Chapter Five

Samantha jumped off Daniel, startled by the sudden appearance of the man she would be most happy to never see again – her husband's brother, Peter. Peter was a younger version of John, only he'd never achieved as much as John had, and had been bitter about it all his life.

He'd never found a woman as beautiful and intelligent as Samantha to marry him, which had added to his bitterness. But then, Samantha hadn't exactly been at her best intelligent when she'd agreed to marry John so Peter shouldn't feel too bad about it.

Needless to say, Daniel was as surprised as Samantha at the arrival of an intruder, and he didn't have the luxury of knowing who it was who had just walked into his caravan. He'd come across some nutcases before, but this one took the cake. Automatically, Daniel reached for the sheets. His next move was to open his mouth and demand who was the guy and what the hell was he doing in Daniel's trailer, but Samantha beat him to it.

" What the hell are you doing here, Peter? " she asked coolly, with a boldness that she'd never had before. So she'd become cheeky as well as a whore.

" I could ask you the same thing, " Peter retorted, his eyes roaming Samantha's body hungrily. Lord, she was a dish. He had always desired her, primarily because she belonged to John but also because she was beautiful and not the least bit interested in him.

Samantha knew he was staring at her, and she followed Daniel's lead, covering herself up. " Are you going to let me get dressed or are you as much of a pervert as your brother? " she asked.

Insolently, Peter took a step back, closing the curtains behind him. He didn't leave the caravan.

Samantha was furious. How dare Peter come back into her life. She thought she'd seen the last of him, along with his brother. She shuddered. Any Richmond in her life was a bad thing.

Well, he wasn't staying. She would make that clear to him. She had no interest in the Richmond fortune, and they had no claim to Jacob. There were no ties, so Peter had no need to be here. He could be on the next plane home.

" Who the hell is that? " Daniel demanded in a whisper as he hurriedly got dressed. Any desire he'd had five minutes ago had completely vanished.

" John's brother, " Samantha said contemptuously. " Never achieved quite as much as John did – including marriage – and always resented it. He's probably here to squabble over the family fortune. "

" I thought you wanted no part in it, " Daniel said accusingly, not really meaning it. He was pissed off that John Richmond had, through his brother, managed to interrupt their lives once again.

" I don't, and I'm going to tell him that, " Samantha said stiffly, a little hurt by Daniel's tone but she supposed he had a right to be upset. Hell, she was upset and she knew what to expect. " He'll be gone by tonight. "

A few minutes later, Samantha and Daniel joined Peter in the main part of the caravan. With perfect timing, one of the security guards showed up asking if it was OK to let Peter in. A bit late now. Daniel made a mental note to complain long and hard until they got some decent guard in – ones that actually did their job.

Samantha heard him say something in Egyptian. She knew the phrase 'the boy', and took it to mean he wanted Jacob taken somewhere else. He hadn't used his name so Peter wouldn't cotton on. Samantha was relieved that their son was out of harm's way. Not that she expected a repeat of John's death, but she was prepared for some ugly words to be exchanged, and she didn't want her son witnessing it. It was bad enough to be called a bastard by one Richmond.

With the guard dispatched, Daniel turned to Peter. " What do you want? " he asked coolly.

" I want you to take your filthy hands off my sister-in-law, for starters, " Peter growled.

Daniel sided against Samantha, snaking one arm around her waist. She was trying not to show it, but she was nervous. Daniel took this to mean Peter Richmond was as cruel and perverted as his brother. " She's not your sister-in-law, " Daniel responded coolly.

" She was married to my brother, that makes her my sister-in-law, " Peter said pompously. The way he said sister-in-law made it sound like Samantha was his property. " And she and my nephew will be coming home with me to Washington, where they belong. "

Daniel's grip around Samantha's waist tightened. " If you go anywhere near my son I will kill you, " he said in a tone that meant business.

That was something Peter wasn't prepared for. " Your…son? " he asked incredulously, his eyes narrowing. He looked at Samantha accusingly. " Whore! " he hissed. " I'll see to it that you get nothing! "

" I didn't want any of your miserable fortune anyway, " Samantha shot back. " I would have told you that over the phone and saved you a trip. Now you can go home and tell your delusional mother that the family fortune is in tact. "

Peter was furious. It didn't matter that John had screwed around, that was a man's prerogative. But for his wife to sleep with another man, and then palm the bastard child of as his brother's – well, that was a personal affront to the Richmond Ego. Although it did make matters handy for Peter. With no older brother, and no legitimate children (he'd taken great joy in refusing the requests of his brother's mistresses for child support) Peter was the heir to the Richmond fortune, free and clear. But that didn't change the fact she had screwed around on his brother, and embarrassed the family name. How, Peter couldn't exactly work out, but he knew she'd brought shame to them.

" I think I'll stay here for a few days, until I decide what to do, " he declared. He wasn't letting Samantha get away with this. You didn't just kill a Richmond and live happily ever after. He'd make her pay.

A few days later, it came to Peter what to do with Samantha. He would destroy her life just as she had destroyed his brother's. Oh, he wouldn't kill her – that would be too easy, too unimaginative. No, her brother had loved her, in his own way, just as she loved Doctor Jackson. He would take Daniel away from her like she had left John.

He presented himself back at the site, after making it clear to Daniel he was here to make a deal that Daniel wanted to be present for. Daniel had been itching to have Peter arrested for trespassing, had ordered him off the site three days ago and made sure everyone knew he wasn't allowed back.

" You bring shame to the family name, by not appearing to be a grieving widow, " Peter declared to Samantha.

" Well, I'm not, and to appear so would make me a hypocrite, " Samantha shot back. She clasped Daniel's hand in hers just to piss Peter off.

Peter glared at her. She was much more uppity then the last time he'd seen her. " We all have to be hypocrites at times, " he said.

" Yeah, well, with you Richmonds it's all the time, " Samantha retorted sharply. " Cut to the chase, Peter, and then get the hell out of my life. " She held Daniel's hand tighter, sending a message loud and clear. Daniel's my life now, and you and your brother mean nothing to me. Peter was furious. How dare she show such disrespect. She'd get hers.

" I want you to come back to Washington with me and show people you're mourning my brother, " Peter said.

Samantha stared at him incredulously. " You've got to be shitting me, " she blurted out.

" I assure you, I am not. People are asking questions about you. It's unseemly that you should disappear like that. "

" Bullshit. The entire of Washington's probably glad they got rid of me, one less smart woman for them to worry about. You forget, Peter, that you've got nothing on me. I don't want your money and you can't take my son away from me. " She smiled smugly.

" Ah, but there's the rub, " Peter said triumphantly. " I could sue the pants of you if I wanted, for deceiving my brother the way you did. You lived in the lap of luxury – Richmond luxury – for ten years because my brother believed he was supporting his son – his heir. If you were only to come to Washington, spend a few years playing the grieving widow… "

Samantha was silent, her body language saying it all ; she was furious. But she knew Peter was right. He could sue her, tie her up in litigation for years. It would cost him big time, but he would enjoy destroying her life over it – and Jacob's. He would be sixteen or seventeen by the time Peter had exhausted all his legal options, and he would hate both his parents for putting him through that.

" Let me think about it, " Samantha said softly. Peter knew by the tone of her voice that she would agree to it.

" You have until tomorrow, " he said. " I have plane tickets booked. Oh, and of course Jacob will be coming with us. It wouldn't be right for my brother's widow to come home without his son, would it? " He smiled smugly at Samantha and Daniel.

Daniel stepped forward, ready to deck Richmond. Samantha grabbed his arm, restraining him. " Don't, " she said softly. Daniel reluctantly restrained himself.

His work for the moment done, Peter left to enjoy the services available in the nearby city. The women here were so willing, so subservient, so grateful for American dollars. Pity Samantha wasn't more like that, although maybe she would be when she found out Daniel was no less of a man then John had been. Only John had been honest about it, which in Peter's mind made Daniel a hypocrite.

That night, Samantha and Daniel debated weather or not she and Jacob should go to Washington. It wasn't much of a debate ; as reluctant Daniel was to let Samantha and Jacob going off with Peter, he didn't see they had much of an alternative. If Peter wanted, he could destroy their lives with lawsuits. . He didn't really care if Samantha was in Washington or not, they both knew, he just wanted to separate her and Daniel. Well, a few weeks wasn't going to break them up, and in a few weeks Peter Richmond was going to be sorely disappointed.

They spent the night together, making love three times with a desperate urgency. It killed Daniel to let her go like this, but he had no other choice…

" I'll see you soon, " Samantha promised the next day at the airport. She and Daniel spent every last moment together until the final boarding call. Peter was less them impressed.

" You're not making much of a grieving widow, " he commented icily.

" And you're not making much a of consoling brother-in-law, " she retorted. " I only agreed to do this because you blackmailed me. Damned if I'm going to be nice about it. "

Peter grunted, and settled into his magazine – a trashy men's one with naked women claiming they were liberated. It was all Samantha could do not to rip it up and throw it in his face. Only a few weeks, she told herself. Already it felt like an eternity.

Of course, Jacob had been none too happy about leaving Egypt. His memories of Virginia were not exactly happy. He hadn't wanted to leave his father, but Samantha had insisted. " Please, " she'd said. " We have to do this, just for a little while, or else I'll be in a lot of trouble for a long time. "

So here they were, on the plane. Samantha was surprised at how sorry she was to see the outline of the east coast of the United States. She had almost all of her life here – not counting off-world missions – but in the last two months she hadn't thought of it. And why should she? She had no connections in the US now. All her old friends and family were either dead or drifted apart, and the only person who meant anything to her she had left behind in Egypt.

She would be happy to go back.

" Remember, " Peter hissed in her ear. " You and John were taking a holiday together, and he was shot by someone wanting his wallet. There was some trouble with your passport, so you got left behind, but now you're glad to be back, although you're very sad to be returning without your husband. That's what I told my mother. "

Samantha glared at him. She hated being part of such a conspiracy. She wanted to shout to the rooftops what a bastard John Richmond had been, and how the world was better off without him. But if she did – she swallowed and put on her best sorrowful expression for the waiting press. It was amazing what vultures they were, reading to pounce on her grief and make it tomorrow's headline.

They made it to the Richmond family mansion is north Virginia, and Peter and John's mother, Claire, made a big fuss over Samantha although Samantha could tell the older woman didn't really care for her, and never had. But she had felt keenly the criticisms of her friends that her son's wife should be with his family in their time of grief. So she had dispatched Peter go find her.

The weeks passed in mind-numbing monotony for Samantha. For a supposed cloistered widow, she was very much in demand. It was expected that she would be by Peter's side at his many public functions, clinging to the brother of the husband she had loved so much – or so the unsuspecting public thought.

Peter took great pleasure in pretending to be Jacob's uncle. He could tell it made Samantha uncomfortable, and Jacob too. How quickly she had turned the boy against them! Not that Peter really cared, but still, she should have had more respect for John. It was just another example of how she was blackening his memory.

There was always an important function in a few days time that Samantha had to be at whenever she tried to leave. " People would think it was strange if you aren't there, " was Peter's stock reply to her attempts to leave. The threat was clear in his voice ; you stay a little longer, or I will sue you.

So two months passed that way, and every day Samantha's resolve to leave grew stronger. Peter didn't keep her a prisoner per se, so it would be easy for her to leave, but he always found an excuse for her not to. And he knew every time he found an excuse that it was getting more and more difficult to make her stay. Soon, she would leave and there wasn't anything he could do about it. He couldn't go through with his original plan ; the outpouring of sympathy for Samantha and Peter Richmond had paved the way for Peter to stand for Senator of Virginia next year ; he wouldn't blacken the Richmond name just to get even with Samantha.

He had to put his plan into action.

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Two months had passed, and Samantha showed no signs of coming home. For sure, she promised it would be soon every time she spoke to him, which to be fair was at least twice a weak, but Goddamnit, it had been two months, and Daniel missed her desperately.

Not to mention he was incredibly horny. He was a healthy man, in his prime, who got plenty of appreciating looks from women, many of them very good-looking, that he was finding it harder and harder to ignore. Last week he had woken up from a wet dream, something he hadn't had in twenty-five years.

Oh God, he needed to get laid. And Samantha was showing no signs of returning to Egypt.

He couldn't go to her, of course. He didn't doubt that Peter was having her watched twenty-four-seven. It just wouldn't do for the famed widow of Senator Richmond to be caught with her secret lover. Besides, that wasn't the point. It was two months, and she'd said she'd be a few weeks. She should be coming to him.

But there was nothing he could do about it other then remind her every time he spoke to her that he missed her, and wanted her in his arms. In the mean time, he kept himself as busy as he could, and ignored as best as he could the inviting looks he was getting from women.

He spent a lot of time with Ashly, glad that they were able to remain friends. It would have been a nightmare for the whole dig if they hadn't. Ashly was a lot like him, intelligent, romantic, with a flair for languages and an obsessive bent when it came to history and archaeology. They could talk for hours and have it feel like minutes. There were times when he wished it was Ashly he was in love with, not Samantha, and though he immediately regretted such thoughts, they came more frequently the longer Samantha was away from him… and it took him longer to be sorry about them.

One night he and Ashly were holed up in his caravan, eating dinner away from the rest of the team. These days Daniel didn't like explaining to people where Samantha and Jacob had gone, and when they were be back. It was hard enough dealing with their absence on his own, without involving other people. With Ashly it was different. Ashly was sympathetic, but never reminded him about it. Ashly made the time without Samantha go faster. And he loved her for it, in his own way.

So they were sitting in his caravan, talking and laughing long after they'd finished eating. They talked about their work on the site, and then drifted onto every subject under the sun. Daniel was often tempted to tell Ashly about the Stargate program, he trusted her that much, but he always stopped himself.

They drank a lot too. Over the course of several hours, Daniel found himself mellowing more and more until he was more relaxed then he could remember being since Samantha and Jacob had left. He tended not to drink a lot but here, with Ashly, it was right.

The more he had to drink, the more he couldn't help but be aware of how attractive Ashly was. She was twenty-eight, with long dark hair and cloudy grey eyes which had always fascinated Daniel – they had seemed to hold many a secret to discover, which for an archaeologist was always an exciting challenge. Her body, which Daniel knew well, was model-proportions. He remembered more the once wondering why Ashly had chosen to be an archaeologist ; she could have made a killing as a model.

Ashly didn't fail to notice Daniel watching her. He used to look at her like that, but he hadn't in months, since before Samantha had arrived on the scene. Ashly had tried to be magnanimous about it, and done a damn good job, but there would always be a part of her that missed Daniel, and wished Samantha had never showed up.

Scratch that. She wished Samantha had never been in Daniel's life. Because even when she and Daniel had been together – if you could call it being together – he had always been distracted. He had always been thinking of Samantha.

Samantha didn't deserve him. The woman was a fool if she would spent so much time away from him, for whatever reasons.

Ashly smiled flirtatiously at Daniel. " Penny for your thoughts? " she asked silkily.

Daniel found himself blushing. He knew Ashly was hitting on him, and he had to admit, he liked it. It was a pleasant change from nagging Samantha every third day. He was tempted to tell Ashley he'd been remembering how her body and looked and felt naked in his arms, but restrained himself. Best to not go there.

Ashly shifted her position, stretching her long legs out deliberately. Daniel swallowed hard. He had a very vivid memory about how those legs had felt wrapped around him. She smiled slyly, aware of the affect she was having on him. He'd been drinking, but not so much that he didn't know what he was doing – or what she was doing.

He wanted her.

He had to resist wanting her.

" Danny… " Ashly said softly, her name rolling her tongue. She'd only ever called him Danny when they were in bed. She got up and sat next to him, her legs pressed against his. Oh, God, those legs…

She placed one hand on his thigh and squeezed it. She knew what affect she was having on him. " Do you want me, Danny? " she asked seductively.

Daniel groaned. " We shouldn't do this, " he said in reply.

In response, Ashly straddled Daniel. Her perky breasts, their shape barely concealed through her shirt and bra, were inches below his chin. His eyes couldn't help drifting downwards…

He went to push her off, not knowing if he'd have the will to do so. She shattered whatever will he did have by grabbing his hands and placing them on her ass. He squeezed it, and had a vivid memory of screwing her doggy-style. Magnificent legs, magnificent ass. " We shouldn't… " he said with less conviction then before.

Ashly kissed him softly. " I'm not asking for anything, Danny, " she said. " I know you love her. And I know you want me. " her hand wandered downward to his crotch. It was apparent that he wanted her. " Just one night, Danny. One night of release. I won't ask anything of you in the morning. … " she ground her crotch against his, and he groaned out loud. He was having trouble remembered what Samantha looked like. His cock was on fire and he remembered all the steamy nights he and Ashly had spent together…

Slowly Ashly peeled off her shirt to reveal a skimpy, lacy red bra underneath. Magnificent breasts, too. With teasing deliberation, Ashly unzipped her pants. She took Daniel hand and slip it down her body. " I've missed you. No-one's done to me what you do. Just one night, Danny… ohhhhhhh… " she moaned as Daniel slipped his fingers inside her slippery wetness, touching her in the way she loved.

Hours later, as the sun began to rise of the dunes, Daniel lay in Ashly's arms, asleep and exhausted. He didn't think he was capable of the performance he'd given, but – he'd never been able to go five times in one night. Every time he'd thought he was spent, Ashly snuggled against him, caressed him, made him feel like a teenage boy doing it for the first time, until finally he was spent and he slipped into a deep sleep.

Ashly stroked his hair gently before sliding out of bed. Even though they had spent an incredible few hours together, Ashly knew Daniel wouldn't want to wake up next to her. He would feel guilty enough but in time, she hoped, that guilt would fade.

And in time, she hoped, her own guilt would fade. She loved Daniel and would love for him to forget about Samantha – which he might have to, once she'd found out what he'd done.

One hundred thousand dollars might not mean much to Peter Richmond, but it meant a hell of a lot to Ashly and her sick mother. When Peter had first approached her about it, she had slammed her caravan door in his face. But he had been persistent, and gradually her resistance was worn down.

After all, one hundred thousand dollars was an awful lot of money to sleep with someone you would have slept with for free. One hundred thousand dollars was an awful lot of money to set up a camera to film you.

Ashly was under no illusions as to how Daniel felt about Samantha. She had done it for the money, and also for the dim hope that maybe, if Samantha would be so disloyal as to leave Daniel over one little indiscretion, maybe – just maybe – there was hope in the future for her and Daniel.

She thought this as she left Daniel's caravan in the early hours of the morning, taking her hidden camera with her.

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Daniel woke up late in the morning. The memories of last night came back to him with a mix of pleasure and shame. He had never formed like that before, not even with Samantha.

Samantha. Immediately his body was flooded with guilt. He had cheated on Samantha. No matter that it had been easily justifiable last night, with the heady effects of the wine and the headier effects of Ashly all over him, this morning he was regretting it.

He'd finally gotten control of his life, finally gotten Samantha and Jacob and John Richmond was out of the picture, and he went and blew it in one steamy night.

Samantha doesn't have to know, Daniel thought desperately. She would try to understand, but she wouldn't. Maybe it was best that she never found out. It was best that she never found out, he decided. Ashly had said she wouldn't hold him to anything in the morning – thank God for that. And she had left before he had woken up to – he was grateful for that, even if he regretted that she had seduced him, and that he had let her.

Samantha doesn't have to know, he told himself.

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A week later, Samantha was sitting alone in the Richmond estate, bored out of her mind. Jacob was at school, Peter was out campaigning already – not that Samantha particularly wanted his company.

But Daniel's company would be nice.

She wanted to scream with boredom and frustration. She was slowly going insane here. There was no reason to stay. She had made up her mind, she was going to leave next week. She had bought her plane ticket, although she hadn't told Peter she was leaving. That could wait until after she was on the plane – less confrontation.

She couldn't wait to be back with Daniel. She knew he was starting to get majorly stressed out, she could hear it in his voice, especially the last time she had spoken to him. She knew what this absence was doing to him – if nothing else, Daniel was a virile man who didn't take well to celibacy… Samantha blushed when she remembered their lovemaking. She had started to get pretty frustrated herself. It would be good to be home. She smiled. Home. She never would have thought of the Middle East as home. But anywhere was home, so long as it was with Daniel. And she would be home in just two weeks, she no longer cared what Peter said. She knew he had Senator and Presidential aspirations, he couldn't start dragging the Richmond name through the mud just to spite her.

She was nearly free.

The mail came in, and there was a package addressed to her. Samantha smiled when she saw it was from Egypt ; it was probably from Daniel. I'm almost home, babe, she told him silently. I'm almost home. Eagerly, she raced upstairs to her bedroom (she had made it clear to Peter that it was her bedroom, not theirs – he had this crazy idea that he could claim her like he had claimed his brother's Senate seat) and pushed the tape into her VCR.

She was horrified by what she saw.

Daniel, her Daniel, trashing around in bed with a gorgeous young woman – that stupid assistant of his (she had never worked out exactly what Ashly did, always thought of her as Daniel's assistant, since she had assisted him in a matter of speaking). And he looked like he was having the time of his life. Samantha was certain he never wore the expression of heavenly pleasure he was wearing with Ashly when he was with her.

It went on and on. A glutton for punishment, Samantha watched the whole tape, hoping that it was some kind of perverted joke that Peter was pulling. She had no doubt Peter was behind this. And she had no doubt that Daniel was ignorant that his little performance was being caught on camera – she knew he wasn't cruel.

But he was still screwing another woman's brains out while she was stuck here on the other side of the world.

No wonder he had been distant towards her. He had found someone else to occupy his time.

With a scream of agony, Samantha ripped the tape out of the VCR and tore the ribbon to shreds, as if by destroying the evidence she could destroy the act having ever happened. But she couldn't. The image of Daniel with Ashly was burned in her mind.

Daniel had cheated on her. Like John had cheated on her.

Of, even in her sharpest of grief at Daniel's betrayal, she knew that it wasn't the same thing. John had been a pathological womaniser, a cruel, sadistic man who had screwed around because he could, who had beaten and raped his wife because he could. Daniel had screwed around because she wasn't there. He had probably tried to be faithful.

But he hadn't succeeded. Samantha wondered how long it had been going on. She wouldn't put it past Ashly to have made her move as soon as she was on the plane. And she had thought Ashly was her friend! But then, plenty of women had been nice to her face while she was married to John, and been having torrid affairs with him behind her back.

The moral of the story was that all men were cheats – even the ones you thought you could trust.

Funny how Daniel's infidelity hurt a lot more then John's. She had thought she'd been devastated to discover her husband's philandering ways, but that was nothing compared to what she was feeling right now.

She had trusted Daniel, loved him with more of her heart then she had anyone else, including her father, her son, Jack. And he had betrayed that trust.

Devastated, Samantha collapsed on her bed, crying. She couldn't get the image out of her head – Daniel and Ashly in half a dozen different positions, him grunting and groaning as he thrust in and out of her – fresh tears fell from her eyes.

She couldn't go back to Daniel. She wouldn't go through that again – forgiving a cheating lover. She had been down that road, and it only gave them permission to do it again – and again and again.

She wouldn't do that. No matter how much she loved Daniel. No matter how much her heart ached to think about life without him.

One thing about Daniel, he had given her much more respect for herself. And now she had too much respect to stay with a man who cheated on her.

Ashly was welcome to him.

Why did he have to screw around? Why couldn't he have waited?

Better she find out now then later.

Jacob would be devastated.

She would not stay with a cheater because of their son. Daniel should have thought about it before he started screwing around.

Peter returned home several hours later, triumphant when he saw a tear-stained Samantha. Obviously, Ashly had come through for him. Clever girl, that Ashly. She knew a good deal when she saw it. He was only sorry she hadn't seen that he was a good deal. She could have been First Lady once day. But no, she had to be hung up on Daniel Jackson. What was it with women and geeky scientists?

" I take it you got my… gift, " he said lewdly.

Samantha glared at him. " If you mean that piece of pornography, then yes, " she said coolly. " And might I say, it's exactly what I would expect from you. "

Talk about high and mighty! Her precious science geek had cheated on her, and she was lashing out at him? That was women for you!

" I thought you might like to know the trust about your precious scientist, " Peter said. " He's only a man, after all. You shouldn't have been so quick to judge my brother – "

" I'm not excusing Daniel's behaviour, " Samantha said stiffly. " But at least Daniel has something of an excuse, as miserable as it is, for playing around – I wasn't there. That's far more then I can say about your brother. " She thought about the years with John, how she had gone to him willingly and he hadn't been interested. He wouldn't rather have been with one of his whores.

Like Daniel with Ashly. Damn her! Samantha had thought they were friends. Obviously she had been wrong. But she knew she couldn't blame Ashly for this. She hadn't forced Daniel to have sex with her.

Peter stared at Samantha. The women was an idiot. At least she wouldn't be going back to Daniel – that was obvious from the look of pride on her face. So his plan had partially worked – if John couldn't have her, then Daniel wouldn't. She had killed his brother, her life would be miserable.

And clearly, she was miserable.

" Cheer up, " he said coldly. " We have a dinner to go to with the Henderson's in two hours. Make sure you're looking your best. " And with that, he left the room.

Samantha had never hated Peter Richmond so much in her life.

She almost hated him as much as she hated Daniel.

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She cancelled her flight, and stayed at the Richmond estate for another week because she had no idea what else to do and it saved her having to think about it. She didn't leave the house except to accompany Peter on one of his social gatherings, until the on-and-off flu she was experiencing got too much for her and she went to see a doctor, expecting to be given some antibiotics to get on with it. After all, the job of a Senator's wife – or widow – was never done.

So she was absolutely floored when the doctor informed her she was pregnant.

She couldn't believe it. She'd thought she couldn't have any more children. Initially, it had been thought that her reasons were mainly physiological – who would want to bring a child with John Richmond into the world? – but as the years went on, it became more and more unlikely that she would ever have another child. She was just too old now.

Or so she had thought. Or so she had told Daniel.

" You must be so pleased, " gushed the Doctor. " It must have been so devastating for you, losing your husband like that. But to find out you're pregnant – "

" How far along am I? " Samantha asked crisply, as if that should matter when she'd been given such a joyous piece of news.

" About two months, " the Doctor said, wondering why it mattered. Samantha was incredibly relieved. Not that it really mattered now, but it meant a lot to her that her baby was Daniel's, not John's.

It must have been conceived that last night we were together, Samantha thought wistfully. Their lovemaking had been intense, she wondered if there was anyway that could have been parlayed into a conception.

Not that it mattered now. She had made up her mind she was leaving Daniel, that she was carrying his child for the second time was not going to change it. She felt like she had a second chance, and she wasn't going to ruin its life like she had ruined Jacob's, saddling him with a father like John Richmond.

The next day, she informed Peter she was pregnant.

Not surprisingly, his first question was " Who's is it? "

" Daniel's, " Samantha said without hesitation. The timing could only mean that it was Daniel's child, and for that she was grateful. It meant Peter would have no say in it.

She wasn't really surprised that Peter hit her, but it was still unexpected. She reeled back a few steps, but stood her ground.

" Whore! " Peter screamed at her. He started pacing for a few seconds, thinking about what he would do about this little problem. Obviously, the sentimental cow was not going to have an abortion.

Finally he said, " You're going to act like it's John's. You're going to be delighted, a widow mourning her husband's death who has found a silver lining. " But of course he wasn't going to support either of the bastards posing as his brother's children.

Samantha stared defiantly at Peter. " No, I'm not, " she said assuredly. " I'm going to leave tomorrow, and I'm taking Jake with me. You don't need to worry about me blabbing, I don't care enough about you or your brother to do that. I'm going away, by myself, and I'm going to have nothing more to do with your family. "

" I could sue… " Peter threatened.

" You do that and there goes your Senate aspirations, " Samantha pointed out. " Right now you're cashing in on your brother's name. How much esteem do you think he'll hold if it becomes known that he beat and raped his wife just because he could? This is it, Peter. Checkmate. "

Peter watched his sister-in-law leave the room with dignity and strength. He knew there was nothing he could do, not if he wanted to become a Senator. He was furious with Samantha for her deviance, for not acting as a Richmond wife should, but hell, he'd gotten something out of it – he was no longer the second brother, living in the shadow.

And speaking of older brothers, who the hell remembered Joseph Kennedy Junior these days? And Samantha wouldn't go back to Daniel – she would be faced with twenty years ahead of her as a single mother. No man would be interested with a woman who was pushing forty with two children. Peter grinned maliciously. So he had destroyed her life after a fashion.

" We're leaving, Jake, " Samantha informed her son when he asked why they were packing.

Jacob's eyes lit up. " We're going back to Dad? " he asked.

Samantha's heart broke. Why, Daniel, why? she asked herself. Why couldn't he keep it in his pants? Well, what was done was done, and she was leaving the Richmonds so that had to count for something. " Not just yet, " she said evasively. She had no intention of keeping Daniel from his son – or his unborn child – but right now she needed time to herself.

Time to get over Daniel.