His Dutchess

chapter 14

“I said I miss you,” Samantha’s breathless voice wavered.

“I miss you, too,” he whispered slowly as he typed back. WTF is going on?

Samantha chuckled. “You know what I’ve been thinking about all day?” The 900-voice collided with the text messages, both of which started to screw with his brain. If someone had bugged her phone, they’d been in her house. His jaw started to ache and heat built inside his body. He was too damn far away to reach her.

“No, why don’t you tell me?”

Being watched. Think someone’s listening to us now.

“I’ve been thinking about that sexy smile of yours.”

He hesitated in his text reply. “You think my smile’s sexy?”

“You know I do. I miss seeing the laughter in your eyes when we’re together.”

Blake knew her words were for the person listening, but the effect of them was no less potent. Samantha might not be an actress, but she was doing a hell of a job now.

We need to get you out of there. he texted

“You know what I miss about you?” he asked, keeping the conversation exactly where she’d put it.

“Tell me.”

I have to agree with you. She texted.

He was shocked she agreed without a fight. “What?”

“I said tell me what you miss about me.” Samantha redirected him.

Blake set the phone aside and concentrated on her words.

“I miss that wild hair of yours pressed on my pillow.” The image was one he pictured often, even if he hadn’t seen it...yet. “The way you moisten your lips right before I kiss you.”

“You do?” Her voice grew rough.

“I miss the lavender scent of your skin. I’m going to have the gardeners plant bushels of it here so every time I walk by I will be reminded of you.” Where had that come from? And since when was he a poet?

The phone was silent for a moment.

“Samantha? Are you still there?” He glanced at his cell to see if she’d sent another text. She hadn’t.

“I’m here. I just… I need to be closer to you. Maybe I should move into your home in Malibu.”

He smiled. “I’m glad you finally agreed.”

“Everything happened so fast, I thought it would be best to move slowly. Now it just seems silly.”

“You’re an independent woman. I understand. But we’ll be spending time here in Europe and there. It would be better for you to get comfortable in bothplaces. Then at least I know where you are when we have to be apart.” Funny, every word he said was true but if there wasn’t another set of ears listening, he probably wouldn’t say any of it.

“You’re… dammit!” Her expletive exploded from her lips.

The hair on his neck stood on end. “What’s wrong?”

“I-I stubbed my toe.” She sounded pissed, not hurt.

His phone buzzed. Found a camera.

“What are you doing?” he asked. He took to his feet and started to pace.

“Picking out a few books to take to your house. When will you be here on Sunday?” If he hadn’t been listening, he wouldn’t have noticed the tremor in her voice.

He pressed the number to Neil and sent an urgent text. Get to Sam’s now!

I’ll call you in a few minutes.

“I’m going to rearrange my plans and fly in sooner.” As in tonight.

“That isn’t necessary,” she said.

“I disagree. We’ve been apart too long.”

Those words felt exactly right, despite their agreed upon contract.

She let out a deep breath. “You won’t get an argument out of me.”

“I’ll call later.”

“Don’t do anything rash,” she told him. “I’m fine.”

But he wasn’t. Someone was spying on his wife, listening to her conversation...watching her. And that was taking catching them in a lie too far.

“I’ll be there by morning.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Blake smiled and hung up the phone.

Pack what you need for today and tomorrow. Neil is on his way.

He placed a call to his bodyguard, explaining the situation. The next call was to his pilot. He rubbed his frustrated hands through his hair and scrambled to make arrangements to leave. His long-distance marriage no longer felt safe. His brain buzzed with an urgency that kept his toe tapping, his hands wringing to weave around someone’s neck.

Would his cousin stoop to this level? Or was

Vanessa utterly scorned and wanting some crazy revenge? Even Parker and Parker couldn’t be eliminated from the short list of suspects since they stood to gain an extra measure of cash should Blake and Samantha’s marriage be exposed as a fraud.

Twenty minutes later, his phone rang on route to the airport.

“Samantha?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” She sounded worn out. Depleted. “I’m at your place.”

“Then it’s safe to talk. My security would detect a bug. How are you holding up?”She sighed. The sound grew heavy in his ear.

“I’m pissed. I thought my days of bugged phones and hidden cameras were behind me. Who would go to these lengths, Blake?”

“I’ve been asking myself that question since you called. I have people working on it. We’ll find out.”

“Let me know what I can do to help. Whoever is responsible has an enemy in

me.” The spark in her voice was better than the deflated one of a moment ago.

His feisty redheaded wife could be a fireball when cornered.

“I’ll be in late tonight. What room did you chose?”

“Oh, ah, I-I wasn’t sure who knew what around here so I told Neil to put my things in your suite,” she stammered. “I can move.”

He warmed into the thought of her head on is pillow, her eyes drifting to sleep in his bed.

“Don’t move. You’re right. I trust my staff, but I don’t think we should alert them.”

“Are you sure?” She sounded vulnerable again. The strong desire to pull her into his arms and envelop her with his strength was painful.

“Please. I insist.” He knew better than to demand. Samantha took his commands and tossed them in his face whenever possible. Asking nicely was new to him, but he grew better at the task every day.

“All right. I’ll see you in the morning.”

His finger tapped along his phone after he hung up. The image of Samantha curled up in a tight little ball on his bed, her eyes wide with fear, choked him.

His fingers clutched hard against his palms. Whoever did this had made a huge, costly mistake. He would crush the person who violated his wife’s privacy on this level. Paparazzi on public streets, eavesdropping while standing in line at a*****e, fine, but this? What if there was a camera in her bedroom? What if someone watched her dress, watched her bathe?

No wonder she sounded scared.

The more he thought about it, the harder it was to see anything but red.