GAMBLING ON LOVE (Travis Series) (25 page)

“Beth,” Vic choked, “if we hadn’t delayed you going home
…
”

“I know,” she said softly
.
“Listen, Vic, I’m more concerned now with the second letter
.
It said he lost the ones he loved because of me
,
and everyone knows how close you and I are
.
I’m worried about both you and Sam.”

“I’m fine, honey
.
As a matter of fact, I have a big
burly
bodyguard with me right now
.
I’ll tell you what
.
Why don’t you come into the office early so we can talk before everyone else starts piling in
?
I’m always there by seven so
come
any
time after that, okay?”

“Just be careful, Vic
.
Stockton
must
have gotten a look at the contract between
Sweeney
and Stockton Enterprises
.
Your
name is listed as a contact.”

“I’ll be careful, doll
;
just go home with Sam and get some sleep
.
Everything will look better in the morning.”

Beth glanced despondently at the
smoldering
remains of her house
.
Things had to look better in the morning because they looked pretty damn desperate tonight
.
She slipped
the
phone back into her purse, still worried about Vic’s safety.

Sam pulled her into his arms
.
“Feel better now?”

“For now
.
I
think I
should send Vic away somewhere until they find Stockton
;
a vacation or something.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” he agreed.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be seen with me,” she said gravely
.
“Maybe I should stay at a hotel or
…
”

“No,” he
cut her off
.
“Absolutely not, Anne
.
I’m not letting you stay by yourself and that’s final.
”
Sam looked down at the woman who’d stolen his heart
.
“He could just as easily come after you, honey
.
No, you’ll stay with me
.
I’ll keep you safe
.
I’ll keep us both safe, I promise.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                       *
**

“You said it yourself,” Beth tried to reason with
Sam
on the drive to his house
.
“Stockton probably doesn’t know who you are
.
If we stop seeing each other until this is over
…
”

“No.”

“Sam, please
.
How could I live with myself if anything happened to you?
”

“No,” he repeated more firmly.

“Won’t you at least listen to what I have to say?”

Sam turned his head to look at her
.
“No.”

Beth saw the stubborn set of his jaw and knew he wouldn’t give in no matter what she said
.
“I could just leave, you know
.
I could go someplace where you wouldn’t find me until John’s men
locate
Roger.”

“There’s no place you could go that I wouldn’t find you, Anne.
”

The steely determination in his voice left little room for doubt that he
would
do it
.
“I love you, Sam,” she said desperately, “that’s why you have to stay away from me.”

Sam pulled up to the gate in front of his house and stopped
.
He took her hand and pressed a kiss to her fingers
,
and for one brief moment, Beth thought he was going to give in.
 

“I love you too, Anne, and that’s why I have to stay with you.
”
He pulled a remote control box from the sun visor and pointed it at the gate
,
which swung slowly forward
.
“We’ll be safe here, honey, trust me.”

“I’m not worried about when you’re at home
.
I’m worried
about
when you’re out there, at work, or driving, or going to the store
.
He could be anywhere, Sam, and he’s
obviously
lost his marbles
.
If you won’t stay away from me
,
at least promise you won’t touch me
when we’re in public
.
That way if he sees us together, he won’t know how much you mean to me.”

Sam pulled into the garage and turned off the ignition
.
“That will
only ensure that
Vic
becomes the
prime target.”

Beth’s shoulders slumped
.
“I didn’t think about that
.
Sam, we both know Vic is the first person
he
go
es
after
.
Let me get Vic out of town
.
I’ll send him to the Florida Keys
;
he loves it there
.
Then as long as you and I don’t touch in public, you’ll be safe
,
too.”

Sam shook his head
.
“I’m not going to let you push me away, Anne.”

“In that case,
” she crossed her arms, “
I want to break up.”

Sam just laughed
.
“It won’t work, honey
.
Now get out of the truck
.
I’ll let you take a shower while I scrounge up something to eat
.
Maggie will have left something for in the refrigerator
.
She
usually leaves enough to feed an army so I’m sure there
will
be plenty.”

Sam caught the sad look in her eyes
as
he pulled her suitcase from the back
.
Inside were
all she had left of her personal belongings
,
and
most of that was the
dress
-
up outfits for the role she’d been playing
.
Sam came around the truck and set the suitcase down
.
The instant he held his arms out, she was pressed up against him as if he was the last life preserver afloat in
a
turbulent sea.

"It’s okay, honey
.
The
material things can be replaced
.
I know there were things with sentimental value, but at least no one was hurt
.
You’re safe and that’s all that really matters.”

Beth’s lips trembled
.
“My house, Sam
.
My beautiful house
…
it’s gone, everything is gone.”

“Not everything, Anne
.
You still have the land
;
you c
an
rebuild
if you want
.”

She shook her head
.
“It would put too much of a strain on the business
.
I have people who depend on me for their jobs
.
I couldn’t jeopardize that no matter how much I wanted to
.
Maybe in a year or two
…
”

“We’ll talk about it later, baby
.
Right now, let’s get you cleaned up and fed.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        *
**

Beth hadn’t paid much attention to the house when they’d pulled up
.
If she had, she might not have been so overwhelmed w
hen they went
inside
.
The place
was big enough for ten people to live in without ever having to cross paths
.
The entrance from the garage led into a coatroom of sorts, except that
it
was as big as one of her guest rooms had been in the beach house
.
From there, they entered the kitchen
.

Beth’s head swiveled back and forth trying to take in not only the size of the room but all the elaborate appliances
.
Every
pot, pan, utensil, or cooking
gadget
one could imagine was in
corporated into
Sam’s kitchen
.
M
arble countertops and stainless steel appliances sparkled and shined as if they
had
just been freshly scrubbed
.
Sam tugged at her hand and Beth let him pull her into the next room.

They passed through a dining area that contained a very large antique table Beth was sure could seat twenty people with elbow room to spare
.
She remained speechless as he pulled her along until they finally arrived at a massive staircase leading to the second floor
.
She tried to take in the expensive artwork as they climbed the stairs but Sam was moving too fast
.
Beth
trailed after him to the end of the long hallway and into his bedroom
, where she stood gaping
in awe at the lavish furnishings
.
 

Sam’s
bed was e
normous
,
its massive posts ornately carved
from rich dark wood; the double thick mattress
with plush down-filled comforters and pillows
extremely inviting
after the day she’d had
.
The
re was a
highboy dresser
that
stood taller than she did and a bookshelf filled with books completely
cover
ing
one wall
.
In front of the bookshelf was a recliner a
s well as
a small table with a book on it that Sam had obviously been reading
.

On the opposite side of the room
,
matching overstuffed arm chairs faced a brick
fireplace
with a black marble mantle. The screened grate had to have been custom made to accommodate the width and height of the fireplace’s interior, because it was certainly big enough for Beth to step inside if she’d wanted to.
A padded fur rug stretched invitingly in front of the
chairs,
and
if the image of her house going up in flames hadn’t been so fresh in her mind, she would have begged Sam to build a fire
.

“That I’m afraid to touch anything,” she said in a hushed whisper
.
“Sam, I had no idea you were so
…
so
…
”

“Wealthy?”
Sam supplied as he came up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist.

“Wealthy, my ass, you’ve got to be a multi-millionaire.”

“You know, most women are impressed by how much I’m worth
.
Why do I get the feeling it doesn’t sit so well with you?”

“It’s a little
…
overwhelming, that’s all
.
I suppose I should have guessed, considering you own SST Shipping, but w
hen I told you about my company, you sounded genuinely impressed
.
Now I think you were only making fun of me.”

Sam turned her in his arms and held her eyes with his
.
“I wasn’t lying, Anne
.
A great deal of my wealth was inherited
.
My father loaned me the money to start the marketing company
.
I didn’t start from scratch like you did
;
it was practically handed to me
.
When
you built your company, you did it with determination and hard work.”