6. Her Armor
HER ARMOR
Fletcher looked up on Monday morning to see Braylon standing in his doorway. “Got a minute to come to my office?”
“Of course.”
He stood and followed Braylon to the other end of the suite. Braylon was close to West, other departments on the other side.
He didn’t say a word, didn’t let the silence get to him either.
Braylon was normally more chipper and upbeat. If he was quiet there was a reason for it and he’d find out when they were ready to tell him.
When he turned the corner, West was already waiting in Braylon’s office with Spencer and London.
Not the other twin.
The one who’d been on his mind more than she should be.
He took a seat off to the side where the others were.
“There was an incident in Westerly Consulting on Friday,” Braylon said.
“What kind of an incident?” And where was Paris?
“A disgruntled employee of one of Paris’s clients came in after he’d been fired and got verbally abusive,” London said.
“And physically,” Spencer added.
He sat up straighter, his hand wanting to go for his gun that was so much a part of his life at his hip, but it wasn’t there anymore. “Is anyone hurt?”
“No,” London said, turning to Spencer. “And he shouldn’t have said that.”
“Shoving papers and possessions off the desk is physical,” Spencer argued.
“It is,” London said. “But Paris doesn’t want this turned into anything major. She’s going to be pissed off as it is.”
“I don’t care,” West said. “She should have come to me, not you telling Spencer.”
“I told her that,” London argued. “She handled it the way she knows how. I was there when she called and spoke to the owners of the company about what happened with their employee.”
“Back up,” Fletcher said. “Start at the beginning and work your way to that. Were you there, London, to witness this?”
“No. I came back from an appointment, and the door was locked. Paris was holding Molly’s hands and their eyes were shut and they were almost praying.
There were chocolate wrappers all over the floor.
And if you know my sister, that means there is a problem.
Molly’s desk was a mess and it’s always lined up and in order like the King’s Guards outside Buckingham Palace. ”
“What did this guy say?”
“He blamed Paris for getting fired,” West said.
“I highly doubt that was her fault.”
“No,” London said. “But she wasn’t thrilled with this job for the past month of it.
We did what we always do, but she knew deep down they were going for the most painful option to keep their business alive.
It’s their choice, but Paris lined up the best way to do that.
They ignored that part of the report. I know because I looked everything over before it was completed. ”
He nodded and absorbed that information. “So the company had no warm and fuzzy thoughts for their staff and fired them?”
“On Friday afternoon,” London said. “I got as much as I could from Molly, our assistant. Paris didn’t want to talk too much about it. She gets this way. She internalizes it and acts like it’s all good, but it’s not.”
“But the chocolate gave it away?”
Braylon snorted, then smiled. “If you know Paris, that’s a big thing. She’s pretty laid-back and goes with the flow, but when she’s ruffled, she has a few tells.”
Chocolate. Got it.
He’d file that away too.
“What else?”
“Molly was trying to remember what she could, but she was shaken up. Once Rick swiped everything off the desk and onto the floor, Molly jumped up and got closer to Paris.”
“Did he threaten them?”
“A loose threat,” Spencer said. “By the sounds of it. Again, only getting what Molly is saying.”
“He said she could rot in hell and she’d get what was coming to her.”
Words spoken in anger.
“I’ll look into him,” Fletcher said. “I’m assuming you got a full name or will I need to reach out to the company that you were working with?”
London shook her head. “Not sure how much help they are going to be. Paris is always full on professional mode, but damn if she didn’t put them in their place after she called.”
“She called the company?”
“Yes. She threw West’s name out, which is saying a lot also. Said we don’t contract with clients like that. It’s their right to implement our suggestions, but they need to be aware of the ramifications and they ignored them. That they better be prepared for more issues to come their way.”
“I’m assuming they didn’t appreciate that?”
“There were some words said on both sides. They felt like they paid for the service and it was their right to do what they wanted, and it is,” London said.
“It doesn’t mean they have to be dicks about it.”
“No,” West said. “I need you to look into the owners of the company also. Just to be on the safe side. Paris can give you that information.”
“If she didn’t want you to know about this, does she know I’ll be reaching out to her?”
“She’ll know shortly,” West said. “If you can talk to Foster, we’ll get security cameras set up by morning. I’m talking about having a wall built that Molly will be behind and buzz people in like we have here.”
“No,” London said, shaking her head. “Paris will never go for that. It’s cold. That’s not us.”
“I have to agree with London on this,” Spencer said. “They pride themselves on going in there and making people feel comfortable. It’s hard to do that if someone walks into their office and feels as if the staff are untouchable.”
“It’s about them being safe,” West said. “Not about aesthetics.”
“Agreed,” Fletcher said. “There are ways to accomplish that without turning people away. Your sister has a flawless style. I’m sure she can design it that way.”
The silence that greeted those words said he shouldn’t have let it slip out.
London was smiling at him, Braylon was smirking, West, the guy hadn’t changed his expression since he walked in. There was a reason he was so powerful. When he was serious, you got nothing out of him he didn’t want to give.
“I’ll sell it that way,” London said. “And that it’s about keeping staff safe. She’s upset that Molly had to go through it. And with us trying to hire more staff, it might go a long way if people felt safe.”
“I’ll get right on this unless there is anything else?”
“Rick Majors. That’s his name. He said he’s got a pregnant wife at home. I get it. Layoffs are harsh to begin with. I’m sure it’s nothing more than emotions riding high, but we don’t need to start a trend of us getting the blame either.”
“Absolutely not.”
London pulled her phone out. “There, I just emailed you everything that Molly told me and what I know about the guy.”
Fletcher felt his phone vibrate. “That’s more than enough for me to get started.”
He stood and left after that, leaving the family there to talk about the next steps.
For him, it was more about finding out what he could about this guy, then getting cameras in place. Foster would do that tonight, or his team would, he was positive.
By the time London and Paris went into work in the morning, they would be watched.
Which he was betting they wouldn’t be too thrilled about.
He was in his office and pulling up what he could about the guy an hour later when he looked up and saw Spencer Jenkins standing there.
“Yes.”
“London doesn’t get bothered by things often, but she was shaken over what she’d heard had happened.”
“We’ll make sure they are protected.”
Spencer smiled, not a humorous one though. “If London had been there, she would have launched herself at the guy and knocked him out with a right swing.”
“Really?”
“She’s scrappy. The protector of the two of them. I know this stays between us.”
“Always,” Fletcher said.
“Paris is softer. She can be strong on the outside. Professionalism is her armor. She might be able to redirect better than anyone I know and handle any situation. She shared a womb with London so she has to have that ability.”
“Good to know.”
“I don’t normally overshare like that.”
“The more I know the better.”
Not just about this situation, but Paris.
Though his reasons might be more personal than he wanted to admit.
“I figured as much. London is worried and she doesn’t get worried often. Paris doesn’t do well with blame. At times she hates that what she does costs people jobs, but she understands it. Getting called out like this rattled her more than normal.”
“That’s understandable.”
“She’s going to be resistant to going any further,” Spencer warned.
“Because she doesn’t want to cause problems for Rick? That should be the last thing she should be worried about when he went there looking for a fight.”
“He’s looking to blame someone. I get it. But Paris isn’t to blame. She’s ready to just put it behind her. Chances are, it’s over with.”
“Better safe than sorry. Things like this prepare you for something worse that could happen down the line. You know that. West does too. That’s what this is about.”
Spencer nodded his head. “I was hoping you’d say that. If it’s explained to Paris that way, she might be more receptive.”
Fletcher leaned back in his chair. “Is it my job to make her receptive or just make them safe?”
Spencer grinned. “Well, that would be up to you and how easy you want this to be.”
Nothing he’d done since he was hired over a year ago here was hard.
And this wouldn’t be either.
He didn’t know what everyone was so worried about.