What the chances of that were he had no idea, but he’d try anything if it meant getting Samara out of there in one piece. Why the fuck had he let her talk him into doing this? He knew Parker’d been involved in bad shit. This just proved it. Obviously there was more than coffee being grown and traded at the Alvarez estate.

Damn you, Parker. Then he sighed. Parker had obviously gotten himself into trouble, but he couldn’t blame Parker for this. They’d done this themselves.

Samara sat there, rope biting into her wrists and ankles, her stomach churning at the sight of Travis’s bloody wrists. Sweat dampened her clothing, and her heart thudded so hard in her chest she could hardly hear.

What had she done?

She closed her eyes on a wave of dizziness. Guilt rose up and smacked her in the face. If she hadn’t been so stubborn and stupid about this, they wouldn’t be in this mess. Shit.

How could she fix this? She couldn’t get them out of here. The ropes squeezed her tightly. If Travis couldn’t loosen them, she certainly couldn’t. Her stomach heaved even more at the thought that they were about to die.

Just when they’d finally found each other and gotten past mistakes out in the open. Just when it seemed maybe they could have something together. After all those years. It was so fucking unfair!

She blinked at the sudden sting in her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. She didn’t pray often; maybe she should have. At that moment she was prepared to make a deal. If they could get out of here, she’d leave Portland and go back to San Francisco. She’d give up Travis and let him run the company. Obviously she couldn’t do it. She’d screwed everything up, so badly they were about to die. She didn’t deserve that job, and she couldn’t do it. Not now, not after this. And she didn’t deserve Travis.

Despair swamped her, making her throat ache, and the hot tears spilled out of her eyes. She sniffled, hoping Travis wouldn’t notice, but of course his gaze snapped to her face. His eyes narrowed as he took in her tears.

“Shit, Samara, don’t cry.”

“I’m sorry. I never cry. Well, hardly ever.” She couldn’t wipe her face, and the wetness on her cheeks annoyed her. She sniffed again then lifted her chin and met his gaze head on.

“Travis.” Her voice came out sounding thick.

“Yeah?”

“If we make it out of here...” She swallowed. “If we make it out of here, I’ll go back to San Francisco.”

“What?” He stared at her.

A strand of her hair coming loose from her ponytail stuck on her wet cheek. Aaagh! She tried again to loosen her wrists to no avail. “You’ll be the CEO,” she continued, voice stronger. “You’re the best one to run the company, Travis. The only one. I can’t do it. Look what a mess I’ve made of things.”

Travis just kept looking at her, and his mouth softened.

“I’ll go back to San Francisco and be regional manager. I’ll keep working my way up.” A small smile tugged her mouth as she held his gaze. “Someday I’ll be back, and I’ll help run the company. But I know I have a lot to learn.”

“Samara.” His throat worked as he swallowed. “I don’t want you to go back to San Francisco.”

She blinked at him, her lower lip quivering.

Samara Hayden admitting that she’d screwed up made Travis feel like something had reached out and grabbed him by the throat. He couldn’t speak. He knew how hard it was for her to admit mistakes, how stubborn and determined she was. She’d wanted that job so badly; for her to back down now was huge. He tried to swallow, his throat feeling like dry coffee grounds.

He’d wanted the CEO job. Not that she’d been a serious threat; the entire executive team and all the shareholders were behind him, but just the fact that she was there and owned forty percent of the shares meant he had to share responsibility with her. But now he knew—he wanted to share responsibility with her. He wanted to share everything with her.

“I don’t want you to go back to San Francisco,” he said again. He shifted his weight and bounced the chair across the floor to be closer to her, stopping when they were knee to knee, face to face. This was important. They had to talk about this.

“We’ve been fighting about who’s going to take over. But it doesn’t have to be either or. Parker and I managed as a team, and you and I can do that too, Samara.”

She nodded slowly, eyes trained on his face, but said nothing.

“And not just that...I love you, Samara. I want you in my life.”

Her eyes widened, and her mouth trembled. “You do?”

“I do. I’ve always loved you. That was the other reason your father and I had a big fight seven years ago.”

Travis met Samara’s eyes. “He knew what happened between us.”

“Uh...”

“He saw us kissing that night.”

“Oh holy mother of Godfrey.”

“Yeah. Holy shit, he was so pissed off I thought he was going to strangle me with his bare hands.”

She sucked in her bottom lip and regarded him with distress. “Oh, no. Oh, Travis. You didn’t even do anything.”

“Well.” If he could have squirmed on the chair, he would have. “I kissed you back. I did more than I should have. The only reason he didn’t kill me right then was that he saw I’d ended it, and I managed to convince him I had no intention of it ever happening again.” Except that hadn’t been entirely true, and maybe Parker had sensed that.

“Oh dear god.”

“You were only seventeen,” he said, as if she didn’t remember that. “He was your father. He was right to be angry. Christ. Imagine it¬… him discovering his business partner making out with his seventeen-year-old daughter?” He groaned.

She made a small noise. “That’s my fault too. I’m sorry, Travis. I never meant to get you into trouble like that.”

“I know. I wasn’t mad at you about it. I was angry at myself for letting it happen.”

She moved her head slowly from side to side as if trying to make sense of it all. “He never said anything to me.”

“I asked him not to. Not to embarrass you. Because, really, nothing happened. And I promised him nothing ever would.”

“Why? Why would he make you promise that?”

“You were his little girl. I’m sure he thought I was a dirty pervert. And the truth is...I was.”

She sucked in a sharp breath, staring at him with wide eyes.

“I did want you, Samara.”

Her chin slowly lowered, and she stared at him up through her lashes. “You...you did?”

“Yes. I did. I felt like a dirty old man. You were seventeen. You have no idea how sick I thought I was, lusting after a little girl.”

“Oh for Godfrey’s sake, I wasn’t that young.”

“It was wrong. I knew it. I couldn’t help it.”

“Oh, Travis.”

“I loved those dinner conversations where you’d take on your father and me, debating fair trade, talking about politics and coffee prices.” His hands strained against the bindings with the urge to touch her. “You made me laugh; you made me think. You made me hard.”

Her eyes darkened, and her lips parted.

“Sending you away that night was the hardest thing I ever did. Knowing I’d hurt you damn near killed me.” He paused. “I promised him, Samara. I promised him I’d never touch you. I’ve been going nuts with guilt about that.”

“That was a long time ago,” she whispered.

“I know. I know it’s stupid. But remember how much Parker meant to me.” His throat tightened. “He was like the father I never knew. He brought me into the business, brought me into his family. I was devastated that he was so pissed off at me. Then...I messed things up even more by suspecting him of smuggling drugs into the county. He was already furious. I’ve spent the last seven years trying to make up for that. The least I could do is keep my promise to him. But I couldn’t even do that.” He closed his eyes.