Defense Read online

  “Okay. I’ll make it happen, but you know this conversation never took place, Luca.”

  “I know, and thank you, David. I wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t important.”

  “We’ll talk soon,” he spoke before ending the call.

  As I was getting up to tell Ariana the good news, Brad walked into the office.

  “How was court?” I asked as I stood up.

  “It was good. We won.” He smiled. “Settlement for one million dollars.”

  “Excellent. Got a minute?” I asked as I sat back down.

  “Sure. What’s up?”

  “Ariana graduated at the top of her class from Harvard Law.”

  “What?” His eyes literally popped from his head. “Are you serious? She’s a lawyer?”

  “She will be as soon as she takes the bar in a couple of weeks. I told her that I’d bring her on as a junior associate as soon as she passes.”

  “Why? We don’t need another lawyer for the firm.”

  I shrugged. “We could always use another good attorney around here. Clients are pouring in and the caseloads are getting heavier.”

  “Did you fuck her already? Is that why you’re doing it?” he asked.

  “No. I haven’t fucked her and I’m doing it because she just moved here and needs a job. Someone with her education and skills would be a great asset to this firm.”

  “I’m guessing she said no to you already and you’re offering her a job to get up that pretty little skirt of hers.”

  “You’re wrong.” I arched my brow at him.

  “Somehow, Luca, I don’t think I am. I know you and beautiful women. Except no woman has ever turned you down before.” He cocked his head. “So that means she must have.” A smirk crossed his face.

  “We’re having dinner at my place tonight. So, your theory is wrong. She didn’t turn me down.”

  “Maybe not for dinner, but I can guarantee she won’t let you fuck her.”

  “Don’t you have a case to put together or a client to meet?” I leaned back in my chair.

  He looked at his watch and got up from his chair. “Actually, I do have a client meeting in ten minutes. Good luck with dinner tonight. I hope the dessert is just as good.” He winked.

  I decided to wait and tell Ariana the good news at dinner. When I arrived home, I called the steakhouse and placed a delivery order. I didn’t have much food in the house and my meeting ran late, so I didn’t have time to stop at the store and pick anything up to cook. After changing into something more casual, I set the table, opened a bottle of wine, and then placed my hands on the counter as I thought about her. Fuck. How was I going to behave tonight when all I wanted to do was throw her on my bed, spread her legs wide, and shove my cock inside her? I made a promise and I always kept my word, no matter how much it killed me.

  ****

  Ariana

  The cab pulled up to the curb of 575 Park Avenue, and when I climbed out, an older man opened the building door for me.

  “Good evening, Miss. Are you visiting tonight?”

  “Good evening. I’m here for Mr. Russo in apartment 810.” I smiled.

  “And your name, please?” he asked as he picked up his desk phone.

  “Ariana Williams.”

  After hanging up the phone, he pointed over to where the elevators were.

  “What’s your name?” I asked.

  “Really? You want to know my name?” he asked in confusion.

  “Yes. Why wouldn’t I?”

  His face gave way to a bashful smile. “I’m just the doorman. No woman that has visited Mr. Russo had any interest in knowing my name.”

  “Well I do.” I gave him a friendly smile.

  “I’m Emil.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Emil,” I spoke as I extended my hand to him.

  “The pleasure is mine, Miss Williams.”

  “No need for formalities. Just call me Ariana. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to head up to Mr. Russo’s apartment.”

  After stepping off the elevator, I found apartment 810 and lightly knocked. I would admit that the nerves in my belly were getting the best of me. Olivia didn’t seem too happy that we were having dinner at his place and clearly stated that not even she had ever been there.

  “You’re late.” He smiled as he opened the door.

  “Sorry. I was talking to Emil,” I spoke as I stepped inside.

  “My doorman?”

  “Yes. He seems very nice. Even told me that not one of the thousands of women who have been up here ever bothered to want to know his name.”

  “He said that?”

  “Okay.” I smiled. “He didn’t say ‘thousands.’”

  He gave me a small grin as I followed him into his stainless steel and white tiled kitchen with black granite countertops and top of the line appliances.

  “Dinner will be here shortly,” he spoke as he poured a glass of wine and handed it to me.

  “Ah, I thought you were cooking.”

  “I was going to, but my meeting ran late and I didn’t have time to stop at the store.”

  “So you do cook?” I smirked.

  “A little bit. How about you?” He poured himself a glass of wine.

  “I’m no gourmet chef, but I can cook. I used to cook all the time with—” I paused and looked away from him. “Anyway, what did you order for dinner?”

  “You can talk to me, Ariana,” he spoke as I went into the living room.

  “I really like the beamed ceilings in here and this wood floor. What type is it?” I asked to change the subject.

  “It’s a herringbone floor,” he replied.

  Before I knew it, I felt his hand on my shoulder as my back was turned to him.

  “I’m a good listener,” he spoke.

  “And I’m not a very good talker, so let’s not talk about my family.”

  His phone rang and I was saved by Emil, who called to let him know that our food delivery had arrived. Luca walked over to the door and opened it as the deliveryman handed him a couple of bags and then left with a generous tip. I followed Luca into the kitchen as he placed the food on the table.

  “We have a couple of filets, baked sweet potatoes, grilled asparagus, salad, and some bread. I hope you like filet.”

  “I do.” I smiled as I sat down.

  “Good. Let’s dig in.”

  I wanted to know more about him, but how could I expect him to tell me anything when I wouldn’t tell him about my family? Maybe coming here wasn’t such a good idea after all. Olivia did warn me that he was a very private person. I was going to give it a shot anyway.

  “Do you have any siblings?” I asked as I cut into my filet.

  His brow arched. “You want to talk about my family, yet you won’t tell me anything about yours?”

  “You already know I have a sister.”

  “True, and no, I don’t have any siblings. My father passed away when I was fifteen and my mother died three years ago. All I have left is my grandfather.”

  “I’m sorry about your parents.”

  He gave me a small smile and took a sip of his wine. “I don’t want to talk about my family. I have some news for you. You’re all set to take the bar exam. You should be getting an email with all the information within a couple of days.”

  “I don’t know what to say, Luca, except thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Since you don’t want to talk about your family, why don’t you tell me why you wanted to become a lawyer.”

  “I like to debate.” I smiled. “I took a law class in my junior year in high school. I wanted psychology, but that class was already full. It was that semester that I became fascinated with the law. It was also in that class where I discovered how unjust the law could be to people and I wanted to help those who were in need. By time the semester ended, I left with a 4.5 in the class and my teacher told me that I should consider studying law as a career. It was weird because after that class, I became obsessed and spent hours res
earching cases and studying law books. I knew if I wanted to be the best lawyer I could be, I needed to attend a good law school. So I obtained my bachelor’s degree at Boston University, took the LSAT, got into Harvard Law, and here I am.”

  “What was your GPA from Boston University?”

  “4.0.”

  His brow arched with impression. “And your LSAT score?”

  “180.”

  “Let me guess. Captain of the Harvard Mock Trial Team?”

  “How did you know?” I grinned.

  “I can just tell.” He winked.

  “We were undefeated and won first place at nationals every year.”

  “Impressive, Miss Williams. You should have no problem passing the bar.”

  “I know I won’t.” I held up my glass to him.

  “Good, because I’m anxious to bring you on board as a junior associate.” He lightly tapped his glass against mine.

  Chapter Eleven

  Ariana

  “You said your grandfather was the reason you wanted to study law. Why is that?” I asked as we both finished dinner and I helped him clean up.

  “He’s a brilliant lawyer and someone I greatly admire and look up to. We’re very close.”

  “Have you always been close to him?” I asked.

  “Since the day I was born. He’s the most important person in my life.”

  “Is he your grandfather from your mother or father’s side?”

  “My mother’s.”

  “I’m sure if your father could see you now, he’d be very proud of you. Was he a lawyer as well?”

  “He was a cop.” He placed the dishes in the sink and rested his hands on the counter while he lowered his head and lightly shook it. “Wow. You’re good.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked in confusion.

  “I told you that I didn’t want to talk about my family, yet you managed to sneak in a question about my father and I answered without even thinking twice about it.”

  “I don’t understand, Luca.”

  “I’m only going to say this once.” He looked over at me with seriousness in his eyes. “And I’ll never speak of it again. My father was not a good man and I don’t like to talk about him. So all questions are off limits. Do you understand me?” he spoke in an authoritative tone.

  “Yeah. Sure. I understand.”

  “You don’t want to talk about your family and I’m respecting that, so I expect the same from you.”

  I put my hands up. “I get it. No talk about either family. Could you point me in the direction of the bathroom?”

  “It’s down the hall. First door on your right.”

  “Thanks. I’ll be right back.”

  I closed the bathroom door and leaned against it, letting out a breath. His tone and his demeanor told me that his childhood mustn’t have been a very good one with his father. I was about to ask him how he passed away, but now I couldn’t. We all had secrets we wanted to keep locked away deep within our souls and I couldn’t fault him for that since I was unwilling to tell him what happened back in Boston.

  After using the bathroom, I walked into the living area and found Luca sitting on the couch.

  “Join me.” He smiled. “I want your opinion on something.”

  When I took a seat next to him, he handed me a file folder.

  “What’s this?” I asked as I opened it.

  “A case. I want you to look through it later and report back to me in the morning with your thoughts. We’re going to trial in a few days.”

  “Really?” I grinned.

  “Really.” He brought his hand up to my cheek and softly stroked it.

  I could feel my cheeks redden as a rush of warmth flooded me down below. Our eyes locked onto each other’s as neither one of us said a word. My eyes diverted to his lips and I gulped at how badly I wanted him to kiss me.

  “Do you want me to kiss you?” he softly spoke as the palm of his hand rested on my cheek.

  “Maybe,” I whispered.

  “As much as I want to, I can’t.” He pulled away and got up from the couch.

  “Why?” The question fell from my lips before I had the chance to think about it.

  “Because, Ariana, I promised you that I would be on my best behavior tonight. How would it look if I broke that promise?”

  “I don’t mind if you break it. People break promises all the time.”

  “I don’t, and it’s getting late. I’ll have Jeffery drive you home.”

  “Okay.” I frowned.

  I got up from the couch, grabbed my purse, and he walked me to the door.

  “Thank you for dinner,” I spoke.

  “You’re welcome. Don’t forget to study that file.”

  “I won’t.”

  I stood there, hoping and praying that he’d at least give me a kiss on the cheek, but he didn’t. He just placed his hand on the small of my back and walked me into the hallway.

  “Have a good night, Ariana.”

  “Yeah. You too.”

  Fuck. Now I saw why women had trouble keeping their panties up in his presence. It didn’t take much more than a look from him to make me go weak in the knees and want him. I could already tell that working for him was going to be a problem.

  ****

  Luca

  My cock was hard and I was going to be left with a serious case of blue balls. She wanted me to fuck her and it took all the strength I had in me not to. I wanted to take it slow because I needed her to trust me first. But why did I care? That was the question I needed to figure out the answer to. There was a tremendous amount of attraction. More so than I’d ever felt with anyone before. I could see myself growing close with her and that would pose a problem. She was different and I couldn’t put my finger on as to why.

  The next morning, I strolled into the office and saw Ariana’s beautiful face as she sat at her desk.

  “Good morning.” I stopped.

  “Good morning.”

  “Grab us some coffee and come into my office. Bring the file with you.”

  A few moments later, she walked in with the file under her arm and two cups of coffee. I couldn’t stop thinking about how I could have had her last night. Of all times to be a gentleman.

  “So. What do you think?” I asked as she set my coffee cup on my desk and took a seat.

  “All the evidence points to your client as being guilty, and if I think that, so will the jury. He had no witnesses to his alibi. He found out his wife was cheating, so he had a motive.”

  “I know. That’s why I need you to see something we’re not. I’m removing you from the position of my secretary and making you my legal assistant for now. I want you to work on this case and find me something to prove to the jury that our client didn’t murder his wife.”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  “No. I’m very serious, Ariana. Reasonable doubt is the key here.”

  “But if you and your team exhausted all avenues, what can I do?”

  “Are you doubting your ability as a lawyer?” I arched my brow at her.

  “No. It’s just—”

  “It’s just nothing. Now get to work and call the temp agency to send over a secretary.”

  “I’ll get right on it,” she spoke as she walked out of my office.

  I sighed as I picked up my phone and called Will, my realtor.

  “Luca, what can I do for you?” he answered.

  “I need you to help an employee of mine look for an apartment and make sure it’s in close proximity to my building. Here’s her number. I know she’s anxious, so give her a call as soon as possible. I want you to text me when you show her each apartment.”

  “Will do, Luca.”

  “Thanks, Will.”

  I set down my phone and leaned back in my chair. What the fuck was I doing?

  Chapter Twelve

  Luca

  As I was looking over a case file, Ariana softly knocked on my door.

  “Come in.”

 
“I just wanted to let you know that I’m leaving for the night. I have an appointment with your realtor. Thanks, Luca, for having him get in touch with me.”

  “You’re welcome.” I smiled. “I figured it would save you some time since you’re going to be busy working on the Michaels case. Let me know if you find something.”

  “I will.” She smiled. “Have a good night.”

  “You too.”

  About an hour had passed, and as I was getting ready to leave the office, a text message came through from Will.

  “Our first stop is at 117 East 57th Street. A mere two-minute walk from your apartment building.”

  “I know exactly what building you’re talking about. It might be a little pricey for her and if it is, let me know. Do everything you can to convince her to take it.”

  “I will and I’ll let you know.”

  ****

  Ariana

  When Will opened the door to apartment 26E, I stepped inside and looked around at all 712 square feet.

  “Isn’t it lovely?” He smiled. “The light oak floors actually make the space look bigger. And wait until I show you the kitchen.”

  I followed him into the kitchen area, which was decorated with white cabinets, white appliances, and black and gray marbled granite countertops.

  “I like this apartment. It feels cozy. How much is the rent?”

  “3,850 a month,” he replied.

  I bit down on my bottom lip. “That’s a little more than I wanted to spend. Especially for this small of a space.”

  “Well, darling, this is New York and you don’t get much for your money. Hold on a second; let me text the landlord just to make sure that is the correct rent.”

  It was a nice apartment. I would hate to see what something bigger would cost. I sighed as I continued to look around and ran the numbers in my head.

  “The landlord said that the rent includes all utilities and he won’t require a deposit. I explained to him your situation and your job at the law firm.”

  “No deposit. Really?”

  “Really.” He grinned. “It’s a steal, Miss Williams, and to be honest, it’s the nicest one of the three that I wanted to show you. I was saving the best for first.”