Samson's Lovely Mortal (18 page)

Anger welled up in her. She could feel it boil up from her stomach and travel through her chest. It was too much to hold in.

“How could you? How could you go behind my back like that?” Delilah spun around to face him. “You could have just asked me what you wanted to know.” And why was he still so attractive, so sexy, when she needed to be angry at him? In his jeans and black t-shirt he looked as good as he did naked, even though she preferred him naked.

She shouldn’t have turned. She should have just walked out without even looking at him.

His biceps flexed, and she was again aware of his strength and physical beauty. The way his hazel eyes searched hers as if he was trying to look into her soul made her knees weak. She had to pull her eyes away from him if she ever wanted to get out of the room.

“It was wrong. But I needed to know who you were.”

Standing within inches of touching him only added to her agitated mind.

“I told you who I am. What were you expecting?” She let all her disappointment and pain out in her voice. “After all the things we did … you couldn’t just ask me? No. You had to run a background check on me, like I’m a common criminal.”

“Sweetness, don’t—”

Samson raised his hand as if he wanted to touch her face, but stopped when she shot back at him, “Don’t call me sweetness!”

Delilah had liked it when he’d called her that the night before when they were making love, but not now. She turned and snapped her suitcase shut.

“Delilah, I apologize. I wish I’d trusted my instincts more, but I didn’t. When Carl packed your things, he found something and brought it to my attention. I should have gone straight to you and asked you about it, but I … I don’t know why I didn’t …” His voice trailed off.

His hazel eyes stared into hers, trying to force her to listen to him. “You had files of Scanguards’ in your possession.”

“So what? I work for them. Carl had no right to go through my stuff.”

Samson nodded. “Yes. But he saw them. And I understand now that you had every right to have those files on you. I know that now. Because I now know that you work for me.”

Confused, she looked at him. “I don’t work for you. I work for Scanguards,” she insisted and grabbed her suitcase. “And besides, what’s it to you who I work for? I didn’t think you were all that interested in what I do.” She tried to push past him to get to the door, but he blocked her escape.

“You work for me. I
am
Scanguards. I own it.”

Delilah stopped in her tracks, and Samson instantly realized that this was news to her. She hadn’t known that he was the owner of Scanguards, that he was worth in excess of a few hundred-million dollars. His heart jumped when the realization settled in, when he understood that his fear had been unfounded. She wasn’t after his money, because she’d had no idea how filthy rich he really was.

Samson could see that she was trying to make sense of his words. But then it was like a dark cloud settled over her face. Her jaw dropped, and she glared at him.

“You thought I was after your money? Oh my God! You thought I slept with you because … Oh my God!”

The pain he saw in her eyes hurt him deep in his chest. If he’d thought telling her who he was would make her understand why he’d acted the way he had, it had backfired. It had actually made it worse. Much worse.

“I’ve never felt so cheap and dirty in my life. I felt cleaner when you thought I was a stripper. But you thought … you thought I would … no, no …”

She ran for the door, but he leapt in front of her and stopped her. He wanted to take her into his arms and kiss her pain away, apologize with his body for everything he’d done. But he knew she’d push him away. He had hurt her, his lovely mortal, and it pained him more than if he’d been hurt himself. At this point he’d do anything to make her pain go away.

“Please tell me what you want me to do to make it up to you.”

She stared at him, her eyes glistening with the tears she was holding back. “You think you can buy me? Haven’t you humiliated me enough? Keep your damn money and get out of my way!”

“Please stop for a minute, and listen to me.”

“Why? Don’t you already know everything you want to know? Isn’t that why you assigned me a
bodyguard
today? So you could spy on me? Do you control all your women like that?”

“Delilah, it was for your own safety. I never wanted to hurt you, believe me. But you scared me.” He was scared alright, scared of what she could do to his heart. Maybe it was better if he told her upfront what she’d done to him.

“Scared you? How? Because you’ve been slumming it with a poor little auditor? Yeah, that’s downright scary,” she bristled full of sarcasm.

“Don’t say that. It’s the things you make me feel when I’m with you. That’s what scares me.”

“Stop lying to me.” She shot past him and ripped the door open. Her suitcase in her hand, she rushed down the stairs. Samson was right behind her, not willing to let her go.

The entrance door opened a second before she reached it. A sudden blast of cold air entered the foyer and with it Ricky and Thomas. Ricky stared at Delilah and then at Samson who was only a step behind her.

“I don’t think you should let her leave, Samson.” He slammed the door shut before she could exit. Samson heard her frustrated sigh as she attempted to get past Ricky.

“I’m not letting her leave.”

“Good. ‘Cause somebody killed John Reardon. And she might be next.”

“John?” Delilah’s voice was just a hoarse whisper. She dropped her suitcase to the floor where it made a loud thump.

Samson exchanged surprised looks with his two friends. Did she know him?

Delilah braced herself on the wardrobe. A split-second later Samson was by her side; he wrapped his arms around her and led her into the living room. He wouldn’t let her leave, not now, not ever.

Samson gently sat her on the couch and stayed close to her. Keeping his arm around her, he was relieved to feel she didn’t push him away.

“Ricky, pour Delilah a brandy, will you?”

His friend complied eagerly and handed him the glass a few moments later. Samson led the brandy to Delilah’s lips and made her sip from it as he brushed a strand of hair out of her face.

“Here you go, sweetness.” His voice took on a soothing tone while he stroked her arm tenderly. She didn’t protest. He knew she hadn’t forgiven him yet, but right now she was in shock, and he would do anything to make her feel better. Later, he’d seek her forgiveness. And then there was another hurdle to jump over—but she wasn’t ready for that yet.

In the seconds when he’d followed her down the stairs, he’d made up his mind. He wouldn’t let her go back to New York. Screw the fact that she was human. She was his. He needed her, and he could make her happy. He knew it deep down in his heart.

He caught Ricky exchanging a look with Thomas who nodded. Neither one of them had ever seen him in such a tender exchange with a woman. Samson planted a soft kiss on the top of Delilah’s head, not caring what his friends thought of his behavior.

“Delilah, tell me what you know about this man. He was the one who hired that guy who attacked you.”

She suddenly stared at him, her eyes wide in disbelief. “John? John hired that thug?” She looked up at Thomas and Ricky who nodded.

“Yes, it was him. Who was he?” Samson asked again.

“You should know who he is. He works for you.”

“For me?”

“He’s an accountant at Scanguards,” she announced, looking back and forth between Samson and his friends.

Samson sent Ricky and Thomas off to investigate the murder of the accountant. They would also review background checks of John and anybody he worked with at Scanguards. Amaury remained at the house with them.

“I think it’s pretty clear that it wasn’t John’s idea to harm you. He was obviously working for somebody, and this somebody killed him,” Samson stated.

“But why would somebody want to harm me? I only met him a week ago, and I don’t know anybody else here in San Francisco. I have no enemies,” Delilah protested.

“And this person knew we were onto him, don’t forget that,” Amaury interjected. “And got to John before we could. Isn’t that telling us something?”

Samson nodded. “That’s right. Whoever it was, he didn’t want us to interrogate John and find out who’s behind this, or what this is about. Can you think of any reason why he or anybody else would want to hurt you?”

The thought that somebody else was still out there, wanting to hurt the woman he desired so deeply, tore at his heartstrings. If anybody as much as harmed a hair on her head, they’d have to deal with his wrath. It would be ugly.

“I’m only here for the audit, nothing else. I’m used to people not being too happy to see me, but that doesn’t mean they want to harm me.”

“Then it has to do with the audit. It’s your only connection to John and to San Francisco. It’s the only explanation. Has the audit produced any results?” Samson was curious.

She shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing unexpected, at least not so far. I’ve had problems getting to some of the supporting documentation for some of the issues I’m looking into, but I still have till Wednesday, so I’m sure I’ll figure out what’s wrong.” Delilah seemed very confident about her work. “I’ve always found whatever there was to be found.”

“Is that your reputation? Is that why New York hired you?” Samson let his eyes sweep over her small form. Was she some kind of super sleuth? Would she also figure him out soon? How long did he have until she’d discover his secret? How long till she’d run screaming from his house?

“That’s all I do. I don’t do regular financial audits. I only work on special investigations. If somebody is cooking the books, I’ll find it. I’ve already found a few indications that somebody is defrauding the company. I just have to confirm who is behind it.”

There was an air of confidence about her, almost pride. He believed her instantly. If she said she’d find it, she would. Of course, this also meant, he himself had to be extremely careful and quickly come up with a strategy of how to tell her what he was. He had to tell her that he was a vampire, because he wasn’t going to let her leave.

“Take all the time you need—I’m extending your contract indefinitely.” This would take the time pressure off him. Wednesday was just too early.

“Can you do that?” Delilah looked first at him and then at Amaury. “Can he do that?”

Amaury smirked. “He’s the boss. What he says, goes.”

“You make me sound like a tyrant.” He gave his friend a scolding look. “I assure you, I’m nothing of the kind. But being the boss does have its perks.” Samson smiled at her. “You can work out of here. My office is at your disposal. You’ll have universal access to all files, not just for the San Francisco branch, but all our branches. Whatever information you need, I can get it for you.”

“That won’t be necessary. I can work at the downtown office. Besides, I need the box of transaction documents I had John get for me. I’m not done with it yet. It’s still at the office.”

Samson shook his head. “I’ll have somebody bring it here. I’m not letting you out of my sight. If somebody was able to get to John and kill him, they’ll try to do the same to you. I can’t take that risk.” A cold shiver ran down his spine at the thought of anybody harming her.

“Do you always get what you want?” Her voice had an edge to it. He understood why. She was still angry with him for checking up on her background.

“I don’t. But this time I will. No discussion. You’ll work here. One of us will always be with you.” He nodded at Amaury, asking his friend silently to support him. At present, Delilah seemed more inclined to listen to anybody else but himself.

“He’s right, Delilah. If somebody thought it so important to get rid of you, they’re not going to stop just because we tracked down John and his brother-in-law.”

Great, so they were both ganging up on her. Maybe she was still in shock, but her thoughts seemed clear to her. Delilah was still mad as hell at Samson for not trusting her. She was confused about the mixed signals she was getting from him, and she was frightened at the thought of somebody being after her to harm her. If everything had been fine between her and Samson, she would have had no problems with the arrangement, but now, things were different. If he thought that by making her stay at his house, he could get her back into his bed, then he’d get a rude awakening.

She would tell him so right now, so he’d know his place. “Fine. I’ll stay here to finish the audit. But I don’t date clients.”

From his reaction she could see that he hadn’t expected her statement. His jaw dropped. It took a few seconds for him to find his composure.

“We’ll discuss this later, in private.”

The hell they would. The less she was alone with him, the better. Delilah recalled the moment when Ricky had told them about John’s death, and how Samson had taken the opportunity to take her into his arms. She hadn’t had the strength to protest then, but she felt better now. She wouldn’t give him another opportunity to wiggle his way back into her heart, only to let him hurt her again. She had to shut him out. This was just a job, nothing else. And that was exactly how she would treat this from now on.

“I’d better get to work.”

“Now?” Samson raised an eyebrow.

“I can’t sleep anyway.” Delilah knew that with all the things that had happened there was no way in hell she’d be able to close her eyes. “You don’t have to stay up with me. Just show me your office and give me access to the files.”

Samson’s office was larger than Delilah had expected. It was paneled in a rich, dark wood and had one wall of shelves completely stuffed with books from top to bottom. There was a huge desk with several computer screens, a sofa with a couple of armchairs, and a coffee table.

She had expected him to show her the systems and then leave, but instead both he and Amaury stayed and started working with her, assisting her with reviewing files, tracing transactions and making phone calls to New York to verify information. It appeared that even in the middle of the night people worked at Headquarters. With direct access to all files of the company her work would be much easier. Nobody was putting any restrictions on her.

Delilah found it strange that he suddenly trusted her like this. Samson had one of his staff bring the storage box from the office which she’d been working on during the day. Now he and Amaury were pouring over information spread out on the coffee table, while she sat in his comfortable office chair and scrolled through the computer files.

He’d given her his logon and password, and she had free reign. If she had wanted to, she could have gone into all his private files and looked at what he was up to. But she didn’t. She wouldn’t snoop around. She wouldn’t stoop so low and do to him what he’d done to her. This was different from opening a few drawers in his bedroom.

Delilah looked at Samson who had his head buried in the papers, talking quietly to Amaury. His long lashes were as dark as his shaggy hair, which she’d made a mess of the night before, wildly running her hands through it and pulling him closer to her. Even now, despite how much he’d hurt her, she found him more desirable than any man she’d ever met.

As if he felt her gaze on him, he suddenly raised his eyes and looked at her. Caught! He gave her the faintest of smiles, and she felt heat stream into her cheeks. This man could confuse the hell out of her. She quickly turned back to the computer screen. She had to keep a cool head. In a few days her work would be done, especially if she worked through the weekend, and then she was free to leave. All this would just be a distant memory.

The hours ticked by, and to her surprise the two men did not get tired. Knowing that Samson had barely slept the night before when they had—nevermind. And then he’d been in business meetings all day. Well, it was none of her concern anyway. He was a grown up. If he didn’t think he needed any sleep, she wasn’t going to care. At least tomorrow was the weekend, and nobody would have to get up too early.

She suddenly suppressed a yawn and glanced at the clock.

“Wow, it’s almost six o’clock.”

Samson and Amaury looked at each other.

“Damn,” Amaury exclaimed.

Samson said something to him Delilah couldn’t hear, and Amaury nodded.

“I’d better get some sleep. Good night,” she said and got up, switching off the computer.

Samson stood and followed her out of the room. “ ‘Night, Amaury.”

“ ‘Night.”

In the hallway, her suitcase was still at the same place she had dropped it earlier. Before she could pick it up, Samson took it and started walking upstairs with it. Tired, she followed him.

“You and Amaury didn’t have to stay up with me this long. I could have done this by myself.”

“Don’t worry about us. We’re used to being up late. And besides, it’s my company. I have a vested interest in finding out who’s trying to pull a fast one on us.”

As they reached the top of the stairs, he headed for his bedroom, while she made a move toward the guest room. She stopped when she saw where he was going, still holding onto her suitcase.

“I need my suitcase.” Delilah reached out her hand, expecting him to hand it to her.

“That’s why I’ve brought it up with me. Come.” He opened the door and turned to wait for her to join him.

“I don’t think you understand: when I told you that I don’t date clients, it wasn’t a joke.”

“Then I’m afraid I’m going to have to fire you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’m not. I’m practical.” He hovered at the open door.

Delilah crossed her arms in front of her chest, assuming a defensive position. She needed all the strength she could muster. “Even if you fire me, I won’t sleep in your room. I’ll be in the guestroom.” She spun on her heels and walked away.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” There was no malice in his voice, just a firm determination.

“Watch me.” She made her challenge clear. If he really thought he could get her back this easily, he had to be completely loony.

“I would hate to have to beat up Amaury.”

“What?” She turned. What did Amaury have to do with this? It made not a lick of sense to her. If his plan was to confuse her, he’d succeeded. She was all ears.

“I would hate to find the two of you together in the guest bedroom. He’s staying. So unless you want to start a big fight between two good friends, I suggest you stay with me.”

So that was what the two of them had been whispering about in the office. He’d tricked her. “You were planning this, weren’t you? You know what? I can sleep on the couch in the living room.”

Samson shook his head, and his eyes gazed at her, full of softness and warmth. It wasn’t fair.

“I’m still mad at you.” She hadn’t wanted to say this, but it just came out.

“I know that. You have my word: I won’t touch you. I know when I’ve made a mistake, and I know when to apologize. But would you please give me a chance to explain things to you, so that maybe you can forgive me?” His tone was pleading. “I don’t want this to end.”

Delilah met his gaze. “What?”

“Us.” He stretched out his free hand. “Please talk to me.”

Hesitantly she moved toward him, her feet not following her brain, which told her not to fall for his charm again. Seconds later, she was in his bedroom and heard him shut the door behind her. She was alone with him. She needed to be whipped, severely. Had she not just five minutes ago promised herself to stay away from him?

Samson switched on the fireplace and sat down in front of it, looking into the flames. “I never wanted to hurt you.”

“Well, you did.” She wouldn’t make this easy for him. If he wanted her forgiveness, he’d have to work for it. Hard. Just looking so darn irresistible wasn’t going to get him out of this quagmire.

Sure, tell your body that! Oh, shut up!

“And I’m very sorry about it. I know I can’t take it back, but I would like you to see my side of it, too. You showed up at my house, completely unexpected and so enticing. And then you instantly wrapped me around your little finger—”

“Did not,” Delilah protested, but inwardly had to smile. He really thought she’d wrapped him around her finger? No man had ever said that of her. She wasn’t a temptress. Never had been, never would be. She wouldn’t even know where to start.

He smiled at her. “Did too. And you so willingly shared my bed. Believe me, no man is that lucky.”

Delilah looked at him. Did he actually mean that? Had he looked in the mirror lately? Guys like him
did
get this lucky. All the time.

“That’s not a good enough reason for going behind my back.”

“No, but fear of another betrayal is. What’s that saying? ‘Once burned, twice shy’?”

“Betrayal?” Now she was curious.

“There was a woman.” Samson looked at her to check for her reaction. Should he tell her the whole story, all of it? It would help her understand why he’d been so afraid. Why thinking she would betray him had sent him into such a tailspin.

“The redhead.”

He was stunned. How had she guessed?

“You looked so tense, so full of rage when you spoke to her.”

He stretched out his hand to motion her to sit with him. Delilah obliged him and took a seat on the floor pillows next to him. He wanted to feel her close when he told her what had happened. Not even his friends knew the details he was willing to share with her. All they knew was that he’d discovered that she’d been after his money. He’d never told anybody about the horrible things he’d overheard her say on the phone.

“I was introduced to her by a mutual acquaintance. Ilona was new in town. We started dating, and she made me believe that she cared for me. I was at a point in my life where I didn’t want to be alone anymore.”