Part 6 (2/2)
”Dinner was wonderful, Blade. Thanks for bringing me here,” she said in a soft voice, as if to break the intensity of the moment.
His gaze remained focused on her face. ”You're welcome.”
He had to fight the impulse to say he intended for there to be more of these dinners, but then he wondered why he would think such a thing. He was the hunter and she was his prey. Once she was caught there would be no reason for them to do this again. Their date tonight had a purpose and they both knew it. They were adults and were mature enough to handle whatever the outcome.
He wasn't looking for a long-term relations.h.i.+p or a serious involvement with any woman. He was a guy who wasn't interested in the house with the white picket fence or the wife who would greet him at the door each day when he came home from work. That was Slade, but that wasn't him.
”So, will you be having dessert tonight?”
Her question made him smile. ”Yes, but not here.”
She lifted an elegant brow and then tilted her head in a challenging pose when it became evident that she knew what he meant. ”You think so?”
He chuckled softly. ”I hope so.”
And he truly meant that and couldn't believe he had done a complete turnaround in his approach to this woman. Usually he wasn't into playing games. However, Sam was definitely making him work hard for her. But then, he felt she was worth it.
”Maybe this is where I need to tell you that I plan on going home alone,” she said, interrupting his thoughts.
For a moment he just stared at her, then nodded slowly. ”Yes, but a lot can happen before you get there.”
He watched her lower her lids in a way that had him wondering if perhaps her mind was engaging in the same sizzling hot, over-the-top, taboo kind of fantasies his mind was having right now.
He s.h.i.+fted in his seat and decided he needed to change the subject and do it quick. Otherwise his erection just might burst through his zipper. ”Tell me about your family, Sam.”
He could tell that his question had surprised her. He could also tell it seemed to relax her. She eased back in her chair. Once their dishes and winegla.s.ses had been removed, they enjoyed a cup of coffee. Usually he didn't touch the stuff. He was hyper enough and didn't need a caffeine boost.
”What exactly do you want to know?”
”Anything you want to tell me.” So I can figure out what there is about you that makes me want you so much So I can figure out what there is about you that makes me want you so much, he thought to himself. Right now I'm thinking what it would be like to take you on top of this table. Right now I'm thinking what it would be like to take you on top of this table.
”It might bore you.”
”You could never bore me.”
Sam chuckled at his response. ”Don't say I didn't warn you.”
She took a sip of her coffee and then said, ”My paternal great-grandparents came to this country from Rome with their four sons and only the clothes on their backs. They worked hard, educated their sons and were proud when all four completed law school and went into practice together. And that was the birth of the Di Meglio law firm.”
Sam paused for a moment to indulge in a few childhood memories. As a little girl she remembered her grandmother telling her the family story, and she could still hear the pride in her grandmother's voice. ”Their first office was a place above my great-grandfather's restaurant in the Bronx. Then after they won their first big case, they opened offices in Manhattan.” There was no need to mention the rumors that one of her grand-uncles had had Mafia ties.
She kept talking, mainly because Blade seemed truly interested in what she was saying-interested and intrigued. She talked. He listened, while quietly sipping his coffee and looking attentively at her.
”My father met my mother in law school. I'm told they had a fiery relations.h.i.+p, couldn't agree on anything and argued case law most of the time.” A grin touched the corners of her lips. ”From what I hear they nearly drove their professors batty.”
Blade burst out laughing.
”What's so funny?
”Your parents sound like my cousin Clayton and his wife, Syneda. They're both attorneys as well and can't agree on anything.”
Sam smiled and pushed her hair back off her shoulders. ”I met Clayton and Syneda last year during our handling of the Coroni case. Nice couple.” She took a sip of her coffee and continued. ”My parents had no contact with each other after law school, and then three years later they faced off in the courtroom. He was the prosecutor and she was the defense attorney. What the jurors saw was a hot-tempered Italian D.A. up against an African-American attorney with an att.i.tude. She won. He lost. She went out that night to celebrate. He went out to lick his wounds. They happened to both be at the same nightclub.” Sam giggled. ”Imagine that.”
For a moment Blade could imagine it, especially if her mother had in her younger days looked anything like Sam. ”Sounds like a stormy confrontation.”
”I understand it was worse than that,” she said, after taking another sip of her coffee. ”They ended up leaving the bar together, presumably to help him get over losing the case-but in a way that only a woman can. I'm told it was supposed to be a one-night stand, but things didn't work out that way, and they've been together ever since. They have a rather close and loving relations.h.i.+p,” she said with a huge smile on her face.
Blade couldn't help but smile back. ”I know you have a brother. I recall meeting him at Luke and Mac's wedding.”
”Yes, DeAngelo. But everyone calls him Angelo. He's thirty-two and he's also a lawyer. The Di Meglio law firm is still going strong, with my mother and father, my father's two brothers, their two sons, my brother and several a.s.sociates.”
”And you're not there?”
Sam shook her head. ”No. I worked there for a while-two years, in fact, right out of law school. But I soon discovered there were too many Di Meglios. And as one of only two female attorneys, I was in the minority. My brothers and male cousins made sure I got the easy cases, nothing I could really sink my teeth into. I had three watchdogs instead of three fellow attorneys who respected my skill.”
”So after two years you left New York and came here?” he asked, watching her expression closely. Throughout dinner he had been carefully observing her every time she spoke, practically hanging on every word she said. He could tell she was close to her family, probably as close to hers as he was to his.
”Yes, I came here,” Sam said. ”Mac, Peyton and I had been close friends in law school and had always talked about forming a partners.h.i.+p together, so we decided to fulfill our dream. And the rest is history.”
She took yet another sip of her coffee and then glanced back at him. ”Okay, it's your turn. Tell me about your family, although since Mac is married to Luke I know something about the Madarises already. Just to think you have an uncle who's married to Diamond Swain and is good friends with Sterling Hamilton is awesome.”
Blade chuckled. He distinctly recalled the night his uncle Jake had made the announcement to the family. To say that they'd all been shocked was an understatement. Uncle Jake referred to his wife as his ”diamond” and the family knew why. The well-known and much-beloved actress, Diamond Swain Madaris, was definitely a jewel to everyone who met her. And movie actor and producer, Sterling Hamilton was considered one of the family.
”Yes, it is. In fact, I think my entire family is awesome. My parents had four sons. You've met my twin, Slade, who is married to Skye. And as you know, they're expecting a baby.”
”Yes, we're all excited.”
He smiled. From what he'd heard, the entire family was excited. It seemed that having babies was becoming a favorite pastime for the Madarises and their friends. ”I have two younger brothers. Quantum, who is twenty-six and completing his residency at a hospital in Houston, and Jantzen is twenty-three. Slade and I were able to recruit Jantzen into joining the family business as our PR and marketing director, and he's doing an awesome job.”
They talked awhile longer as he told her more about his family. She had already met most of them at Mac's wedding, which made the conversation flow rather easily. He liked how she remembered things that had happened at the wedding or at Mac's birthday party that made them both laugh.
”At Mac's party, you were with someone,” said Blade.
Sam lifted her brow. She decided to respond truthfully, as she always did when a question came up about her and Frederick's relations.h.i.+p. ”Yes, he's a lawyer in my family's law firm. Frederick Rowe. He still works there and I consider him a good friend.”
”So there is nothing going on between the two of you?”
She held Blade's gaze for a moment and then said, ”Why are you just getting around to asking me about Frederick? If you did think we were together that night, I see that didn't stop you from trying to hit on me.”
He reached out and captured her hand when she placed it on the table. She felt herself trembling from head to toe when his fingertips brushed across her knuckles. ”The reason I never got around to asking you about him was because I was able to find out that information from Luke. He said the guy was just a friend of yours.”
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