am so glad your first time was so special Sam” she had said
.

“
But
please.......do not expect too much.... I know you, you are going to fall madly in love with him
...
and well he may not even come back”
.

Samantha had given her a hug, nodding her head
.

“As
I
told him Kate
...
I am not a little girl...........I understand the situation.  It is a holiday romance...nothing more”
.

Feeling a cold sharp stabbing in her stomach at voicing these words
, with a large yawn, she had then risen, feeling her whole body so tired, all the girls once more returning to their beds.

It was the loud banging on the door that had woken Sam,
her dreams so pleasant filled with images of Dante holding her, kissing her,
groaning as she had tried to roll over and ignore the sound,
not wanting to wake she had
finally giving up as the pounding had continued.  As she had made her way sleepily down the tiled stairs, she had seen Bella already there, talking with a man
before closing
the door she had
held up
a box, her eyes looking at Sam in surprise
.

“It’s for you” she had said, Sam skipping down the final steps her curiosity piqued
.

Opening the box she had gasped seeing the top of the range mobile phone, Bella also gasping
.

“Oh my God Sam.......I have soooo wanted one of them” she had chuckled, as Sam had pulled it out reading the note
inside
.

Now we can stay in touch

Dante

She had felt herself grinning remembering the conversation in the car as he had taken her home.  He had asked for her number, Sam
informing
him that she had not brought her phone as both Kate and Bella had theirs, not prepared to admit that she could not afford the roaming charges of using it.  He had seemed put out, wondering how he was to talk to her
, scowling as he had refused
to take
Kate’s
number instead. 
Saying goodbye
he had dropped a final kiss on her lips mysteriously
whispering softly
that he would find a way, Sam too happy to even ask how.  Now she knew and plopping down on the couch she had opened up the expensive device finding both a text message and his number already programmed into it. 
Sam
had laughed reading the text message...Told you I would find a way.
  Kate chuckling as she had finally made it down the stairs reading the message over
her shoulder.

“Maybe it isn’t over yet”
she had chuckled
, her eyebrows wiggling full of innuendo.

In his office Dante Durant had sat back, exhausted from the many meetings and countless discussions which had
ran late into the night
.  Pulling out his phone he had smiled seeing the latest text from Samantha, feeling as it had revitalised him the joke making him laugh out loud, before he had responded with one of his own.  Her regular updates of the holiday had made him smile, although his own detectives had captured the moments
more fully,
emailing him
regularly
with images of the girls, Dante inexplicably happy to see that she had been nothing but honest with him.

His mind had again returned to the evening they had shared, his body once more humming at the
mere
thought of how she had made him feel.  With a frown he had once more questioned why the experience with her had been so intense, finally
rationalizing
that it was th
e thrill of what was to come, k
nowing how close to his revenge he was.  The niggling feeling of guilt that he was using Sam had come and gone, as he had reminded himself of the lie she had told “they were from different worlds” his mouth set
ting at her attempt at deception
. 

The problem with a foreign consortium had been planned to take two days, but it had already ran on three, with Dante not prepared to accept the
ir terms
, sticking rigidly to his
plan, his ruthless ability to bend others to his will starting to pay off.  By the end of the next day the problem would be resolved, or his company would walk away, Dante knowing that they could ill afford him to do that, not caring if they pled that it was a chance to build bridges for the future.  The bottom line was that it was his way or no way, and he could feel as they had started to cave in, smiling with satisfaction.

Flicking through the pictures on his computer he had stopped at one showing Sam laid on the sand, her head resting on the palms of her hand as she had stared out to sea, a soft whimsical look on her face, that lovely beautiful face.  His eyes had moved to follow the way her back had curved to he
r
perfect bottom, her long legs stretched out on the beach towel.  Giving a small groan he had flipped the machine off, rising slowly.  He needed sleep, the sound of an incoming text making him smile on the way to the lift as he had dialled her number suddenly so badly wanting to hear her soft voice.

On the fourth evening the three girls had agreed to once more go to the night club, the previous evenings
having
happily set
tled
for talking to different groups they had met at the local taverna.  Kate, however, had begged them that night to go
,
pouting as she had
dramatically
declared that she was young and needed to dance, Bella and Sam finally giving in to her
,
smiling as they had rolled their eyes at their friend.
  Sam
had been suspiciously
aware that it had taken very little for Bella to agree to go, so unlike her.  As Kate had moved to get ready, she had looked over at Bella
.

“Do you think Philippe will be there
?
” she had asked, seeing as Bella had looked guiltily back at her before shrugging her shoulders
.

“None of my business if he is” she had said as matter of factly as she could Sam laughing softly
.

“Of course it isn’t she had replied” her eyes looking knowingly at her friend.  With a sigh Bella had looked to ensure that Kate was out of sight
.

“I really liked him Sam” she had said with a hint of sadness in her voice, “and he has not even tried to phone me, I guess he was just being polite
, or else....
”
her voice trailing off as a soft blush had tinged her cheek
.

Sam had looked at Bella seriously
.

“I saw the way he looked at you Bella, he was not being polite” Bella giving a small sad sigh
.

“Well then I guess he found a better offer” she had muttered moving up the stairs giving Sam a last sad look
.

“Shame, he actually seemed like a decent guy, guess you can never tell”
.

That night the
girls had enjoyed themselves, dancing with different men all evening.  Kate had settled on one, a tall good looking
German
draping herself over the eager man.  Often Sam
had caught Bella looking around, her eyes scanning for Philippe, although she would never admit it, Sam feeling the tug of sympathy for her friend.  As she had politely once more declined a second dance from yet another young man, she had moved back to her table, her eyes resting on the two men who had just entered the club.  Grabbing
Bella’s
arm she had breathed so excitedly
.

“Look, look its Dante and Philippe” seeing the light jump into her friend
’
s blue eyes before she had
seemed to become nervous, her eyes holding anxiety and trepidation as she had looked to where Sam was pointing.  Dropping her head Sam had been aware of some inner turmoil within Bella, who had seemed to finally come to a decision her eyes becoming harder.

The two men had moved towards them, Sam giving a small groan seeing Dante in an obviously expensive business suit
,
his
tie pulled down, top button undone
.  Her eyes had flicked down him, seeing how well the suit had hung on him
,
the dark material making his eyes seem even darker
, Sam wanting to kiss his throat
,
shocking herself with the intensity of the feeling
. 

He had smiled warmly as their eyes had met, and unable to stop herself she had ran the rest of the way to him, jumping into his arms hearing as he had laughed swinging her around once before placing her back onto her feet, his mouth dropping to kiss her gently.

“Did you miss me
Cara
?
”
he had whispered softly her head nodding, smiling happily before teasing him
.

“Of course, Kate has been making breakfast, I miss your toast” her quip making him chuckle as he had pulled her in closer for a more passionate kiss, Sam feeling her hea
d spin with the intensity of it, before taking her hand the two had walked back to
the
table.

There Bella had sat politely answering
Philippe’s
questions, the other man looking at her with surprise, sensing a change in her.  Pulling off his jacket he had extended his hand to her, asking if she wanted to dance, Sam surprised as Bella had looked back at him her face calm
,
shaking her head.

“Thank you Philippe, but I promised I would dance with somebody else” quickly standing to move to a young man who had looked delighted to have her
beside
him.