“I want you to meet my partner, Samantha. We’ve been dating for quite some time and I’m just visiting for a few days,” Vittoria introduced as she walked back to Damian and hooked her arm around his. She leaned on him comfortably with a smile on her face. “Damian McLaren. I’m sure you’ve heard about him. He’s building a shopping center at upper downtown.”Sam took a deep breath and let out a polite smile.“Please to meet you, Mr. McLaren,” she said politely as she stepped forward.“Sorry. I didn’t ask for your full name a while ago,” Vittoria apologized lightly.Damian opened his mouth to say something but Sam beat him to it.“Kingsley,” she answered, cutting him off and using her maiden name. She saw the staff who knew her giving her a sad look that made her slightly raise her chin up. “Samantha Kingsley.”“Yes. Cheri, meet Samantha Kingsley,” Vittoria reintroduced with a smile. “She helped picked and recommended these books I’m bringing back for Lucio. He’s definitely going to love t
Damian just ended his conference call when Frederick entered his office with some files that he had been asked to bring on a Wednesday morning.“I have the budget files of the finishes per floor,” Frederick started as he placed down the documents on his desk. He then took his Ipad tucked underneath his arm and stood ready for his instructions. He hesitated for a while but finally decided to continue talking. “Sir, there’s a folder there that contains the deed for the shares on Cameron.”“Did she have her attorney’s office send the same offer again?!” Damian asked with irritation as he checked the folder. “Didn’t I said to throw it immediately when another one will be sent?!”Frederick looked at him calmly.“It’s your offer, Mr. McLaren.”Damian narrowed his eyes and opened the folder that Frederick had pushed towards him. He scanned the contents to confirm that indeed it was his offer to buy Samantha Cameron’s shares.Flipping back to the first page, he immediately noted that Samantha
Sam stared up into Damian’s eyes through tears. She clenched the sheets with one hand while the other balled into a fist.Damian saw her action and before she could say anything, he bent down and captured her lips, kissing her softly. His lips at first gently moved over hers before it started to slowly coaxed her to kiss him back.When Sam finally kissed him back, Damian pulled her face closer and parted his lips. The tip of his tongue slowly grazed the outline of her lips before he started nibbling on her lower lip lightly. His kisses started to become demanding, persuading her to part her lips.Damian finally decided to travel his lips down her throat and moved to her neck when Sam didn’t give in. His one hand traveled around her waist while the other one reached for her hand, wrapping it around his neck.Slowly, he pushed her down the bed as he kissed her again passionately.“No,” she whispered, turning her head to the side that his mouth landed on the bottom of her ear. She squirm
Damian shifted in his seat inside the car that fetched him and Sam at the airport when the chauffeur informed that they’re almost at their villa at The North Coast. After almost a sixteen-hour flight, they have finally arrived at Menorca at half past ten in the evening.In the last few remaining hours of the flight, Sam finally stopped him from sweet-talking her and told him that she’s going to rest. She went to the plane’s lavatory and came back to her seat already in comfortable wear. He watched her turn to her side and closed her eyes.All throughout the flight, Damian kept a light conversation with her despite her projecting a heavy aura towards him. He showed her the sights he plans to take her to see, the yacht trips he had booked for them. Sam would only either nod and just gave a short answer.Damian knew what she is doing and he let her have his way during the flight. Once they arrived in Menorca, he will make sure that he will be getting what he wants.“Sam?” Damian called o
Looking down at her watch, Sam read the statistics the running app recorded of her activity. She looked towards the beach and saw the sun rising up, the clear blue waters reflecting its rays and finally decided to head back, running a total of 10 miles.“You good?” She asked Noah, the bodyguard who insisted that he will accompany her as per Damian’s instructions. She observed him taking deep breaths. “I hope I didn’t tire you out.”“I would have come prepared if Mr. McLaren warned us of your run,” Noah answered honestly as breathed in and out deeply. “I work out thrice a week but running has not been my best activity.”Sam just smiled at his response.“Your employer always thinks of himself,” she responded casually as she tightened her ponytail. “And, if I tire you out, bring it up with him. I don’t recall inviting him to come here. My plan is just to stay by the beach and do some running every morning.”“For all your comments against Mr. McLaren, Mrs. Cameron, he only means well,” No
Damian took a drink from his wine glass and watched as Sam conversed politely with the assigned sommelier to them that night at Flamante. He listened as the wine steward explained to Sam the hint of taste in the wine that he is recommending her and the food to go with it.When Sam finally decided on what to drink, the sommelier looked back at him and Damian nodded, signifying that he will go with the Pinot Noir wine she had chosen. A waiter then approached their table to take their orders, presenting the menu that goes together with the wine.“Did you have a great time?” Damian asked when the waiter left to relay their orders.“Yes. This is why I love the place,” Sam answered as she leaned on her chair and looked at him. “Lesser tourist and laid back. I visited Mallorca and Ibiza before and the party life was great but one night of it was enough for me.”Damian watched as she took another drink from her glass.“You’re not planning to get drunk on me, are you, Sam?” He asked flatly.Sa
WARNING: This chapter contains sexual/mature content. Please read with discretion.Sam looked at Damian, who seemed to have no interest to whatever she’s going to tell him. She watched as he poured himself another drink and downed it in one go.“You’re going to get drunk!” She chided softly as she reached for his glass.“Does it matter?” Damian returned as he pushed her hand away. “That way, whatever you will be telling me, I won’t remember it! Now, what is it that you’ve been so adamant to tell me about?”“Damian, I’m afraid!” She suddenly exclaimed.Damian stopped mid-air in pouring another drink, looking at her. He remained silent for a while before finally putting down the bottle and his glass. He then pulled Sam into his arms and caressed her face.“It’s normal to be afraid, Sam,” he said softly. He kissed her hungrily. “But it’s going to be me that you’re going to bed with. You’re not going to regret it. I’m a generous and sophisticated lover. You’ll wonder why it took you too l
Sam woke up with a splitting headache the following day as she lay flat on her back and started to massaged her forehead gently to ease the pain.When she opened her eyes, she found the space beside her empty and she grimaced as recollection of what happened last night came back into her mind.“Samantha!” Damian shouted above her hysterical cries. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her roughly to get her to look at him. “Stop it and look at me!”“Let me go! Let me go!” She only cried, tears streaming down her face. “Please don’t hurt me!”Finally sitting up on the bed, Sam noted that she still wore the coat that Damian had made her wear after that hot session in the car. She shuddered as she recalled how she had allowed Damian to take over her body at the back of the car last night.She remembered how her body responded to his lovemaking and the horror she felt when she found out that his men knew what the two of them were doing. That was all that stuck into her mind when she w
Damian thanked Nino, the waiter that Venuti assigned to him after receiving his drink from him. He downed the drink in one go and requested to get him another one.“You really should take it slow,” Vincent muttered dryly.“Now I know why Venuti insisted that we come here,” Damian said darkly as he nodded at Nino. He lowered his hand that is holding his new drink and scowled when he saw Omar and Vittoria in his line of sight. “Never thought the old man can be quite scheming.”“Thank God that my wife doesn’t like Vittoria,” Vincent commented in a low voice.Damian nodded, thankful that Vincent’s wife, Katherine is with him. She immediately took Sam with her, making sure that their paths won’t crossed with the newly engaged couple.He saw the way Sam’s face clouded with anxiety that Damian was ready to leave the party just to protect her.“You’re not going anywhere, Damian. So’s your wife,” a voice said behind and when he turned, he saw Katherine, wrapping an arm around Vincent’s waist.
Sam leaned back on her chair and closed her eyes, letting out a long sigh after finally finalizing the contract deal of an existing building that Damian had been eyeing and negotiating for quite a while on a Friday afternoon, few hours before office for the day ends. She felt the cool breeze of the AC in one of the vacant offices in his company on the same floor with his, making her sleepy.For the past two weeks, she had been going with Damian to his office, helping him with the files that has something to do with Cameron. Without waiting for his permission, she immediately took the files from Frederick and started on it.By end of the first week, she was able to accomplished more than half of the documents that had been pending for quite a while. Her mind became hungry to work and she started automatically.Sam was more than happy to help, knowing that Damian had been sacrificing some work time to accommodate her since she started getting sick. She also felt a little guilty since he
Damian waited as Sam finally bade goodbye to SJ and Elli later that night when the event was finally over. He stood a few feet away as Sam turned down SJ’s invitation to visit him and Elli at Chatsworth House, citing some work she needed to attend to.“When you have the time, don’t hesitate to call,” Elli added warmly. “I’ll introduce you to my father.”Sam nodded with a smile.“Good to meet you, McLaren,” SJ said, holding out one hand to Damian. They shook hands firmly and then SJ looked at them with an amused smile on his face. “Hoping for a good turnout from both of you.”“What do you mean?” Sam inquired that SJ only laughed in return.“Take the win of the jewelry, Sammie,” SJ retorted. He pulled Elli closer to his side. “I’ll nurse my wife over the loss of it.”“SJ,” Elli hissed shyly.“Car’s here,” Damian informed to Sam and he gently assisted her down the last few steps. When Sam is finally inside the car, he turned back to SJ and Elli. “I’ll call you once we have the time to tr
“Watching your wife like a hawk, McLaren?”Damian turned his head away from where Sam is and glared at SJ Kincaid, who is enjoying his glass of whiskey. After hearing his name, Damian immediately knew who he is.He was surprised that Sam is good friends with him, knowing that their companies are each other’s top competitors in the country. Much more so that SJ is a minority holder of some stocks at Cameron.“Ah.. just like me when I was first with my wife,” SJ added. “Perhaps you and I have something in common. Both of our wives are pretty much younger than us. But, it took a while for me to realize she’s the one.”“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Damian snapped.SJ chuckled.“Oh, I think you do but you just refused to admit it,” he countered in amusement as he signaled to the bartender for another drink. “Trust me, McLaren. It’s only going to get worst overtime.”Damian turned his full attention to SJ.“Do tell me about it since you’re knowledgeable on that subject,” he said
Sam carefully zipped up her dress and looked at herself in the mirror in the walk-in closet inside one of the rooms in Damian’s luxurious apartment in Rome on a late Thursday afternoon. She turned sideways to make sure that there are no creases before she finally put on her black pumps and walked back to the bedroom.After staying in Bassano for almost two months in his family home, Damian finally decided to bring Sam to Rome with him. It was an emotional goodbye between Sam and Aurora with Sam crying hard that Damian had to reprimand her gently.“Oh, shush, Damian,” Aurora chided as she hugged Sam tightly, rubbing her back. She kissed Sam on her side of the head. “This just tells you that you should visit me more often.”Sam saw Damian rolling his eyes in amusement.They left Bassano del Grappa with his private plane and Sam was still sobbing. Damian finally told her to take her medication to calm herself down. He knew that she had stopped taking them after that dinner with his relat
Damian felt Sam tensed beside him in the dining table as his aunt and uncle’s family each placed a portion of pasta on their plates that night. He glanced down and saw his wife’s hands clenched on her lap underneath the table.“Mmm.. I do miss your pasta, Aurora,” Filomena gushed after sprinkling pepper on top and then bringing her fork to her mouth. “Perhaps you can take a short trip and go back home with me?”“That’s ridiculous,” Marciano interjected gently. “She’s going to have a trip back with her favorite sibling! Me!”Aurora and the others laughed as the two continued to banter.There was silence for a while as they finally tasted the pasta.Damian watched as his uncle and aunt chewed slowly while his wife beside him is already pale and look ready to faint from her worrying. He abruptly reached for Sam’s wine glass and handed it to her.Sam looked at him in surprise.“I’ll drink later,” she murmured as she placed her glass back on the table.“I must say, Aurora,” Marciano starte
Sam’s brows furrowed with concentration as she started to knead the dough, she is doing for the pasta that she’s going to make inside the kitchen of Aurora on a Friday late morning.She could hear her mother-in-law’s voice from the dining area, arguing with Damian while speaking with their family doctor. As they were headed towards the popular Ponte Vecchio, a tourist spot in town, Aurora suddenly felt unwell that Damian called the trip off.Despite Aurora’s insistence that she is fine and pushed him to take Sam to the trip, Sam also made the decision to stay. She does not want to put Damian in the middle.“Oh, dear,” Aurora then said after she sat down.“What is it, mami?” Laura asked, whom Sam finally met three days ago after arriving from France, where she was taking up her master’s degree. “Is something the matter?”“I told Maria that I will be doing the pasta for dinner tonight!” Aurora replied miserably. She tried to stand up but Damian pushed her back down gently and gave her a
Damian stared darkly at the contract that he is currently reviewing in his office at his headquarters in Rome. He clutched the edge of the contract angrily, forgetting that Frederick is inside his office, who now stopped speaking when he heard the paper being crumpled.It is a sunny Wednesday morning with the lights streaming inside his office. It has been two weeks since he arrived in Italy and more than a week of him staying in Rome to cater all the work he needed to do.Sam, to his annoyance, was held up by his mother back at Bassano.“I’m sure Sam has been to Rome several times, Damian,” Aurora pointed out frankly. They were having a light dinner at his mother’s insistence since he’ll be leaving early tomorrow. “And, at this time, the tourists will be flocking all over the world. She doesn’t need to be in that environment.”“Do you think I’m not going to do something about it?” Damian asked angrily. He turned to Sam, who is staring at him patiently. “Just pack light. You can enjoy
Damien pursed his lips as he knocked on his mother’s room late that night. He waited for her to tell him to come in and did, finding her occupying her favorite chair by the side of the opened glass door leading to the balcony and reading a book.“Close the door and take a seat, Damien,” Aurora said calmly, not taking her eyes off the book. “And get that stern look off your face. You know how much I dislike it especially when you will try to tell me off of what I’m doing.”He sat and remained silent, looking at his mother as she finally closed her book and placed it on the table between them and stared back at him. She took her time as she leaned forward, picking up her cup, sipping her tea slowly.“So?” She asked calmly. “Why are you here?”“You’re supposed to be on my side,” he accused lightly. "Why do I have a feeling that you are making me the enemy in this house?!"Aurora just gave him an amused look.“To which, I am but remember that I am on your side,” she countered gently. She