Breaking His Rules (17 page)

His face paled at my bald accusation.

“I planned to tell you before my trip,” he said, folding his arms over his chest. “You wouldn’t let me. Remember?”

I bit my bottom lip and glanced away. He should have pushed harder and told me anyway.

“I’m not like them.” He growled, gritting his teeth.

He didn’t need to use names. I knew exactly who he was referring to because my thoughts had strayed in the exact same direction only moments before. And as much as he wanted me to believe he was different, his actions spoke much louder than his words.

“You hired me with every intent of ruining me—someone you didn’t even know—so you could get what you wanted.” I lifted an eyebrow. “How is that any different than Giovanni or my father?”

“Motivation.” He ground out with a steely glare. “What I did was driven by a desire to fulfill my mother’s greatest wish. That’s the difference. Do not throw me under the same bus as Giovanni. That’s bullshit and you know it. Once I met you and realized my mistake, I put an end to your father’s diabolical plan. Don’t tell me you’ve never made a mistake in your life!”

He turned and collected his clothing before heading into the bathroom to dress. I stared at his retreating back in shock.
What the fuck?
He wasn’t the injured party. I didn’t need this bullshit and I didn’t need Damon.

He stormed out of the bathroom with his hair slicked back with water and grabbed his keys and wallet, shoving them into his pant pockets. The receipt from Let It Rayne glared up at him from the counter. He grabbed it and tossed it in the trash before heading for the door. His hand hovered over the handle and he paused.

“When you’ve had time to cool down and think about it, we can talk again. I still want you, Samantha. But you have to be the one to decide whether or not you can trust me. I could’ve taken you down in a heartbeat—especially after the way you treated me that first night at Midnight Blue. But I didn’t, because I realized quite soon after we met that you are a rare gem. Remember that, please.”

Bewildered

R
esisting the urge
to slam the door behind me, I stalked through the doorway and pulled it shut with a firm grip. Samantha hadn’t moved to stop me, hadn’t reacted to my parting words. A tight ball formed in my stomach and I took the stairs two at a time, running away from the devastating truth snapping at my heels. She would never forgive me.

How could I make her believe I was different? Tension built in my shoulders and neck as my mind raced through the possibilities. But every road led to the same fucking dead end. I couldn’t force her to see. Because it didn’t matter in her eyes that I hadn’t gone through with the plan. Hiring her at Midnight Blue with the intention of ruining her reputation—that alone sealed my fate.

Slamming through the front doors to her apartment complex, I swore under my breath and searched once down the street for my driver. Of course Stefan was nowhere to be found. I’d sent him home after we’d arrived. The chilly night air seeped through my thin dress shirt and I shoved my hands into my pockets, hunkering down against the cold while I walked in the direction of Lake Michigan where my chances of finding a taxi was best. I hadn’t even made it six steps when a limousine stopped at the curb and the back window rolled down.

“Samantha toss you out on your ass, my friend?” Giovanni asked with a hint of humor in his tone. “Glad to see you’re getting the same treatment. Gives me hope.”

“Back the fuck off, Giovanni.” I growled, in no mood to deal with him. Never mind that his joke wasn’t funny. Oh, no. It was far too close to the truth and stung more than the sharp jab of a wasp. “She isn’t interested in rekindling a relationship with you. Stop being a stubborn ass and accept defeat.”

Giovanni scoffed and pulled out a cigarette. He took his time lighting it before drawing deep and blowing the smoke in my face through the open window. “You know me better than that. All it takes is a bit of patience and an iron will. She’ll relent. Eventually.”

The man was insufferable and, at the moment, I was running thin on patience. “She’s mine.”

“Then why are you on the street at two o’clock in the morning searching for a cab in nothing but slacks and a dress shirt?” Giovanni asked with an arched brow. “No, I don’t think so. You had your first argument. Samantha is ripe for the picking.”

Giovanni had the ability to crawl under my skin and piss me off with little effort. And he was right about one thing. His patience and iron will were legendary. The bastard wasn’t going away anytime soon unless we struck a deal. “What are you doing here, anyway? You don’t honestly think you’ve a chance of getting her to let you in at this hour.”

Giovanni chuckled and drew another hit from his cigarette. “I’m patient, not stupid. Just part of my routine. Checking to make sure she’s home safe.”

My jaw clenched at the thought of Giovanni keeping close tabs on Samantha. He was as obsessed with Samantha as I was. Maybe even more so because I couldn’t see myself stalking her apartment. This had to end and now.

“What do you want to leave her alone? Name your price.”

The driver jumped out of the car and opened the passenger door. I stalked around the back end of the vehicle and slid inside. Heat radiated through the seat as I adjusted my legs and settled in. Within seconds the driver pulled away from the curb and, after listening to Giovanni’s instructions, closed the privacy divider. The fucker knew exactly where I lived as well.

Giovanni smashed the end of his cigarette into a built-in ashtray, and then he turned to me while tapping his fingers on his leg. His intense stare sized me up, but I didn’t flinch or look away. I think a part of me already knew his answer.

“You know my price, Damon. Or have you forgotten my reason for coming to Chicago?”

Disgust swept through me and I glanced out my side window into the dark night. Had Giovanni been playing me all along? I wouldn’t put it past the cocksucker. He really didn’t give two shits about Samantha. She continued to be nothing more than leverage for his next business deal.

“You want Midnight Blue.” Saying it out loud brought a sharp pain to my heart. It was inevitable that I would relent, even though the nightclub was my baby. It marked the first venture I financed on my own. And it was a raging success. Something I was inordinately proud of.

“At a discounted price. Let’s say eighty percent of my original offer,” Giovanni said casually. “She’s a beautiful woman and means the world to me. We were engaged once. I imagine she could love me again if I put my mind to it. In exchange, I will never pursue Samantha again.”

Pressing my lips into a grim line, I held back the acerbic words scorching my tongue. Rubbing Giovanni’s face in his own shit would not solve the issue. It would only serve to elongate the negotiation process and lower the asking price. But I wasn’t bending over like a prison bitch and offering up my brown spider. His offer was akin to rape.

“That extends to the entire Rayne family,” I said with a steely gaze. “No more threats and no more contact. You have enough soldiers marching to your drumbeat. Any legitimate business you’ve got with Samantha’s father or brother can go through one of your associates. Throw that in and we’ve got a deal.”

Giovanni held out his hand. “Done.”

My hand encircled his and I squeezed firmly. Gentlemen handshakes in his line of business were a binding contract. And unless I fancied a bullet to the head, I would keep my end of the bargain.

“I’ll have my attorney draw up the papers tomorrow,” Giovanni said as his driver pulled to the curb outside my penthouse. “But allow me one last call with Samantha. She won’t believe I’ll leave her alone unless I confirm it myself.”

As much as I wanted to tell him to fuck off, the bastard was probably right. I opened the door and shot over my shoulder, “Agreed.”

Giovanni’s window lowered when I reached the sidewalk. “She’ll never forgive you.”

What the fuck?
I glared back, tempted to plant my fist in his face. Our negotiations were over. Neither one of us would back out so anything that happened now was icing on the cake. But the sympathetic look he gave me halted me in my tracks.

“What makes you think there is anything she needs to forgive?”

Giovanni rubbed his jaw and smiled. “Who planted the seed in Mr. Rayne’s head about you ruining her? Think about it. Would you have ever sold Midnight Blue to me otherwise?”

His words knocked the breath out of me harder than a fist to the gut. Samantha wasn’t the pawn in Giovanni’s latest game. I held that honor. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and blew it out. So this was how it felt to be fucked from behind? I’d always known he was a mean son-of-a-bitch who toyed with people’s lives. Samantha was right about that, too. Was that the lens she saw me through? The thought turned my stomach.

“You couldn’t have known I’d fall for her, Giovanni.”

“Oh, but I could,” he replied with a solemn shake of his head. “Samantha is the best thing that ever happened to me and I fucked it up. You’re more like me than you want to admit and I knew you could never resist her. That you’d fall hard.” He pursed his lips in thought. “And you did. Can’t say I’m sorry about how it all turned out. Never cared much about other’s plowing her ripe cunt, but I refuse to share her heart. It belonged to me once.”

Anger simmered a thousand degrees hotter than lava in my gut. Giovanni either didn’t know or didn’t give a shit that he’d traumatized Samantha with his attitude about sharing her with other men. But I knew. And I cared. I strode to the car, hauled him out by the scruff of his neck and planted my fist square on his jaw. He landed on the sidewalk in a heap and rolled onto his back, his eyes wide with shock and pain. A trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth to his chin, filling me with a small measure of satisfaction.

“That was for Samantha, you fucking whore!”

Adrenaline poured through me and I shook out my hand as Giovanni’s driver raced around the vehicle to assist him. I didn’t wait for the limousine to pull away. Couldn’t be rid of his foul presence quick enough. Maybe Giovanni cared for Samantha in his own sick way. But I was glad it was finally over, and Samantha was safe from him meddling in her life. The price was steep, but one I paid willingly. Midnight Blue was a nightclub. Samantha was the love of my life.

I entered the building and ran my hand through my hair as I waited for the elevator. It throbbed but I smiled, pulling my phone out of my pocket.

Damon:
Just planted Giovanni a facer on your behalf. You’re welcome!

No reply. Not that I had expected one. I had to give her time and space. And hope she’d forgive me against all odds.

Moving On

M
y phone vibrated
against the side table for the fifth time and Brandy meowed loudly.

“Annoying, isn’t it?” I asked her, petting between her eyes. She burrowed into my hand and purred.

Giovanni’s phone number lit up the screen. I ignored it and blew my nose into a tissue. Why the hell wouldn’t he let me go? Even after Damon kicked his ass the man was relentless and a constant reminder of everything I wanted to run away from but couldn’t. Would I ever be free of him?

Life had become a hot mess in the past two days and I was on the edge of a serious breakdown. Sick to my stomach. Broken hearted. No way to support myself. What a complete idiot I was to think I could bartend at Midnight Blue while Damon mingled with his guests within a few feet of my bar. His tortured gaze met mine more than once over the course of the first evening after our confrontation, and I could literally feel his pain because it mirrored my own. And although he was never far away, he kept his word and didn’t approach me or pressure me to speak with him. Still, being so close to him was torture. I put in my resignation after my shift, knowing I needed distance and time to think. Neither of which I would get if I continued to work there. Damon owned the nightclub, so it was logical that I had to be the one to let go.

I still want you, Samantha.

Only Damon wasn’t letting go of me. I choked back a sob and pressed my hands to my eyes, willing the tears to stop. My eyes were swollen and the ache in my chest was a constant reminder of everything I had to lose.

But you have to be the one to decide whether or not you can trust me.

Could I trust Damon? More tears streamed down my cheeks and I yanked another tissue from the box as I stared at the running list of pros and cons on the pad of paper resting in my lap. There were a lot of pros and not so many cons.

Cons:

Planned to ruin my reputation
.

Control freak.

Billionaire arrogance.

Pros:

Came clean about his plans to ruin me.

Brandy loves him and cats are a good judge of character.

Enjoys the simple things in life / down to earth.

Amazing lover.

Voice of an angel.

Loves his family.

Makes me laugh.

Didn’t snub my studio.

Respects me enough to give me time to think.

And yet the issue wasn’t as simple as counting the items on the list. Because there was a weight factor I had to apply to each item and I loathed the task. Did it even matter? I tossed the list aside and closed my eyes. Trust was the foundation of a solid relationship and if I couldn’t trust Damon, then there was no relationship.

One fact kept nagging me, though. His plan to ruin my reputation went into effect
before
we had a relationship. It seemed unfair to hold that against him when he didn’t even know me. And, yet, it said something about his character. Didn’t it? Where were the bright lines between right and wrong so I could easily make a final judgment? I took a deep breath. My dilemma fell into a hopelessly gray area when I factored in motivation. Motivation separated Damon from Giovanni and my father. I wasn’t too blind to see Damon’s point, and I had to give him a lot of credit for backing off and giving me space.