Club Destiny 1 Conviction (42 page)

I heard Sam tried to go back to
the San Antonio office, but they didn’t want her.

I heard Logan finally got tired
of her, and she’s been off licking her wounds for the last two weeks, only to
come back to find out she’d been fired. Poor woman.

I heard Xavier threatened to fire
them both, but since Sam had been the one to pursue Logan, he agreed to let
Logan stay.

 It was an endless murmur of “I
heard this” and “She did that”. One of the biggest instigators had been Tricia
Shoenrock, who had been attacking Sam personally since the day she arrived in
the Dallas office. From the other rumors going around, Abigail had all but
promised her the job once Xavier fired Sam.

So, that was the only reason Sam
looked forward to the announcement. She looked up at Alex, wondering what his
answer would be, but she didn’t have to wonder when he grabbed his beer bottle
and a spare fork sitting on the table. With a round of clangs against the
bottle, he announced that he wanted everyone’s attention.

Sam’s heart started pounding in
her chest. So maybe she wasn’t as ready for him to share the news as she
thought she was.

Logan took two steps closer, his
body pressed up against her side as he stood beside her counter height chair.
She welcomed his warmth, the feel of him grounding her; the support she needed
to get through the next few minutes.

As others approached the table,
Alex downed the rest of his beer, and Logan addressed the crowd.

Oh hell
.

“As many of you know, Samantha
Kielty recently joined us in the Dallas office. During the short time she’s
been in our office, we’ve seen tremendous improvements. She’s managed to do
what no one has been able to do so far. Of the twenty or so projects she’s been
managing, one hundred percent of them are back on schedule. We’ve seen
significant improvement in engagement from our internal partners, and the
response time from our software vendors has drastically improved.”

There was a round of clapping
from several people, mostly from her project managers.

“With that said, I’m sorry to
say, but Samantha has chosen to take an opportunity outside of XTX.”

Sam heard the audible gasps from
those closest to her, and a round of whispers from a few in the back.

“However,” Alex chimed in,
attracting everyone’s attention, “I have some fabulous news. Many of you are
familiar with me and my security firm, and I’m happy to say that, in recent
days, I’ve actually acquired a business partner, who, unfortunately, couldn’t
be here today to join in our celebration, but you’ll see him around XTX in the
next couple of months. And with that acquisition, CISS has decided to take our
company to the next level. In order to do that, we felt it was necessary to
hire the talent who could take us there.” Alex paused momentarily, probably for
effect.

Sam kept her eyes trained on
Alex, taking comfort in Logan’s hand resting on her shoulder. Having him by her
side was a powerful feeling, knowing he supported her and stood by her. A
feeling she hadn’t known from anyone other than her parents. A feeling she
hoped never ended.

“I’m proud to announce that Sam
has accepted an offer with CISS, giving us the much needed experience and
driving force necessary to achieve our strategic initiatives.”

“Who’s going to replace Sam?” The
question came from the back, and although he tried to disguise it, Sam knew
Larry’s voice when she heard it.

Logan once again spoke,
personally addressing Larry and the group standing closest to him. “Due to the
significant improvements we’ve seen recently, XTX has taken this as an
opportunity to seek the help of an outside contractor. What that means for most
of you is that you won’t see a change in your daily activity. We’ve been
fortunate enough to sign a contract with CISS which will guarantee for the next
twenty four months, the help from their top Project Consultant.”

Sam knew he was dragging it out,
and she couldn’t seem to turn her head and look at him, fearful of what she
would see in his eyes. The way he spoke of her, the confidence he seemed to
have, made her heart swell and tears form behind her eyelids.

“Sam will continue on in the same
capacity as she has for the last few months, fulfilling the contractual
obligation between CISS and XTX.”

Sam did turn her head then, and
what she saw nearly choked her. Logan, along with his no nonsense tone, offered
the crowd a piercing stare that dared any one of them to make a comment.

“Congratulations, Sam.” Jim
called from behind Alex. “That’s great news for us.”

Abigail shot her a death glare,
but Sam forced a smile back at her. “Thank you, Jim.” She said, directing her
attention over to her project manager.

“And just so we are
very
clear,” Logan continued, his voice now reflecting the professional tone he used
in the office, “when I say that we will continue with business as usual, that’s
exactly what I mean. Sam will report directly to Xavier Thomas, offering our
organization more visibility to the President and CEO. That means we need to
continue to work with the upmost professionalism and cooperation as we have
always been known for.”

Sam watched the faces around her,
seeing some smiles, some grim looks, but all in all, she was up for the
challenge. It wasn’t every day that you were offered a second chance. Somehow,
she’d been offered a second chance at so many things, and she knew when not to
look a gift horse in the mouth so to speak.

Apparently finished with his
speech, Logan signaled for the bartender to bring another round of drinks and
then he turned his attention to Sam, making her blood pressure spike and her
hands sweat.

“Congratulations, baby.” With
that, he leaned down and kissed her, a soft melding of lips, a sweet brush of
his fingers along her cheek. “You don’t know how happy this makes me.”

~~  ** 
~~  **  ~~  **  ~~

The night dragged on, most of the
employees remaining for two hours or more before they said their goodbyes and
ventured home. Logan was satisfied with the way the announcement went, and from
the sound of it, most of his team was happy with the news. The only one who
seemed exceptionally disappointed was Abigail, but Logan couldn’t do anything
to help that.

Even Tricia congratulated Sam,
seemingly calling a truce. Alex managed to add that Tricia should take the
opportunity to benefit from such a successful mentor. Telling her that if she
wanted to get to the next level, she needed to learn as much as she could from
Sam and use that to her advantage.

Sam seemed to be taking all of
this in stride. He could only hope the simple change wouldn’t be a huge
distraction to her. The last thing he could afford at the moment was for Sam to
continue to dwell on the changes happening around her.

Since the morning he told her he
loved her, the same morning he told her about Alex and Xavier’s plan to make
things work, she had done what she needed to do to insert a gap the size of the
Grand Canyon between them.

At first, Logan had been worried;
scared Sam would change her mind or talk herself out of her feelings for him.
Then, he’d just been pissed.

He was damn proficient at hiding
his true feelings because at the moment, he wanted to be anywhere but here. He
wanted to take Sam somewhere private and show her exactly what her actions
sparked in him. Having built his life and his career by going after exactly
what he wanted, and not stopping until he got them, Logan had had to remind
himself that the same would go for Sam.

He’d made a monumental
miscalculation with her. The day on the boat, she’d introduced him to the
seductress that he knew her to be. The night when he’d blindfolded her,
watching as Luke took her to places she’d never been, Sam giving herself
completely over to both of them, he’d seen a side of her she probably hadn’t
known existed. The night by the hot tub, when he’d done wicked things to her
body, Sam had instilled in him a trust she likely didn’t know she had in her.
Then, the morning in his shower, when he’d all but tortured and tormented her,
pushing her past the limits she had set for herself, Logan thought she had
finally conceded to what they shared.

Then, she’d up and left him for
two solid weeks while she talked herself out of her feelings for him. Neither
of them had referenced love since that morning when they made love, both of
them caught up in the moment. But Logan still felt the same.

His love for her wasn’t
imaginary, and it wouldn’t just go away. He sensed she felt the same way,
though she was harder on herself than he was.

Logan was comfortable with
himself, both in his professional life and in his personal life. He tested the
boundaries every day, pushing himself harder, farther, only to remind himself
that he wanted more out of life. The same went with his sexuality. Logan knew
he was a dominating man, knew he tended to border on the rougher side of
things.

All in the name of pleasure.

All in the name of Sam’s pleasure.

Did Logan want to share her with
other men? Only her body. When it came to her heart and soul, he was a
possessive bastard and expected those to be for him and him only. Could he live
without sharing her? Absolutely. What he couldn’t live without was
her
.

If she gave him an ultimatum,
he’d oblige, but he knew that neither of them would be happy in the end. Sam
was a sensual, sexy woman who happened to enjoy the same things Logan did.

Would he ever let her share him
with another woman? Never. That wasn’t even an option. It wasn’t about him. She
was everything he needed. But, did he get off on watching another man take her
to new heights of pleasure that she never knew existed? Absolutely. More
importantly, he enjoyed the submission she gave him. To know he owned her,
controlled her, made her burn for more. Those things were crucial to Logan.

And he’d thought he had made
himself clear. He could see the hunger burn in her eyes when he took her, when
he ordered her pleasure. He felt the way her body burned for more, needing all
he could give her.

And tonight… tonight he would
push her to a new height.

This would be her ultimate test.
He would determine the full extent of her conviction, a safe word he’d
originally wondered about, but when he’d given it more thought, he’d
understood.

Sam was testing her beliefs, and
in turn, Logan would be testing her, as well.

Logan nodded to Luke from across
the room, his brother acknowledging. Then he interrupted Sam, who was still
talking to Deanna, the two women talking about a Christmas party or some such.
“You about ready, baby?”

Sam’s eyes went wide at his term
of endearment, but she recovered quickly. “I am. I’ll talk to you tomorrow?
Then Thursday we’ll go to lunch with Veronica?”

Deanna nodded her agreement, then
waved them off.

“Goodnight, Deanna.” Logan said,
taking Sam’s hand and then motioning to Alex. “Hey, man. We’re gonna head out.
See you later?”

“You bet.” Alex turned to Sam.
“I’ll see you later.”

Sam nodded her head, but clutched
Logan’s hand in hers as he led her toward the exit. When Luke joined them at
the door, they exited the building together, heading for his truck. Once they
were all three inside, Logan looked at his brother. “Let’s go to your house.”

“Sure thing.”

He caught Sam’s surprised look,
but he had to give her credit, she didn’t say anything. Except for the tremble
in her hand, Logan would have never known she was anticipating what was to
come. He half expected her to ask them to take her home.

She didn’t.

“Are you ok, Sam?” Logan asked,
just to get her talking.

~*~*~

Sam sat as straight as she could,
staring out the window, just shy of holding her breath. When Logan asked her if
she was ok, she wanted to tell him, that no, she wasn’t. She couldn’t do that
though. It would have been only partial truth.

She was giddy, anxious, and more
than a little nervous, but the more she thought about it, the more she decided
she actually was ok.

“I’m fine.” She muttered, the
warmth of his hand suffusing her with a little courage.

Sam had never been to Luke’s
house, hell, she didn’t even know what he did for a living. Something deep down
inside of her wanted to know. She wanted to know more about the man – her lover
– and this would be a start.

Luke was always so quiet,
reserved, seeming to do whatever Logan told him to do, but Sam knew that was
only when she was around. She could feel Luke’s heat, his power, his aggression
just below the surface. He might participate as a third in Logan’s
relationships, but Sam got the impression that he was far from controllable.
Getting a glimpse into his world might do her some good.

For the last few hours, she’d
been talking to Deanna, sharing stories with some of the other women who worked
for her, and actually enjoying herself. Which left her wondering what the hell
she’d spent the last two weeks doing.