I wake up with Samuel in my bed, and I can’t stop smiling.

I check the clock. It’s late, a little past nine. I’m late for work, but I guess it doesn’t matter. I’m the CEO, after all.

I slowly get out of bed, go into the bathroom, and brush my teeth. It’s silly to worry about morning breath with Samuel, considering he did get me pregnant already, but I can’t help it. I fix my hair up and climb back under the covers, cuddling up close.

He wakes up not long later. “Morning,” he says, stretching out.

“Morning.” I kiss his bare, muscular chest.

“I don’t think I’ve slept like that in a long time.”

“Yeah?” I ask. “Me neither. I feel rested for once.”

“Same.” He laughs and gets out of bed. I watch him hustle off to the bathroom, and I stretch out, smiling to myself.

Suddenly, the doorbell downstairs chimes. It startles me, and I have to double-check the time. Samuel pops his head out from the bathroom, frowning. He’s wearing nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs, and I’m in shorts and an old t-shirt.

“What’s that?” he asks.

“Doorbell. Probably just a delivery or something.”

“You expecting something?”

I shake my head. “No, I don’t think so.”

His frown deepens. He leaves the room and pulls his pants and his shirt on quickly.

“It’s probably nothing,” I say to him. “You don’t have to check it out. Come back to bed.”

But the bell chimes again, twice in fact, the second one impatient and insistent. He looks at me, a serious expression.

“Stay here.”

“Wait,” I say, but he’s already leaving. I sigh and flop back into bed. I’m sure it’s just the UPS guy, getting impatient, wanting a signature. I don’t know what’s got Samuel so worried.

Curious though, I get up and pad across the room. I peek out the front window, and I can just barely see the driveway.

There are two big black cars, and no delivery trucks anywhere in sight.

My heart starts racing. I grab my phone and hurry downstairs, just in time to hear Samuel say loudly, “Get the fuck out of here.”

I come down the steps and round the corner, and pull up suddenly. Standing in the doorway is Ingram, grinning a creepy smile, flanked by two guys with suit jackets and black sunglasses.

“I don’t think so. We’re here to talk with Amelia.” Ingram spots me over Samuel’s shoulder, and my eyes go wide. “Ah, speak of the devil.”

Samuel turns and gives me a pleading look. I take a step away, but Ingram moves quickly, trying to push past Samuel.

Things happen so fast, I can barely react to them. Samuel shoves Ingram back, cursing, and Ingram’s two guys jump at Samuel. It’s a brutal fight, with Samuel slamming an elbow into one guy’s skull, the other one getting a vicious punch to Samuel’s gut. Samuel stumbles back and I scream as Ingram rushes in again.

I turn and run into the kitchen as I start to dial 911. I hear more shouting and grunts of pain, but I don’t get far before Ingram catches me. He grabs my wrist, tears the phone from my hand, and throws it across the room.

“You stupid cunt,” he says, eyes wide and crazy. “You thought you could beat me?”

“Get the fuck off me, you psycho,” I shout in his face.

“You can’t cut my fucking salary. You’ll have a revolt, you stupid bitch.”

I don’t have time to wonder how he knows that. I stomp on his foot and knee him in the crotch. He grunts and stumbles backward, groaning with pain, and I stumble away form him, cursing.

Samuel bursts into the room. His shirt is ripped, and there’s a cut on his brow, but he’s okay otherwise. He comes right up to Ingram, grabs him by the front of his shirt, and throws him toward the hallway. I scream as Ingram crashes into the ground and Samuel drags him by his ankle.

I follow and watch Samuel pull him outside. The other two guys are already out there, both of them getting up slowly. Samuel tosses Ingram over toward them and walks back inside.

Before he shuts the door, he faces the guys again. “Come near her and next time I won’t let you get up.” He slams the door shut.

I stand there, arms wrapped around myself, breathing fast. He locks the door and comes over to me, hugging me tight. “It’s okay,” he says. “It’s okay.”

“Samuel,” I gasp, hyperventilating.

“I have to call Roy,” he says. “He needs to know.”

“Samuel,” I say again as he walks toward the stairs. “Please, wait.”

He heads upstairs. I stumble after him, trying to get control of myself, but failing miserably. I get up the steps after him, just as he finds his phone tangled in last night’s covers.

“Stop,” I say. “Stop. Ingram knew.”

Samuel hesitates. “Knew what?”

“About the pay cuts. He knew.”

Samuel stares at me. “Are you sure?”

“He said it. He told me he knew.”

It takes a second before that sinks in, and he groans. “Oh fucking fuck,” he says softly.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Fuck,” he shouts. He slams his fist into the bed over and over. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

I come up behind him and hug him tight. Slowly he calms down and he holds me, both of us trembling together.

“It could have been someone else,” he says quietly.

“Nobody else was around,” I say. “It was at the very end of the night.”

“He wasn’t sleeping,” Samuel says. “That fucking bastard.”

“It was a trick the whole time. He must… he must be working for Ingram.”

“I’m going to kill him.”

“No,” I say seriously. “You can’t.” I force him to look at me. “You can’t.”

“He betrayed us, all of us.”

“He did,” I agree. “But you can’t kill him. We have to get this contract signed and finished, and then we’ll get rid of Ingram and Roy.”

He takes a sharp breath. I can tell he wants to fight more, but he slowly releases and slumps against me.

I hug him tight. I don’t now how close he was with Roy, but I’m guessing he really trusted him. This must hurt bad, and it just makes me so fucking mad I can barely stand it.

I’m going to finish this contract today, and I’m going to break these guys. I’m not going to let them win, not after all of this. Samuel’s been hurt too much, been put through too much.

He doesn’t deserve this. I won’t let him down.

I kiss him softly and pull away, more determined than ever.