Breathe by Lauren Jameson

“I haven’t even had the interview yet. It seemed a little early to start grilling them about benefits when they called to set up the meeting.”
    Samantha remained silent.
    Clearly sorry that she’d spoken so sharply, Beth’s next words were softer. “I saw Mom yesterday.” Beth sounded hesitant, but then, she had to know full well how Samantha would react. As always, Samantha’s spine stiffened instantly, as if a steel rod had snapped into place.
    “What did she want?” Samantha heard the frosty tone of her voice and knew it would make her sister cringe, but she couldn’t feel sorry for it.
    “I stopped by to make her some supper, Sam,” Beth snapped. Samantha ground her teeth together. Beth had made it clear on more than one occasion that she thought Samantha was too hard on their mother, that their mother was a victim of circumstance.
    Beth had borne the weight of Gemma Collins’s alcoholism just as Samantha had, and both women knew that the alcohol had been Gemma’s escape after the final man in a string of wealthy lovers had discarded her.
    “Did she actually eat what you made her?” Samantha sighed as she spoke. Her sister insisted on seeing the best in everyone. Samantha liked to think of herself as realistic.
    There was a pause.
    “No,” Beth said softly, and Samantha felt her stomach clench. Her mother rarely ate anything, because more often than not she was passed out on the couch with an empty bottle of vodka in her hand.
    “The money I’m going to send is for you, Beth. Not for anything else. Right?” Samantha hated having to reinforce this, but she knew her sister would be their mother’s first target when she ran out of alcohol.
    Beth didn’t answer right away. Samantha knew how torn she was, but still couldn’t muster up any pity for their mother. She knew Beth bought their mom groceries and occasionally paid her bills, but even her kindhearted sister knew better than to pass cash along to their mother.
    And soon enough Stanley would show up again, as he was known to do. He would barge into Gemma’s life, tempt her with his wealth and his lies, make her hope, and then he would leave yet again.
    Samantha couldn’t count how many times the pair had broken it off, only to get back together. She wasn’t even sure it counted as a reconciliation, considering Stanley was married and likely had plenty of mistresses besides her mother.
    “I love you, Beth.” Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, Samantha pressed her fingers to her temples, where a headache was beginning to make its nasty presence known.
    This was a point on which she and her sister would never agree, not unless Samantha told her what she knew about Stanley . . . and that was a memory she never intended to visit. Ever.
    “Love you too, Sam,” Beth whispered quietly into the phone. Samantha waited to hear her sister disconnect before she pulled the cell away from her ear.
    Allowing herself to give in to the hurt for one long moment, Samantha put down the phone and rested her head on the scarred surface of her countertop. Closing her eyes, she pressed her cheek against the cool surface.
    Was it any wonder that she wanted a strong man in her life, a man who would simply take control? Samantha had been in charge—had assumed the role that should have been her mother’s—since she was barely a teenager. She’d had enough control to last ten lifetimes.
    She wasn’t about to give up control to a man who had no idea what to do with it, of course. She was a strong woman by necessity, and knew that she would never bend to someone who wasn’t every bit as strong as she was. But the possibilities of a man who would make the right decisions, and who would take care of her, would cherish her in return . . .
    No matter how she fought the idea, it had become a deep-seated need, coiled tightly inside her.
    Samantha shifted on the countertop, searching for a cool spot to move her cheek to.
    Elijah Masterson wore dominance the way he