Francine Blake walked past the midlevel cubicles and glass office doors, smiling and speaking to everyone she passed.
“Morning, Francine. Great job last night. I know it was supposed to be work, but I had a blast covering security for the mayor’s party,” Jay said, giving her a wide smile.
It had been the first time that Francine had worked with the junior agent. She returned his smile. “Thanks, you did a great job, too.”
Francine Blake was a partner in her family’s twenty-five-year-old multibillion-dollar international security firm and private detective agency based in Houston, Texas, which specialized in both corporate and personal matters for elite clientele. Francine, a security specialist who also had a degree in forensic science, had joined the firm five years earlier as a field agent and within the past year had taken over as its chief executive officer—responsible for the sales and administrative aspects of the organization—after her father’s retirement, into which his family had forced him after a major health scare.
“I emailed the detailed summary report of last night’s activities out to everyone, and I included all the pictures.” Jay started walking toward the elevators.
“Wait, you attached all the pictures?” she asked with a slight hitch in her voice.
“Yeah, why?” he replied as he pushed the down button on the elevator.
“No reason. Have a nice day and stay safe out there,” Francine said as she watched Jay enter the elevator.
Francine sighed and gave her head a slow shake. It had been quite a while since the twenty-eight-year-old had to play a role in the field in such a dynamic fashion and while she’d had a blast doing it, she didn’t relish the grief she knew was coming: having to explain her actions to her father, Meeks and other board members who still didn’t completely trust her judgment. While Francine had always secretly lusted after her extremely handsome business partner Meeks Montgomery and his beautiful body, their close connection prevented them from exploring anything beyond a friendship. She turned and continued on toward the conference room, only to be stopped again. This time, it was one of their office researchers.
“Dang, girl, I saw the pictures from last night’s party. You wore the heck out of that dress,” the pretty young researcher said, giving Francine a half smile and a raised eyebrow.
“It was work,” Francine protested.
“Whatever, looked like a party to me. Anyway, where did you get that dress, and did it come in any other colors?” she asked.
Francine ignored her question. “Who else saw the pictures?” she asked, unable to hide the surprise in her voice. In that moment, she could feel Meeks, standing nearby, staring at her. Their connection was like a heat-seeking missile whenever they were in the same room. A fact that wasn’t hard to miss. Francine cut her gaze to the cubicle where Meeks and his assistant Jeremy stood, clearly listening to their conversation.
The young researcher tilted her head and frowned. “We all did, and I have to say, if you ever decide to give up this CEO gig, I know a high-end modeling agency I could hook you up with,” she said as she walked off laughing.
“Great, just great,” Francine murmured to herself as she walked past the cubicle where all the guys were congregating. She ignored Meeks’s smug look, but before she could make it across the threshold of the conference room, she was handed a cup of espresso and a manila folder by a pretty but obviously nervous blonde she’d never seen before.
“Here’s your espresso with extra milk just like you like it, and the client information you requested, Ms. Blake.”
Francine was about to introduce herself when she heard another voice behind her. “Cine, I think that’s meant for me. Thanks, Kelly,” Farrah said, walking toward her sister.
Francine turned to greet her, only to be taken aback by what she saw. Farrah was dressed in the same company uniform that Francine was wearing—black cargo pants, a black fitted T-shirt with the company’s red-and-black logo and combat boots, except that her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail. It was like looking into a mirror—almost. The Blake triplets were near identical except for their eye color. However, it had been a long time since she and Farrah had actually dressed alike.
Francine rolled her eyes skyward in acknowledgment of the confusion. “Farrah, what’s with the outfit?”
“What are you talking about?” she questioned, looking down at herself.
“What am I talking about? You’re dressed like one of our agents instead of a lawyer—the head of our legal department. I thought you had an appointment at the courthouse today,” Francine said, gesturing to her sister’s outfit. “And we both know you can’t go to court dressed like that.”
“Oh, that,” she answered with a shrug. “The appointment had to be rescheduled. So I decided to go out with one of the guys later for a ride-along,” Farrah explained as she walked past her sister and toward Kelly, who was standing against the glass wall looking like she’d just been hit by a stun gun.
“Wait, you’re going on a ride-along...why?” Francine asked with raised eyebrows. She changed directions and tried to catch up with her younger sister. “You’re not assigned to any cases and your security certification doesn’t expire for another couple of months. Besides, I thought you were going to sit in on the client meeting with me.”
Farrah faced her sister, sighed and said, “I will, calm down. Danny invited me to ride out with him, so I’m taking him up on his offer and getting the field assessment out of the way, since my workload is relatively light at the moment.” Farrah took several sips of her espresso before she continued. “Danny’s still responsible for doing the recertifications, right?”
Meeks, as the company’s chief operations officer, was responsible for all aspects of the firm’s day-to-day security operations, and usually handled all the certifications for the executives personally. However, lately, he’d been relinquishing some of his administrative duties to Danny, one of his senior security agents, in favor of spending more time in the field. Francine knew this had everything to do with the recent injury she’d received as a result of her taking the lead on a case and his overprotective attitude toward her, just like when they were kids. Even if they were outside playing or working out in the company’s gym,