9. Sam
9
SAM
Sam
“ Y es?” I ask, answering my phone.
“Your mother is here, she’s asking for you,” the receptionist informs me.
“She doesn’t know the way up?”
“She would prefer to meet you down here in one of the private meeting rooms. She just walked into room two.”
I sigh. “Great, thanks.”
After hanging up the phone, I stride down the hall and to the elevator. The fact that she knew I was here is already a bad sign, and I don’t have the time or patience for this right now.
When I reach the lobby, I head towards the room, where I can already see her pacing around through the glass wall. She looks visibly angry with her arms crossed as she walks back and forth.
“What are you doing here?” I ask as I enter, closing the door behind me. “And do you not know how to call people?”
She whips around, training her gaze on me. “Don’t, Sam. Just don’t. When a mother receives the phone call I received this morning, she has the right to show up unannounced.”
“And what phone call is that?”
She narrows her eyes. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing with that girl up there, but it needs to stop now. What are you thinking, doing this in your grandfather’s hotel? And right after you just had a game and threw a huge party here? There’s paparazzi everywhere.”
I flex one of my hands, stopping it from balling up into a fist. The staff here were supposed to keep this silent. I specifically told them that.
“Who called you?”
She shakes her head. “I’m not telling you. It doesn’t matter. I don’t know what it is you’re doing, but it can’t be done here.”
“Who?”
“Sam, I’m not telling you. The poor man was just doing his job like I told him to.”
“His job? His job doesn’t involve calling you.”
“It does if I say it does. But this is not the point. I didn’t come here to argue about this. I came because this is a serious situation. The girl? What’s going on?”
“I’ll take care of it.”
She sighs. “Look, whatever this obsession is, you need to get over it quickly. You have too many eyes on you. This family is watched like a hawk by everyone.”
“I said I’ll take care of it. What I do when I leave here doesn’t concern you.”
She scoffs, shooting me a look. “Your actions do affect this family, Sam. Not to mention your own career.”
With one final glance, she turns around and opens the door, walking out of the meeting room. I wait until I see her leave through the front of the lobby before exiting and heading back upstairs.
I’m impatient for the entirety of the elevator ride. I haven’t checked the cameras to see if she ate the food yet, but at this point, I don’t even care if she did. Either way, she’s coming with me.
My mother’s visit was pointless, seeing as the plan to get Kim from here to my house is already set in motion. But my annoyance that my mother is watching me refuses to go away.
I’ll have to do some digging to find out who her contact here is. Though, that will have to wait until much later.
I stalk down the hall as soon as the elevator door slides open. The penthouse floor is dead silent, not a single soul up here besides me and Kim.
When I reach the room, I stand outside the door, debating how I want to do this. If she hasn’t eaten the food, then this will prove to be much more difficult.
A smile spreads across my face. Maybe difficult is better. Maybe I want that.
I unlock the door with my thumb on the keypad before swinging it open. Kim lies in the bed, one hand hanging over the side of it, and one cheek smushed into the pillow.
As my eyes sweep down her body, I feel a deep satisfaction at the sight of her. She’s finally mine. All the waiting, all the planning, it’s finally come to this.
Pulling out my phone, I shoot a text to one of the valet guys, telling him to bring my car around to the service entrance. Once he replies, I scoop Kim into my arms and carry her out of the room and through the penthouse until we reach the service elevator. This one is closed off to the rest of the building, only staff can access it.
My anticipation builds with each second that it takes us down, and the ding as the door opens is music to my ears. I step out and turn to the left, towards the service entrance that leads to a separate parking lot for the staff.
When I approach the glass door, I can already see my car parked outside. I walk us out and Thomas opens the back door for me. I give him a nod before carefully placing Kim on the brown leather backseat.
Once she’s in place, I close the door and turn to Thomas. He doesn’t look at me, averting his eyes towards the building. I pat him on the back.
“Thanks. I’d appreciate your discretion.”
“Of course, Mr. Warwick.”
Just as I’m about to get in the driver’s seat, I turn to him. “That includes my mother. If I hear anything about this from her, I’ll know exactly who told her.”
He meets my eyes and nods. “Yes sir, I understand.”
I slide into the driver’s seat and shut the door. The car is already running, so I take off immediately, glancing back at Kim.
“Time to go home, my little dancer.”
She’s still asleep, so she gives no reply. I find myself wondering how long the sedatives will keep her knocked out. My home isn’t too far from here, so it should at least keep her down until we get there.
And if it doesn’t? Well, then I guess the games will begin a bit earlier than I’d planned.
“We’re going to have a lot of fun together,” I mutter, looking back at her sleeping face again. She looks even more angelic when she’s unconscious.
It takes less than thirty minutes to reach my house. We pull up to the gates, and I press a button to open them before driving us through.
My house stands tall, sprawling out farther than the eye can see from here. It’s huge, most of the rooms are without a purpose yet. But that will change soon.
The lawn out front is freshly cut, the trees trimmed to perfection. At the far left, a lot of those trees hide the rest of my home from view.
This entire property is gated, and I also own a lot of the land outside of the gates. So if anyone ever tried to get close, they wouldn’t have much luck.
Unless they’re my mother. She has a very annoying way of weaseling her way into wherever she wants to be.
I pull up to the large garage, which can easily fit over ten cars. It currently has about six, soon to be seven once I pull in.
The door opens as soon as I approach, thanks to the sensor I have installed. It closes behind us once we’re inside. I shut the car off and get out, before unlocking the door that leads into the house.
Once it’s unlocked, I take Kim out of the car and walk inside with her. The cool air conditioning of my house hits us, and for a moment I just look around.
Kim is going to love it here.
She’s fast asleep in my arms, her chest rising and falling slowly every few seconds. I press a kiss to her forehead, breathing her in.
When I pull away, I head towards the large spiral staircase that leads to the second floor. Her bedroom is up there, already fully decorated and tailored just for her.
“Not that you’ll be needing it for long,” I tell her.
Eventually, she’ll move into my room with me, and I don’t plan on letting her leave it.
Upstairs, I cross the threshold into her room and walk towards the large bed that sits against the far wall. Reluctantly, I set her down on the soft comforter, making sure her head is rested nicely on the pillows.
My hand drifts to her cheek, where I run my fingers along her smooth skin. Her eyelids flutter, and for a moment I think she’s going to wake up, but she doesn’t.
“So beautiful,” I marvel. “You’re finally where you belong.”