Come Away With Me(48)

Neil’s eyebrows shoot up. “The lawyer Jack Conner?”

“Yes, sir.” I take a bite of steak.

“He did work for us at Microsoft on occasion.”

I look up and notice Samantha’s brief scowl before she smoothes her face into a perfectly neutral expression and drinks about half the glass of wine in front of her in one gulp. She fills her glass again and drinks some more.

“I’m so sorry to hear about your parents, Natalie,” Lucy says softly. “I’d heard of their passing on the news when it happened.”

“Thank you.” I desperately want to change the subject, but Mark comes to my rescue.

“How did you guys meet?”

I smile smugly at Luke and answer him myself. “Luke tried to mug me one morning.”

All eyes go to Luke and I can’t help but laugh. Luke’s cheeks flush as he looks over at me.

“You should know my brother doesn’t need to mug anyone.” Samantha’s voice is cold and mocking and she clearly doesn’t find me funny. Mark elbows her.

“She’s kidding, Sam.” Luke grasps my hand under the table and I resume eating with my left hand, content to keep my right one snuggled in his.

“I was taking photos down at the beach one morning, and he mistakenly thought I was taking photos of him, so he approached me. Quite angrily, really.”

Lucy gives her son a knowing look and glances back at me. “How did you react, Natalie?”

“I was angry. I thought I was being mugged for my camera.”

“You thought Luke Williams was trying to mug you?” Samantha’s voice is incredulous.

“I didn’t know who he was.” I shrug and take a sip of wine.

“Right.” She snorts.

“Samantha…” Luke’s warning is unheeded by his now tipsy sister.

“Anyway,” I continue, “We ended up running into each other later that same day when he was out buying a gift for your birthday.”

“Which I’m now reconsidering based on your behavior,” Luke adds.

“So you mean to tell me that you don’t know what my brother does for a living?” Her face is openly hostile now.

“Samantha, what in the world is wrong with you?” Lucy’s face is flushed and she’s clearly embarrassed of her daughter’s performance.

“Of course now I know what Luke does for a living, Samantha,” I respond before Samantha can. “But I didn’t recognize him at first, no.”

“So you’re not just f*cking my brother because he’s a rich movie star?”

Holy f*ck.





Chapter Fourteen


“Samantha!”

“What the hell!”

“Oh my God!”

The Williams family all start yelling at Luke’s sister in unison, but she remains firm, her eyes blazing at me.

Amazingly, I take a deep breath and find a zen-like calm that is very un-me.

I grip Luke’s thigh when he starts to come out of his chair in fury.

“Samantha, what the hell is wrong with you?”

“Luke, stop.”

“No, Nat, I will not have you spoken to like that, least of all from my own family!”

“Hey,” I grip his thigh again and I feel all eyes on me as I look up him.

I turn my gaze back to his sister and I know my eyes betray my outer calm. I’m just so pissed.

“First of all, and I mean no disrespect to your family, Luke, how dare you say such a thing about your brother.”

Samantha gasps and I continue.

“Not only are you intimating that I’m a whore, but you’re also insinuating that your brother has the intelligence of a mud fence to be with a woman who would take advantage of him because of his celebrity or his money, and be perfectly okay with that.

I don’t need or want Luke’s money.

Not that it’s any of your business, but I do just fine, thank you. I’ve never seen his movies, but I don’t doubt that he’s very talented. What I do know is that he’s amazingly smart, he is honestly the kindest man I’ve ever met, and he is beautiful, inside and out. I will not tolerate anyone speaking about him like that, Ms. Williams.”

I scoot my chair away from the table and stand.

“Natalie,” Luke grabs for my hand, and I squeeze it reassuringly.

“Is there a restroom nearby where I can regroup?” I ask Lucy.