Allie’s ringing phone pulled Sam from his much needed sleep. Still naked and pressed up against him, she answered it, bringing up the sheets to hide her beautiful breasts.
Criminal.
She lurched upright. “Oh, no. Is she all right?”
He deduced that Allie was talking to Vi’s dad. From the sound of her questions, her daughter was suffering from a stomach bug.
“We’ll just postpone the party. Tell her it will only be for another week. Does she want to talk to me? No. Let her sleep.” Their conversation continued another minute, and Sam stared at the beautiful woman in front of him.
Allie’s blond hair was tousled as it fell across her pale, naked shoulders. He wanted nothing more than to push her back against the silky smooth sheets again, feel her respond to his touch, to utterly and completely become his once more. She raised her gaze to his, and he saw her eyes heavy with fatigue. He took certain satisfaction in knowing he’d played a major part in her current state of exhaustion. And his. But not exhausted enough, apparently, as he felt the familiar stirring.
Why had he resisted her for so long? What an idiot.
“I’ve got to make some calls,” she said, dropping her cell phone to the nightstand. “It looks like I’m going to have to cancel Vi’s party. She’s going to be so disappointed.”
He leaned over and nuzzled her nipple. “Right now?”
After a little more attention, she gasped. “Later. I’ll call everyone later.”
Over an hour later, he had rinsed off in the shower and left her to enjoy a more leisurely one. With a mug of coffee in his hand, he sat on the edge of the bed and scrolled through his messages.
There were two missed calls, and he listened to the first one, left less than an hour ago. Patty? His mother’s maid was speaking so quickly it took him a moment to realize what she was saying. A numb calm fell over him as he listened.
According to Patty’s message, Detective Johnson was at the house now, speaking with his mother. Not many people knew about his mother’s connection to Mr. Williams. Señora Sanchez had stayed silent all these years. There was no reason for her to spill the beans now. Leaving only one other person besides them who knew.
Allie.
She had told him she thought going to the police was the right thing to do. And despite his plea for time, she’d kept to her plan. She must have called them sometime after they talked when he dropped her at her car last night.
He was disgusted with himself. Once again duped.
You’d have thought he’d learned his lesson with Josh’s mom. Even from his own parents. But he’d thought Allie was different. That they had a connection.
That he could trust her.
As he pulled on his clothes, the sound of the water in the bathroom turned off. He waited calmly on the bed. He couldn’t wait to hear her explanation.
Chapter Fifteen
Allie couldn’t stop the smile that crept across her mouth as she dried off. Even the unaccustomed aches in body parts she didn’t even know could ache couldn’t knock the grin from her face. If anything, they reminded her it had all really happened.
She pulled her robe around her and left the bathroom a few minutes later. Sam was sitting on the edge of the bed, already dressed. She started toward him, but the look on his face stopped her cold. He was tossing his cell phone back and forth in his hands.
“What’s wrong? Have you heard something?”
“I got a call. Detective Johnson is at the house interrogating my mother. There was an anonymous tip that came in implicating her. He has her letters.”
The accusation in his tone was clear. “Sam. I had nothing to do with that,” she said as resolutely as she could. “I told you I wouldn’t. I told you I’d give you a week.”
He stood and turned around to look out the window, unable to meet her gaze. He rubbed his hand through the back of his hair and sighed. “I’ve got to get over there. I don’t want her to have to face this alone.”
He kept his eyes averted, and she was overwhelmed with a sense of helplessness.
“Please believe me, Sam. It wasn’t me who called them.”
She could see him swallow, and he nodded, but he didn’t say anything. Nor did he look at her.
He still didn’t trust her.