I shuffled through the photographs on my desk re-arranging them for the fifth time this morning, wondering how I would break the news to Christine of her husband’s infidelity. The zoomed-in pictures of a girl younger than my client by at least two decades, riding her husband, was unmistakable. There was a specific order in which I’d need to show her these. See, some women had to be broken down first. If I showed a young model blowing the cheater like he was the best lollipop in the world, they’d accuse me of forgery. It took much longer for the truth to sink in – even though deep down they’d always known what it was. Instead of slamming into them, I’d need to work my way into their heart first. Most of the time, I’d show my client a photo of her husband meeting his mistress, maybe even exchanging a kiss before the clothes were torn off.

Christine was different, though. She was a fighter and I knew she’d want to see the worst damage as soon as she sat down in the leather chair at my desk. And the image I’d held in my hands of her husband wearing nothing but a leash, tied to a bed with his leather-bearing bitch right over him, was enough evidence to help her decide how to proceed. She’d been smart enough to have a pre-nup. With the airtight clauses I’d seen in there, the bastard would get nothing from her.

My heart tore. This work was beginning to eat at me from the inside out. Couldn’t my brothers see I wasn’t happy, constantly dealing with cheating couples? How in the world was that supposed to restore my faith in true love? The faith I’d had two years ago before I joined Cross Enterprises, our family-run top private investigations firm, full-time. My only reason for doing so then was to lose myself in my work – to forget the pain and eventually work my way up the ladder. While my brothers’ love for their wives was the only thing that kept me from completely losing hope in a successful relationship, I was beginning to think that honest men like Julian and Tristan didn’t exist anywhere else these days. And the one I had known had slipped through my fingers way before his time. My heart ached at the memory. It had crumbled that day to pieces, and no one had been able to put it together. Yes, I blamed myself for his death; but I wasn’t the only one to do so.

“It’s your fault,” David’s brother had said. “You’re the one who took him from us.”

Cold shivers flew through my body. Everything could have been so perfect if I had just stayed home. Why did I have to be his doom? And would I ever be able to let myself love as wholly as I had loved David? I had yet to meet a man who could hold a candle to him.

What happened to the courteous, old-fashioned ones who brought flowers to your doorstep or stood up in a restaurant when you wanted to leave to the powder room?

They all left to live on Mars, that’s what happened!

The guys I’d dated called themselves ‘metrosexual.’ All trim and proper, who manicured their hands and worked out just enough to have the muscles necessary to be a good catch. Most of the city boys I’d dated (because honestly, they couldn’t have been called men) were more into themselves than anyone else. They cared too much about their own hairstyle to even notice my new cut, and kept asking whether their shirts were crisp-ironed but failed to see my new dress. I swear, sometimes I wondered whether all the guys I’d dated should have reconsidered their sexual orientation. And even if one had potential, he would be scared off by my brothers before I got a chance to know him.

But the way my brothers swept me away before I got a chance to find the intriguing Cowboy the past weekend, forcing me to leave him behind, was a new low. I should have stood my ground, but their offer of good things to come at Cross Enterprises swayed me too quickly. They’d promised changes and good cases, and I fell for their trick like a frickin’ kindergartener. I should have known better. There was no way Julian and Tristan would ever let me go under cover or work on a dangerous case because three days later, I was still sitting here, at my desk, waiting for the first appointment of the day to show up and, once again, crush my belief in true love.

I sighed. Were there any knights in shining armor left in this world? And did I really want to be swept off my feet like a damsel? After all, I was a strong, independent woman who didn’t let men control her life (except for my brothers, of course). Did I want a man to take charge and lead the way? Hell, yes! For once, I didn’t want to make decisions or hold back. I wanted a man who could drive me crazy both in bed and out. I wanted a man who would love me with everything that he was, who would care for me and who would die for me without a second thought.

Propping my chin on my hands as I leaned over my desk, I sighed again.

Finally inserting the condemning prints into the envelope, I looked through the frosted glass of my office, where the silhouette of a tall man with a cowboy hat walked by. I shot off my chair and rushed to the door, pulling it open, secretly hoping it was him. That he’d gotten my note after all, found out where I worked, and come to see me.

But of course it wasn’t my Cowboy. This one didn’t compare to the man whose name I hadn’t even gotten.

Was there some kind of a country and western convention my brothers had just attended to recruit business? I’d seen a couple downstairs as well. It seemed that each time I turned around, I saw a cowboy hat – or maybe with my heightened thoughts of the man who had caught my attention three nights ago, I noticed what I never had before.

I frowned, slamming my door shut.

I’d cursed my brothers over and over again since last Saturday. Treating me like a five-year-old was getting old. Didn’t they both have their own children to take care of? If this continued, I’d need to talk to Allie and Kendra about keeping their husbands on a tighter leash so that they’d loosen mine.

With the spies they had on me already, it was difficult to have any fun at all. If it weren’t for my sisters-in-law, who still went out clubbing with me once in a while, Tristan and Julian would have chained me up and fastened a chastity belt on me long ago. So when my office door swung wide open this morning, and instead of Christine, both my brothers stepped in, locking it behind them, I wasn’t sure whether they’d thought of a new way to make my life miserable, or were just going to fire me and lock me up in an attic somewhere out in the suburbs.

“What do you want?” I grumbled.

“Still mad?” Tristan sat down in the leather chair in front of my desk. “Come on, Em, you were at a strip club. And thank God we didn’t come earlier to see exactly what you were doing.”

“It’s my business what I do with my body. It’s my business where I go or whom I see. IT’S. MY. BUSINESS.” I bared my teeth at them both like a hyena with mad cow disease.

Julian stepped closer to my desk and folding his arms across his chest sat at its corner. “The problem is, Em, that you are our business. You’re our sister and a great partner at this firm. Your intuition is one of the best assets we have, and we’re simply at fault for loving you.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Don’t roll your eyes, Em. It’s not polite.”

“Well, you keep pulling that love crap and give me no choices. You can’t control me. You can’t keep scaring guys away by showing your gun collection. Daddy’s never done half the things you two have. And I swear, if things don’t change, I’m out of here. I’m a grown woman. I need to experience life on my own terms, not yours.”

“Em, you know you mean the world to us.” Tristan leaned his elbows on my desk. “And we may be a bit over-protective, but we would love for you to find someone worthy. I swear, I don’t know where you find these guys you’re seeing! It’s as if you wanted to sabotage any possible relationship yourself before you even go out. They’re not real. They only date you for your name. They’re not David – and we don’t want them to be – but it’s time you gave yourself a true chance, Em. Besides, the things we’ve seen in this business – you know very well what can happen to a woman.”

“And you know very well I can take care of myself. You made sure of it.” The years I’d spent in the boxing ring, training in jiu-jitsu, and learning about the Cross Enterprises business had definitely paid off. There was no way a man could overpower me with his strength. I knew nerve spots on a neck that could immobilize a person with one pinch.

Julian shifted by a fraction, drawing my attention back to him. “We know you’re strong, and could use a bit more independence and rebuild your hope in love.”

I lowered my head, thinking about David again. “All I need is time and freedom.”

“That’s why we’d like you off these cheater cases.”

“What? What will you have me do? Bring your morning coffee?” I rolled my eyes again.

“If you don’t stop rolling your eyes, we’ll reconsider giving you this new case that came in.”

“Seriously? You’re lying.” I shot off my chair.

“We’re not lying, and yes, it’s time to give you what you want. Now, from what the client had said, there isn’t yet much to go on, so you’d have to do all the work.”

“So you’re saying that he’s a safe bet. Nothing dangerous.” I slouched.

“Honestly, Em, we don’t know because we haven’t done the preliminary work… which we trust you’ll do great at.”

“Really? So this could be big, right? I mean, who is this guy, part of a gang? Is he looking for a kidnapped victim? Or does he need protection from pimps or the mafia? Is he a Congressman in trouble?”

My mind was spinning. Within seconds of this news, I was already feeling like a secret agent.

This time Tristan was the one to roll his eyes. And they said I was the bad one.

“Em, slow down. He’s in the conference room, so if you’re ready to meet your next case, it’s all yours.”

I threw my arms around Julian, squeezing tightly. “Thank you. I love you so much. I promise to do a good job and be the best that I can be.” I didn’t even care I’d just quoted a military slogan. Julian held me against him in the brotherly hug I’d adored since I was little, and then I jumped right into Tristan’s arms.

Lifting my head up high, I picked up my iPad, saying, “Wish me luck. I am so gonna rock this!”

“You don’t need luck, Em. You’ve got all the smarts.” They gave me a synchronized wink and I chuckled. Even though they were in their late thirties, my brothers still held the charm they’d had in their youth. If I could only find someone as strong, resourceful, and as kind as they were, my life would be set. And if this was true, if they honestly trusted me with a serious case, I’d owe them big time. In fact, I’d babysit whenever they wanted and would make every effort not to roll my eyes again – ever. Ok, maybe I was exaggerating – that was something I had no control over.

Squaring my shoulders, I stepped out of my office, heading toward my first serious case at Cross Enterprises.