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“Because that’s what big brothers do. I know, I have two of them.” Although in her case, they didn’t just protect. They domineered.
Mr. Everette smiled. He wasn’t nearly as intimidating as she’d first thought. At first glance he seemed so dark and intense, but he definitely had a softer side. “With a sister as pretty as you, I’m sure it was a full-time job.”
Wow, she really liked this guy.
“Well,” he said, rising from his chair. “I’m glad we had this talk. But I should let you get back to work.”
She stood and smoothed her skirt back into place. “Thank you for the advice.”
He reached across the desk to shake her hand. His grip was firm and confident. “Good luck, Miss Monroe.”
She left Nathan Everette’s office feeling a lot less unsure of herself than when she’d walked into work that morning. The first day of her first undercover assignment may have had a bit of a bumpy start, but things were definitely looking up.
She hobbled back to her desk on her poor tortured feet, yet she felt a renewed confidence. If she could maintain her cool in a meeting with the CEO, CBO and CFO of a multibillion dollar corporation, she could handle just about anything.
When she got there she kicked off her shoes and opened her top drawer, fishing out the flash drive. It was time to go get some information.
“Is it my imagination or were you a lot taller the last time I saw you?”
At the sound of Mr. Everette’s voice she gasped in surprise and dropped the flash drive back in the drawer. She whipped around, slamming it shut with her backside. He stood in his office doorway, arms folded, leaning against the jamb. And he must have been back for some time because not only was his coat off, he’d removed his suit jacket as well. “You’re back early.”
“I made it as far as the lobby and got a call that the meeting was cancelled.”
If she hadn’t been called away, he would have without a doubt walked in on her “investigating.” The thought made her knees go weak. Next time she would have to make sure that he’d actually left the building before she set foot in his office.
“Imagine my surprise when I returned to find that my new secretary was already playing hooky.”
“N-no … I wasn’t …” She stopped and took a deep breath. What was the point of making excuses. “I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”
“Where were you?”
Okay, she could handle this. It was all about thinking on her feet, and being prepared. So of course her mind went instantly blank. “The, um … HR office.”
“Human resources?”
“Yes.”
“For …?”
“Paperwork. There was a form they forgot to have me sign.”
“And they stole your shoes while you were there?” he said, nodding to her stocking feet.
“No, of course not. They’re under my desk. They’re new and they were pinching my toes.” At least that much was the truth. “I can put them back on—”
“Oh no. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for your sore feet. Although maybe they would hurt less if you sat down.”
She lowered herself into her chair.
“I need to go talk to my brother,” he said, and before she could stop herself she sucked in a breath. Did he know she’d just been there?
No, of course he didn’t. How could he?
He gave her an odd look. “Problem?”
She gestured to her feet. “Sorry, sore toes.”
“As I was saying, I have to talk to my brother before my mother blows a gasket. But if anyone calls, I’m in a meeting.”
“Of course.”
With one last curious look her way, he walked out.
The man must have thought she was a loon.
Her cell phone started to ring and she pulled it out of the desk drawer, where she had left it again.
And it was her sister, Mary. Again. She pressed the talk button. “Hey Mary, what’s up?”
“You sure are tough to get ahold of,” Mary snapped in lieu of a hello.
Jane sighed. She had half a mind to just hang up on her. She wished she had the guts to do it, but things had been so strained lately already, she didn’t want to make it worse. Mary was just pissy because Jane was no longer around the office to do her grunt work. Despite having graduated with higher honors than every one of her siblings, and passing the bar with flying colors, up until the day Jane had left, they had continued to treat her like an intern.
“I’m at work. I haven’t had a chance to call you back.”
“Whatever,” she said, sounding like a spoiled adolescent. Though she was the older sister, she didn’t always act like it. “I’m just calling to remind you about this Friday.”
“What about it?”
She sighed dramatically. “Monthly dinner with the family, stupid.”
Jane ignored the “stupid” remark, because although Mary may have been prettier, and more outgoing and popular, they both knew Jane was smarter. Though sometimes that was more of a liability than a asset. Being the “smart and practical” sibling didn’t leave a lot of room for error.
“But we usually do that the last Friday of the month,” she told her sister. “That’s not until next week.”
“Don’t you remember, we decided to do it a week early because Will has a business trip the following week.”
“That’s news to me,” she said.
“I could swear we talked about it.”
“Nope.” But then, since she’d left the practice, there were a lot of things she didn’t hear about until the last minute because no one bothered to call her. She figured it was probably her punishment for deviating from their master plan.
“I’m sure I told you, but whatever. Mom booked our regular table at Via Penna. Seven o’clock.”
“I’ll try to be there.”
“You’ll try? What is your problem? You can’t even make time for your family anymore?”
“Jeez, Mary, don’t have a cow. I’ll definitely be there, okay?”
“I’ll see you Friday,” she said, then hung up without saying goodbye.
Jane grumbled to herself and tossed her phone back into the drawer, then pulled it back out, walked to the closet and dropped it into her purse. It didn’t occur to her until several minutes later that since her birthday was the following day, they were probably planning a party. That was probably the reason they were doing it a week early. No wonder Mary had been so insistent on her being there.
It didn’t excuse the curt conversation, or Mary’s bitchy attitude, but it made Jane feel a little better. And a little less like punching her sister in the nose the next time she saw her.
Four
Grinning to himself, Jordan walked down the hall to his brother’s office. He had to hand it to Miss Monroe, she was quick on her feet.
He had figured there was a good chance when he came back early from the meeting, that he himself had cancelled, he would catch Miss Monroe snooping around. He was curious to see what sort of excuse she could come up with, and he was disappointed to not find her in his office. She wasn’t at her desk either. It had taken one call down to his brother’s secretary Lynn to learn that Miss Monroe had first been in Adam’s office, then Nathan’s. Until that moment Jordan had held out the hope that maybe his brother didn’t know Adam was having him investigated. Not much chance of that now.
“I just need a minute,” Jordan told Lynn when he reached Nathan’s office. Then, as usual, instead of waiting to be announced, he walked right in. Mostly because he knew it would irritate the hell out of Nathan.
And it did. He jerked with surprise and said, “Jesus, Jordan, don’t you ever knock?”
He had been reading something in a manila file and shut it quickly as Jordan approached his desk. Making Jordan instantly suspicious.
“Tell me you didn’t deliberately forget to send our mother an invitation to your wedding.”
Nathan sighed. “I take it she called you.”
“Of course she called me. She’s very upset.”
He shrugged. “And I’m supposed to care why?”
Sometimes Jordan got so sick of being the go-between with Nathan and their parents. “Nathan, come on.”
“To be honest, I didn’t think she would care if she was invited or not.”
“Well, apparently she does. She said she hasn’t even seen Max yet.” Max was the infant son Nathan hadn’t even known he had until recently. He was the result of an affair Nathan had with the daughter of the owner of a rival oil company. If there was one thing Jordan could say about his brother, he liked to live on the edge, although lately he’d begun to act like a full-fledged family man.
“Did she happen to mention that I invited her over to meet Ana and Max last week, but something more important came up and she called it off at the last minute?”
“No, she left that part out.” That was typical of their mother. Both the calling off and the leaving out part. She would say pretty much anything to make herself the victim.
“She had her chance,” Nathan said. “I’m through catering to her whims. And for the life of me, I don’t know why you still put up with it.”
Neither did he. He wasn’t going to deny that their mother was self-absorbed and narcissistic. That said, she was the only mother they had. And there was still a tiny part of him, a shadow of the awkward little boy who would do practically anything to win her attention.
“She sounded genuinely upset,” he said.
Nathan’s expression was deadpan. “My heart bleeds for her.”
“Maybe she realizes that if she ever wants to see one of her sons get married, this might be her only chance. And possibly her only chance for grandchildren.”
“She doesn’t care about Max. She’s already warned me that when he starts talking he is forbidden from calling her grandma. She said it would make her feel too old.”
Jordan winced. “I’m sure she’ll feel differently when she gets closer to him,” he said, although honestly, he didn’t know if even he believed that. Their mother hadn’t had much of an interest in her own sons when they were small. They interfered too much with her social life. He and Nathan were raised primarily by the nanny.
But sometimes people were more open to the idea of children when it was someone else’s child. Jordan was in no way, shape or form ready to have children of his own, and probably never would be, but he liked to tussle with little Max. He could have the fun without the responsibility.
“This has nothing to do with me getting married, or Max. She’s just pissed off because she knows I invited Dad.”
Jordan’s jaw actually dropped. Until a few weeks ago, Nathan and their father hadn’t spoken a word to each other in almost ten years, and Jordan had been on both their backs for ages, trying to persuade them to reconnect. Jordan understood why Nathan was hesitant. He and their father had a pretty volatile relationship, one that had often turned physically violent. But that was a long time ago and their father had mellowed since then. He also felt a lot of guilt and regret for the way that he’d treated Nathan. And though Jordan would never admit it, especially to Nathan, he felt his own share of guilt.
When they were kids, Jordan had been a late bloomer and Nathan had taken it upon himself to act as Jordan’s protector. Instead of teaching Jordan to defend himself, Nathan took the knocks for him. It left Jordan feeling weak, small and resentful of his older brother. In rebellion he began getting Nathan in trouble on purpose, setting him up, knowing their father would take it out of his hide. It had, for a time, left Nathan with some serious anger management issues. Only recently, when Nathan nearly gave up his son because of it, did Jordan realize how deeply his manipulating had affected his brother.
Actually inviting their father to the wedding was a huge step for Nathan. Jordan had begun to think that maybe it was time he and Nathan began to repair their own relationship, time that they let go of the resentment. But now with the sabotage, and the accusations … well, it could be a while before they resolved anything.
“I think it’s great that you invited him,” Jordan said.
Nathan shrugged, like it wasn’t a big deal. “Ana insisted.”
Ana could insist until she was blue, but Nathan wouldn’t have done it unless he wanted to. “And would it really be so terrible to invite Mom, too?”
“I put up with her crap for years because besides you, she was the only family I had. Well, I have my own family now, and I don’t need her any longer.”
Jordan propped his hands on Nathan’s desk and leaned in. “All I’m asking is that you give her one more chance. If she blows it this time I swear I won’t ever nag you about her again.”
“Give me one good reason why I should.”
“Because you’re a good person, Nathan. Better than her, better than Dad. And I’ll deny it if you repeat this, but at times even better than me. And though Mom will never admit it, not inviting her hurt her feelings, and you aren’t the kind of guy who hurts people’s feelings. And the guilt you’re going to feel isn’t worth the view from that moral high horse you’re on.”
“Wow.” Nathan shook his head. “And here I thought you were just as shallow and self-absorbed as she is.”
“It’ll be our secret.”
Nathan was quiet for a minute, then he blew out a breath and said, “All right, fine. One more chance. But if she blows it this time, that’s it.”
“Fair enough. Are you going to call and tell her?”
Nathan glared at him.
“Or I could do it,” Jordan said. He hoped his mom came through this time, because he was tired of making excuses for her. In fact, if she let them down again, it might be enough to push him over the edge as well. And who knows, maybe it would snap some sense into her if both her sons shut her out.
“That reminds me, we haven’t gotten your RSVP yet,” Nathan said.
“It’s on my to-do list. But you know I’ll be there.”
“I assume you’ll be bringing a date.”
“At least one. No more than three.”
Nathan shot him a “get real” look.
“What? I’m in pretty high demand.”
