Blindfolded Innocence Read online

  "Strippers! Jeff - did you hear that?" Jeff started to smile and I turned with a snap and shot him the stoniest glare I could. His smile faded but stayed in his eyes. They were laughing at me. Dammit. I don't care if he is a partner in the law firm that my future is riding on, I-

  "I don't know what you've heard about me, but I take all the new interns out. Ask Todd. We went out as a group last week, but Broward had you stuck in preparation for that boring as hell mediation that he flopped at. I've taken that Asian intern out three times for Christ's sake - what's his name - Anton Woo or Wu? Something like that. So, despite what you think of me, I am just trying to give you the same courtesy I give all of the interns - the pleasure of my company and infinite knowledge." He raised both hands in a "trust me I'm innocent" gesture. His cocky smile infuriated me but my balloon of propriety had deflated.

  I stared at him, thinking. My ego, brain, and mouth were all totally confused. My headache screamed at me - making it even harder to reason. My shoulders finally slumped.

  "Okay." I said glumly, getting into the car.

  Jeff closed the door once my legs were safely inside. He hummed a little tune as he returned to his rightful place in the front seat. I wanted to smack him. I dreaded doing so, but turned and tried, rather unsuccessfully, to smile at De Luca and convince him to forget the little hissy fit that had just occurred. He didn't bite.

  He relaxed in the car beside me - such a large man that he took up a seat and a half without really meaning to. He looked at me with interest, studying me. I tried to sit as close to the other door as possible without making it obvious. I could feel myself begin have trouble breathing again. Damn this man. I couldn't think of anything to say, and the silence was starting to get uncomfortable, at least for me. He didn't seem anything other than totally at ease.

  "Are we going to Office Max?" I finally said.

  "No."

  "What about the… cable port thingy?"

  "We are going to Centaur. For lunch."

  "Do you just take everything you want?" As soon as the words popped out, I tried to take them back. Firm partner, Julia. Remember that for God's sake!

  He seemed amused by the question. "Yes, normally. I've found it is more fun to ask for forgiveness than permission. Plus, I already asked, and you said no."

  Oh, okay. So he's daft. I nodded politely and tried to put a respectful look on my face. I don't think I succeeded.

  "Do you like Centaur?"

  "I've never been. It's a little out of my budget."

  "You'll like it. You do eat meat?

  My dirty mind chuckled to itself, but I kept my tone mild. "Yes, I eat meat." Keep laughing De Luca. I plan on putting a Porterhouse on this bill.

  The town car pulled through big gates and freshly cut lawns up to a huge white southern-style farmhouse with deep porches and thick columns. The entrance steps were flanked on either side by Centaur statues. The well-manicured lawn, impressive structure, and white-gloved valets screamed "expensive." An attendant sprang to action when the car stopped, and pulled open my door. I accepted his outstretched hand, swung a leg out and stood up, squinting in the bright sun. My headache was drumming its fingers on my cerebral cortex.

  I walked around the car and met De Luca at the base of the steps. He gestured for me to go ahead, and I stepped forward. As I climbed the stairs, he placed a gentle hand on the base of my back. A delicious shiver ran through me and my subconscious smacked it down like it was a wandering fly.

  The maitre'd instantly recognized De Luca and beamed. "Mr. De Luca! Come, come, I will put you at your favorite table!" He grabbed two leather-bound menus and led us through the restaurant. It was packed, and as we traversed through the tables, we were stopped several times by different men standing up to shake De Luca's hand and say a sentence or two in greeting. When we finally arrived at the table - a large four top in the back corner, I sank into the seat in relief. Before I had a chance to open my menu, a tuxedo-clad waiter appeared.

  "Mr. De Luca, how are you?"

  "Very good, Mimo."

  "The usual?"

  "Yes please."

  Mimo turned and disappeared. I glanced at De Luca over the menu.

  "Is he going to ask me what I want to drink?"

  "No. Is wine acceptable?"

  My headache raised both her hands and waved them around. "I'd prefer just water."

  He nodded without responding. He ignored the menu and leaned forward on the table, crossing his arms and gazing at me. His biceps stretched the arms of his dress shirt and I raised the menu a bit higher, hiding behind it.

  "How are you enjoying the internship?"

  I lowered the menu slightly and spoke over it. "It's been quite informative. I feel like I am learning a lot and getting a great base that I will be able to build a strong legal education around."

  He reached over and gently pushed the menu down, so that he could look at me. "Is that what you have prepared as your interview spiel?

  I colored slightly. "Maybe."

  "Come on. I'm not going to go running to Broward. How is it really going?"

  I sighed, not knowing how honest to be. Hell, the man practically kidnapped you; you can probably be frank. His eyes were compassionate and gentle, and I didn't see any blood dripping from his teeth.

  "It sucks. Broward works these ridiculous hours and I am nothing more than a glorified secretary. My duties consist of typing and filing, with an occasional coffee run thrown in. Other than the prestige of the firm's name, I am adding nothing to my resume. The other thing I have figured out is that I DON'T want to do corporate law. The other interns all seem to be learning and doing so much more - Todd has been to COURT with you for heaven's sake! I am just trying to get through these next couple of months and then spend the next three weeks sleeping."

  "I'm sure you've been doing something other than sleeping in your time off." His brow arched and he gave me a conspiring look.

  Where the hell is that coming from? I didn't respond.

  He leaned back as our waiter brought two empty glasses, and then filled them from a chilled Voss water bottle. "I know that Kent can be a hard ass, but keep your morale up. You WILL learn something, even if it is how to bill ridiculously long hours. If you want to see how the other half lives, you can always spend a day in either my or Clarke's office - we normally sub the interns around a bit - let them see the other disciplines." The waiter held out a bottle of wine for his inspection, and De Luca looked at it and nodded.

  "I don't think I'll be spending much time in the other wings. Mr. Broward seems pretty intent on keeping me in our office."

  His eyes narrowed. "In your office or out of mine?"

  I shifted uncomfortably, no doubt my body language answering the question before my lips even opened. "More likely the second."

  He waved away the offer to taste the wine and the waiter took the hint, hurriedly pouring two glasses of wine and then scurrying away.

  "I recall you making a stripper comment earlier. I'm not sure what you have been told about me, but I'm not nearly as bad as they make me out to be." His deliciously deep voice carried a little bit of ego. I'm sure you are exactly as bad as they make you out to be.

  "Okay then, let's verify some of the rumors."

  The challenge stood on the table, between us.

  De Luca took a swig of wine, his eyes never leaving mine, and then set it down firmly and nodded at me. Bring it on.

  I started to open my mouth to speak, and he raised a hand up, stopping me. "Wait. Before I agree, lets make a deal. For every…. rumor you bring up, I get to ask you one question." I nodded in response. I put caution to the wind, and grabbed the second glass of wine and took a sip. Our duel was postponed again by the over-attentive waiter.

  "Are we ready to order Mr. De Luca?"

  "Sure, Mimmo. I'll have my usual. Julia?"

  I had not looked at the menu, but went with my initial thought.

  "Porterhouse please. Medium Rare."

 
; Mimmo raised a brow but did not comment on my choice. "Would you care for a salad?"

  "No. Baked potato, please. Just butter."

  "Certainly." He did a little bow of some sort, and departed.

  De Luca looked back at me. Okay, let's go.

  "Have you ever slept with an intern?"

  "Yes."

  "Details?"

  "I'll save that for a second date."

  "We aren't having a second…date."

  "We'll see. My turn. Why did you choose CDB for your internship?"

  "It's the best. I have no desire to settle for second best."

  "Have you been with the best in the past?"

  "I've never had a job before."

  "That's not what I meant."

  I shot him a look. He put up his hands in innocence and grinned.

  "Why do you think I've been told to avoid you?"

  He shrugged and took a sip of the wine. "All good reasons, I'm sure."

  "That's evasive."

  "I'm an attorney. It's my job."

  "And you think you are good at your job."

  He raised an eyebrow. "I know I am good at my job. There is a reason I have a nine month wait."

  "I've heard other reasons that divorcing females might want to wait for your services."

  "Meaning?"

  "Sex."

  "So you think I am good at that job?" His eyes brimmed with mischievous and I suddenly had a very good idea of what he was like as a ten-year-old boy.

  "You're being evasive again."

  "Just trying to figure out what you think you know."

  "Do you sleep with your clients?"

  "Just the female ones."

  His blatant and unashamed response floored me, and I stumbled over the next question. He had leaned forward, across the table, and was meeting my eyes dead on. I felt locked into an stare-off.

  "All of them?"

  "I'm not a jiggilo. I have sex for pleasure. If I am not sexually attracted to the woman, there is no purpose in having sex."

  "Don't you think that that would be bad for business?"

  "On the contrary, it is extremely good for business." He leaned back and put one hand to his temple, playing with his pinkie with his mouth. His gaze had started to smolder. "I am very good at pleasing women, Julia."

  I blushed and looked away, praying for our food to arrive. It did not, but there was a different interruption. A ringing cell phone.

  Brad reached for his cell without breaking his gaze at me and touched the screen.

  "De Luca."

  "At lunch."

  "Yes, you can patch her through."

  He looked at me apologetically, and looked around for our waiter. Mimmo materialized at his side with a pen and pad in hand. This seemed to be an old pattern they had. De Luca grabbed the pen, looked at his watch, and scribbled "12:33pm" on the notepad. De Luca ripped off the top page and returned the notepad, but not the pen, to Mimmo.

  Hysterical babble was heard from the phone pressed to De Luca's ear. To his credit, he listened intently to the hysterics without an eye roll or sign of impatience. At the first pause, he spoke.

  "Claudia. Listen to me. You need to trust that we know what we are doing and we will handle it. I will have him covered by the private investigator. He won't sneak anything by us on my watch, I promise you."

  More hysterical shouting, then something that sounded like pleading.

  "Those assets are safe. We already have a court motion in place that has frozen those. Please relax Claudia. Why don't you let me send Alfonzo over? He can massage those worries right out of you."

  I tuned his conversation out when Mimmo brought our food out. My steak was enormous, and smelled incredible. I had my knife and fork ready and dove in the moment that the plate hit the table. De Luca shot me a bemused look. I ignored him, chewing furiously. The steak had just enough fat to add flavor, and was tender and perfectly cooked. I like my steak bloody, and this fit the bill. I paused in my intake to sip some wine. The glass was full. I paused and looked at it. Did I finish the first glass? Or did he refill this early? I shook my head and pushed it to the side, reaching for the water glass instead. I had broken enough cardinal rules today. I didn't want to add "Drunk at Work" to the tally.

  I was 80% through my steak and had demolished the baked potato when De Luca finally ended the call. He glanced at his watch again and wrote 12:42pm on the piece of scrap paper. I glanced at it and rolled my eyes.

  "Your going to bill her for 9 minutes?!"

  "It was 9 minutes I could have spent talking to you. And yes, at $850 an hour, I damn sure am going to bill for 9 minutes."

  "Not 10?"

  His mouth twitched. "Not 10. For the same reason."

  Well, it looks like the man has some shred of moral fiber. Shocker.

  "I've got to get back to the office." He mumbled the words through a hefty bite of steak.

  "Do we have time to run an errand?"

  "Depends on what it is. Rick in IT is not expecting you to return with a… cable port thingy? I think that's how you referred to it."

  "I need to go by CVS."

  "For what?"

  "If you must know, a pregnancy test." I kept a straight face, and he blinked, taken aback. He squinted at me, trying to figure out if I was serious, and I kept my iron facade. For about four seconds. Then I burst out giggling.

  "God - you are easy! I need headache medicine! But you, of all people, with your wanton women, should know to never ask a women what she needs at the drug store!"

  He grinned. Reaching for his phone, he unlocked it and then pressed a number into the phone. "Jeff. We will be ready for pickup in about five minutes. Check the car for some Advil or Tylenol. If there's not any, go grab some. We'll see you in the valet area in a bit." He hung up the phone and returned to his steak.

  "I could have picked up my own medicine."

  "We are already short on time. They'll wonder what's been keeping you."

  "Scared of Sheila?"

  He grinned again, looking up from his steak. "Terrified. That woman is worst than my mother."

  His steak was already half gone, and the remaining bit didn't have a chance. The man didn't believe in wasting time. Mimmo appeared at my side.

  "Ms. Campbell. I've taken the liberty of wrapping a few of our house truffles, for your enjoyment later."

  I nodded my thanks, and placed the small, exquisitely wrapped package into my purse. How does this man know my name?

  "May I clear that for you?" He gestured to the plate with my remaining bit of steak on it.

  "Yes, please."

  He left, taking a few of our other plates with him. De Luca stood, shoveling a few more pieces of meat into his mouth, and then reached for my hand.

  "Let's go."

  I stood quickly and grabbed my purse. "Shouldn't we wait for the check?"

  "I have a house account. They know what to tip." He wiped his face with the cloth napkin and tilted his head, indicating that we should leave. I allowed him to lead me out, but pulled my hand free as we approached the front doors. A doorman held the door for us, and we exited into the hot summer air.

  The town car sat in front, Jeff standing by it. He opened De Luca's door and sauntered around to mine. As he opened it, he handed me a small plastic bag. He gave me a casual smile and shut the door once I was fully inside. I peeked in the bag, and pulled out a small bottle of Advil and a bottled water. Sweet Salvation. My headache jumped up and down, cheering. I twisted open the bottle, popped three in my mouth, and sucked down half the bottle of water.

  De Luca spent the ride back to the office on the phone, and I leaned back in the seat, the heavy food and wine making me sleepy. We were back in the garage before I knew it, and I glanced around before reaching for the handle.

  "Relax." De Luca spoke from the other seat. He reached over and grabbed my knee, trying to reassure me, I think. I swatted his hand away.

  "If Broward finds out I -"

  "Do you al
ways do as your told?"

  I gave him a death glare that didn't waver his demeanor one bit. "Yes, I typically do."

  "You should learn to bend the rules."

  "You should learn to follow them!" I retorted, smiling a bit. "Good afternoon, Mr. De Luca. Thank you for the ridiculously expensive lunch."