Defending My Mobster (BWWM Romance) (4 page)

“Mr. Clarence, I don’t know what to tell you, from what I see here the prosecution has a solid case against you and you don’t seem keen on denying the accusations,” I explained. Holding the phone to my ear with my shoulder, I was engrossed in what I was doing. The man on the other end of the phone, though, didn’t seem to like what I had to say. He was a construction worker and had been sued big time for destroying equipment after he’d gotten put on a job he didn’t want. It was stupid, but every case deserved my attention, even ones I knew I wouldn’t take. Aside from that, I liked giving out legal advice. It made me feel accomplished.

“I’m not denying them but I’m not going to spend the rest of my life paying those bastards off because I was on the job I had been put on,” he ranted. Resting my elbow on my desk, I held my forehead in my hand with a frown. I didn’t even handle these kinds of cases.

“I’m sorry but I don’t handle settlement hearings, Mr. Clarence. If you want I ca...“ Before I’d even finished offering him the services of a friend of mine, Terry Clarence hung up the phone. If I were in the vicinity, I was sure he’d slammed the thing down on the receiver.

Sometimes, though, it just wasn’t worth it. I defended people with serious charges, anyway, not a simple case of ignorance. I understand there were many ignorant people in the world, but there were other lawyers who handled those people. I was not one of them, thankfully. I had a feeling if I had to spend my career doing that, my head would explode.

Glancing at the list of call backs I had to make, I knew that today was going to be long. I was on desk duty, essentially, and it wasn’t pleasant. I made calls. One after another after another. One gentleman called to get legal advice on how to sue his neighbor for allowing his dog to poop in public. Apparently, said neighbor used a bag to pick it up. When I asked him what his problem was, he merely said it grossed him out. There were many different calls to make.

“N-no, ma’am, I’m not an advocate. If you want, I can give you the number for a friend of mine. He’s a lawyer for family court,” I explained. It never ceased to amaze me the kind of horrible things people do for money. According to the woman on the phone, her husband had passed away only two weeks ago, and her children were fighting over the will. He’d been wealthy -- not rich but very well off -- and had left all of his money to his wife and split up his properties between their children. I didn’t understand what the problem was, but I wasn’t a family lawyer for a reason. Growing up only one of two children meant it was hard for me to personally connect with these people.

It didn’t help that the properties were valued far more than the sum the man had left his wife.

“Oh, yes, he’s the best person I can offer you, Mrs. Haron. Just mention my name and have him give me a call, okay?” I offered her.

“Nia, you want any coffee? I’m going to Dunkin’ Donuts.” Holding up my finger briefly as I scribbled down a case request, I heaved a sigh of relief at the offer. Coffee sounded perfect right now. I wasn’t an hour away from going home, and the pick me up was appreciated. Mark waited patiently, as I expected he would. The intern was an angel in disguise. Interns were good at that. They were there to learn and ended up playing catch and fetch for all the lawyers. If they stuck it out, there would be valuable information amongst the mundane jobs they got. I had found it so and so did Mark.

“Yeah, lots of sugar, no cream please,” I ordered with a grateful smile.

Pulling into my parking space, I pulled my key out of the ignition and squeezed my eyes shut, rubbing my face a little. Today had been so hectic I couldn’t even remember it all. The coffee Mark had gotten me was long gone, but I still felt tired. I forced myself to climb out of the car and lock it. I made my way up the steps to the elevator and slumped against the wall as it took me to my floor. I picked up some, knowing I was close to being free to relax and managed to hurry down the hall and go into my apartment with a sigh.

“It’s about time you showed up, Nia.” Whirling around at the voice, I felt my heart jump into my throat and clog the scream that threatened to break through.

“Angel! What are you doing in my apartment?” I said loudly. I had only just gotten two feet in the door, and he’d nearly killed me from fright. Standing in the middle of my living room, Angel wore a simple white button down shirt and jeans, and in the low light of the lamp I kept on all day, his silhouette was a sexy kind of handsome. His smirk, though, I saw perfectly.

“You’re not happy to see me?” he asked. Frowning a little as my heart slowly went back to normal, I shook my head before setting my bag on the couch.

“No I am, it’s just… what are you doing here?” I stammered.

“I had to clean the mess Roman made of my office and I needed a pick me up. Figured we could have dinner together,” he said patiently. Furrowing my eyebrows, I didn’t need six years of law school to figure out that Roman had ‘worked’ in Angel’s stead. Or that Angel had broken into my home.

“Okay… I usually call out on Fridays,” I told him. I was a little amazed at myself for going along with it. It was an indication to me of how much I was beginning to like his company. I mean, let’s face it, he had broken into my apartment without asking and I was ready to have dinner with him. Watching with increasing anxiety as Angel walked up to me, I had to physically stop myself from taking a step back. He was intimidating when he wanted to be, and not in a Mafia killer kind of way. The kind of way that made a woman’s knees weak. As mine had become.

“I was hoping to have some romantic time with you,” he told me. I felt a flutter in my stomach of both fear and a great anticipation I had not expected. I was not sure what to do about this. I knew what I wanted, but was it a good idea? I did not know.

Chapter 4 - Angel

“Romance…” Hearing Nia mumble the word made me react before I had a chance not to. My hand had a mind of its own as I reached up to cup her cheek and take a half step forward. I wanted to be closer to her.

“Yeah you know, a little music, some touching. How am I doin’ so far?” I questioned smiling.

“Really… convincing.” Unable to hide my smirk, I squeezed Nia’s cheek before taking a step back. If I wanted to make any progress with her, I had to take it slow. At least for now.

While she searched through her refrigerator for something easy to cook, I spent a while looking around her apartment like I’d done for the past hour. Everything was modern and sleek, and I could appreciate it. The hardwood floors matched the coffee-colored walls and dark furniture, but what popped were the sheer white curtains on all of the windows around the room. It added a strange almost angelic feel to the decor. Which suited me, she had already become a real angel in my mind.

“Uh, Angel, I’m ready… I guess?” she called out. Turning towards her, I couldn’t help but think it was kind of cute how incredibly out of her element Nia was. She looked like she’d never done this kind of thing before, not making dinner with a little romance but the entire idea in general. No doubt she’d spent her entire college career studying, and her entire working career in her office.

“Don’t be nervous, Nia. This is all about you. Despite what you may think, I’m not after you for a night. You’re the kind of girl a guy brings home to meet his parents, anything less is unacceptable,” I explained. My words only seemed to make Nia more nervous as she watched me walk over with a deer in the headlights look. I tried to lower my voice, be gentle. I did not want to spook her.

“T-thank you.” Furrowing her eyebrows, Nia hesitantly took my hand and led me across the breakfast island to the counter. I couldn’t get over how adorable she was, and that wasn’t a word I used often. True, she was fierce and sexy and all of the things that she was, but in this moment she was just adorable and vulnerable and that made the man in me want to be all for her.

“So, what are we making?” I asked.

“Tacos,” she said.

When Nia turned to the cutting board, I came up against her. She was skinny, yes, but still had a little pudginess to her, and I liked how that made her soft and firm as I wrapped my arms around her to hold her hands.

“Just relax,” I said. Despite my own confidence about this idea, I had never done it before. I was a ‘hump ‘em and dump ‘em’ kind of guy. Dates were common, but rarely did I ever have a second one.

“I’m trying,” she assured me.

Ten minutes, some nice classical music and two peppers later, I finally got Nia’s shoulders to relax completely, and I took it as a big accomplishment. The smell in the kitchen was nice, but whatever shampoo she used overpowered it; I didn’t mind though. Moving my hands to her waist, I took a deep breath of something fruity before ducking my head into the crook of her neck.

Up until now things had been fairly silent, but my decision to speak up changed that instantly.

“You know, I’ve done a lot of things, but not this,” I told her honestly. It was true, I’d been with my fair share of women but none of them had substance. Nia had basically stripped away my cocky attitude and saw right through everything I did and said. Maybe it was because of how we met, but she’d been very analytical about me. She had dissected my every single gesture, every tone of voice. After the first week, I just stopped acting like that around her. There had been no point. Then I had went and got comfortable around her.

“Not what?” Nia asked. She paused cutting into a Romaine heart to pose her question, turning her face a little to listen to what I had to say. It was something I liked about her, that she gave things her undivided attention. In my business you did not usually get that unless the person was planning on killing you.

“A second date, been to her house, ate something I didn’t have to buy… been intimate with a woman that didn’t involve taking off my clothes. Take your pick,” I told her.

“Why me then?” It was, in all honesty, a valid question. Nia was different than the women I usually looked at in a physical sense but also a mental sense. I liked them dumb and relatively easy, but she was the exact opposite. After a moment of thought though, I shrugged as we swayed back and forth.

“From the moment I walked into your office I knew there was something different about you, Nia. You’re smart and beautiful, yes, but there’s this thing about you, some indescribable quality that makes people gravitate towards you. No one dislikes you and I bet if you weren’t so work orientated you’d break hearts,” I enlightened her.

“… Under your ego and narcissism you say some really sweet stuff, Angel,” she told me.

Smiling, I lifted my head a little to brush my lips across Nia’s cheek. It didn’t escape my attention that she gasped lightly, but I chose to ignore it for now. Patience, I told myself.

“You deserve some really sweet stuff. Why do you think I haven’t gotten in your pants yet? You make me want to take my dad’s advice and have a good little girl with long legs and bronze skin as my own. I mean it.” I was being honest. Maybe it was a lot to lay on considering this was only our second official date, but every word that came out of my mouth was true. My father had been pressuring me to find someone for years, a good girl that didn’t mind my profession and had strong morals and values. He always tells me to stop ‘whoring around’ and learn some respect. Up until now I never knew what was wrong with my lifestyle, but that was all different.

“That’s, I don...“ We were having a moment, the kind that women read about. The kind of moment where I could’ve kissed her if I wanted to and Nia would’ve been perfectly okay with it. Unfortunately, though, I didn’t get the chance when there was a knock on her front door. It was firm but considerate, and made her jump a little.

“Just ignore it. It’s probably my neighbor again. Her youngest son moved out so she has no one to talk to,” she told me. Humming in response, I slid my arms around Nia’s waist and rested my cheek on her shoulder. When the knock sounded again, more insistently, she let out a sigh and set her knife down.

“I’ll just tell her I’m busy,” she said, resigned. Escaping my hold with what I could tell was reluctance, Nia walked towards the living room and I leaned on the counter. Things were going so well. Next time, though, we’d go to my place, and hopefully stay there.

Nia looked good in her business clothes. Under her blazer was a white shirt paired with a black pencil skirt, and my eyes couldn’t stop from traveling down her curves as she walked. Maybe I should’ve suggested she change before, but at the time I felt like I’d be pushing it. It would no doubt make her uncomfortable, and the last thing I wanted was to do that. I wanted this to work out more than almost anything I’d ever done before.

“Roman?” When Nia opened the door the surprise was all over her face, and I frowned. What the hell was Roman doing here? Unfortunately, the question didn’t surface for long when my cousin stepped into her house and kissed her full on the mouth.

“I came to pick you up for our date,” he said. The words were petrifying for me. A date. Nia was going on a date with my cousin.