Page 7 of Reckless Sinner
Delaney
Igot a text from an unknown number only twenty minutes after I gave it to Dante. Sitting on an outside table at a park across the street, trying to eat my lunch, I felt something inside of me tighten even as I breathed a sigh of relief.
Honestly? I hadn’t thought he would text me. Why would he risk getting called a suck up for dating the boss’s daughter? And why would he want a tiny spit of a woman like me—a woman who still got fucking carded at bars, for crying out loud, just because I was petite—when he could have any glamorous model that he wanted with a snap of his fingers?
But he’d texted me.
It’s Dante. Hope you’re still willing to see if your theory about me being a good guy is right.
There was a part of me that thrilled to know I was right in my guess about what would hook him—my assertion that he wasn’t the same as the rest of his family. You didn’t have a lawyer like Alan Weston for a father without picking up a thing or two about how to peg people and get under their skin. The whole… dramatic cross-examination where the witness confessed to something big, that was very rare. Television and movies loved it, of course, but that wasn’t how it worked in real life.
That didn’t mean that you couldn’t use cross-examination to poke subtle holes in a person’s story, or show that a witness wasn’t as credible or reliable as first thought. You could look at a jury and know what would appeal to each of them. You could make little comments that would psych out the lawyer on the other side of the courtroom.
The point was, I knew a little bit about how people worked, what made them tick. And everything that I had seen from and about Dante Russo told me he was trying to getawayfrom his family’s legacy.
Whether anyone believed it or not.
Sure enough, now he was texting me. And now the pressure was on me to keep him interested.
I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to do that. I always tried my best to live up to the expectations of my father and society. Dad always encouraged me and supported me but I wasn’t quite sure what to do with my life, and I wasn’t really… good at anything I did.
I was honestly lucky to have a parent who didn’t consider me a failure. I was sure that a lot of the rich, overachieving parents in our upper-class society would’ve.
You have to do this,I told myself. This was one way, the final way, I could make my father proud. I knew he didn’t approve of my crush, and now I could make it worth his time. I had to help him to catch Dante and the rest of the Russos.
You have to do this.
With trembling fingers, I texted Dante in response.I know my theory’s right. But if you want, I’m happy to meet you for drinks. Better hope you pick a good place.
A good boy or a bad one, I was sure that Dante would want a confident woman. A woman who could tease, who knew what she was doing, a woman who wouldn’t be easily impressed. It was the opposite of who I was—shy and anxious little Delaney—but it was a part that I had to play in order to succeed.
I only pick the best. In everything.Dante’s response held an undercurrent. Did that mean he was testing me to see if I was worth his time? Or was he saying that just by being picked by him, I was clearly among the best?
His next text was a time and a location. I knew the place. It was an expensive, classy bar just a few blocks down from the law offices. I was surprised he hadn’t picked a more… famous and exclusive place. Did he not want to be seen with me? Was I not good enough to show off?
I took a few deep breaths. I had a few hours to get ready, and I had to impress him.
My closet back home was quickly torn inside out as I stressed about what to wear and how to look. I had to look my best. I wanted to be sexy—but not too sexy. I needed to give him enough to tease and tantalize him but also left him craving more. I wanted to look classy. But it was so hard for me to look sophisticated. Instead I always ended up looking like a girl who’d been playing dress up in her mother’s clothes.
“Cute.” That was the label I got a lot of instead. I was tired of being cute. I wanted to be desired like a damn adult. Surely there was something in my wardrobe that worked that wasn’t too fancy?
Finally, I settled on a short black skirt that didn’t even reach my knees but swished when I walked and was high-waisted, and then a pale pink and very tight-fitting cashmere turtleneck. A pair of black fishnets and black heels completed the look. I used just enough make-up to enhance my eyes, and a slash of shimmering pink on my lips, and ran my fingers through my blonde curls, which I’d left down for the evening.
I stared at myself in the mirror. Did I look good? Or did I look too much like a naughty schoolgirl?
There was nothing for it. I had to leave now or I’d be late and I couldn’t risk Dante thinking I was one of those girls who played games by leaving a guy sweating it out. I needed to show confidence but I didn’t want to be a jerk.
When I got to the bar, I took a few steadying breaths before heading inside.You have to do this.
Dante was already seated, not at the bar top itself but at a small, cozy booth. God, he was handsome. The suit he’d worn today was just ‘out there’ enough to make him stand out, but couldn’t be called too daring or unprofessional.
It suited him and his attitude. A mafia son. But a law-enforcing citizen. Daring, but not too daring.
He’d situated himself so that his back was to the wall and he could see everywhere in the bar, including the door through which I walked. I wondered if that was just so he wouldn’t miss seeing me or if it was some kind of habit from growing up in the mob.
Either way, he saw me almost the instant I walked through the door. His gaze was hot as it trailed up my body and I swallowed hard, feeling heat crawl up my legs to settle right where my black lace panties brushed teasingly against my skin.
He wasn’t on the phone cutting business deals like I’d expected. Lawyers were always thinking about work, half an eye on their phones while they were with you. But Dante didn’t even have it in sight as his gaze ate me alive.
