Chapter 3

A couple of hours later, after all the entries had been gone over and Tony was satisfied with the work they had done, Sami stood up and stretched. Tony watched her covertly out of the corner of his eye, as he put the books back into the wall safe. He admired the way she kept herself so fit, especially having given birth to the strapping young man that her son was becoming. "So," she said to him. "I guess I'll see you tonight. Oh and don't worry, my cooking has vastly improved so I won't poison you." "Umm, yes about that.." He began to say. "Don't you dare!"  Sami shouted cutting him off abruptly. "Tony Dimera I swear if you even think about backing out of tonight, I'll, I'll…I'll never speak to you again!" And thus saying this she folded her arms stubbornly and turned her back on him. Tony sighed and ran a hand through his hair. As much as he hated the thought of having to endure an evening of watching Sami with her husband Lucas, he didn't have the heart to say no to her. So instead he said, "What are you serving, because I'm bringing the wine." Sami turned and threw her arms around Tony, hugging him tightly. "You don't have to bring anything, except your charming self! She squealed and pulled away beaming at him. "No, no now I insist on at least contributing the wine." He said to her. "Alright then, we're having chicken!" "Oooh yum!" He said with a sarcastic grin. "She hit him lightly on the shoulder. "Now none of that!" She said to him. "I told you that my cooking is much better now so you don't have to worry." "Mmm hmmm." Was all he said but Sami ignored him. "Anyway, I'm so glad that I'm finally getting you to come over for dinner with me and Lucas." She said. "I just know that once you two get to know each other, you'll be as crazy about one another as I am about both of you!" She grabbed her purse and prepared to leave. "Ok, I gotta run. I've got a million things to do!" She said cheerfully and gave Tony a quick kiss on the cheek. "So I'll see you tonight. Ooohh this is gonna be so great." She bubbled and skipped out the door leaving Tony staring after her with a smile. "Yeah." He said to himself softly, his smile disappearing. "Just great."

Sami was so excited running out of the club that she didn't even notice the attractive woman entering it and ran into her. "Oops," She said upon collision "I'm so sorry." And then she saw who it was and gave a delighted squeal. "Leine!" She shouted and threw her arms around her friend, who hugged her back. "Where's the fire, Sami?" Madeleine asked her best friend in her slightly French accent. "Oh, I was just on my way out to run some errands!" Sami said to the woman who was probably her closest friend in the world. Madeleine Chung had been one of the ISA agents who had helped Sami's friend Ops train her for the ISA. She and the gorgeous French-Asian female had quickly developed a friendship that was closer than any that either of them had ever had. Leine, as Sami called her was not only a special agent with the ISA, but was also an art gallery owner, with several galleries all over the world. She traveled frequently and she and Sami didn't get to spend much time together. But they kept in touch via the Internet and occasionally Sami and Lucas would travel to a show at one of Leine's many galleries in the states. "Leine, what are you doing here?" Sami asked her "I thought you were going to be in LA this week." "Change of plans. The artist whose work I was showing came down with the flu or something and we had to postpone the show." Leine answered. "So I thought that it would be the perfect time to finally visit your hometown, that you've told me so much about!" "Well I'm so glad that you're here and I wish I didn't have to run right now, but I'm having a dinner thing tonight and I've a million things to do." Sami said and then paused, the wheels in her head suddenly spinning. "Say Leine, why don't you come to dinner at my house tonight?" "Oh well, I don't want to intrude." Leine answered. "Oh you wont' be!" Sami said. "It's a small gathering. It'll just be you, me, Lucas and my partner Tony." "Tony Dimera?" Leine asked, suddenly interested. "As in Count Dimera?" "The very same." Sami said with a gleam in her eye. "So what do you say, will you come?" Leine laughed, the sound like bells tinkling. "What time should I be there?"