“I haven’t lied to her.”
“Yet.”
“Give me a little credit. I’m not that much of an asshole.”
“Says who?”
“Says me, dickhead.” Caleb lowered his voice. “Come on, Alec. You know I’m right about this. Samantha’s unpredictable on her best day. If we tell her now, she’ll have time to think about it and god only knows what she’ll plan. She has every right to be pissed off, but I’d prefer to handle this my way. With any luck, we can keep the two of them apart and she’ll never be the wiser. No harm, no foul. Samantha enjoys her evening and I eliminate the threat. It’s a win-win.”
“What makes you think it’s going to be that easy?”
Caleb chuckled. “I can be very convincing when I need to be. I’m sure I can get Matteo to see reason.”
“And if Sam decides to confront him herself?”
Caleb ran a hand through his hair and blew out a breath. Every instinct screamed that this was a bad idea, but he didn’t know what else to do. He’d leave her ass at home if it were possible. Unfortunately, they’d used her name to secure their invitations. Any other time, he might think it was funny to be Samantha’s ‘plus three’.
It was a risk he had to take. He couldn’t let Samantha go without putting assurances for her safety in place. She’d always be looking over her shoulder, always wondering. Whether she’d admitted it or not, she was afraid. And that was unacceptable.
And even after he let her go, Caleb would still watch. From a distance, of course. At least until he was certain Matteo stayed leashed.
He wouldn’t fail her. Caleb would keep her safe.
“She’s promised to trust me. And you need to do the same thing. She deserves a little fun, Alec. She deserves to go where she wants, whenever she wants, without fear.”
He’d give her that. Whatever it took.
“Well, well, well. Listen to you. Sounds like someone is going all soft for our girl.”
Soft wasn’t the word he’d have chosen. “I’m hanging up now, Alec. I got this.”
He disconnected on Alec’s laugh. His brother didn’t understand how easily things could fall apart. It was something Caleb knew all too well. He was already walking a fine line with Samantha, allowing emotions to get involved. The more time he spent with her, buried deep in the welcoming heat of her body, the more he lost himself to her.
He’d worked hard over the years to keep her at a distance. Now, in the course of a few days, the wild Irish beauty had wrapped herself around his heart.
He moved about the kitchen as he considered what they knew. Jack shit, that was what they knew. Hunches and speculation, that was what they had. Nothing concrete. No evidence to link Samantha’s harassment to anyone, let alone a powerful man like Matteo. Alec and Amanda had come up with a big, fat goose egg in their search of Matteo’s files. Frustrations were running high.
Caleb filled two glasses with ice and grabbed a pitcher of tea from the fridge.
Lack of information made it damned hard for him to know what to do.
Who had helped Samantha make Carlotta disappear? Why had Carlotta hired Samantha in the first place? Where was the woman now and what made her worth all of this trouble?
There were too many unanswered questions.
Caleb grabbed the glasses and found Samantha sitting in the middle of his bed. A warmth filled his chest. She looked as if she belonged here, in his space, his bed.
Dressed casually in jean shorts and a T-shirt that hugged her curves, she sat cross-legged, her gaze intent on the laptop as her fingers flew over the keys. “Someone busting your balls?”
He leaned a shoulder against the archway. “How much did you hear?”
“Not much, but over the years I’ve grown accustomed to the tone you use when you’re annoyed.”
“I’m sure you have,” he said dryly. “What’re you working on?”
“Hmm?” Her fingers kept working as she finally spared him a glance. “Oh, a friend of mine has a non-profit and I’m helping him with some funding paperwork.”
“Him?”
“Yeah, Mike Harris. He runs a youth home outside of town. You know him?”
Prominent businessman turned savior to Austin’s youth? “Heard of him. Decent guy if the rumors are correct.”
“The rumors are very correct. He’s the best of the best. I swear the man’s a saint.”
An uncomfortable feeling tightened Caleb’s gut. “Are you two close?”
“We’re friends, colleagues.” She sighed and closed her laptop, giving him her full attention. “I do a lot of work for local charities, fundraising and such. Was there something specific you wanted to know?” Her eyes sparkled with mischief.