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myself out.”
    She watched him go. Distractingly handsome. Distractingly taciturn, too. But intelligent and thoughtful in a way that wasn’t obvious at first. As Adam’s attorney, his being taciturn was problematic. As a woman, though, the combo made him seem mysterious and enigmatic to her. The strong, silent type, as the cliché went. Sinead hated that she was attracted to him. It was inconvenient. Unsettling. She’d had handsome clients before, but there was something about him . . . She made herself stop thinking about it.
    She’d start interviewing people in New York later this week. As for his brother, well, she’d talk to him on the phone initially, but she fully intended to speak with him in person, whether Adam liked it or not. She was the one in charge here, not him. The sooner he realized it, the better.

4

    “Is this the latest lamb you two are leading to the slaughter?”
    Adam laughed, shaking Anthony Dante’s bear paw of a hand. As per tradition, he was eating dinner with Ty and Michael at Dante’s, the Italian restaurant in Brooklyn that Michael’s brother owned.
    Michael looked up at his brother, a refrigerator-sized version of himself. “Got anything good tonight?”
    “Like what?”
    “Veal parm?”
    “Already out of it. You should know by now, Mikey: if you don’t get here before six thirty, you don’t get any veal parm.”
    “But I’m your brother.”
    Anthony scowled. “What am I, a freakin’ psychic? I didn’t know you were coming.”
    Michael turned to Adam. “See the bullshit I have to put up with?”
    Anthony flashed him a dirty look. “You want some appetizers or what?”
    “What have you got?”
    “The tortellini stuffed with chard, prosciutto, and ricotta is out of this world, or so I’m being told,” Anthony boasted.
    Michael looked at Adam and Ty. “Wanna go for it?”
    “Sounds great,” Adam concurred.
    Anthony headed back to the kitchen.
    “You got a brother?” Michael asked Adam.
    “Yeah, an older brother named Rick.”
    “Then you know what the ragging on each other is all about.”
    Adam smiled, but the mention of Rick brought on a twinge of guilt. He missed his brother; missed his niece and nephew, too. He’d called Rick twice; neither call was returned. Neither of them was particularly good on the phone, and now that Rick had lost his job at the Chevy plant, he was even less talkative. Adam made a note to check his schedule; maybe he could fit in a visit home soon.
    Ty bit into a breadstick. “How’d it go with Sinead O’Brien?”
    “Short but sweet.” Adam took a sip of water. “She thinks I’m a moron. I don’t appreciate it.”
    “Why would she think you’re a moron?” Michael asked.
    “I don’t know,” Adam replied, irked just thinking about it. “She was becoming increasingly frustrated with me, and I have no idea why. She’d ask a question, I’d answer it, but it wasn’t enough for some reason. She asked me what I felt when I hit Carey.”
    Michael peered at him confusedly. “Wha? What were you supposed to feel ? You were doing your job.”
    “Exactly,” said Adam. “But she kept pushing me to ‘tell her more’ about everything.”
    “Well, it was the first time she was talking to you, and she is your attorney, not your pal,” Ty pointed out.
    “True. She doesn’t seem the type for small talk,” Michael noted.
    “She’s not,” said Adam. “Total tight-ass. Überprofessional. Icy.”
    “Who the hell cares?” Ty groused. “As long as she gets them to drop the case.”
    “Ty’s right,” said Michael to Adam. “When are you talking to her again?”
    “Not sure. I think she might talk to all you guys first, then maybe get me to fill in the blanks.”
    “She’s a good-looking woman,” Michael noted.
    “What the hell, Michael.” Ty gave him his famous scowl. “Are you encouraging him to date his attorney?”
    “I don’t want to date her, guys,” said Adam. “She’s too uptight.”
    “She was meeting you