Lust on the Rocks (38 page)

She thrust up her middle finger.  “Number two.  Several of your own health clubs currently employ the use of AEDs—a few renegade managers going out on a limb for their clientele, I imagine—which serves to foreseeable risk and remedy for medical emergency.  On a silver platter, I might add.”  Sam paused, allowing her words to sink in.  “And number three,” she gestured with a coinciding finger, “the list of similar suits ruled in favor of the plaintiff is longer than my arm.  But let’s not worry about them,” she said, infusing her tone with mockery as she dropped her hand to the table.  “Let’s focus on
our
precedent-setting case—the one that will force every health club in the country to deploy and use AEDs.”  She flushed all humor from her voice as her pulse kicked up a notch.  “To save the lives of the very people who keep you in business.”  Sam scanned the faces staring back at her, adrenaline pumping through her veins.  No one said a word.

No guts?  Or no legs.

Probably the latter, she mused and pushed past their silence.  “But I thought we’ve been through this already.”

“Cut through the crap, Sam.  Name your price,” Harry said.

“More than money, I’m looking for action.”

He scoffed.  “What the hell does that mean?”

“C’mon, Harry.  Action is a simple word.  It means I want Perry to change their ways.  Admit their wrongdoing and make amends.  Permanent ones.  Public ones.”

“What are you talking about?  You know if we settle, we’ll want the details of this case to remain sealed from the public.”

“Now you’re getting it.  Resolution of this case will take not only money, but full acceptance of guilt and a public apology.”

“Whoa...”  The lawyer pushed back from the table.  “I might be able to coax Perry into a formal notice to the courts as to admission of guilt, but I see no reason why there needs to be any public disclosure.”  He dipped his chin down toward his neck in that pompous style she was beginning to loathe and peered at her over the rim of imaginary bifocals, the pouches of fat beneath his eyes protruding more than usual.  “And I assure you, Mrs. Albright will be financially taken care of.”

“You’re damn right she will.  And so will tens of thousands of other unsuspecting men and women.  I’m seeking the mother lode, Harry.  You want to settle, these are my terms.  Full admission of guilt and a public apology to Mrs. Albright for your gross oversight in the death of her husband.  Voluntary implementation of AEDs in every facility Perry owns, or has a financial stake in, and finally,” she continued, despite the balks she received, “I want ten million dollars for Mrs. Albright’s pain and suffering.”

“Ten million dollars?”  He leapt from his seat.  “That’s outrageous!  We can’t afford that kind of settlement agreement.”

“But your insurers can.”

Goldman froze.

“Their butt is on the line, joined at the hip with yours.”

The attorney pulled himself straighter and jabbed a finger to the table in a limp attempt at regaining his stature in this negotiation.  “I don’t recall any deposition inferring you intended to go after insurance monies.”

She lifted her shoulders in casual indifference.  “What can I say?” She smiled with a wink.  “I’m full of surprises.”

Goldman’s skin turned a shade whiter, betraying his expensive tan.  Probably choking on a string of expletives he wanted to hurl across the table, but the man knew better than to sling the first one at Sam Rawlings.  She’d cut him to the quick and ground out every last piece, here and in the courtroom.

Sam laughed inside.  Bottom line, the man was finished.

As was she.  Sam swept to her feet.  “If there isn’t anything else, I think I’ll get back to work.”  She surveyed the glum expressions hanging from corner to corner.  “Gentlemen?”

“You won’t get it, Sam,” Harry muttered, followed by a round of grumbling from his cohorts.

“Watch me.”

Sam swore she heard the word bitch escape from beneath his breath, but she cared little. 
He
was the one stewing, not her.  She left the room, Diego and Vic following her out into the conference lobby.  Once free and clear of their guests, Sam whirled around.

Both men stopped short.

“Get ready.  We’re going to trial.”

“As planned,” Diego replied with a winning smile.

The voices emerging from the conference room jolted her to life.  “Vic, do you have a minute?”

“Sure.”

His smile was eager which made her feel like a heel, but it was now or never.  Her adrenaline was running high and her nerve was on the move.

“I’m out of here,” Diego said, and gave a pat to Vic’s shoulder.  “Keep your head up.  We’re on the home stretch now.”

But his morale-boosting smile was unnecessary.  Vic understood the significance of a win more than anyone.  “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Sam avoided joining in as the camaraderie of their exchange only made what she was about to do more difficult.  Once satisfied they were finished, she turned and headed for her office, Vic right by her side.

“You really handed Goldman his ass on a silver platter back there.”

“Yes,” she replied, keeping contact to a minimum. “Well, it was nothing less than he deserved.”

“Hey, you hungry?” he asked.

She shook her head.  “No.  Actually have a lot of work to do,” she lied, her throat becoming uncomfortably dry. 
Damn it
this wasn’t going to be as easy.

“Anything I can help you with?” Vic asked, the pitch of his voice suggesting he believed yes.

Sam’s nerve started to unravel as she rounded the corner to her office.  Like the clearest of epiphanies handed down from The Universe, she realized this wasn’t going to go well.  Why she ever thought it would, suddenly escaped her.  She stopped before her desk and turned to face him. 
It may even get ugly
.

“What’s up?” he asked, dark brown eyes teeming with warm affection.

God, but she found him attractive.  The strong line of his brow, the chiseled edge of his jaw, she found Vic Marin striking.  And big.  Together in the enclosed space, she caught drift of his cologne and it felt like a lead weight had just been tied around her neck. 
Could she really do this
?  “Vic,” she said, cursing the faint crack to her voice.

“Sam,” he said and closed the distance between them.  “What’s wrong?”  His eyes moved back and forth across hers giving her no room to evade his question.  “What gives?”

She gulped.  “Nothing
gives
…”

Breaking his usual rules for office decorum, he reached for her hands and took them into his own.

Her insides shredded.

“Is there a problem?  Something going wrong with the case?”

“No, no, it’s not the case—”

“Then what?”

Sam’s throat locked, coarse and dry.  So much for guts and gung-ho decision-making.

“Talk to me,” he commanded and she felt the full force of disquiet beneath his voice.  “Tell me what’s going on.”

Fear seeped into her heart.  “I think we need some space.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Was she serious
?  Vic’s pulse thumped between his ears.  A thousand doubts and fears swept through him in a rush of disbelief as he searched her gaze for reason.  “What do you mean,
space
?” he asked, the mere word causing a bitter taste in this mouth.

“Spending time with Jess…”  Her gaze dodged to the left.  “I realized some things.”  Tentatively, she returned to face him directly.  “I realized how different we are.  How
really very different
...  And I can’t ignore…” Sam’s eyes shot toward the ceiling.  “Our differences.”

Vic experienced a burst of hope.  She was feeling insecure about the two of them is all—something he could fix.  “Sam,” he gave her hands a firm squeeze.  “We
have
no differences.  We’re two of a kind, we’re meant for each other.”

But incredibly, she shook her head.

His chest squeezed and he tried to laugh.  “But we are.  We’re perfect together.”

“Perfect?”  She gaped at him.  “How can you say that?”

“Because we are.  We’re made for each other, Sam.”

“That’s not how it felt when we discussed Jess’ pregnancy.”

The comment caught him on the chin. 
So this was about their difference of opinion regarding the pregnancy
?  “Sam, the fact that we disagreed on how best to handle her particular situation doesn’t mean we’re not right for each other.”  His heart pounded as he ushered forth a smile of reassurance.  “It simply means we have to work toward compromise.”

“How do you compromise your Catholic moral values, Vic?”

Ouch.  “Is that what this is about?  My morals?”

“Well?  It’s a valid point, isn’t it?”

To disagree with Sam right now would be stupid.  Staring into the eyes of the woman he loved, he sensed she was pushing him.  But why?  So that he would change his opinion?  So he would walk away?  His breathing grew shallow. 
Or so that she could
?

Neither goal worked for him.  He wasn’t about to let her go, not when he’d just found her.  He expelled his breath and said, “Yes, it’s a valid point.  But it’s not a decisive one.”

“Word play,” she retorted.

“Words matter,” he returned.  “Like the words I love you.”  Startled by the pull of her slender hands from his grasp, he asked, “Doesn’t that matter to you?”

“Of course it does, I just—”

“What Sam?  What do you want?  What do you need?”  He’d give it to her.  Whatever it was, Vic knew without a doubt that he’d give it to her.  Because she had already given him everything he could ever want.

Sam walked away from him.  She walked around her desk and stood on the other side, a move that felt like she had purposely placed a barrier between them.  She hugged her sides and rather than look at him, settled her gaze upon the red leather lounge couch in the corner.  Tears shone in her eyes.  Dismay filled his heart. 
Why should that bother her
?

“Getting involved with you…”

Vic’s chest tightened. 
Please don’t say it was a mistake
.

“It’s not right for me.  It’s not what’s best for my lifestyle and I think we should consider a slow down.”

She was talking in circles, damn it—in code—and it wasn’t like her.  He stepped forward.  “I don’t understand, Sam.”

Sam dragged her gaze from the furniture and faced him.  “We don’t want the same things, Vic.”

“Of course we do, beginning with Perry, then Scaliano—we’re on the same side and it feels good.  You said so yourself.”

“I’m not talking about work.”

“How much better can it get?”  Vic tried to smile but there was no pleasure to be found in this conversation.  Actually, his gut told him quite the opposite.

“Relationships aren’t my thing.  I don’t do steady and stable.”

His heart slammed to a stop.  “Is there someone else?”

Sam unwound her arms and exclaimed, “God no—it’s nothing like that!  Vic, I swear, there’s no one else in my life but you.”  She hesitated, as if unsure how to continue.  “I love you,” she said quietly.  “That’s true.”

“That’s all I need to know,” he said, and moved toward her.

“But I want to take a break from us.”

Vic froze mid-stride.  “What?  Why?”

“Because I think it’s the right thing to do,” she stammered, growing visibly upset.

“You don’t mean that.”

She shrugged her shoulders in an obscenely inadequate gesture of explanation.  “I do.”

He wanted to shake some sense into her.  Make her see how perfect they were together.  What a great team they made, at the office and at home.  Sam was one of a kind.  There was no other woman for him, but her.  “Whatever I’ve done, I can fix it.”

Sam regarded him with a cast of deep regret.  “I can’t.”

“But I need you, Sam.”  His heart began to race as her intention settled in.  She meant it.  She was calling it quits.  “But I don’t get it.  What happened?  What changed?”

Sam remained mute.

“Sam, you’re not some flash in the pan—I care about you.”  He plunged ahead and fought the crazy sense he was in the midst of a bad dream, “I
love
you.”

“It’s not that easy,” she said and raised a shaky finger to the tears catching in her mascara.

“Of course it’s that easy,” Vic said, bothered by the bluish hollows beneath her eyes.  They made her appear fragile, vulnerable.  “It’s exactly that easy,” he repeated, willing her to listen.

“No,” she murmured.  “It isn’t.”

“The hell it isn’t!”

“I told you, it has to do with things I realized while Jess was here.  Important things and I shouldn’t have allowed us to continue.”

“This isn’t about my morals,” Vic stated.  And though she seemed surprised by his direct statement, she didn’t deny it.  “This is about something else.”

“I want some time.”

“
Time
?  As in, maybe later we’ll get back together?  Or time,” he ground his jaw, “as in some excuse to give me now.”

“Vic.”

“Sam.”  If she wanted to break up with him, he expected her to do so.  Direct and to the point as was her style.  Dancing around the subject for the next few weeks wouldn’t help either one of them.  “If you’re uncertain about things, we’ll take it slow.  I can do slow.  But if this is the end…”  The last thing he wanted, then damn it she was going to have to say the words.

Even if he couldn’t bring himself to say the same.

When Sam refused to elaborate, Vic wanted to shout, he wanted to roar. 
How could she just walk away
?  Visions of last night permeated his thoughts, their kiss this morning before they left for work.  Despite the dreary rain, it was warm and luscious, like the rest of her body. 
How could she end it so abruptly
?

Sam gave a nod to her head and Vic felt something inside her close.  A lever had been pulled, and the floor dropped from beneath him.  Cold realization coated his body.  Outside the sun shone warm and bright but inside the air was icy and distant.  Sam was done.  Claws dug into his heart.  The woman he loved, the woman he believed impossible to find was suddenly letting go and taking his every chance for happiness right along with her.  “Don’t Sam.  Don’t do this to me.”