Free High Stakes Chattel by Andie Blue Page B

have at that moment.
    He frowned and took his leave of her. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
     
    ***
     
    During the next few weeks, Lord Chattel remained true to his word. He behaved like a perfect gentleman and played Chattel with Samantha every night. He made no more scandalous bets with her. In fact, he was such a gentleman; it made Samantha want to scream.
    She missed the man who had gone riding with her and talked to her as though she meant something to him. Now, he acted so very pleasant she feared he’d stopped caring for her at all.
    At last, three days before the contest, he deemed her ready. During dinner, they discussed the logistics of the contest and Samantha’s main competitors. “Watch out for last year’s winner, Douglas Wright,” he told her. “He’s the only one who will prove a challenge for you.”
    “Why is that?” Samantha leaned forward , intrigued.
    “He is a cool cucumber. Nothing puts him off of his strategy. He has ultimate control over himself and after you play with him a while you’ll feel he has control over you too. ” Nico stabbed at his meat with his fork. “The best thing you can do is ask him questions – about his life, about his horse, about anything. Just don’t let him ask questions of you.”
    “All right, I won’t. Thank you,” she murmured, moving her food around her plate. Finally, she put forth the question that had been on her mind for days. “Will you come and watch me play?”
    He shook his head, not meeting her pleading gaze. “I’m leaving for Paris in two days to visit the new Pasteur Institute in France.”
    “What’s that?” she asked, trying to hide her disappointment. It would have given her so much courage to know he was there cheering her on.
    “It’s a private foundation dedicated to the study of biology and diseases. It just opened two years ago and is named after Louis Pasteur. He’s an amazing scientist, who has made some of the greatest breakthroughs in modern medicine.” Nico’s eyes lit up when he spoke of Pasteur.
    “ I am pleased to have the opportunity to work with him and the other scientists there. I want to share my discoveries with them and see if there are ways in which we can advance each other’s work.”
    The passion and determination in his voice made Samantha feel petty. Why should he stay and watch her play a silly game, when he had so much to offer the world?
    “I’m sure you’ll do great things there,” she told him, trying to banish her melancholy. “How long will you be gone?”
    “I’m not sure,” he said. “Probably quite some time. I regret that I won’t be at the tournament. Do you have a male relative or someone you trust who will be there if you need some protection?”
    “Yes,” she lied. She had no intention of involving anyone else in her scheme. If anyone were going to be arrested, it would only be her.
    Nico gave her a suspicious look but did not press her. “ I’ll have John drive you home in the morning, but make sure to write me and tell me how everything goes.”
    He reached into his pocket and brought out a bag of herbs. “These are for your mother. It won’t counteract the degeneration of the brain, I’m afraid, but it will make her feel calm. Start with a small dose and if the results are positive you can increase to the full dose once a day.”
    “Thank you. I really appreciate this… and everything else you’ve done for me.” Samantha stood and excused herself, not wanting to let him know how much she’d miss him.
     
    ***
     
    After packing her bags and getting ready for bed, Samantha sat staring out the window and contemplating the end of her time with Lord Chattel. Things between them seemed incomplete somehow.
    Before she could change her mind, she tiptoed down the hall and knocked on his door.
    “Come in ,” he called.
    She opened the door and found him lying in bed, reading. His beautifully sculpted chest was bare, golden in the firelight. The sheet was drawn