Chapter 23

Blair

The shock still hadn’t dissipated. It remained balled up in the center of my chest, waiting to explode outward again.

The living room swam around me, and my focus on my mother dropped, the rage which’d sprung up at the sound of her voice folded inward again – the shock sucked it back into the ball of emotion.

My stomach lurched, and I dropped my gaze to the parquet flooring, the lights from the Christmas tree reflected in its patina.

He’s not an escort. He’s not an escort.

The knowledge repeated in my mind, over and over again. Somehow, it didn’t make me happy. I’d picked up a complete stranger and brought him home for the weekend. I’d thought this was business, a simple deal between two people who understood the transaction.

Sure, I’d slipped and gone against my initial stipulation – no sex – but it’d been easy thinking of it as business.

What was worse, I’d never intended on the physical stuff but clearly, he had, or why else would he have come? He didn’t need the money. He’d wanted to fuck me, and I’d done it. I’d fallen into the trap. I’d lost my fucking virginity to him.

How could I be sure that anything he’d said was real?

What if his name wasn’t even Samson Barnes?

“Blair.” He spoke beside me, a low rumble, soft, as if anything he said could shock me even more.

I didn’t dare look at him. Didn’t dare or I’d lose my mind or cry or make a total fool of myself. “You lied to me,” I said and focused on the reflection of the lights, winking on and off. Merry fucking Christmas.

Samson shifted and didn’t speak.

I lied, too, just not to him. To everyone else. And now, it’s all out there.

“You’re just like everyone else,” I said, out loud. “You’re just like all the well-moneyed assholes my mother has dated over the years. And now, you’ve made me just like her.”

That’s not fair. You’re not right, Blair.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Samson asked. “Look at me. Look at me!”

“Don’t you talk to her like that, you dirty asshole,” Regina screeched. “I’ve had enough of this. Either you’re a hooker who’s lying and saying he’s a businessman, or you’re a businessman who lied and said he’s an escort. So, which is it?”

“What the fuck does it matter? I’m a pretender, just like you, Regina. You and the necrophiliac over there.”

Joseph grunted and raised his middle finger.

“Put that down or I’ll snap it off,” Samson said. “But you want the truth about who I am? Ask Blair. Ask her right now. She’ll tell you why I’m here. The words from her own mouth, since you won’t believe what I have to say.”

“Blair?” Mom grabbed my chin and wrenched it upward. I looked into the depths of those iced blue eyes, then reached up and detached her grip. “Tell me what’s going on. Is he an escort or is he a businessman?”

I licked my lips.

There was no possible way to redeem this fucked situation, was there? No way I could make it so that I didn’t lose my dream.

My gaze flicked to Samson, and pain throbbed in my solar plexus. He’d betrayed me as badly as my mother ever had. He’d lied about who he was. I didn’t even know him. I’d fallen in love with an image of a man and figured I’d somehow deal with his career later.

“He’s a businessman. I thought he was when I met him a year ago,” I said, evenly, the lie sliding from my tongue.

Samson’s eyebrows jounced upward on his forehead. He lurched off the sofa. “Bullshit.”

“I had no idea he was an escort,” I said. “And I never hired him. I l-loved him.” The tears which came were authentic, though, they had nothing to do with the lies I’d told and everything to do with the expression on Samson’s face.

“So, he is an escort. And you thought you could tear my daughter away from me, is that it?” Regina asked, above my head. “You believed that you could marry into this rich family and use her as leverage to get all the money you wanted.”

“Do you hear yourself?” Samson asked. “I bought her a fucking car. I’m not an escort.”

“It’s probably a rental,” Regina said and dismissed it with a sniff. “My daughter is pure and innocent, and you’ve ruined her. God, baby, we’re going to have to get you tested.” She placed her hand on the back of my head.

My skin crawled.

“Blair, tell your mother the truth. Tell her the truth about me, about what you planned this weekend,” Samson said.

Tell her the truth like you told me the truth? This entire weekend had been packed with lies. I couldn’t trust my mother, not truly, and I certainly couldn’t trust him.

“I don’t even know who you are anymore,” I said, and that much came from inside, right down in my gut. “Get out of this house.”

“That’s my girl,” Regina said and sat down next to me. She looped her arm around my shoulders, and I cringed internally. All the maternal love I’d craved as a kid right here, right now, but I didn’t want any of it. “You heard her, Mr. Barnes, if that is your real name. Get out of my house, this instant, or I will have you removed.”

Samson didn’t move an inch, just stared at me. “This is what you want,” he said.

“This is what I want.” I made my voice stern, as strong as I could. He wouldn’t leave if I didn’t – that much was plain. “Get out.”

“Fine,” he replied, and his voice trembled. “I’ll pack my shit and leave.” He walked toward the stairs in the corner, stiff-backed and still proud, even now after he’d done this.

What has he done? Told you the truth? Yeah, and lied. And ruined everything. If he’d stuck to the plan, if he’d just – what, not bought me a fucking expensive luxury car for Christmas? Yeah, then no one would be any the wiser.

Samson clomped up the stairs without a backward glance.

I clutched my head between my hands. “Shit,” I whispered. “Shit.”

“It’s okay, sweetie. I know you’re hurting right now but everything will be okay. How could you possibly have known he was dirty?” Regina drew me into her arms and enveloped me in expensive perfume and silver and fur. She patted my back. “There, there.”

I let her hug me but it still felt wrong. It made me want to peel my skin off and throw it at someone.

I’d chosen between Samson and her. Or had I chosen between Samson and myself?

Whatever the case, I was the dirty one in this scenario, not Samson.

“Well, thank god you chewed your arm out of that bear trap,” Joseph said, from the sofa. He’d spilled bourbon on his button-down shirt, and he still had a squint going on. “Can you imagine if you’d actually gone through with it? If you’d actually married him?”

“It would’ve come out eventually,” Regina said. “But, yes, it’s better this way. So much better.”

I slumped and pressed my hands to my eyes, blocked out the sight of them. I’d never see Samson again after this weekend. It was exactly as I’d planned it, except this didn’t make me happy.

Not only were my hopes of freeing myself from my mother’s grasp ruined but any shot at being with the man I’d fallen for were fucked, too.

“Cheer up, sweetheart,” Regina said, brightly, and dragged my hands down. “Look at the bright side. At least, you have a new car out of the deal!”

The keys! I’d dropped them somewhere back there, on the carpet. I’d have to give them back to him.

I turned and searched the entry hall, the alcove just past it, but the keys were gone, and soon, the only man who’d ever touched me, physically, emotionally, would be, too.