Sensual Confessions - Brenda Jackson [32]
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 relationship,” 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 associates.”
“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 partnership 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