Chapter Twenty-One

"Hi, you've reached the house of Kate Brady. I'm unable to come to the phone right now but if you leave your name and number, I'll be happy to get back to you. And if this is Sami, Lucas never wants to see your face again, so stop calling here!" the last words in the message on Kate's answering machine came out in a burst of cold and barely restrained anger, very different from the overly sweet voice Kate had used to begin her message with.

Sami slammed down the phone, then picked it up again. Kate Brady? How dare she even call herself that. Sami decided to try Lucas' cell phone one last time, even though she knew he probably wouldn't pick up. He never picked up the phone anymore. And since he was living with Kate, there was no other way she could reach him.

After letting the phone ring about ten times, she placed it back in it's cradle and rubbed her forehead tiredly. She could not believe that she had lost the bet when she only had a week to go. It had all happened so fast and now Lucas wasn't speaking to her and Nicole was getting Jan to make psychotic phone calls to her. Thinking about what had happened that night at the Blue Note was torture but it seemed to be all did anymore.

**Flashback**

Sami remembered turning Lucas down after he had asked her to dance. She had told him that she didn't like the idea of him touching her at all. She had been sitting with Brady and Nicole and hadn't want Brady to get the wrong idea.

"I told you so." Nicole said to Lucas in a sing-song voice. Although Sami didn't know what Nicole had meant by that comment, she could see how much it upset Lucas. His eyes darkened and his jaw clenched.

"Yeah, maybe you're right, Nicole." Lucas turned to glare at Sami, "Maybe you were right all along. I guess that makes me an idiot for ever trying."

Sami had watched him storm out of the Blue Note. Confused, she left her table and followed him, too distracted to notice that Brady and Nicole had followed her. She caught up to Lucas and grabbed his arm.

"What was that all about?" she asked.

"I think you know." Lucas shook his head, "When Nicole said that you were probably ashamed of being with me, I didn't believe her. But I guess it has to be true. Why else would you keep pretending that you feel nothing for me in public?"

Sami stared at him in shock, "That's not true." not caring who was looking, she wrapped her arms around him, "Lucas, I love you. And I was never ashamed of you. I'm sorry I ever made you feel that way. But I am in love with you and I don't care who knows anymore."

"I knew it!" Brady's triumphant voice cut through the air and he pulled Sami out of Lucas' arms, "She might be in love with you but she's marrying me!"

"Are you insane? Sami wouldn't marry you. Right, Sami?" Lucas had looked at her and she had felt like she was frozen. She couldn't move, she couldn't say anything, she just stood there, probably looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Brady are you crazy?" Nicole demanded, "How can you just decide to marry her after what we did last night?"

Sami finally snapped out of her frozen state and turned to look at Brady, "You had sex, didn't you?" she asked flatly. One look at Brady's face and she knew it was true.

"What the hell? I told you not to have sex with her. Do you have no self-control?" Lucas seemed to have momentarily forgotten that Brady had announced he was marrying Sami. Or maybe he hadn't forgotten and still didn't believe it, "Oh, that's right, according to Nicole, you don't!"

"Lucas!" Nicole eyed him nervously, "Don't say another word."

But Lucas continued speaking, "I'm surprised Nicole decided to give you another chance after the last time you guys almost did it! I heard all about your last attempt."

"Nicole, you whore! You told him about that?" Brady's face turned red and after glaring at Nicole, he turned back to look at Lucas, "Not that it really matters because I'm still marrying Sami and you're not."

"Sami, it's not true, is it?" Brady increased the pressure on Sami's arm and all she could do was whimper softly. Lucas seemed to realize that Brady wasn't kidding and he backed away from Sami, "Why?" he asked. Then, as if he didn't want to hear the answer, he turned and began walking towards his car. By the time he reached his car, Sami was trying desperately to escape Brady's hold.

"Lucas, wait! Brady, let me go!" she tried elbowing him in the stomach but her aim was off and her elbow hit him a little bit lower instead. Brady let go of Sami and doubled over in pain. But before Sami could reach Lucas, he was in his car and backing out of the Blue Note parking lot.

**End Flashback**

Sami's memories were interrupted by the sound of her apartment door swinging open. Brady walked in and Sami glowered at him.

"Get. Out." each word came out of her mouth dripping with repulsion. Brady just smiled and made his way over to her. When he picked up her hand and noticed that it was bare, his smile faded.

"What happened to the ring I gave you?" he asked.

"I threw it away." Sami crossed her arms over her chest, "I'm not marrying you. You can keep your money but I am never going to marry you. And I am going to make Lucas see that this was just a big misunderstanding." she didn't add that she had already tried calling him at least thirty times and that she had even went over to Kate's house to try and talk to him. But Kate had refused to let her in and said that Lucas hated her and wanted nothing to do with her.

"Really?" Brady smirked at her, "If you don't marry me, then I'll tell Lucas everything. I'll tell him you made a bet with me because you thought you knew you couldn't fall for him. And then when you did fall for him, you kept it a secret because Victor's money was more important than he was."

"But that's not true. I tried to call off the bet with you, remember?"

"Lucas doesn't know that. I'll make you sound like an even bigger gold-digging whore than Nicole. I'll make sure that he never speaks to you again." Brady promised, "So, I suggest you just live up to your end of the bet and marry me."

"Why are you doing this? You lost the bet too. You had sex with Nicole, you have to have some feelings for her. Why don't you marry her and leave me alone?"

Brady scowled, "I was actually considering having a relationship with Nicole. Then I found out she told Lucas intimate details of our sex life. Then Lucas decided to rub it in my face. Then you sent me halfway to hell with that elbow job. Give me one good reason why I should do any of you favours?"

"I didn't mean to elbow you there. It was an accident." Sami countered.

"One more accident like that and I'll never be able to make children." Brady retorted angrily, "Look, we're getting married tomorrow. You have to come with me to try on your dress. All the invitations have already been handed out. I just want to get this over with."

"I can't believe you are forcing me to do this." Sami clenched her fists, "I'm going to make sure you pay for this. One day, I am going to make you so sorry." she couldn't say anything else because she was afraid Brady would live up to his threat of bad-mouthing her to Lucas. If there was one thing she didn't need, it was Lucas thinking any worse of her than she already did. Besides, she still had today and some of tomorrow to figure out a way to get out of this mess. The only problem was, so far, she had no idea how she was going to get out marrying Brady.