ChapterFour
The silence in the SUV did little to mitigate the tension between Sam and Bianca. While Sam stared straight ahead, her passenger, sitting in the front seat where Sam could keep an eye on her, kept her own eyes glued to her window, occasionally glancing at her phone and tugging on the stray strand of hair by her ear.
Sam didn’t need her years of training and experience to tell her that Bianca was anxious. Given that Sam had practically groped her in her hospital room in an overzealous attempt to keep Bianca on her feet, Sam didn’t blame her.
What was it about Bianca that had Sam on a constant high alert around her? While that was Sam’s natural state, especially while on the job, this was something else. Despite Bianca’s attitude, Sam found herself with a drive to protect her. Any irritation she’d felt toward her client’s daughter dissolved in that hospital room, when all Bianca’s haughtiness had disappeared, only to be replaced with the kind of vulnerability that melted even Sam’s cold heart…
Overly protective feelings toward a client? That was not a good thing. Which was exactly why Sam couldn’t be Bianca’s personal bodyguard.
Bianca broke the silence. “This is a nice vehicle. What is it? A BMW? I knew they made SUVs, but this is a lot nicer than I expected.”
“Yes, it’s a BMW.” They were stuck at a red light, and traffic was starting to swell around them. It was only three more blocks to the Black Diamond Building, but it might as well have been thirty. Sam’s hopes of the trip being a short one were quickly evaporating. “This belongs to my company, but I own a BMW myself. A 3 Series Gran Coupe.”
“Huh. Never pegged you as the type.”
“It’s a sedan, not a sports car. This is an X7. Extra room for holding multiple clients at a time, plus some power for when you’re in a hurry. I’m replacing our whole fleet with them.” Bianca probably didn’t care, but if small talk would put her at ease, so be it.
“Sounds like you really have a handle on your business.”
“It must seem like I’m making a sales pitch. I like talking business, that’s all.”
“I don’t mind. I like hearing you talk.” Bianca glanced in her direction. That simple look was enough to make Sam almost miss the red light turning green. “You did all this by yourself? Started your own security company? You seem pretty young.”
“I’ve worked hard to get where I am today.”
“I’m sure you did.”
Perhaps Sam had spoken a little too defensively. But clients like the Black family could never truly understand what she had gone through and what she’d sacrificed to accomplish so much in so little time. Her company’s success was a direct result of hours of overtime and pushing herself to her limits.
The numbers in her bank accounts were proof of all her hard work. Not that she did what she did for the money. And the money wasn’t so that she could make frivolous purchases, live a lavish lifestyle. The only things she’d splurged on over the years were her centrally located condo and her aforementioned BMW. A tealBMW. Because that was Sam’s way of going all-out and acting like a girl at her Sweet Sixteen.
But most of her money she had stashed away for a rainy day. Or for her little sister, who she’d had to leave behind when she signed up for the military at age eighteen. Nisha was getting married soon. A big Indian wedding. The whole works. And big sister Sam was paying for most of it.
It was the least she could do for missing all those years of Nisha’s life. But that hadn’t been her choice.
“Again, I’m really sorry about putting you out like this,” Bianca said, interrupting Sam’s thoughts. “I feel so silly and unprofessional. I should have been more careful. And now you’re driving me home, all because I don’t trust anyone else not to tell my mom. I know it seems stupid, but she’s so controlling. I can’t sneeze without her taking me to the doctor. It’s been like that my whole life, even before we knew I had diabetes.”
Vivianne Black, the entitled matriarch of the wealthiest family in the entire Pacific Northwest, was controlling? Sam was not surprised. And given what her own mother was like, she could relate.
“I shouldn’t be dumping all of this on you.” Bianca spun one of her curls around her finger, her gaze wandering toward the passenger-side window. “I wish you’d just drive by my building and get me the hell out of here. Take me to California. Or anywhere else.”
“Believe it or not, I understand,” Sam murmured.
Bianca didn’t press her for an explanation. It was just as well. Sam was in no mood to describe her tenuous relationship with her parents, who had projected so much of themselves onto her that she felt like she had no choice but to join the military as soon as she was old enough.
When they found out I was leaving as soon as I graduated high school, my father walked out of the house and my mother went to the temple and cried.Of course, there had been other incidents leading up to that moment. Young Sam hadn’t enlisted because of superficial concerns. She hadn’t fought with her parents over the way she dressed, or what kind of boys she dated. Those were arguments her mother had with Nisha, who at least was straight and girly. Two things their mom understood.
No, Sam had had bigger problems in her relationship with her mother.
She cleared her throat. “Here we are.” She pulled into the loading zone in front of the building. The doorman stepped forward, poised to interrogate Sam about why she had stopped there, but he respectfully stepped back the moment he saw Bianca in the passenger seat. “And you don’t need to apologize for anything, Ms. Black. I’m simply glad you’re safe.”
“Because that’s your job?”
“It could be my company’s job, if you’ll let me assign someone to you. But I’m glad that you are safe on a personal level, too.”
“You could still be my personal bodyguard, you know. I think you’d do a good job. And…” Bianca’s hand hovered over the door handle. “I think I could feel safe with you.”
Suddenly, Sam was transported back to that moment in the hospital room, where she’d held Bianca against her as she clung to Sam’s shoulders, her heart beating hard enough for Sam to feel it…