Seducing the Heiress (10 page)

Chapter 14

“W
hat's so important that Paul had to pull me out of a meeting? Whatever it is couldn't have waited?” Farrah chastised as she walked into Robert's office.

The sight of Meeks's stiff spine as he looked out of the window and Robert's strained expression from his spot behind his desk told Farrah something was wrong. “What's happened? Is Francine okay?”

“I'm fine,” a familiar voice called from behind her.

At the sound, Meeks's shoulders dropped and he rushed to Francine's side. He took her hand and guided her to the chair that he'd long abandoned. The look of love in his eyes made Farrah's heart ache, and she quickly trained her sights on Robert, who'd seen it, too. She tamped down on the instant feeling of longing that flashed through her. “What's going on?” she demanded, crossing the few feet to stand in front of Robert's desk.

“Robert cracked Alexia's security,” Meeks explained as he stood holding Francine's hand. “We thought you should see what we found.”

“It must not be good by the look on your faces,” Francine said, looking first to her husband, then to Robert.

“It's...unexpected,” Meeks said, his face devoid of its normal expression.

“Well, don't keep us waiting,” Farrah commanded. “Let's see it. What's got your back up?”

Robert cut his eyes to Meeks, who gave him a small nod. “The folders contained a number of different files, a calendar of events, financial records, and surveillance photos.”

“Surveillance photos?” the sisters asked simultaneously.

“Alexia was keeping tabs on people. Their comings and goings...and there're photos,” Robert explained, placing his hands in his pockets. “It dates back six months before she first made contact with Farrah.”

“That's not so unexpected. Why are you looking like someone just told you superheroes never existed?” Francine asked no one in particular, but kept her focus between Robert and Meeks.

“Because they don't,” Robert and Meeks chorused.

“Do, too,” both sisters replied, glaring at the men.

Meeks smiled and squeezed Francine's hand. Farrah knew teasing was his way of keeping Francine calm, reassuring her that everything was going to be fine. “What is it?” Farrah asked.

Meeks looked over at Robert, who had come from around his desk to stand next to Farrah. Robert took Farrah's hand and intertwined their fingers, instantly gaining her mind and body's attention. “She had your picture.”

“That's not a surprise,” she said with a scowl. “I was her target. I'm the one who hired her. She had to find a way to get information about me. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to nail her interview the way she did.”

“And?” Francine asked, knowing there had to be more.

“Alexia gained access to a lot more confidential material than we realized. Material that's kept under lock and key...and under
your
supervision,” Meeks explained to Farrah.

“But how could she have gotten past our security system? You all know how I am about my safety measures in place. She must've somehow got ahold of the
multiple
combinations to my safe to get all the override system security codes. Do you know how hard that is?”

“Yet somehow she did,” Meeks said. His voice held a note of skepticism.

Farrah's eyes cut to Robert, who was gripping her hand a little tighter, offering silent reassurance. “The board will really lose confidence in me when they find out I'm the one that woman used to gain the access she needed to go after our clients and try to steal our technology. We're talking about a multibillion-dollar company at risk. If it's proven that I made some kind of error in the filing or was careless with my security, they won't care that my last name happens to be on the door. My career will be over here,” she said, her anxiety clear.

“But you didn't do anything wrong and we're going to prove it,” Francine promised, turning her attention to Robert. “Anything else?”

“There...there was a picture of your father,” Robert replied, and the hesitation in his voice and the tense set of his shoulders put Farrah on alert.

Frank Blake, a former Army Ranger and co-founder of Blake & Montgomery, was currently serving as the board's chairman and was a “superhero” to his girls. After suffering from a mild heart attack and at his own family's insistence, Frank had stepped down from his role as CEO and only interacted with company operations on a limited basis. Dealing with their father's illness had been hard. Add that to the danger that Francine had experienced last summer, and the possibility of another member of their family being in harm's way was something they weren't ready for.

At Robert's words, Francine's breath caught and Meeks knelt down beside her. Farrah's knees gave way and Robert helped her into a chair. Farrah felt as if her heart had been struck by a bolt of ice, like a character in a children's movie her sister had recently made her watch. “Our father? How...why? He hasn't played an active role in the company for a couple of years now. And he's just getting back on his feet...he barely leaves the house,” Farrah explained, fighting to stay calm.

“What was the picture of, and do we know when it was taken?” Francine asked.

“He was having lunch with your mother. The picture looks old...like it was taken sometime
before
the heart attack,” Robert admitted.

“This may not have anything to do with our father, but we're going to find out what really happened. You're not taking the fall for this,” Francine insisted, placing her hand on Farrah's shoulder.

“I agree,” Meeks echoed.

“Damn right,” Robert added, kneeling down before Farrah, bringing their intertwined hands to his chest. He stared into Farrah's eyes. “Sweetheart, I promise, we're going to find out who set this whole thing up. We'll prove our T500 system has nothing to do with those false preliminary designs.” Robert kissed her hands. “You didn't miss anything and I'm going to prove it.”

Now he shows his faith in me.
What happened to that faith when he stood before the board and requested to have another lawyer come in and replace me on this case?

Francine reached for her sister's hand, which Farrah readily accepted. The declarations made by Robert and the warmth of her sister's hand gave Farrah the strength she needed to pull herself together. The love circling the four of them was like a welcome fog.

Farrah took a deep breath and pulled her hand free of Robert's before standing. “Let's see it. And I mean everything.”

“And no holding back,” Francine demanded, glaring at her husband.

Robert and Farrah smiled at the “Don't play with me” look Francine was giving Meeks.

“All right, I've printed everything out. Let's move over to the conference table. We'll have more room,” Robert explained, bringing several sets of documents and spreading them on the desk.

Meeks helped Francine out of one chair and into another at the head of the table. Francine started sorting through the files that lay before them. “I'm going to need an energy boost if we're going to dig through all this,” she said, gesturing toward what could only be a full night's worth of work. She picked up a folder and looked over at Meeks. “Honey, call Paul and have him order some Chinese—he knows what to get—but have him add a large half cheese, half pepperoni pizza.”

“That's not Chinese,” Robert said, bewilderment in his voice.

“We don't discriminate when it comes to food. Every continent can be spoken for, right, babies?” Francine said, speaking to her stomach. “And tell him to bring down my cookie dough ice cream that's in the freezer in my office when he's done,” she said without looking up from the papers she held.

“Seriously?” Farrah asked, frowning at her sister.

“What?” Francine replied as she rubbed her stomach. “We're hungry.”

“Dude, where does it all go?” Robert asked Meeks, who laughed as he picked up the phone and punched in Paul's extension.

“Thank you, Robert,” Francine said proudly. “Let's get to work. Oh, and honey, tell Paul to bring down some diet Cokes, too.”

Everyone laughed.

Chapter 15

F
arrah could feel her sister's eyes boring a hole in the red shirt she wore. She looked up from the document she'd been reading. “What?”

Francine was sitting back in her chair, slowly fanning herself with a manila file folder. “You ready to tell me what's really going on between you and Robert?”

“What are you talking about? And why are you doing that?” she asked through narrowed eyes. “It's not even hot in here. Was it all that food you just wolfed down?”

“Being pregnant with twins tends to make you hot from time to time,” Francine responded, placing the folder on top of a pile of schematics. “Now stop changing the subject and answer my question before the guys get back from taking out the trash. I caught that sweetheart comment and Robert's uncanny ability to talk you off the ledge like only your sisters can.”

Farrah sighed and rubbed her temples.

Busted. Might as well come clean...a little, anyway.
“We had a tiny affair,” she confessed, using her thumb and index finger to illustrate her point. “But now it's over.” Farrah braced herself for her sister's response.

Francine's gaze darted to Farrah's neck which was turning red—a rare occurrence. She checked the office door before locking a steely gaze on Farrah. “Is it? Over, I mean.”

That's it? Where's the lecture?
“Of course,” Farrah offered. “We both wanted a taste, we took it, and now we've moved on.”

Francine continued to stare at her sister, but held her tongue. Farrah picked up another file and blindly flipped through the pages of financial records. “I mean, we all know how Robert is when it comes to women. He's never serious. Although...” She flashed back to that place and time in Sugar Land, Texas. “Momma Penny seems to think otherwise. I guess she'd know. And I must admit, he doesn't party as much as he used to.”

Francine smiled. “You met
his mother
! Meeks says he never introduces his women to her. Ever!”

Farrah couldn't help but smile. “I know.”

“Look at that smile.” Francine shimmied a playful little happy dance. “That can only mean one thing. And frankly, it's about time.”

Farrah kept her focus on the paper she held, knowing that her smile had only grown wider. She wondered if her sister could hear how fast her heart was beating all the way across the table.

“What's about time?” Meeks asked as he walked into the office with Robert on his heels. He kissed the top of his wife's head before taking the seat next to her.

“Nothing,” Farrah quickly interjected, sitting up in her chair. “Now that the twins have been fortified and the trash has been removed from the building, can we please get back to work?”

Robert came around the table and settled into the space next to Farrah.

“All right, we've been through all these files, so what do we know so far?” Meeks asked.

“We know that Alexia made a fortune either blackmailing folks or trying to sell their secrets,” Farrah said, tapping her pen on the table.

“That she did,” Robert agreed.

“We need to figure out who all these other people are in her records and what their current status is,” Francine added.

“Besides that,” Meeks said, stroking his hand across the silky material over his wife's stomach, “we know her right-hand man is Butch Johnson from New Orleans. She's paid him a lot of money for who knows what.”

“He may be able to fill in some of the blanks regarding all these other people, too,” Robert said as he scanned the final columns of a financial spreadsheet.

“Thankfully, Butch Johnson was easy to find, and our team has him on lock until you make it down there,” Meeks said.

“I'll work on getting access to Alexia,” Francine said, looking at her sister. “I think you're right. We have to use Blige as leverage.”

“Good. What about Trey? I think I should run by his place and bring him up to speed on these new developments,” she offered, rising from her chair.

“Hell, no!” Robert snapped, causing Meeks and Francine to flinch. Farrah could almost see the anger radiating from Robert's body.

“Excuse me?” Farrah said, whipping her head in his direction.

“I just don't think that's necessary...not just yet, anyway,” Robert replied, less forcefully this time.

“Yet you found it necessary to bring him on in the first place, didn't you?”

Robert held up his hands in mock surrender. “We've discussed this already. I found it necessary to bring in someone
like
him. You chose that muscled-up, dark-eyed Perry Mason wannabe. I was thinking of someone more along the lines of Ben Matlock.”

“Really?” Farrah said, her head at an angle. “You're actually comparing Trey to television characters? He's an exceptional attorney who's argued before both the State and Federal Supreme Courts and won...twice. You wanted someone more experienced handling our case. Well, Trey fits the bill perfectly in spite of how young, fine and handsome he may be.”

Robert looked fiercely down at Farrah, but held his tongue.

Meeks leaned over to Francine and whispered loud enough for the others to hear, “I think we need some popcorn for this.”

“I ate it all,” Francine mumbled, eliciting a hearty chuckle from Meeks.

Farrah straightened her head and narrowed her eyes, sending a steely glare in Robert's direction and asking, “When do you suggest we—”

“When we know more,” Robert interjected, holding Farrah's gaze.

Meeks checked his watch. “It's almost nine. You ready to head upstairs?” he asked Francine.

“Yes, and if you're lucky, these two will sleep long enough for me to put you to bed properly,” she said, giving her husband a wicked smile. Meeks kissed her passionately before leading her out of the office.

Even angry, Farrah's heart ached for Robert. She'd never been jealous of either of her sisters, but in that moment, she wished she could take Robert upstairs and put
him
to sleep properly. “Look, regardless of how Trey got here, and—”

“And it was the best move for all concerned. Imagine what would have happened if you'd still been the attorney of record when all this bogus evidence came out.”

Farrah bit her bottom lip and after a few moments gave Robert a reluctant nod. Robert stood and gave her a lengthy once-over. “Look, when we have something firm, we'll share it. For now, I think I'll head down to the gym. Care to join me?” he asked.

“No, thanks,” she said, stacking the files. “I think I'll take some of this stuff upstairs with me for a little late-night reading.”

“We've been over all of those a thousand times. Security's in place in New Orleans and we can't do anything until tomorrow. We've got everything covered, so why don't you take a break? I'll blow off the gym and if you like, we can go check out this new spot not far from my place.” Robert gifted her with a sexy smile. “We could have a couple of drinks, talk, or even dance.”

Farrah returned his smile and leaned back in her chair. “You know, a night out...a change in scenery could do me some good.”

“See, that wasn't so hard to admit,” he replied, offering a wink and a smile.

“Give me forty-five minutes to go upstairs and change.”

“No problem. That'll give me time to run home, change and meet you downstairs.”

Farrah collected her things and headed for the door. “It's only a drink between friends,” she whispered to herself, trying to keep her excitement and traitorous body under control.

She felt as if a live wire had been lit inside her heart at the mere thought of what the evening could bring.