Xander gave a rueful grimace at her astuteness. ‘Something had been building inside me for weeks before that night, but that night I witnessed a man in the Midas nightclub verbally berating and humiliating the woman he was with. And I wanted to pulverise him into the ground,’ he acknowledged grimly.
‘A perfectly understandable reaction; I would have wanted to pulverise him too,’ Samantha assured vehemently. ‘Did you do it?’
‘No.’ A nerve pulsed in Xander’s tightly clenched jaw. ‘I wanted to, but somehow managed to keep control long enough to pass the problem off to security.’
‘Doesn’t that restraint prove to you that you’re nothing like your father?’ Samantha gave him an encouraging smile. ‘That you never could be?’
Xander continued to look down at her for several long minutes, before drawing in a deep breath. ‘Thank you for that. I appreciate it, after all I’ve just told you.’
He did appreciate Samantha’s confidence, belief, in him. More than he could possibly say. More than he dared think about, when Samantha seemed so determined to keep him at arm’s length, physically, at least. For the moment he would settle for her opening up to him emotionally.
‘I want to help you, if I can, Samantha,’ he encouraged gruffly. ‘You aren’t without powerful friends of your own now,’ he pointed out softly. ‘Andy and Darius. And now me.’
Was Xander her friend?
Sure, he had become fond of Daisy these past four days, but things had been so strained between the two of them since Saturday evening, that Sam had been sure Xander must be counting the days until she left his apartment.
His concern now and the confidences he had shared with her regarding his own childhood, while not exactly making them friends, had certainly broken down the barriers they had both been keeping about their emotions since Saturday evening.
‘What did your ex-husband say to you this morning, Samantha?’ he prompted gently.
She drew in a deep breath. ‘Well, for one thing, he apparently isn’t happy that Daisy and I are staying here in your apartment, even temporarily.’
‘Tough.’ Xander scowled. ‘What else?’
‘He wanted me to have dinner with him this evening.’
Xander stilled as he looked at Samantha.
‘And are you going to accept the invitation?’
‘I already turned him down.’ She gave a humourless smile. ‘And it was more of a threat than an invitation.’
‘What does he want besides dinner?’ Xander rasped harshly. As if he couldn’t guess. As if he didn’t already know what the man wanted!
Samantha was an incredibly beautiful woman, a woman with a warm and loving heart; any man would have to be completely stupid to have ever let her go in the first place.
‘He wants me to become his mistress,’ Samantha confirmed, her gaze no longer able to meet his.
Xander drew in a deep controlling breath, continuing to breathe deeply until he felt capable of talking again. ‘And how does he intend to retaliate if you don’t agree to that?’
The colour drained from Sam’s cheeks. ‘He said he’ll apply to the court for visiting rights with Daisy. Which I can’t allow to happen,’ she continued emotionally. ‘Malcolm never wanted Daisy in the first place. He ignored her very existence when we lived with him, by imposing all sorts of ridiculous rules regarding her behaviour. And he’s had absolutely no interest in seeing her since the two of us parted and divorced.’