Page 48 of Samson

“So did I. Why are you lying to me?”

“What?”

“You’re lying to me.”

“No, I’m not.” She was desperate to look around the room to make sure Marc wasn’t in sight, but she kept her unblinking eyes on him.

“Do you know what I do for a living?” he said.

“I’ve heard, yes.”

“Have you heard that I’m very good at my job?”

“It’s been mentioned once or twice.”

“There’s a reason I’m so good.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. One of the reasons is because I can tell when people are lying. Why are you? What are you really after?”

She bit her lip, stalling for time, but when he pulled his eyes from hers and looked around the room, she got desperate and realized she’d have to expose something deep within herself to bring him back. A terrifying thought. The last thing she wanted was for Samson to see beneath the surface. But if she didn’t, Luca could be in serious trouble.

“You’re right,” she said. “I’ve made a mess of this. I was—” She was about to lie again, but she couldn’t afford anything besides the truth. “I was trying too hard.”

“Trying too hard to what?”

She chuckled nervously. Being honest without compromising Luca meant compromising herself. “I don’t know if you realize this, but you can be very intimidating.”

“You seem to handle me okay.”

“You think so? Then you can’t always tell when someone is lying. But I was being truthful about a bad breakup. I’ve had a very rough year, and it’s not just because of a lost relationship.”

“What happened?”

“I lost everything, including a great business on the West Coast. That’s why I’m here working in this restaurant. And as great as my cousin has been to me, I’ve been knocked down a fewpegs. I’m struggling for confidence, and you’re full of it. I don’t like it.”

“What happened to cause an amazing woman like you to lose her confidence?”

“Do you always have to do that?”

“What?”

“Be charming.”

“You don’t like it?”

“I can never tell if you mean it or not.”

“But you make a lot of assumptions.”

“I have to.”

“Why?”

“To protect myself.”

“You don’t have to protect yourself from me.”

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