Heaven and Hell (Heaven and Hell #1)(71)

My body jolted in surprise then it went solid when, before I could get my wits about me, Sam’s long fingers curled on my upper arm and he yanked me into our room.

Not gently.

Not rough in an “I’m gonna pick you up, throw you on the bed and ravish you” way.

No.

He just yanked me into the room.

Then he slammed the door, pulled my kickass, wood handled, straw beach bag out of my hand and tossed it on the couch.

I blinked at the couch then automatically started backing up when Sam’s big body was suddenly in my space and advancing.

My head jerked to him and I saw he had his phone to his ear. He was sweaty, in workout clothes and he had a face like thunder.

I stopped breathing.

With his furious eyes locked to mine, Sam stopped advancing but I didn’t stop retreating. I went back five more steps until I ran into a chair.

That was when I stopped.

But, even moving, I didn’t… no, couldn’t tear my eyes from the fury in his.

And vaguely I realized that he’d not only yanked me roughly into the room, he’d also made it so he was between me and the door, a big, powerfully built obstacle I had no prayer of breaching.

My heart stopped beating.

What was happening?

“Yeah,” he bit off into his phone. “No comment. I don’t comment on that shit. You know I don’t ever comment on that shit.” Pause then his eyes went from sweltering to scorching, “I’ll talk to her.”

Oh God.

What was happening?

“Right. Later.” He clipped then flipped his phone shut.

My body involuntarily jumped when he flipped his phone shut but Sam didn’t speak, move or take his burning eyes from me.

With difficulty, I pulled in breath and forced out, “Sam –”

He cut me off with a harsh, “You forget to share somethin’ with me?”

I stared at him, my mind reeling, trying to catch a thought.

The answer was, yes. We’d known each other a week and a half. There were probably a lot of things I had not yet shared with him. I just didn’t know which one he was referring to or how, or for that matter why, some mysterious person on the phone was sharing unknown things about me.

“I –” I began hesitantly.

Sam interrupted me again and when he did, his voice wasn’t harsh, it was abrasive.

“Like, say, that piece of shit you married and the piece of shit he was bangin’ callin’ a hit on you?”

Oh God!

How did he find out about that?

And further, how did I forget to tell him that?

“They didn’t get that far,” I whispered then jumped and moved back, taking the chair with me as I watched his body move with uncontrolled rage, his arm cut through the air on a vicious sidearm slice and his phone went flying into the cushions of the couch with such strength it rebounded right out and clattered to the tiled floor.

Then he turned back to me.

“You got five million dollars outta that gig for whatever reason that motherf*cker took out a policy on himself while he was plannin’ on whackin’ you. That’s why you’re here, that’s why you were in Como, that’s why you’re dressin’ like a f**kin’ socialite and spendin’ five hundred dollars on a f**kin’ robe, for f**k’s sake.”

My breath was now coming quickly just as my heart was beating fast, too fast, dangerous fast and, stupidly, my mind took that moment to remind me that I really, really shouldn’t have bought that robe with Luci.

“How do you know all this?” I asked quietly, my voice trembling.

“Tilda?” he shot back and my heart started beating faster. I didn’t answer but the answer must have been on my face because he continued. “Yeah,” he ground out. “She posted that shit somewhere, who the f**k knows where, but it spread like that shit always f**kin’ spreads and it went where it always f**kin’ goes and my agent got a call from a reporter that they were breakin’ the story that I was on vacation with an ex-administrative assistant, current millionaire who came into her new fortune because her husband, who took a shotgun blast to the head, was plotting to make her dead and his alternate piece of ass was currently out on bond, awaiting trial for conspiracy to commit murder and they wanted to know if you or me wanted to make a comment.”

Oh.

My.

God!

Ohmigod!

I couldn’t… this wasn’t… I couldn’t wrap my head around this. Any of it.

I never thought I’d ever be asked for a comment on anything.

And…

Ohmigod!

If this stuff was spreading and someone was going to write an article about us, my friends and family would find out!

“None of my friends or family knows about us,” I blurted.

“Who the f**k cares?” Sam roared and I pushed back, feeling chair, I scurried around it and kept retreating until I hit the wall of windows that faced the sea and only then did I realize I was shaking from head-to-toe.

Sam’s eyes never left me but they were working as was the muscle jumping in his cheek, his jaw hard, his fury filling the room.

Then he said in a carefully restrained voice that even sounded like it took effort to achieve, “Pissed at you, Kia, seriously f**kin’ pissed but I’m not gonna hurt you.”