He smiled, unsure what to say to her.
Samantha looked closely at the man she had spent the night with on more than one occasion and seeing the way he was acting – as if his being in her bed was something to be ashamed of – she felt the burning anger that only humiliation could bring. He was the only man she had ever allowed into her home, into her bed, since she had given birth to her daughter. She had felt such an affinity with him from their first meeting, she had truly believed they had made a genuine connection. He was much older than her, but that didn’t bother her at all. She had been attracted to his personality, his strength, and his kindness. She had felt all of that straightaway. She had also felt a deep physical attraction to him that she had never felt for anyone else before. He had sought her out after their first meeting; she had never once looked for him – she had too much pride in herself for that. He had pursued her, as she had known he would. Now he was suddenly acting like she was beneath him, and that hurt.
She opened her arms, and pulled her little daughter on to her lap, hugging the child to her. Declan watched her warily. He could feel the atmosphere changing, knew that he was naked, and had no option but to wait for his opportunity to get his kecks on, and run like the fucking wind as far away as humanly possible.
Samantha looked into his eyes for long moments. She was still hugging her little daughter tightly, and he could see how the child enjoyed her mother’s embrace, and how much affection there was between them.
‘Listen, Declan, I don’t like you treating me like this. You act like this has never happened before, but it has – many times. I’ve fallen in love with you, Declan, I think you already know that. But I will not let anyone treat me like a whore. If you don’t want to see me again, then you can fuck off, OK?’
Declan wanted to hold her, tell her it was going to be all right. But he couldn’t. ‘You could be my daughter, Sam. I’m far too old for you. I’m trying to be the good guy here.’
Samantha smiled sadly. ‘Well, it’s a pity you didn’t think about that before we got so involved. It’s OK to sleep with me in secret, then? Thanks a bunch, Declan. You know where the door is.’ She stood up and, with as much dignity as she could muster, she carried her daughter out of the room.
Declan lay there in Samantha Harker’s bed, wishing with all his might that he was anywhere else in the world. He could hear Samantha in the kitchen, chatting away to her little girl, pretending that everything was fine, but beneath the love he could hear in her voice for her child, there was a deep abiding sadness.
Declan Costello had never felt so guilty about anything in his whole entire life.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Carmel Costello watched her two daughters with growing irritation. They argued constantly with each other and with her. They treated her like she was no more than a servant. Assumpta, the eldest, had become her nemesis; she would argue that black was white if it meant going against her own mother. Gabriella, too, would gladly pick a fight with her own fingernails – she was as spoilt as her older sister, and even more inclined to argue just for the sheer hell of it.
Patrick always tried to insinuate that they took after her! As far as she was concerned, they were their father’s daughters. They were completely spoilt – they had never once had to do anything for themselves, and they never were going to do anything for themselves. She had given them everything they had wanted, and they repaid her by demanding that she give them even more. To be fair, she had used them to make Patrick do whatever she had wanted him to do. The girls had been her bargaining chips, her way of making him toe the line, and he had done everything she had asked of him.
Now the girls were completely out of her control. They were both without a conscience, without any moral compasses whatever. They were as spoilt as she was but, unlike her, they didn’t have the brain capacity to understand that it took more than a temper tantrum to get what they wanted from a man like their father.