‘Mr Ventura? Sir?’
Realising he’d completely zoned out, Sam gave Wilma a quick smile. ‘Sorry, Wilma. What have you got for me?’
‘A couple of letters to go into tonight’s post.’
No, he wouldn’t use his dog, but he would do it at the new beach house. He’d organise dinner and candles. Maybe some soft music... Or was that overkill?
A frown formed on his face. Why was the idea of telling a woman he loved her and wanted to marry her so difficult? Because that was the other part of this: he wanted to marry Ruby and spend the rest of his life with her.
‘Is there something wrong with the letter, sir?’
Letter?
Sam stared at the pieces of paper he hadn’t even realised he was holding. He blew out a controlled breath. ‘No, Wilma, nothing.’
Scanning the contents, he quickly scrawled his signature across the bottom of both letters and handed them back. ‘Anything else?’
‘The Cutter brief you wanted me to change, and some interoffice transfer documents. Congratulations, by the way, on winning the Star Burger case. The office is buzzing with the news. We’re going to miss Ruby when she’s gone.’
‘Thanks.’ Sam took the Cutter brief, planning to review it at a later—‘Gone?’ He glanced up at Wilma. ‘Gone where?’
‘The London office, sir.’
‘Ruby. As in my Ruby?’
‘Well, that’s a very nice way to put it, sir. Yes, your Ruby.’ She beamed him a smile. ‘I have her and Stephen Price’s transfer documents for you to sign off on. I know it’s all done on computer nowadays but Mr Kent Senior liked to keep a paper copy of staff changes so that he was always aware of who went where. It harks back to the days when the firm was the size of a corner shop.’ She gave him a small laugh. ‘I wasn’t sure of your preference, so I erred on the side of caution.’
A terrible coldness settled over Sam. He took the remaining papers Wilma offered and stared down at Ruby’s transfer document without really seeing it. ‘Did Ruby apply for this or did London request the transfer?’
‘I’m sorry, sir, I couldn’t say, but if you like I can—Mr Ventura? Sir? Is something wrong?’
Yes, there was something wrong, Sam thought grimly as he strode out of his office. There was something very wrong.
Ruby’s secretary gave him a startled glance as he approached her desk.
‘She in?’
‘Yes, she is. She’s—’
Sam didn’t wait to hear the rest, pushing the door to Ruby’s office wide open even as he told himself to calm down.
Not that it did any good. He’d never felt more blindsided by anything in his life.
* * *
Ruby stopped pacing as soon as Sam burst into her office, her heart doing that little quickstep it always did when she saw him.
‘We need to talk.’
Her eyes raked his face. He was looking at her as if she’d committed a crime, every well-honed muscle in his body drawn tight. Was he here to discuss her response to his threat to Carter Jones? She had already decided that she might have overreacted a little in the meeting, but she was nowhere near ready to discuss the reason behind it.
Equally he could be looking all dark and foreboding because something had gone wrong with the deal. It wouldn’t surprise her at all if Carter had tried to renege on the agreement he had made after the fact, and she inwardly cringed again at how easily she assumed Sam would be in her office for personal reasons rather than professional ones.
‘What’s wrong?’ she asked, deciding that he must be here because of Carter Jones. ‘Has something changed in the Star Burger decision?’
‘Not to my knowledge.’ His tone was clipped, cold. It made her shiver. ‘Wilma just gave me this to sign.’
He handed her a document and it took Ruby a moment to realise it was her interoffice transfer request. She hadn’t realised that HR had approved it.
‘When were you going to tell me about it?’
Startled by his harsh tone, Ruby frowned. ‘I don’t know. I hadn’t given it much thought.’ In fact, she hadn’t given it any thought. She’d been so busy and so preoccupied lately she’d completely forgotten she’d even applied for it. God, she really was a mess.