The large diamond was far too ostentatious, but Leno declared he wanted nothing but the best for her, so she gave in. When it came to the matching wedding bands, she simply went along without fuss, not having the heart to argue any more.
The surprise engagement party, celebrated at a top London hotel, was an evening she battled through with a plastic smile tacked to her lips. She hadn’t realised just how important a man Leno was until that night, when the press were there to take countless photos of the soon to be happy couple for the avid readers of their magazines and society pages.
Whatever Leno wanted happened like magic. As soon as a wedding date was set, he arranged for a top designer to make her dress. Sam stumbled through the arrangements, trying to fit shopping trips around her job, but finally she had to give that up. Gifts rained in from right and left, until she wanted to scream that it wasn’t real. Yet it was very real, and Sam made a conscious decision not to think ahead to after the wedding, when she and Leno would finally be alone together as husband and wife.
A week away from the wedding, Sam escaped from the final fitting of her wedding dress and knew she just had to get a few moments of peace or she would go crazy. She and Ransom had loved walking in Kensington Gardens, and suddenly she just had to go there. To be somewhere where she had been happy. Seconds later she was hailing a passing taxi.
As soon as she started walking along the pathways Sam felt as if she could breathe again. Peace settled around her, and after a while she spied an empty seat and sat down. Everything was so normal here, she thought. Unlike her life, which was like a runaway train. Closing her eyes, she allowed the peace and tranquillity to soothe her battered soul.
She was unaware that someone had sat down at the other end of the seat until they spoke.
‘So, it wasn’t actually marriage you were against, it was the lack of wealth of the man doing the asking,’ Ransom declared cuttingly, and Sam’s heart lurched as her eyes shot open and she stared at him in shock.
‘Where did you come from?’ she gasped out, wondering if she had somehow magicked him up.
His smile was chilly. ‘I was passing by when I saw you get out of the taxi, so I followed you. I wanted to congratulate you on your forthcoming marriage.’
Somehow she had believed that he would never know about it. She should have known better. ‘How did you find out?’
‘A colleague of mine saw one of the newspaper articles and recognised your name. He thought I might be interested,’ Ransom explained with a mocking laugh. ‘You made quite a fetching couple. Shame he’s old enough to be your father, but what the hell? He’s loaded, so it’s a perfect match!’
Sam swallowed hard, unable to voice the lie and say that she cared for Leno. She did, however, raise her chin and stare him out. ‘I can marry who I like, and for whatever reason I like.’
Ransom laughed coldly. ‘And he has several million reasons for you to like him.’
‘I’m not marrying him for his money,’ she put in swiftly, though in a roundabout way she was. She just hadn’t known quite how wealthy Leno was.
‘Pardon me if I don’t believe you. I think I was lucky not being rich enough for your taste. I wonder how long it would have taken me to realise it wasn’t me you loved, but my money?’ Ransom shot back with withering scorn. ‘Perhaps I ought to put him straight on a few things.’
The suggestion had her heart leaping into her throat. The last thing she wanted was for Leno to meet Ransom. ‘That won’t be necessary,’ she countered in a strangled voice. ‘Leno and I have an understanding.’
Ransom’s beautiful eyes were full of dislike as he looked at her. ‘I get it. He has his trophy wife and you get to spend his money. How did I ever think I could love you? You two deserve each other!’
Every word he uttered struck home with devastating accuracy and drew blood. If he hadn’t hated her enough before, he certainly did now. She had no defence except not to let him see how he had hurt her.
‘Have you finished?’ she asked him with deceptive calm.
Ransom looked her up and down as if he had never seen her before. ‘My God, you’re a cool customer. Nothing reaches you, does it? It’s OK, darling, I’m done. I wish you joy of your fortune. May it keep you warm at night.’
With those parting words Ransom got up and walked away. Sam knew he never looked back, because she kept her eyes on him till he was out of sight. This time she didn’t cry, for the hurt went too deep. She stared unseeingly at the beauty around her and laid the first stones of the wall of ice that would eventually surround her heart and keep it safe. After all, it held her most precious possession: her love for him.
When she finally began to retrace her steps, she did so with her feelings securely encased in ice and a determination to never look back. Whatever happened from this moment, nothing would touch her, neither hurt nor joy, for those were things of the past and that was gone for ever.
CHAPTER THREE
SAM watched the charming Norfolk scenery pass by outside the car and gave a sigh of satisfaction. Not to put too fine a point on it, she was happy, and that was something she had never thought she would be again. Of course she wasn’t ecstatically happy, but she knew she would never feel anything close to that again. Nevertheless, she was content.
When her husband Leno had suddenly died of a heart attack six months ago, she had found herself at a crossroads. She hadn’t been back to England in over six years. What had begun as a honeymoon trip had ended as a permanent removal. Sam had fully expected to remain in Italy, where the people, and Leno’s family in particular, had been kind to her.
She had done all she could to be a good wife, and, because Leno had been a good man, their marriage had not been a total disaster. He had showered her with gifts to mark his deep affection for her, introducing her to a lifestyle she had never dreamed of. His only sadness had been the lack of children. Sam had done nothing to prevent it, it was just not meant to be. Which was a shame, because Leno would have showered them with love too.
He had been good to her, and she had mourned him. Because of the situation regarding their marriage, she had not expected to inherit the bulk of his fortune, but so it had turned out to be. He had no children, and his nearest relatives were cared for, leaving her what remained. It was then that Sam had decided to come home. She knew she had more money than she could ever spend, and that she could have more than enough to live on and still put the rest to good use.
Which was the reason she was a passenger in this powerful convertible car today.
Alex Hunt, the man behind the wheel, knew all the twists and turns of the road they were travelling along very well, for he was taking her to visit his parents. This was Sam’s fifth visit, and she looked forward to it, for she got on well with David and Ellen Hunt. The Grimaldi Foundation, which Sam had set up in her husband’s name, was helping to fund the building of a new hospice. It was the foundation’s first project, and Sam was keeping a finger on the pulse, hence the regular visits.
Alex steered the car around a sharp bend, and Sam watched him manoeuvre the vehicle with ease, her lips curving into a wry smile. She hadn’t known him long, but they had quickly become friends. Despite turning thirty a couple of months ago, he had a boyish enthusiasm for fast cars.
He must have felt her eyes on him, for he glanced round at her with a grin. ‘What are you smiling at?’ he asked lazily, whilst returning his attention to a particularly tricky section of road.
Sam laughed. ‘Actually, I was thinking you love your car more than a woman.’
His response was to make a Gallic sound in his throat. ‘Mais, non! You know I love you like crazy, Sam.’
It was only a joke, but for a moment her head was filled with the sound of another voice telling her he loved her, and her heart tightened painfully. Then she ruthlessly quashed the memory, for it had no place in the here and now.
She laughed