The Taming of Xander Sterne(53)

                She gave a rueful grimace. ‘You already know so much, so why shouldn’t you know the rest? Malcolm offered me a deal when I divorced him, a small monthly maintenance payment for Daisy, no alimony or settlement for me, the return of all the jewellery and gifts he had given me during our marriage, and in exchange he would give me full custody of Daisy.’

                ‘Full custody of the child he didn’t want in the first place?’ Xander said softly.

                ‘Yes.’ She smiled shakily.

                Xander had never heard of anything so diabolical in his life. It was utterly disgusting. Malcolm Howard was worth millions, and yet he had begrudged his ex-wife even the small amount of money she needed to be able to take care of her daughter?

                A diabolical deal he was now threatening to renege on unless Samantha gave in to his demand that she become his mistress.

                What sort of man did that to the woman he had once been married to, the same woman who was the mother of his child?

                ‘Do you trust me, Samantha?’ Xander asked huskily.

                ‘To do what?’ She eyed him warily.

                ‘To help you and Daisy?’

                To make sure that Howard suffered, in the way he had made Samantha and Daisy suffer, in the past, and now!

                Did Sam trust Xander? It had been so long since she had relied on anyone. Since she had trusted anyone enough to rely on them; she had thought she could trust and rely on Malcolm once, and look how well that had turned out!

                ‘Don’t think about the past for now, Samantha,’ Xander encouraged as he obviously saw, and guessed, the reason for her frown. ‘Just concentrate on whether or not you trust me to find a way that will free you, and Daisy, of your ex-husband’s hold on you once and for all.’

                Did she want Xander to do that? Was this the answer, the miracle, she had been praying for earlier?

                Did Sam really have any choice but to trust Xander, when her own and Daisy’s future hung so precariously in the balance, once again because of Malcolm’s threats?

                She moistened the dryness of her lips before speaking. ‘Why would you even want to help us? It isn’t your problem.’

                ‘I’m making it so,’ he insisted grimly.

                Sam looked at him wonderingly. ‘You really are a sheep in wolf’s clothing, aren’t you?’

                His mouth twisted wryly at that description. ‘I’m actually a wolf in a wolf’s clothing. But even wolves have a heart, Samantha. And, for obvious reasons, I utterly despise bullies,’ he added harshly. ‘So...’ he straightened ‘...will you let me help you?’

                Sam looked at him for several long seconds before she slowly nodded her head. ‘He gave me until the end of the week to make my decision.’

                ‘Big of him.’

                ‘He seemed to think so, yes.’

                ‘I’ll have something in place by then,’ Xander assured her grimly.

                ‘Then, yes,’ she accepted huskily. ‘Yes, I’ll gladly let you help me, if you really want to.’

                ‘I want to.’ He nodded tersely.