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
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
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 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 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
“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
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
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 handed his bag to one of his bodyguards and a box to one household staff with instructions, as he went out from his car on an early Wednesday night and proceeded towards the entrance at Stratham. He immediately took off his coat, unbutton the top two buttons of his shirt and loosen his tie.“Where’s my wife?” He asked when Winston greeted him while checking his phone. “How is she doing? Has she eaten?”“At the garden by the pool, sir,” Winston replied. “Madam barely ate her lunch but I convinced her to eat the fruit bowl I gave this afternoon.”“We’ll have dinner in an hour with guests. Frederick already coordinated with the chef,” Damian informed, nodding at the butler’s response. He pocketed his phone after answering a message. “Call him as well. I had him do something and needs to coordinate with you.”“Right away, Mr. McLaren,” Winston answered.Damian then headed towards the glass doors and pushed it open, his eyes searching for Sam. He found her sitting by one of the loun
Sam heard her phone ringing as Damian handed his card to the waiter after they are done with their meal. She reached for it inside her purse and saw Vivian calling her, showing it to Damian before answering.“Vivian, is anything wrong?” Sam asked after answering the call.“Madam, we are on our way to the vet right now,” Vivian answered calmly. “There’s something wrong with Gunny. I already informed Mr. McLaren’s driver so he can immediately take you there.”She gripped her phone, her face turning pale.“Everything okay with Gunny?” Damian asked.Sam shook her head, abruptly standing up and grabbing her purse. Tears started to well up around her eyes that her husband immediately noticed that he stood up as well and took her hand, heading out of the dining room.After giving instructions to one of his men to take care of their billing, he quickly ushered Sam to the car, who is already waiting for them.“Here,” Damian offered, handing his handkerchief to her.Sam took it and wipe her eye
Damian watched Sam as she walked ahead of him to check some local goods bazaar being held at downtown. He noted that Noah and Brandon immediately went closer to her for easier access in case of emergency.After their conversation a while ago, his heart felt lighter but also quite heavy.Sam looked at him in confused after he told her that he loves her.“What did you say?” She asked slowly.Damian just stared at her for a while before blinking, realizing he uttered it in Italian and in a low voice. He shook his head before looking at her again, placing a hand on her face and smiled. He didn’t know if she understood him or not but if she did, she asked to make sure that she heard him right.“Did you say-?” Sam started.He cut her off by pulling her face down and pressing his lips on hers in a hungry kiss. He wrapped his other arm tighter around her waist, deepening the kiss when she kissed him back with the same intensity.He didn’t know how long they stayed in that position. All Damian
Sam opened her eyes to a dim room, feeling heavy. Her eyes ached as she cried herself to sleep and also taking her medication, when Damian all of a sudden walked out on her when she begged him not to take Cameron away from her.She looked towards the balcony and saw that the curtains had been closed to prevent the light from coming in. She reached for her phone and saw that it was nine in the evening.Checking her messages, she saw none that came from Damian and her heart dropped and felt heavier. A whimper came out of her mouth.“Are you alright?”Gasping in shock, she turned towards the other side and saw Damian, lying beside her on top of her blanket, looking up at her.He was still in his work clothes and only removed his coat and shoes and unbuttoning his polo at the top.Damian reached for her one arm and pulled her back down. When she is on her side, he then immediately pulled her in his arms, pushing her face into his neck and resting his chin on her head. He let out a long an
Damian gripped Sam’s shoulders tightly as he deepened the kiss, to make her stop struggling away from him. He bit her lower lip to get her to cooperate and when he finally felt her relax, he ran the tip of his tongue to soothe the sting.When they finally pulled away, Sam rested her forehead on his shoulder, breathing heavily. Her hands are clutching at his shirt tightly and suddenly her breath hitched as she started to cry.He only stood, his arms wrapping around her and let her cries out. Her tears soaked his shirt but he didn’t mind and let her continue.“Feeling better?” Damian asked when she finally became silent.Samantha shook her head.“I-I wanted to smashed the glass I’m holding at Omar’s head when he invited me to go up,” she whimpered as she covered her face with her hands. “I feel sick and wanted to throw up when he touched me. I wasn’t entertaining his advances as you claimed.”“Were you also judging me when SJ hugged me that night at the charity gala? Did you think of th
Opening her eyes and removing the blanket over her head, Sam checked the clock and saw it displaying twelve minutes past ten in the morning. Finally deciding to get up, she padded to the bathroom and took a quick shower.After putting on her clothes, she went out of her room, hearing Gunny’s bark from outside, probably from the exercise Vivian is tasked to do.“Good morning, Madam.” Frederick greeted.“Hasn’t Damian come down yet?” Sam asked.Frederick looked at her for a while. “Mr. McLaren left before I arrived and told me to stay here when I called him,” he answered patiently. He followed behind when she proceeded to the dining room, stopping when Sam glanced at him. “He will call me if there are any urgent concerns.”Sam fully turned towards him; her eyebrows raised.“He told you to babysit me, didn’t he?” She questioned tightly. “I don’t need one.”“He told me to tell you that when you will ask of his whereabouts,” he responded calmly. He looked at her for a while, gauging her mo
Sam opened her eyes the following day and stared up at the bedroom ceiling for a long while, her thoughts deep. She turned to one side and saw the clock flashing five in the morning.Instead of getting up to change for her usual run, she remained and only turned her body to face the glass door, leading to the balcony. She pulled her blanket closer to her, gripping it tightly as thoughts of what happened last night filled her mind.When they were ushered back to the party, Damian was separated from her as he was escorted to a table where Omar had joined him. She turned in desperation to find some solace, her eyes spotting Katherine heading towards her direction.However, due to the influx of the guests, she was pushed further from them. Looking around the surroundings, Sam saw a door and immediately headed towards it, discovering it to be a bathroom for guests.Letting out her breath, she went inside and sat on the large settee in the center of the room, calming herself. She looked at
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