Sensual Confessions - Brenda Jackson [86]
“And was it your fault that he didn’t win, Sam?” Blade asked, looking at her as if he knew she’d had something to do with the outcome.
She smiled at him. “Well, I did mention what he’d done to my godfather, who happened to be one of the major sponsors of the event.”
Alex chuckled, reading between the lines. “Did Graham threaten you?”
“No, but I could tell he was mad. Not only did he lose the competition, but he was banned from every contest my godfather sponsored.”
“You do know that if he was a career bodybuilder, one who spent hours and hours working out to compete, what you did could have ruined him for life,” Trevor pointed out.
She pressed her lips together a second before saying, “Then I guess that was unfortunate for him. I had no pity for him, like he had no pity for Vivian.”
Alex cleared his throat. “Okay, moving on. You said you didn’t date seriously during college. What about later, in law school?”
She shook her head. “No, I didn’t date seriously then, either. I met the man I thought I would marry a few years ago, not long after I finished law school and went to work at my family law firm. Guy Carrington was an associate attorney there. We became engaged and planned to marry.”
“What happened?” Drake asked.
Sam didn’t say anything for a moment. “On the day of the wedding, in the middle of the ceremony, two women showed up claiming Guy was the father of their children and that he was still seeing them both. One of the women was pregnant again.”
“Have you heard from Carrington?” Alex asked.
“Not since he contacted my family’s firm for a reference and I found out about it.”
“And what did you do?” Ashton asked.
She smiled. “My parents were out of the office and the paperwork came across one of my uncle’s desks. He passed it on to me. Of course I gave Guy a glowing recommendation.”
The look in her eyes said it all. They could just imagine just how glowing the recommendation was. Hell knows no fury like a woman scorned.
“So there’s a chance you’re not one of Carrington’s favorite people,” Trevor said, trying to hide his smile.
“No, but then he’s not one of mine.”
“When was the last time you saw him?” Tori asked.
“The day of the wedding.”
The room got quiet again. “How about telling what happened after your broken engagement, about the men you dated and why you dated them,” said Blade.
Sam shifted her gaze from him to the other five pairs of eyes focused on her. “After Guy, I was on a mission to make men pay. So I decided to get even and became a bona fide player hater.”
Alex lifted a brow. “A player hater?”
“Yes.”
Five pairs of eyes shifted from Sam to Blade. He returned their stares with a shrug.
Alex cleared his throat and returned his gaze to Sam. “So as a player hater, what exactly did you do?”
“The usual.”
Sir Drake, who had been leaning against the edge of Jake’s desk, asked, “What’s the usual?”
Sam smiled. “I would lead them on, convince them I was interested in them and that I was easy. I would build up their sexual expectations and when the time came for me to deliver, I didn’t.”
“You deliberately set them up? Strung them along? Teased them?” Trevor asked incredulously.
“Yes,” she responded proudly. “I played them.”
Trevor shook his head. “I’m sure a number of them must have been angry, even have threatened your life,” he said.
“Yes, they did.”
“Didn’t you take any of them seriously?” Alex asked.
“No. I figured they would eventually get over it. I just wanted to show them that two could play their games.”
“What about that guy a few years ago, Sam?” Ashton asked. “Mac mentioned that some guy was arrested and served time for trying to exact revenge on you.”
“Someone tried to get even?” Blade asked.
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, Belton LaSalle. I met him the first year I moved to Oklahoma. He believed that he was God’s gift to women.”
Five pairs of eyes sought Blade out again. This time he smiled.
“Anyway,” Sam said, “I thought he needed to be taught a lesson. I must have seriously pissed him off. About a week or two later, he called and invited me out,