Chapter Twelve

Natalia

If you’d asked me earlier what I’d be doing after reading the contract I signed with Samuel, I would have told you I’d be hopping on a plane and flying far, far away. I even told my brother to bring my passport with him. Daniel was willing to help. He’d never seen the actual contract. My father always handled everything on his own. After he died, my brother had his hands full. He hadn’t checked into the particulars. He—like myself—thought our father just formed an alliance, and that was it. He had no way of knowing my father was taking money from Samuel under the guise that it was for me. It wasn’t. I’ve been working to pay my own way, because my father refused. He thought my career was a waste of time. Sure, I have a lot of student loan debt, but I don’t care. I feel good that my career rests solely on my shoulders.

I checked the account listed in the agreement. There was one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in it. The very first deposit was withdrawn and transferred into my father’s private account. The rest of it hasn’t been touched since my father’s death. If he were still breathing, there wouldn’t be a dime in that account—of that, I have no doubt.

“I think we should head to the Christmas tree lot next,”

Samuel says as we walk out of the restaurant. I wasn’t dressed for the place he took me, but not once did he make me feel self-conscious. He centered his attention on me, and it stayed there—even as the waitress flirted with him.

I curl up my nose. “I hate live trees.”

“You do?”

he asks, sounding completely stunned.

“They make a mess, and they look so sad. They need to be in the ground, growing.”

“What kind of tree do you normally get then?”

he asks, making me sigh.

“We don’t.”

“Don’t?”

“My father didn’t allow us to acknowledge Christmas.”

“It seems we may have had similar fathers, Izzy.”

“Lucky us,”

I mutter sarcastically.

“You can say that again,”

he laughs. “Okay, so if you’ve never had a Christmas tree, do you know what kind you would have liked?”

“My friend Riley invited me home with her over Christmas break last year. They had like this huge nine-foot tree. It was flocked, so it looked like it was covered in snow. I remember staring at it, with the decorations and twinkling lights, thinking it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.”

“Then that’s the kind of tree you’ll have. Let’s head out to the home center. They should have Christmas trees there.”

“Are you sure it wouldn’t be better to just agree to end our marriage? You wouldn’t have to waste money on Christmas that way.”

He yanks on my hand and pulling me into his body before I even realize his intent. “I’m giving you the Christmas you want and the one you deserve. I’m not wasting money because we’ll be using this tree next year and the year after, too.”

His words make something flutter in the pit of my stomach. I feel warm all over. If I let myself, I could fall for Samuel Levkin. That thought alone is kind of terrifying. I have to stop this. “We’re going to get a div—”

I don’t get to finish telling him I want a divorce. He stops my words by kissing me senseless. I want to deny him. My hands go to his chest to push him away. Instead, as Samuel deepens the kiss, my fingers curl into his crisp, white shirt and I groan as I lose myself in our kiss. He walks me backward, his mouth never leaving mine. I find myself pressed between him and the wall at my back. My body feels as if I’m on fire. All I want is more. “Sam,”

I whimper.

“Shut up and kiss me, sweetheart. We’ll worry about the rest later,”

he demands against my lips. This time I don’t argue.

I give in to what we both want.