The Call (Another Love Book 2), page 22
“I’m perfectly happy tearing people a new one within the business, but when it comes to family and the people I love, not so much.”
“It’s really good to see you.” Cheryl reached her hand across the counter, settling it over Sam’s. “When I heard the news, I thought the worst.”
“Mm, we all did.”
“But then I remembered who my boss was, and I knew you would get through it. Nothing keeps you down.”
Sam exhaled. “Oh, I don’t know. I did lie there wondering if I’d been beaten one final time.”
“Well, you’re here and I’m thrilled.”
“Our Lindsay should be here soon.” Sam narrowed her eyes, gauging Cheryl’s reaction to that news. Honestly, she couldn’t read the look on her face. Terror? Heartbreak? The need to run out the door?
Cheryl took the wine from the counter, helping herself to a large measure. “Right. I’ll just have this one and then I’ll leave you all to it.”
“Or, you could hang around.”
“You’re spending time with family, Sam. I’m sure you don’t want business mixing with that. I can always update you on everything another time.”
“If I’ve ever given you the impression that I would end your career based on what you do outside the office, I’m sorry.” Sam sat beside Cheryl, confusion in her assistant’s eyes. “You’ve been there for me over the years, at times more than anyone else has, and all I want is for you to be happy, too. I found my happy ending, and in many ways, I have you to thank for that. I still wonder how it happened…Luciana is just something else, but it did.”
“I-I—”
“Are you in love with my sister, Cheryl?”
Cheryl’s face fell, discomfort visible in the way she shifted on her stool.
“You really thought I would fire you?” Sam cocked her head, smiling faintly. “If I found out about you and Lindsay?”
“She’s your sister, Sam. It was inappropriate. You were always so strongly against workplace relationships.”
Sam nodded. “And I still am.”
“So, this conversation is a waste of time.” Cheryl took a long, slow sip from her wine glass, tears welling in her eyes. “Lindsay is dating Janet Mason. Even if it was perfectly okay, I couldn’t compete with that.”
“First of all, Lindsay doesn’t work for me. She just insists on being at the office so she can get on my nerves ninety percent of the time. Secondly, Janet Mason is not welcome in my family or my life. You, on the other hand, are more than welcome.”
“I-I don’t understand.”
“I’ll let Lindsay explain everything when she gets here.” Sam winked, climbing down from her stool as another knock sounded against the door. “And it looks like it won’t be much longer that you have to wait.”
“Sam, I don’t think I can do this.” Cheryl’s voice trembled. “Lindsay is the one who broke it off with me. I…if I try to patch things up with her and she turns me down, I just…I don’t want the rejection.”
“Breaking things off with you was a huge mistake. Hear her out, okay?”
Cheryl chose not to respond, instead focusing on the countertop in front of her.
Sam rounded the wall separating the kitchen and living area, finding her sister hugging Luciana. They were having a moment, that much was clear, but it was a moment Sam could watch over and over again. Things were certainly beginning to look up for the three of them; Sam just hoped Lindsay and Cheryl could now get back on the right track. One that didn’t include meaningless dates or psycho interior designers. At least the latter was certainly out of the picture.
“Sam.” Lindsay pulled out of Luciana’s embrace, instead enveloping her sister. “Luce said you needed me to come over. Is everything okay?”
“Someone is waiting for you in the kitchen.” Sam cocked her head.
“W-who?”
“Why don’t you go and find out for yourself?”
Before Lindsay had the chance to do exactly that, Cheryl appeared behind Sam, the slightest of smiles curling on her mouth. “Wanna talk?”
“Y-yeah.” Sam noted how Lindsay’s eyes lit up at the mere sight of Cheryl. How had she missed this all along? Sam was the first to admit that she usually had her head up her ass, but this? It was now so obvious. Lindsay turned to Sam and breathed, “Thank you.”
“Just make things right with one another. You’ve got nothing but support from me, Linds.”
Luciana sidled up next to Sam, wrapping her arm around her fiancée’s waist. “And me.”
“They’ve been out there for hours.” Sam bounced her leg up and down, her hands clasped in her lap. She knew things couldn’t be too bad between Lindsay and Cheryl since nobody had run out crying yet, but she thought they’d have cleared the air by now. Sam and Luciana had watched an entire film in the time they’d spent talking. Now they were outside, sitting close to the hot tub.
“Stop worrying. Nothing is being hurled through the air. I think they’re good.”
Sam knew her nerves weren’t only based on her sister. No, she had other reasons to be nervous.
“You feelin’ okay, babe?”
Luciana scooted closer to Sam, taking her in her arms and pulling her back on the couch. Their day may have started off filled with anxiety and Sam’s concern with being outside, but she was safe here in Luciana’s arms. Luciana would always be sure of that.
“Luce…”
Luciana’s brow furrowed. “What is it?”
“I just…” Sam shook her head, clearing her throat as a nervous smile worked its way to her lips. “I had something I wanted to give you.”
“Not the lawyer papers.”
“No. I haven’t had the chance to have them finalised yet, but I will.”
“Babe. I’ve told you, I have you and that’s all I need.”
“We’re getting off track and the way I’m feeling right now, I don’t want to do that.” Sam exhaled a deep, long breath. She removed a box from her pocket and placed it in Luciana’s hand, closing her fingers over it. “I want you to have this.”
“W-what is it?”
Luciana slowly opened the box, her breath catching when her eyes landed on a platinum, blue sapphire diamond ring. This piece of jewellery had to be worth a fortune. “B-babe, I can’t take this. It’s too much.”
“It was Lucia’s,” Sam explained. “We’d gone to Italy, and I had it made for her there. When it was handed back to me with the rest of her things, I had it cleaned and locked it away. I swore I would take it to the grave with me, that nobody would ever be worthy enough in my eyes to touch it, let alone wear it.”
Luciana bit back a sob, but Sam? Sam was the picture of complete calm. On the outside, at least.
“This isn’t me giving you a second-hand ring because I couldn’t be bothered to try harder. This is me giving you every piece of me, Luciana. I told myself I’d never fall in love again. I promised myself that Lucia would be the only woman to ever call me her wife. But here you are.” A tear escaped Sam’s eye, gliding down her cheek and falling to the couch between them. “You fill me with so much love every morning and I can truthfully say that this, what’s happening between us, is one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. You allow me to be myself. You give me the opportunity to grieve when I need to, to remember, and you do it with such love and respect that I don’t know how to ever thank you for that.
“You saw me. When I didn’t want to be noticed, you had your eyes firmly on me…and God, I will always be thankful for that moment I met you. However fleeting it all may seem given the last year, I will always remember seeing your eyes for the first time. They reminded me of the sapphire sitting in your hand right now. They told me that it was okay to fall in love again. They told me I could be happy again. And you, Luciana, you have picked up my heart and shown me what it is to be loved again. I love you so much. The pride I have for you…my heart could burst.”
Sam moved closer, taking the ring from the box and slipping it on Luciana’s engagement ring finger. Her eyes glazed ever so slightly, but it wasn’t sorrow. It wasn’t pain. It was love. Sam lifted Luciana’s hand, placing a kiss to the ring, and smiled. “Perfect.”
“B-babe.” Luciana sobbed as Sam’s eyes found hers. “I just…”
“Oh, my God.” Lindsay rushed into the room, her face wet with tears. “That was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.”
Sam smiled weakly as she turned to face Lindsay. “Thanks, Linds.”
“What’s happening here? Do you two have something you need to tell me?” Lindsay propped her hand on her hip, looking expectantly at Sam.
“A few days ago, Luciana asked me to be her wife.”
Those words hit Sam square in the chest. Actually confirming it to someone other than herself, Sam’s entire body buzzed with a love she wasn’t sure she’d felt before. Everything with Luciana seemed so different to when she was with Lucia. Neither could compare, they never would, but this was an entirely different stage of Sam’s life. A year ago, she was happy just to be in Luciana’s company…but now, she couldn’t imagine ever not being called her wife. Wasn’t it funny how life played out?
“T-this is huge.” Tears fell steadily down Lindsay’s face, Cheryl’s arm wrapping around her waist in support. “S-Sam, this is…”
“I know.” Sam got to her feet, dragging Luciana up with her. “And if it wasn’t for you two, I wouldn’t be in this position. I wouldn’t be standing here now with such an incredible woman beside me.”
Lindsay shook her head, crying. “Sam.”
“No, it’s true. You pushed me to find myself again, to love again. I continuously denied everything you were telling me, but in the end…you were right. And Cheryl,” Sam continued, “you are the one who got this entire thing going. I know neither of us expected anything to come of it, but if you hadn’t given me that business card, I’d still be living in the city and miserable.”
Cheryl smiled. “You mean a lot to me, Sam. I watched you live a beautiful life with Lucia. I watched you grow into a person who didn’t take crap from anyone—me included—and then I watched it all fall apart around you. I felt so helpless and I couldn’t possibly comprehend what you were going through, but you never once made me feel like I didn’t belong in your office. Through the hardest times, you still had a massive respect for me. Nobody expected that, your world had just fell away, but you still held that strength, and I, for one, admire that more than anything else.”
Sam held out her arms, pulling Cheryl and Lindsay into a hug. She’d had her moment, her second shot at love. Now it was their time. “I really hope you can both make up for lost time. I’m sorry you thought I wouldn’t support you.”
“Sam, it’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.” Sam returned to Luciana’s side, her fiancée still speechless but no longer standing on shaky legs. “Once you leave here, whenever that is, I want you to pack up some things and get your passports together.”
“W-why?” Lindsay frowned.
“Well, Cheryl isn’t needed at the office for a while yet. Don’t worry, I’ll still pay you—”
“Sam, that’s not necessary.”
Sam held up her hand. She appreciated that Cheryl understood her desire to not be at the office, but this was Sam’s issue and nobody else would suffer the consequences by not receiving their wage. “It is. And you won’t argue with me about it.”
“Okay.”
“I’m sending you both away. Somewhere sunny. Take your pick and send me the details.”
“Really?” Lindsay’s eyes lit up.
“Well, I’m assuming you’re both willing to give this another go since you haven’t run out on one another?”
“Yeah, we uh…” Lindsay cleared her throat, her cheeks reddening. “We’ve just booked into a hotel a few miles down the road.”
Sam quirked an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“Get it, girl.” Luciana grinned, suddenly snapped from her emotional daze.
“Can you not encourage my little sister to have hotel sex, baby?” Sam nudged Luciana in the ribs, smirking as her eyes found the deepest of blues.
Luciana snorted. “Why? Hotel sex is the best kinda sex.”
“Then I will keep that in mind.”
“As much as we would love to stay and celebrate with you, I think you need this evening alone.” Lindsay lifted her bag from the coffee table and grabbed Cheryl’s satchel from the floor. “But we do want to celebrate with you at some point.”
“We’d love that,” Luciana said, wrapping her arms around Sam’s waist from behind. “Right, babe?”
“We would.”
The four of them walked slowly to the front door, Luciana never separating from Sam’s body. Those things Sam had said before Lindsay interrupted them had been like nothing Luciana had ever heard before, nor did she expect them. And the ring…God, the ring had only tipped everything over the edge. Luciana didn’t know where to begin with anything she wanted to say, but Sam knew how she felt and that was what mattered more than anything else. They had an unspoken love and understanding when words were hard to come by.
Lindsay turned around as she stepped out onto the drive. “I’m so happy for you, Sam.”
“And I’m happy for you.” Just a few days ago, Sam and Lindsay didn’t have the best form between them. Hostility and harsh words had never been how they’d grown up with one another, but life had simply gotten in the way. Now, it was time for all of them to settle down and be happy. It was the least they deserved. “Text me when you get to the hotel.”
Lindsay nodded, her eyes switching to Luciana. “Bye, Luce.”
“See you soon, Linds.”
Sam relaxed back against Luciana, sighing as her hand settled over the sapphire occupying Luciana’s finger. Lindsay and Cheryl disappeared down the drive in their own cars, beeping as they drove away into the country lanes. Sam suddenly felt herself being pulled backwards, the door slamming shut as her body was pushed up against it.
“I have so much that I need to say to you, Sam. So many reasons to thank you…but not right now.” Luciana’s lips feathered across Sam’s, both smiling into a soft, sensual kiss. “I love you so much. Don’t ever forget that.”
“I couldn’t if I tried…”
Luciana’s hands trailed Sam’s soft, recovering body. She was still impressed by how far Sam had come in such a short span of time. They had a hospital appointment next week, but Luciana knew it would be a good outcome. Sam had excelled with her recovery.
“Come on, I want to show you exactly what you mean to me,” Luciana purred in Sam’s ear. “And I’m going to take the entire night to do that.”
20
6 months later…
Luciana studied the garlands and the sheer, ivory voiles surrounding her as she spun in circles slowly. Today had been breathtaking in many ways, but the decoration and the effort executed in all of this…incredible. Sam certainly had an eye for detail and beauty. Luciana knew this day had been in safe hands for that reason alone, but the outcome and the finished product still stunned her to the core. A platform had been built out on the lake—distressed oak—which led back to the decking at the front of the house.
A huge marquee stood to the side of the driveway. Twinkly lights weaved through every tree, every bush, down to the trunks. The lawn had been treated for months leading up to this day, the intensity of the green quite impressive. Sam, she had truly gone to town with their plans. Each gold chair was individually tied with an ivory bow, and silk ruched drapes pulled from the roof of the marquee and gathered along the sides gave it that elegant feel, but just having Sam here made the entire day elegant. It radiated from her. As it always had.
Luciana’s eyes scanned the marquee, Sam was standing in the far corner talking to someone she recognised but couldn’t quite place. The woman was covered head to toe in tattoos. Luciana weaved through the tables, joining Sam.
“Luce, I’ve been looking for you.” Sam held her champagne flute delicately, her free hand pulling Luciana closer to her. Sam looked like an absolute vision today. Her caramel highlights were back in her hair, pulled up on the right side to expose her neckline with a double milkmaid braid gathering her luscious dark locks around the back of her head. The style was finished with a crystal pin, everything about the design typical Sam.
“How do I know you?” Luciana focused on the tattooed woman standing to the side of Sam. She definitely knew this woman.
“I don’t know but I do recognise you, too.” The woman spoke with a strong Liverpool accent, her tattoos impressive as they caught Luciana’s attention.
Oh, God. Sam’s stomach dropped. Was this escort-related? Sam wasn’t sure she could cope with other clients coming out of the woodwork. Not when they were related to her. She continued to watch their interaction, praying one or both realised who the other was…and it not involving sex for payment.
“I love your sleeve,” Luciana said, pointing her champagne glass towards the woman’s right arm. “I recognise the work. It looks like something I have…”
“It’s my own work.”
“Wait!” Luciana appeared to have a lightbulb moment. “The tattoo place in town. Off Victoria Street. Uh…”
“Dark Angel?”
“That’s the place.”
Sam exhaled a deep breath. That was close.
“I had some work done there about four years ago. You were my artist.”
“Ryann Harris.” The woman held out her hand. “Sam’s cousin.”
“O-oh.” Luciana switched her gaze between them both. Sam hadn’t mentioned she had a cousin who was into tattoos. “You should have said, babe. I’m thinking about getting more work done.”
“You are?” Sam quirked an eyebrow.
“Sure, yeah.” Sam appeared to be taken aback by Luciana’s decision, so why not play around a little. “You know the picture I have of you on my bedside?”
“The portrait thing?”
“Yeah. I was thinking of having that tattooed on my back. You any good with portraits, Ryann?”
“No way!” Sam held up her hand, finishing her glass of champagne. “Not a chance.”
