Chapter Seven #2
“What if you were to spike a fever that required immediate medical attention?”
“I can’t flip a switch and make that happen.”
“They wouldn’t check. They’d take Celia’s word for it, and Nick would never stop me from accompanying you to the hospital. Once we get you there safely, I’ll slip away and figure out who the hell is threatening my family.”
Skip and Celia stared at her.
“What do you think?”
“No way,” Skip said.
“Come on, Dad! It would totally work to get us out of here, and you know I’d get to the bottom of this faster than the FBI ever will.”
“You honestly think I’m going to help you put yourself in danger?”
“I’m not going to be in any danger. They don’t want me. They threatened the kids.”
“If it is Peter, he most definitely wants you, and he’s using the kids to get to you because he knows they’re your Achilles’ heel.”
“He’s too stupid to get to me.”
“He almost blew you up!”
“Now I know what he’s capable of, and my squad can hunt him down and figure out whether he’s behind this. I won’t be doing it by myself, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I’m worried about you getting yourself killed by going rogue against someone the Secret Service felt was a big enough threat to put us all in lockdown.”
“This was a massive overreaction if you ask me.”
“You’ll notice that no one asked you,” Nick said from the doorway.
“Oh, here he is, the one with all the power. What do you need, oh powerful one?”
“What’re you up to, Samantha?”
“Not a damned thing, thanks to the fact that I’m being held prisoner against my will.”
“Come with me,” he said in a stern tone he rarely used with her.
“What if I don’t want to?”
“I’m asking you to come with me.”
Sam glanced at her dad, who raised his brows in Nick’s direction, letting her know exactly whose side he was on.
She scowled at him but went to kiss him good-night anyway.
“Get that fever in the morning,” she whispered in his ear.
“Do it for me.” As she walked toward the door where her husband waited with a hard-to-read expression on his handsome face, she said, “Night, Celia.”
“Night, Sam. Try to get some sleep.”
Nick stepped back to let Sam go by and then followed her to their room.
“Everything all right, Mr. Vice President?” Brant asked from his post at the end of the long dark hallway.
“Yes,” Nick replied. “Thanks, Brant.”
Sam knew he hated this as much as she did, but that didn’t give him the right to make unilateral decisions for her. That would never be okay.
The door closed behind him, and for a long moment he leaned against it watching her as she kicked off the shorts and flip-flops she’d recently donned and got back in bed with no hope of sleeping.
She felt his eyes on her the whole time, even though she kept her back to him.
The bed dipped behind her when he got in, but he stayed on his side, rather than curling up to her the way he normally did.
Distance between them always made her ache, even when it was for a good reason—or what she thought was a good reason.
“Do you remember me telling you about when I was a kid and my mother would call to ask my grandmother if she could see me?”
Surprised by the question, she said, “Yes.” How could she ever forget his stories of sitting in the window for entire Saturdays waiting for someone who didn’t show up more often than she did? “I remember.”
“Every time she didn’t come, I was sure it was because something had happened to her.
I pictured her being hit by a car and stuck in the hospital when she’d much rather be with me.
Until I was about eleven or twelve, that was always my first thought.
Something must’ve happened, because why else wouldn’t she be there when she said she would be? ”
Sam’s heart ached for the little boy who’d been disappointed time and again by the selfish woman who’d given birth to him. Sam turned over and slid across the bed, making herself at home in his arms.
He held her close to him, his lips sliding over her hair and his familiar scent reminding her that as long as he was here beside her, everything would work out. Somehow.
“I wised up eventually and stopped arguing with my grandmother when she’d tell me my mother was nothing but a selfish bitch and I was better off without her.”
Sam wasn’t sure why he was telling her this now, so she waited for him to continue.
“I think that’s why I worry so much about you, because I know that only something like the worst things I imagined then would keep you from coming home to me.
So I do everything I can to keep the bad things from happening.
Sometimes they happen anyway, but how do I let you go out there knowing there’s someone gunning for our family, especially when there’s nothing I can do to keep you safe? ”
“Nick—”
“And if Peter is behind the threat, we already know he’d rather see you dead than happy with me.”
She closed her eyes against a sudden rush of emotion that made her throat feel tight and her chest ache. “Okay.”
“What are you okaying, babe?”
“I’ll stay in this hellhole for as long as necessary to ensure the threat has been neutralized. I’ll stop railing against the injustice of it all, and I’ll stop blaming you for holding me hostage.”
“You have to know there’s no way I’d put you or the others through this if I didn’t feel it was absolutely necessary.”
“I do know that. But what if the FBI can’t figure out who sent that letter? How long can we be expected to stay here? At some point, we have to resume our lives, even if they never find the perp.”
“We’re taking it day by day for now. If it goes on much longer, we’ll have to make some decision. But for now, I’m giving the FBI the time to investigate without having to worry about whether our family is safe.”
“I’d like to be able to call into work. Surely that can be arranged.”
“I’ll see what I can do in the morning for you and the others who have work issues.”
“Thank you. Will you do one other thing for me?”
“Anything for you.” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it.
“The next time something crazy happens, will you please find a way for them to tell me you’re okay? The way I do for you if something happens at my work?”
“I promise that’ll never happen again if I have anything to say about it.”
Sam relaxed into his embrace, as much as she was able to relax under the circumstances.
“Do you still love me after the insanity I added to our already-insane life by taking this stupid job?”
“I still love you. I don’t know how not to love you.”
“Do me a favor, and don’t ever figure that out.”
Sam smiled and kissed his chest. “You got it.”
“You know what I’m thinking right now?”
“I can only imagine.”
He smoothly turned so he was on top of her. “We’re stuck together in this place for God knows how long. No trips, no fund-raising, no murderers to be caught, no meetings to take, nowhere to be except together. Sort of reminds me of Bora Bora.”
“Without the beaches, fresh air, room service, umbrella drinks, gorgeous blue water, sand, sunlight—”
Smiling, he kissed the rest of her rant right off her lips. “How about I remind you of a few things that are exactly like they were there?”
Sam arched her hips into his erection. “I’d be up for a refresher.”