Her eyes narrowed. ‘Yes, I have. Now, what is it you need from me exactly?’ Before you hurry up and leave, her tone implied.
‘That depends.’ Sam quirked a brow. ‘What are you offering? Exactly?’
She took a deep breath and he took more pleasure than he should in knowing that he’d succeeded in riling her. ‘Mr Ventura—’
‘Sam,’ he interrupted. ‘You can start by calling me Sam and then you can continue by telling me why you’re so prickly.’
‘I’m not prickly.’
‘As a porcupine being poked with a stick.’ He relaxed back in the seat. ‘Unless this is your usual working demeanour, and if it is then I might start questioning how you got so far so fast after all.’
‘I apologise,’ she said stiffly, smart enough not to take his bait again. ‘I didn’t mean to sound rude. I’m still getting my head around today’s announcement about the merger and the changes that will bring.’
‘Understandable. Now, tell me what the phone call was about.’
‘Phone call?’
‘The one you had to take while you left me outside, cooling my heels.’
‘I didn’t do that.’
‘You did, but I’m not going to quibble over it. Did the call have anything to do with the Star Burger case?’
She frowned, clearly not wanting to share any information with him. ‘Yes. But, as I said, I know you must have a hundred things on your plate, so you don’t need to worry about this case right now.’
Sam looked at her, taking in the smooth line of her jaw and the challenging glint in her green eyes. Of course he had to worry about the case. Star Burger Restaurants was owned by one of the wealthiest men in Australia, a known pig of a man, who habitually treated people badly. Four months ago a group of young migrant workers had formed an alliance and decided to do something about their shocking working conditions and had approached legal aid for help. Legal aid had directed them to Ruby’s desk and the case had grown exponentially until they now had a class action on their hands. It would be a landmark case in Australia if they won.
But he’d get to that later. First up he wanted to find out what Ruby’s deal was and whether it had anything to do with their tryst on Friday night. ‘So your resistance to having me work on this case is not because you’re worried that Drew thinks you can’t handle it, but for my benefit—is that right?’
‘I can handle the case just fine.’ She frowned darkly. ‘And I think it’s overkill to have you stepping in at this point, especially if you’re under the impression that I need you. I mean, that I need your help or...anything.’
‘Pity that’s not your call to make, isn’t it?’
His tone was cool and challenging and Ruby had no comeback because they both knew he was right: it wasn’t her call to make.
‘This is a David and Goliath case, Ruby,’ he continued softly. ‘Once it hits the media, Carter Jones will go after your clients’ reputations with a vengeance and you’ll need to be ready.’
‘I know all this. I know we’re the underdogs.’ Concern pleated her brow. ‘It’s an impossible case to win, everybody says so, but no matter what you say to me, I have no intention of dropping it.’
‘Dropping it?’ Where had that come from?
‘Yes. I know Drew was concerned about Kent’s taking it on in the first place, and I know he’s worried about how big it’s going to get, but it’s too important to drop now. We’ve come too far.’
Sam frowned. ‘Have I asked you to drop it?’
‘No.’ Her chin came up and she unconsciously moistened her lips again. ‘Are you going to?’
‘No. But I know Carter Jones and I know how ruthless he can be. If this case goes to court it could severely damage his standing in the community, not to mention Star Burger Restaurant’s profit margin. He won’t allow that at any cost.’
‘Then he should have made sure he took better care of his employees,’ she said with a spiritedness Sam couldn’t help but admire. ‘Because this case is going all the way, Sam. These boys need justice and I intend to see that they have it.’