A Friendly Arrangement Read online

  The thought of Samantha had him scowling as he stared blankly down at the papers he held. She’d become so distant, it had already been a week since the night she had walked out of their room. She’d barely even looked at him or spoken to him since.

  Shoving the papers away he went to stand, but just then his phone rang. With a growl he remembered that he had let Theresa go home early, so he reached out and answered it himself. “Hello.” It was the best he could do in his current state of frustration.

  “Yes, this is Donna from the Harrison Grand Hotel. I’m calling to confirm Mr. Steel’s reservations for two tonight.” A pleasant woman’s voice replied.

  Alex’s eyes narrowed as he turned to his calendar. He had no dinner meetings or anything else scheduled for that night, anywhere. He cleared his throat as a thought occurred to him, one that had his heart pounding. “This is Mr. Steel. My I ask who made the reservations?”

  There was a slight pause, then, “It says here that your wife made them early this afternoon,” she replied.

  He swallowed hard and sat farther back in his chair. “Confirmed,” he murmured, and without another word he hung up and reached for his jacket.

  The drive home passed in a blur for him as his mind raced with possibilities. There were so many reasonable explanations, but it was the unreasonable ones that caused his heart to pound all the more harder.

  He walked through the front doors just as Samantha was coming down the central stairs. She was thinner than she should have been, her belly even seemed smaller to him. “Going somewhere?” he asked, dropping his keys on the hall table.

  “Yes,” was all she said as she went to walk by him.

  “Who are you meeting?” he demanded, turning and grabbing her arm to keep her from getting by him.

  “No one,”

  “Then why did I just get a confirmation call from the Harrison Grand Hotel confirming reservations for two, for tonight?” he demanded.

  “How would I know?” she snapped back, yanking her arm free.

  “The woman said that my wife had made the reservations.” His eyes narrowed when her face paled a little more. “Who are you meeting?”

  “No one,” she said again.

  He folded his arms at his chest as he glared at her. “This has got to stop, Sami. All the lies, all the anger. Right here, right now. I want to know what’s going on. What did I do?”

  “You didn’t do anything,” she grumbled, rubbing her arm where he had grabbed her.

  “I had to have done something to have you acting this way,” he argued, gently reaching out and resting his hands on her hunched shoulders. “Just tell me what it is so I can change.”

  She shook her head and pulled away from him. “It’s not you, Alex. You don’t need to change. It’s me, alright. I just, I need some time,…alone. Just leave me alone. I have to go,” she said, shifting the strap to her over night bag on her shoulder.

  “Are you staying at the hotel tonight?” he asked when she headed for the doors.

  She turned when she reached the doors and hesitated, her lower lip caught between her teeth. “I think it might be best if I moved back into my penthouse,” she told him.

  His eyes widened and he slowly shook his head. “But,…I don’t understand, Sami. What’s going on? Don’t you think I deserve to know that much?”

  Her eyes narrowed at that and she lowered her arms to her sides. “This is none of your business, Alex. I simply can’t stay living here with you. I…” she swallowed hard and shifted her feet. “I think it’s best this way. You never wanted children, and,”

  “Wait,” he held up a hand and shook his head. “Don’t you dare use that against me. I love Serena, and you know that. I want to be her father,”

  “Well, you aren’t,” she said without thinking. Her eyes widened , and one of her hands flew to her mouth when she realized what she had said. Devastation filled Alex’s bright blue eyes as he took one staggering step back.

  “Sami,”

  “You aren’t,” she said again more slowly. “And you can’t be. I can’t stay married to you, Alex.” She looked down and carefully slid all three of her rings from her fingers with shaking hands. She looked up and hated herself as she watched a tear slip down the side of his face as he watched her put the rings on the hall table. “It’s better this way,” she murmured.

  “For whom?” he asked, his voice catching.

  “For all of us.”

  He shook his head as he lifted his wet gaze back to her. “But I love you.”

  “It’s not enough, Alex.”

  He stared at her for a long moment, then shook his head as he took a deep, ragged breath. “I understand why my father did what he did now,” he told her as she turned for the door.

  She turned quickly, pain and fear bright in her pale green eyes. “Don’t say that,” she gasped. “Don’t ever,”

  “It’s true.” He folded his arms at his chest and looked away from her. “The only difference is, my mother didn’t choose to leave him.”

  “Alex,”

  “This is why I never wanted to get married. Why I never wanted children. Because it hurts.” He pressed a hand to his chest, pressing hard. “You were the one person I had left. Now I have no one.” He slowly sank down onto the bottom step of the grand staircase, unable to continue standing. His whole body felt numb.

  “Alex,” she swallowed hard, hating herself more than she’d ever hated anyone else. “Please. Alex, promise you won’t hurt yourself,” she pleaded as she took a small step towards him.

  He slowly lifted his gaze back to hers. “I didn’t think it mattered to you,” he said.

  “You matter to me,” she replied, taking another step, wincing as she felt a twinge in her side again. She pressed a hand to it and took a shaky breath. “I still love you,”

  He shook his head. “If that were true you wouldn’t be purposefully breaking my heart. Go away.” He waved her back, angry now, even as his heart shattered. “Go meet whoever it is that you’re meeting. Go. I can’t look at you right now.”

  She stared at him, afraid as she had never been afraid before. “Promise you won’t hurt yourself.”

  “Why would I hurt myself, Samantha?” he demanded, pushing back to his feet on a surge of temper. “The love of my life is leaving me, and taking with her every chance I have ever had of being happy. What possible reason would I have to hurt myself? Because I can identify with my father now, finally, after all these years? I could never figure out why I wasn’t good enough for him to live for, but I get it now. Is that why? Don’t worry about me. I survived loosing the first two most important people in my life when I lost my parents, then the second two when my grandparents died. It’s the story of my life. I’ll survive you, Samantha Jamieson. I may not want to, but I will. Now go. Take everything and go!”

  He turned his back to her and grabbed a vase of flowers, hurling it at a wall. “Go! Leave. You say you can’t stay married to me, so go!” he snarled at her as he whipped back around to face her.

  She stared at him, too shocked to speak for a moment, then swallowed hard and slowly nodded her head. Tears streaming down her face she slowly turned and bent to pick up her bag, which she had dropped when she’d stepped closer to him. The pain in her side worsened and she clenched a hand to her belly as she whimpered. But there was nothing she could do now. No words she could ever say to fix what she had done. Knowing that, she walked out the front doors, and let out a broken sob when she heard Alex’s rage continue as he up ended the glass hall table and let out a deep, shattered cry of pain.

  Feeling her whole world caving in around her, Samantha drove to the hotel where her father was staying, and parked, staring at her hands as they continued to grip the steering wheel. She had just walked out on the one person in her life that had always been there for her. That had always done everything he could to protect her. She swallowed hard and forced her fingers to uncurl from the wheel and gathered the overnight bag that held her fath
er’s final payment. And it would be just that, whether he was happy about it or not. She simply had no more to give to him.

  Taking a deep breath she forced herself to get out of her old car, the one she’d had before Alex’s gift of the SUV, and headed for the entrance. Once in the lobby she turned and stalked straight into the hotel dinning room to meet her father, as he had instructed.

  Marcus sat at one of the round tables to the back, flirting with his waitress as he sampled his snack of crackers and caviar.

  She glared fiercely at the waitress when she reached the table and the other young woman wisely left without a word. “Here,” she hissed, tossing her overnight bag at him. “Now get the hell out of my life and stay out.”

  He very calmly lifted the bag from the floor and opened it. A bright, greedy smile curved his lips at the sight of the money held within.

  “You won’t get another dime out of me, do you hear?” she said when he looked back up to her.

  He sighed at the indignant look on her face and set his napkin aside. “Darling Samantha, you will continue to pay me however much I want, whenever I ask for it. And if you refuse a payment, well, you know exactly what I’ll do. As I said, I’m certain any judge would have no choice but to give a concerned, fearful grandfather custody of his granddaughter when it comes out the her step-father was abusive towards her, and that her mother, who knew all about it, did nothing to stop it. Look at you, already I could prove my point.” His eyes narrowed slightly. “Is he beating you?”

  She glared and folded her arms at her chest. “Alex would never hurt me, or my daughter. And this is the last time you’re going to get anything out of me. I just closed all my accounts for that.” She pointed at the bag. “And you don’t have Alex to hang over my head anymore.” Tears began to slide down her cheeks and she quickly reached up to wipe them away. “I’ve just left him.”

  He rolled his eyes. “You actually expect me to believe that you’re broke and that you left your husband, who’s worth billions? I don’t think so.”

  “I don’t care what you think,” she snapped, pressing a hand against her side when the twinges she’d begun to feel while arguing with Alex grew more painful. “Alex and I won’t be married much longer and you have all of my money now. So go,….oh!” She cried out and doubled over, wrapping her arms around her belly. “No, no, no, no,” she sobbed. “Please, no,”

  Several members of the wait staff rushed over to see what was going on. Marcus waved them back. “She’s just a little melodramatic,” he told them, smiling brightly.

  She shook her head fiercely and reached out to grab the hand of the waitress she had glared at only a few moments before. “Please, I need,” but before she could finish another wave of intense pain washed over her and her knees buckled under her.

  One of the waiters caught her before she could hit the floor and a third ran for the telephone to call an ambulance.

  When Samantha was finally able to look up, her eyes filled with unshed tears, her father was gone. And so was the money.

  Chapter Twelve

  Unable to stand the heartache at home, especially now that Serena’s nursery had been finished, and only served as a reminder of what he had just lost, Alex went back to his office. But he found himself unable to stop staring at the chair where his beautiful Samantha had sat so radiantly and happy only a few short months ago.

  He remembered that day all too well. The dread that had worked its way into him had nothing on what he was feeling now. That day it had only been physical possessions and money that had been threatened to be taken away from him. Everything. Hah.

  That wasn’t everything. It didn’t even come close. Everything was Samantha. Everything was the daughter she had given to him and then taken away. Everything were all the beautiful babies that he would never hold, because he’d never be able to make them.

  Everything was so much more.

  Trembling with the anger and the betrayal - with the terrible, terrible pain that threatened to suffocate him, he lowered his face into his hands and tried to breathe.

  That’s all he needed to do. Just breathe, and when his head had finally cleared he would be able to think of a way to get his family back. But his breaths came short and uneven and a deep black void of nothingness was starting to suck him under.

  Oh, yes. Now he truly did understand his father. As the darkness settled over him he understood perfectly how his father had com e to make the choice that had taken him away from him.

  He understood the pain, the despair, that had clouded all of his thoughts. But he wasn’t going to let the darkness win with him. Whatever was going on with Samantha, he was going to find it out, and he would deal with it, and he would get her back. That was the difference between him and his father. He was a fighter, and he wasn’t going to give up, not when he had so much to gain.

  He supposed he owed that to his grandfather. Because he also knew now that his father had taken the easy way out, and if there was one thing that Gregory Steel had taught his grandson through the years, it was that easy wasn’t always better. If there was something that was important to you, then you would be willing to fight for it.

  He lowered his hands and didn’t bother to wipe away the wetness from his cheeks. It was then that he became aware of the insistent shrill coming from the top left corner of his desk. He scowled at the phone and considered letting the answering service pick it up, but sighed and reached out for it instead. Maybe it would take his mind off of Samantha and Serena.

  “Alexander Steel,” he said in way of greeting.

  His eyes narrowed at the background noise from the other line. “Mr. Steel?” A deep voice asked.

  “Yes, this is he,” Alex muttered.

  “Mr. Steel, I’m sorry to have to make this call. It’s Dr. Evans.”

  Alex’s back stiffened at the name. “What is it?” he demanded. “What’s,”

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Steel. Your wife, Samantha, was just brought into the emergency room at Orlando General.”

  “Is she alright?” he asked, standing quickly. His heart beat wildly when the doctor hesitated. “Is my wife alright?” he demanded.

  “She’s gone into premature labor, Mr. Steel. I think it would be best if you got down here.”

  Without an answer Alex swiftly hung up and raced for the doors.

  The drive to the hospital was total agony as he tried to force himself to think of only positive things. Sami and Serena were going to be alright. Both of them were going to be fine. They had to be.

  He rushed through the emergency room doors, heading straight for the nurses’ station. “Samantha Steel. Which way is she?” he demanded.

  “And you are?” the older woman behind the counter asked patiently.

  “I’m her husband. She’s a patient of Dr. Evans. Where is she?” he snapped.

  “Oh.” Her eyes widened slightly, sadly, and she gestured towards a set of closed double doors. “Through there, fourth cubical on the right,” she told him.

  He flew through the doors and ran right into Dr. Evans chest. “Where is she? Is she okay?” he asked frantically.

  Dr. Evans took a calm breath. “She’s right down the hall,” he hesitated, then sighed. “She’s under a lot of stress right now. Her blood pressure is dangerously high.”

  “Can you stop the labor?” Alex asked, swallowing hard.

  “With her blood pressure as high as it, I don’t recommend it. It could cause her pressure to go higher, and if that happens,” he trailed off and sighed as he reached up to rub his neck. “I’ve just called for the OR to be prepped. I’m sorry, but a caesarian is the best chance either of them has right now,” he told him honestly.

  Alex swallowed hard and shifted. “Is my daughter going to be alright?” he asked, not quite able to keep his voice from breaking. Evans scowled softly. “I’m sorry, Mr. Steel. It’s just too early to tell.”

  “May I see my wife?” he asked.

  “Only for a moment,” Evans replied
, gesturing down the hall.

  Alex nodded and went to the cubical he’d been shown.

  When the curtain was drawn Samantha looked up to see who it was. The moment that she saw him tears began to stream down her face and she rolled her head away from his direction.

  He was at her side in an instant, gently, tentatively reaching a hand out to touch her golden hair. “Oh, Sami, I’m so sorry. So, So sorry,” he murmured frantically, his heart breaking at the thought that she would blame him for this. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean what I said back at the house. Whatever it is that I did, Sami, I swear to you that I will make it up to you. I love you so much.” he added, kissing her brow.

  She shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut as the tears continued to pour. “It’s not you,” she sobbed. “It’s all my fault. All my fault,”

  Before she could go on any further several of the machines she was hooked up to began to blare in harsh warnings. Her sobs grew louder and she curled into an even tighter ball as suddenly the curtain was flung wide and several doctors and nurses rushed in to check on her.

  Dr. Evans took one look at a read out and swore. “Get her to the OR, now!” he snarled, shoving his way between two of the nurses to do just that himself.

  Alex’s eyes widened in horror as they met the grim set of the doctor’s expression.

  “Alex!” Samantha shouted, gripping his hand. “Alex,”

  “Shh, Sami. I’m right here.” He griped her hand back as he rushed beside her rolling gurney. “I love you, Sami. So much.”

  “Alex,” She tried to clutch his hand closer as they headed through the doors to the cold OR, but one of the more muscled male nurses held him back. “Alex!”

  He could do nothing but stand and watch helplessly as they rolled her away from him. His whole world was falling apart around him and he simply stood there and stared through the small glass windows into the section of the hospital where he was not allowed to follow.

  They had to be alright. They had to be.

  Distraught, he absently followed the blocking nurse to the waiting room, but there was no way he would be able to sit until he knew that his girls were both safe, so he paced. He was still pacing when someone else came in to join his and only glanced up when the other person, when the other man, stopped in front of him.