“Is there a difference?”
No hesitation in his reply. “A huge one.”
She made a disbelieving sound. “If you don’t have a conscience inside the courtroom, you don’t have one inside the courtroom.”
“I agree with that statement,” he conceded.
“So there isn’t a difference. You are you, no matter what.”
“There are different motivations.”
“Wrong.”
Declan shook his head. “You’re tough, woman, but you’re still wrong. Protecting the legal system that protects the people is a service. I do my job and I do it well. That doesn’t make me some sort of devil. The criminals are the bad guys, not me.”
“Yet you get them off,” she reminded him.
“Sometimes.”
“And you make damn good money doing it.”
“Sometimes.”
She crossed her arms in front of her chest and gave him hard look. “And these things make you a good guy how?”
“I try to pick clients I believe in. Sometimes, I get into the case and realize I don’t. I won’t lie to you, defending someone I’ve lost faith in is hell. But I have to do it because the system has purpose. It has to be used as it’s designed. In most cases, once I sign on to a case, I am obligated for the long haul.”
Zoe studied Declan, finding she wanted to believe him. “You’ve never taken a case just for the money or even the public attention?”
His eyes cut to the side a moment. “You want the truth?”
If he told her he hadn’t she’d know he was a liar and she could never trust him. “Yeah, I do.”
One second. Two. “Yes,” he nodded, giving her a direct look. “I have. Early in my career, I wanted to win at all costs. But not anymore.”
“What’s different now?” she asked, some of the accusation in her tone gone. She respected his honesty.
“A lot,” he said. “Like?”
“It’s a long story.” In other words, he wasn’t willing to share any insight.
The waitress appeared and set their food in front of them. The tension had become palpable. For several minutes, they ate without speaking. A prickle of guilt began to form. She liked Declan. Maybe she owed him the benefit of the doubt. Most certainly, she owed him the kind of directness he’d just shown her. She eyed him, thinking how different he looked in jeans and the black T-shirt he wore today. Even dressed casually, he claimed an air of authority. And no matter what his attire, he had a sexiness that said “bad boy”. But maybe this “bad boy” had more good in him than she’d given him credit for.
Decision made, she swallowed the last of a fry and wiped her hands on a napkin. “You were going to ask my last name earlier.” She paused watching as he took a bite of his burger. “Marks. My last name is Marks.”
He stopped chewing, recognition flashing across his face. When he finally swallowed, she waited for his response. “As in the Marks being charged with securities fraud?”
She nodded. “That would be my father.”
* * * * *
Knowing who her father was explained so much about her personality. It also put Declan in a hell of a position. His firm was representing her father’s business partner. In other words, they were most likely helping to put her father behind bars. He shouldn’t be with Zoe. It would be looked at as if he was sleeping with the enemy. Yet…he wasn’t
handling this case. Inwardly, he cursed. Just when he thought he’d gotten Zoe to see beyond his job, fate reared its ugly head.
“My own newspaper has been hounding me for a story. I feel like I woke up in the middle of someone else’s bad dream.”
The vulnerability in her voice made him want to hold her. He felt her distress. “I can’t imagine how difficult it’s been.”
“I don’t know which is worse. The fact that my father might be going to jail or that I have to read the paper to know what’s going on.”
Declan told himself to tell her about his firm’s involvement. He knew he had to. Yet…she needed support and his admission about his past seemed to have opened a door of some sort. She’d decided she could tell him about this and he wanted to be there for her.
“I take it your father is being protective?” he prodded gently.
She laughed but without humor. “No. Nothing that noble. I don’t live in his world now or ever. But my two older brothers are. They walk the walk and talk the talk.”
“So they work for Marks?”
The waitress came by with two coffee cups and both Declan and Zoe accepted. After sipping the warm liquid, Zoe set down her cup. “You asked about my brothers. The two older ones work for my father. My younger brother is an architect. We are considered the traitors.”
Curious, he had to ask, “What made you start talking?”