“Samson, I can’t—”
A loud knock at the door interrupted them.
“Samson!” It was Amaury.
“Not now!” was Samson’s reply. “Please, Delilah, stay with me. Be mine. Let me be yours.”
“We have a traitor in our midst!” Amaury’s voice was insistent.
Samson yanked the door open.
“I think it’s Thomas; he’s behind it.”
Samson’s face froze. “Oh, God, no.”
He looked back over his shoulder. “We’ll talk later, Delilah. You are my life now, whether you want it or not.”
Delilah gave no indication whether she believed him, but Samson couldn’t wait any longer. The unshed tears in her eyes made his heart constrict, and more than anything he wanted to hold her, but he had to take care of this problem now. Thomas, of all people. He didn’t want to believe it.
He rushed down to his office, flanked by Amaury.
“Show me.”
Amaury pulled up the transaction screens and explained what was happening. “Here, see, Thomas is logged on as we speak, and he’s authorizing all of John Reardon’s encrypted transactions.”
The screen was littered with pop-up windows showing approval notices.
“What are they?” Samson scanned the screen.
“Wire transfers. He’s wiring all our cash to offshore accounts.”
“All?”
“Yes, all he can get his hands on. Millions. If we don’t stop him, you’ll have to shut down the company tomorrow—we wouldn’t be able to even make next week’s payroll.”
The news was devastating. Thomas, his friend of almost a hundred years was betraying him, stealing from him. And not only that, he was the one who’d tried to harm Delilah. No matter how long his friendship with him had lasted, there was only one thing to do now.
“Let’s go,” he ordered Amaury. “Carl?” he called out into the hallway as they rushed out. Carl appeared out of nowhere.
“Yes, Sir?”
“Protect Delilah.”
“Yes, Sir.”
They jumped into Amaury’s Porsche which was parked on the street and raced toward Thomas’ house. Samson pulled out his cell phone and instructed Ricky to meet them there and bring two of his men. They needed all the help they could get. A vampire out of control was a dangerous animal. They had to be prepared for everything.
“Doesn’t this thing go any faster?” Samson couldn’t contain his impatience.
“I’m going as fast as I can without killing anybody. I’m just as angry as you are,” Amaury confessed.
“I know.” Samson looked out the window, recalling what Delilah had told him.
“Do you love her?” Amaury’s question was unexpected.
Samson gave him a sideways glance. “More than my life. But she doesn’t understand what that means. She’s resisting. I don’t think she’s forgiven me for hiding things from her.”
“Does she know that you’d never hurt her?”
He nodded. “And I told her I’ll give her anything she’ll ever want. I explained to her that she’ll have a right to everything that’s mine.”
Amaury shook his head. “Sometimes you’re so dense, it’s not even funny.”
What the hell was his friend talking about? “I’m not dense.”
“Sure you are. A woman like Delilah doesn’t want money or worldly goods. She wants a man who will always be true to her. Somebody who’ll never lie to her, somebody she can always rely on.”
“But I’ve told her I love her. I told her, I’ll never hurt her. I even apologized for lying to her. I’ve done everything I can.” Samson felt exhausted.
“Words. It’s all words. She doesn’t trust your words. She only trusts your actions. You’ll have to show her what you feel. You have to do something for her that’ll prove that you mean what you say.”
“But do what?”
“How would I know? You’ve spent the last few days with her. You know what’s important to her. You feel the bond with her—”
“You know that?”
“You forget that I can sense your emotions. I know you feel the bond with her. Use the bond to find a way to convince her. Give her want she wants, truly wants in her heart, and she’ll be yours.”
His friend’s words made sense. Samson closed his eyes and opened his heart to reach out to her. Too much pain clouded her heart. She had to let go of it before she could recognize what else her heart was hiding. He had to help her with this journey. He suddenly knew what he needed to do, and he hoped it was the right thing.