What could they say? There was so much more at stake than just the possibility of Ryan taking Sam back to Boston . Sam's actions proved it. She'd already begun the process of withdrawing emotionally to protect herself from being hurt. Not only had she been handed unexpected and painful info rmation, but she'd heard it through eavesdropping. By the family holding this meeting without her and getting caught, they'd re info rced her biggest insecurity— that she wasn't wanted here, anyway.
And Zoe feared that reaching past Sam's defenses this time would be not just difficult, but impossible.
* * *
A FEW HOURS LATER, Ari and Quinn had gone home, while her mother and father had retreated to their bedroom to discuss and absorb the news. Zoe had heard her mother knock on Sam's door and the loud go away she'd received in response. She guessed Elena hadn't pushed the issue because she wanted to let Sam settle for a bit before she forced her to talk.
Zoe figured she'd try and see Sam before she turned in for the night. She paused outside her closed door and knocked lightly. "Sam? It's me."
"Go away."
"No. I'm coming in," she warned. She knew better than to leave Sam alone for too long. With her active adolescent mind, she'd conjure up all sorts of proof that the Costases wanted her gone, anyway.
No, Sam needed to feel the love.
Zoe walked inside. She glanced around, taking in the touches Sam had added that marked the room as hers. The Orlando Bloom stand-up poster from the party, the stuffed animals and the typical clutter accumulated over time. Except in Sam's case, all the stuff had been gathered over the short period during which she'd lived with Zoe's parents.
She'd arrived from her last foster home with little in the way of personal items except for the keys around her neck and she seemed surprised each time someone— Ari, Zoe, Elena, Nicholas or even one of the aunts— bought her something just because they wanted to see her smile.
Sam sat on her bed.
Zoe joined her. "You can't keep your feelings inside." Counseling was Ari's forte, but Zoe tried, anyway, for Sam's sake.
Sam pulled her knees up to her chest and leaned back against the headboard. "I'm not. Ryan Baldwin is a liar and I don't want to be related to him. You knew about the lie, so you were probably helping him to get close to me so you could get me out of your house and have your parents back all to yourself."
Zoe rolled her eyes. "I'm thirty years old. What makes you think I want my parents' attention all on me? I saw this one coming, but I thought you'd come up with a better story than that lame one." She nudged Sam's leg with her elbow.
And got a grudging half smile in return. "Okay, then why did you lie?" Sam asked.
"Because I needed time to find out if Ryan was telling the truth. I wanted to know what kind of man he really was before turning everyone's lives upside down. Can you try to understand?"
Sam shrugged. "Maybe."
She was trying valiantly to show no fear, but Zoe saw her trembling lips and wide eyes, the scared little girl beneath the facade.
Since nothing could make this nightmare go away, Zoe opted to try and make it easier. "And maybe you can find out a little about your uncle? Maybe Ryan can tell you some more about your mom." Zoe prodded her softly, wanting Sam to realize there were benefits to having Ryan in her life.
Sam fingered the keys around her neck, but said nothing.
Zoe tilted her head and scooted a little closer. "You never talked about her. Do you want to? With me?"
Sam shook her head. "I just want to go to sleep." A single tear dripped down her cheek. She ignored it, didn't bother to wipe it away.
Zoe desperately wanted to pull Sam into her arms, but she sensed how much the teen valued her composure. Even at this young age, Sam knew how to keep it together, a function of growing up in foster homes with no one who truly cared.
In her heart, Sam had to know everyone in the Costas family loved and respected her. Enough to give her the space she needed.
"I'd just like you to remember one thing," Zoe said.
Sam reluctantly lifted her gaze. "What's that?"
"We love you, whatever happens." Some words had to be said, Zoe thought, in order to be both felt and remembered.
And then, though Sam had curled into a ball, Zoe pressed a kiss to the top of her head before slipping out the door.
She leaned back, hands flat against the wall and exhaled hard. Despite it all, she felt torn. On the one hand, she wanted to kill Ryan for putting Sam through this pain and on the other hand, she wanted to show up on his doorstep and fill him in on everything that had happened tonight. And then she wanted to let him hold her, make love to her, and ease the pain. She felt that close to him.
What irony. Because if not for Ryan, she wouldn't feel so gut-wrenchingly bad right now.
* * *
THE SUN PEEKED through the curtains on the window, but Ryan didn't need daylight to tell him it was morning. He hadn't slept a wink all night.
When he hadn't heard from Zoe by midnight , he resigned himself to not hearing from her at all. Unable to sit still in his small motel room, he'd headed out to a local bar and nursed a couple of drinks. He'd thought he'd consumed enough to put him out for the night, but instead, he'd stared at the ceiling, tortured by the memory of Zoe's enthusiastic moans, groans and earth-shattering climax. A climax she'd had at the same moment he'd come inside her.
He felt as though those memories were some kind of punishment, though he hadn't done a damn thing wrong except be related to Sam. He ran a hand through his hair and rose from the bed, determined to take his and Sam's fate into his own hands.
After a quick shower and shave, he dressed, ready to head over to the Costas home and have this discussion with all interested parties present.
He stepped out of his room onto the catwalk and was greeted by a warm breeze. And then by his uncle Russell walking toward him.
"Well this is a surprise." Ryan strode forward and by habit, held out his hand.
"A good one I hope." His uncle grabbed his hand and pulled him into a hug.
The man always had provided the affection his parents failed to give and he was grateful. But he couldn't afford to have him here now, messing up any headway he might have made with the Costas family. Or more important, with Sam.
Ryan stepped back. "It's always nice to see you, but I thought we agreed you'd wait till I told you it was a good idea to come here."
The other man leaned against the railing overlooking the parking lot. "You seemed down when we spoke last night and I thought you could use the moral support."
"So you drove all this way in the middle of the night?"