A tear fell on her hand, followed by another before she could wipe them away. “But, that would’ve meant I was no better than they were.”
Caleb’s soft curse burned her ears. “You were a child, Samantha. You can’t possibly blame yourself for what happened.”
“I don’t. Not anymore.” She dared a glance at him, relieved he didn’t appear to be judging her. “It took me a while, but once I was out from under his thumb, I realized that no matter how many times he’d hit my mother, my first instinct had been to protect her. Once I got a little older, I tried, but my father was true to his word. I never tried again.”
“Wasn’t there anyone who could’ve helped you?”
She smiled at the familiar question. “Money and power buy a lot of things, Caleb. Silence. Loyalty. Add a healthy dose of fear and the answer is no. My mother covered for him and his employees turned the other cheek. I was on my own.”
The fact that he didn’t like her answer was written all over his face. “Do you worry about her?”
“My mother? My mother told me that had she known I’d be so much trouble, she’d have killed me in her womb. That her life would’ve been better without me in it,” Samantha all but snarled.
“Don’t ever forget that,” her mother had said, pinching Samantha’s chin hard as she drilled her with a stare. “And don’t ever darken our threshold again.”
For once, Samantha and her mother had been in perfect agreement.
“No, Caleb. I don’t worry about her. Maybe I did at first, but it served no purpose. After I graduated from law school, I tried to help her. She refused. She’s as crazy as he is. Trust me, they deserve each other.”
He seemed to consider her words. Samantha knew it went against his moral code, but her mother was a lost cause. She didn’t want out and Samantha wouldn’t waste any more energy trying to change her mind.
“You were young when you left your parent’s home, right? How’d you survive?”
“I was fifteen, and honestly? Alec and your dad.”
“What?” The shock on Caleb’s face made Samantha wonder just how clueless Caleb was about his family. “How did they help you?”
“Alec and I had been casual friends for a year or so. I hadn’t been allowed to date or have friends over, but I’d see Alec at school. He’d notice the bruises I’d tried to hide and eventually figured it out. One day, he confronted me about it and I broke down and told him the truth. Alec ignored me and went to your dad, who made arrangements with an attorney to help get me away. I stayed with her after my mother kicked me out. She gave me a place to stay while she fought for my inheritance. I don’t know all the details, but my father fought hard. Then, after a visit from your father, he backed off. And I mean seriously backed off. I haven’t heard from the man since.”
And Douglas Martin had taken that conversation to the grave.
Caleb shook his head. “I never knew.”
Samantha shrugged. “You weren’t here and it didn’t concern you. There was no reason you should’ve known. The woman who took me in was a friend of your parents. Claire Atwood. Ring a bell?”
“Claire.” His eyes narrowed as he stared off into the distance. “Yeah, I remember her. She passed away a few years ago.”
“Yes.” Not a day went by that Samantha didn’t miss her. “She helped me get into law school, even made arrangements to pay my tuition, although I wouldn’t hear of it. She’d argue that she had no kids of her own and she couldn’t take her money with her.” Samantha smiled with fond remembrance. “She called me a natural after that argument. Anyway, I never met my grandfather; he passed before I was born. He left a provision in his will for me. One that made sure I’d be taken care of. Financially, anyway. He must have known what kind of man his son was. Claire and I compromised and donated the money she would’ve spent on my tuition to a local woman’s shelter and I used a portion of my inheritance to pay for college.”
Understanding dawned in his gaze. “That’s why you helped Carlotta.”
“Vincent is just like my father,” she spat. “Men who have that kind of money and power think they are above the law. That they can do whatever and hurt whomever they want. No,” she shook her head. “Not on my watch. When I left my father’s home, I swore I’d never allow another man to push me around. And I’d never sit back and watch it happen to anyone else. Vincent Matteo is a parasite. If he thinks he can bully me into giving him what he wants, he’s dangerously mistaken. Even more so, now that you are on my side.”