Chapter Fourteen
S amantha sat in the conference room of Drake Blakely, Esq., listening to Tim Daley, the lawyer she’d hired, read the list of Jeremy’s demands before he would even consider dissolving the partnership, which included him taking their top clients.
“A buyout is off the table?” she asked, horrified.
“It’s a tactic,” Tim, her lawyer, assured her.
“You mean he’ll want an obscene amount of money to go away,” she muttered.
Tim, a middle-aged man with a receding hairline and a large stomach, sat at the head of the table. “Probably, but I have maneuvers of my own. I suggest we stall him by bringing in a forensic accountant to go over the books.”
“Are you concerned?”
“Irrelevant,” Tim said with a shrug. “It’s standard when dissolving a business or prior to a buyout. But considering Jeremy was willing to marry you and play the long game to get his hands on your money, once we inform him of the plan, he’s going to panic and we might see whether or not he’s operating on the up and up.”
She blinked, stunned at what he was insinuating. “You think he’s stealing from the business?”
“I’ve seen these situations before and I wouldn’t be surprised. Stay calm and work as usual. I’ll handle the rest. If he approaches you about things, refer him to me.”
Her stomach twisted as she rose from her seat. “Thank you, Tim.”
“My pleasure. Don’t worry, Samantha. I’ve handled worse snakes than your partner.”
She managed a smile but was happy she had this man in her corner.
“I’ll be in touch,” he said. “In the meantime, it’s business as usual for you.”
With a nod, she walked out of the conference room. Once she was in the hall by the elevators, she pulled out her phone and texted Dex, letting him know she’d left and would meet him at his brother’s bar as planned. She pulled up a rideshare app and waited on the corner.
By the time she arrived at the bar, she’d worked herself up over how Jeremy might react when he found out she’d hired the forensic accountant. Dex met her outside the back door, which was the main entrance and accounted for the bar’s name.
She walked into his embrace and relaxed for the first time.
As he wrapped his strong arms around her, she knew she was getting in deep with this man. At the moment, she couldn’t bring herself to care.
“What happened at the lawyer’s?” he asked.
Stepping back, she met his gaze. “We went over Jeremy’s list of wants in order to dissolve the partnership.” She enumerated them for Dex as they entered the bar. “He says a total buyout is off the table but Tim, my lawyer, says it’s just a tactic.”
“More attempts to get his hands on your money,” Dex said in a low, angry voice.
“Exactly.”
“Hi, brother-in-law!” Raven walked over with menus in hand and kissed Dex’s cheek. “Table for two?”
“Yes,” he said. “Samantha, this is Remy’s wife, Raven. Raven, meet Samantha Dare.”
“Aah, Samantha. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” the pretty woman said. “I admit to being curious.”
Dex narrowed his gaze. “Raven, behave.”
Samantha blushed but coming from a large family, she understood. “If my brother disappeared with a woman in a wedding dress, I’d be curious too.” Might as well mention the elephant in the room, Samantha thought.
Raven laughed. “I like you. Come on. Let me get you two settled.”
A few minutes later, they had their soft drinks and instead of being alone, Raven had joined them. Then Remy, Dex’s brother, walked out from the back offices. Introductions were made and they started talking about how Raven and Remy went from boss and employee to husband and wife. Samantha enjoyed hearing their story.
“Remy is not just a bar owner, he’s a private investigator,” Dex said, placing his hand over hers. In public.
She shivered at his touch and Raven gave her a knowing look. The type that said, I know you have feelings for my brother-in-law. She wouldn’t be wrong.
“You know, maybe we should have him look into Jeremy,” Dex suggested.
Remy turned toward her. “I’m happy to do it. What do you think?”
She liked that Remy asked her opinion, that he didn’t just jump to do what Dex suggested.
“Samantha?” Dex asked.
She liked more that Dex asked her, too. He didn’t just decide and trample over her choices like Ian might have done in the same situation.
“I appreciate it but I think I’ll let things play out with my lawyer, at least for now.” She didn’t want Tim to feel as though she were undermining him or his work. He had a plan and she’d stick with it.
Remy nodded. “If you need me, I’m here.”
She smiled, liking Dex’s brother. “Thanks again.”
A few minutes later, a dark-haired woman in a flowing skirt walked in and pulled a chair over to the table. “Thanks for letting me know to stop by,” she said to Raven before turning to Samantha. “Hi, I’m Dex’s only sister. Fallon.” She treated Samantha to a smile.
“Hi.”
“What the hell is going on?” Dex asked, glaring at his sister-in-law.
She shrugged and glanced at Remy. “Remy and I thought the rest of the family would like to meet Samantha.”
“Don’t you think a heads-up would be nice?” He glared at them both while Samantha’s cheeks burned.
He turned toward her. “We can leave. I’m sure the last thing you expected on an already stressful day was to be ambushed by my family.”
She shook her head. “It’s fine. I come from a huge clan, remember? I just don’t want them to think we’re more serious than we really are,” she whispered, finding it hard to meet his gaze.
The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him and as she spoke, the words felt wrong on her tongue. But she refused to put herself in a position where she was in a relationship again so soon.
“It’s all good.” He squeezed her hand in reassurance. “Fallon, what’s up with you?” Dex changed the subject and focused on his sister.
“The store next to the gallery closed and instead of leasing it to someone else, Clara is going to run with my idea to join it with the gallery so we can have classes and parties, along with some wine drinking. I want to call it Paint, Party & Sip.” She clasped her hands together, her excitement obvious. “It’s mostly for adults but I can accommodate older teens, too.”
“That sounds fun,” Samantha said. “I’d love to give it a try.”
“I’ll be sure to let you know when we’re open.” Fallon beamed at the prospect, her cheeks flushed and eyes bright.
Remy’s phone rang and he answered, talking for a few seconds before hanging up. “Well, Jared and Aiden can’t get away from the office because Dad went home early.”
Dex frowned. “Is he not feeling well?” Beside her, he stiffened and Samantha noticed Fallon reacted similarly.
“Damned if I know. He’s stubborn. Refuses to slow down like the doctors ordered him to do. I think Lizzie is frustrated and concerned.”
Fallon sighed. “I already tried to talk to him. Maybe if one of you did too?”
“I’ve got it,” Dex said. “I’ll take a ride over there in the next day or so.”
Samantha placed a hand on his shoulder. Though she didn’t know what was going on, he was obviously worried and as much as he’d been a support for her, she wanted to do the same in return.
“Let me know how you make out,” Remy said. “Maybe if Raven and I go after you, he’ll get the message.”
The mood lightened up after the talk about their father and another hour passed by the time everyone stood to leave.
After saying goodbye to his family, Dex turned to face her. “How are you getting home?”
“Uber,” she said, opening her bag to search for her phone.
“I’ve got you. My car is parked in the lot.”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind taking a rideshare,” she said, not wanting him to have to go out of his way.
“I mind.” He tapped her nose. “Come on. This way I can spend a little more time with you.”
Warmth filled her, both at his offer and reason.
Once they were settled inside the vehicle and on their way, she turned toward him. “I really like your family.”
“They’re nosey,” he said but his voice held a hint of affection.
She laughed. “Because they love you. I’m sure that’s why they wanted to check me out.”
“I love them too. Even when I want to kill them,” he muttered. “But I’m glad you didn’t mind the ambush.”
“Of course not. My family would do the same thing.”
He didn’t reply and she had a weird feeling about his silence. “Dex? Is something wrong?”
He kept one hand on the wheel, eyes on the road, but he grabbed her hand with his free one. “I’ve been debating when to explain this to you. Since we’re talking about protective family members, this is probably as good a time as any.”
She kicked off her heel and curled the leg beneath her, turning to face him. “What did Ian do?” she asked, because it didn’t take a perceptive genius to figure out this had something to do with her overprotective brother.
“Remember you mentioned that I pulled away from kissing you twice?”
She nodded. “I do,” she said, her stomach suddenly in knots.
“That New Year’s Eve night with you was life-altering. You were smart and sexy. That whole evening was special. But after the kiss, I turned my head and saw Ian glaring at me. At the time, I was a rookie and he held my career in his hands.” She heard the regret in his voice.
“I understand why you backed off, but I don’t get why my brother thought it was okay to mess with my life.” She’d been so into Dex, so swept off her feet by the man. His turning cold on her had hurt badly.
He pulled in front of her building, put the vehicle in park, and turned to meet her gaze. “The same reason Fallon came today. He loves you and was protective. You were young. I was football focused.”
She curled her hands into fists. “It wasn’t his place.”
He cupped a hand beneath her chin. “Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t, but he did us a favor. I needed to focus on my career and couldn’t make you a priority. I can now.”
She swallowed hard. “But—”
“But nothing. You asked for time, you have time. You need to get your life in order, I respect that. But I’m no longer a kid who’ll listen to another man telling me what to do. You’re the only one who has a say in this relationship. Not my family or yours.” He slid his hand around her neck and pulled her toward him, sealing his lips over hers.
He took her like he’d done that night under the mistletoe, showing her he meant what he said. This time, he wasn’t going anywhere. Every nerve ending inside her ignited, her body aflame. She moaned into his mouth. Wrapped her arms around his neck and let the kiss go on until he pulled back, out of breath.
He touched his forehead to hers. “Go inside before I can’t control myself.” His low growl turned her on even more.
Though they’d spent a good amount of time together, she’d been forcing herself to have alone time to think. So she didn’t jump into something so soon after Jeremy. As much as she wanted to invite him up, she forced herself to open the car door and walk into her building alone.