A momentary flash of annoyance crossed Cali’s features, but she regained her cool. “Yes. We even have some VIP seating for you on the executive level. But I’m assuming you knew that?”
The one part of her story that would be flimsiest was the fact that Cali had seen Evelyn in the office before on more than one occasion. But it wasn’t the first time Evelyn had dealt with a hole in a cover before. And she had a proven method for covering over those holes. She let Cali make up her own mind.
The only people who had to truly believe Evelyn had won an essay contest were the ones involved with the Thirteen Stars, and chances were they weren’t even going to see Evelyn. From her research so far, Cali was a loyal employee with a crazy good work ethic. Not exactly a risk for blowing Evelyn’s cover.
“I’ve been to the executive level before, but I was hoping you could show me to where my workstation is.”
Cali nodded and turned away from the lobby where she had been waiting. “This way.” She led the way to the elevators.
Evelyn followed the bouncing blonde hair. Cali walked with a confident stride and sway to her hips that was indicative of the power she held within the company. Even though Evelyn had a feeling the Devereaux brothers would try to keep the company in the family, Cali was still going to be a big part of the company’s future. She might be listed as Luke’s administrative assistant in her file, but Cali was so much more than that. Evelyn had also seen enough financial documents to know that Cali was getting paid a hell of a lot more than that.
If there was one thing Evelyn could respect, it was ambition. The only problem was that her ambition was back in Texas, and not behind any desk in New York City.
The elevator made its way up and Cali maintained her silence. Evelyn chose to use the opportunity to do a little bit of digging. “So you’re Luke’s assistant, but you work for both brothers, right?”
“I do a majority of my work assisting Luke. He’s a bit more demanding.”
Evelyn had to hold back a laugh. Figured he’d be the one bossing Cali around the most.
“Oh, no,” said Cali. “He needs to be demanding. He’s traveling all the time and I take care of things he can’t get to while he’s out of the office. Michael isn’t really the face of the company, so he’s here most of the time. I just do general things for him.”
It was a good sign that Cali was defending Luke. So many people hated their bosses, especially secretaries and administrative assistants, who were usually at the bottom of the totem pole—not that Cali was anywhere near the bottom.
Still, she’d expected a bit more bitterness or at least hostile undertones when Cali talked about Luke. Evelyn couldn’t help it. Something about that man just drove her crazy. She wasn’t sure whether it was his cocky arrogance, the fact that he had more money than he even knew what to do with, or even his good looks that rubbed her the wrong way.
Evelyn hated to admit he was attractive, but who was she kidding? The man was on pretty much every eligible bachelor list the city had created since he took the reins of DevX Tech. Wherever he went, women fawned over him, and ever since she started this assignment, all the female agents she ran into tried to get in on the investigation.
But Luke seemed to have it all: thick, dark hair, gorgeous blue eyes, and enough muscle tone that those expensive suits he always wore highlighted it exactly the right way. He wasn’t one of those guys who had a treadmill in his office just for looks. He actually used it. And probably some weights. Okay, a lot of weights.
Evelyn might’ve spent more time than she was proud of imagining exactly how Luke would look once he took off his jacket and removed his shirt.
Damn it. Why couldn’t she fantasize about Michael? He was just as handsome as his brother, except with the added benefit of being reasonable and nice. Did she really have to be one of those stereotypical women who fell for the bad boy?
She’d measure this crush—No. Not crush. Strange fascination.—against the men in her past if there weren’t so few. Once she’d set her mind on working in the FBI to battle the corruption so rampant in the towns so close to the border, her personal life had been put on the backburner. She’d had a good friends with benefits situation going on for the year or so after she got out of the academy, but once he’d sent signals that he wanted more than what they had, she’d pulled away. Since then, there’d been a few dates here and there but nothing serious. Because she couldn’t work in such a volatile environment having to worry about a loved one still at home.
And she couldn’t stand working in the nonvolatile environment of New York. Her own personal exile that her superiors probably thought was some sort of reward.