Chapter Three
With a loud ding, the elevator stopped, and Bianca fought the urge to flee as soon as the door opened. The fact that the man in front of her made her feel both aroused and apprehensive was no excuse to be rude, especially since, for all the teasing, he hadn’t actually done anything that would justify her nervousness. He had just stood there and... watched her, without blinking once, until he had closed his eyes and rested the back of his head against the elevator door a few seconds before they reached the 11th floor. And, when they did, he was courteous enough to politely gesture for her to exit the elevator first. She nodded and stepped out, doing her best to hide her relief.
She’d heard him step out as well a moment later, but she didn’t dare to look to see where he went, heading straight to the reception desk instead. A glance at the clock behind the receptionist’s back told her that she’d arrived just in the nick of time, which took some of the nervousness away, and moments later a secretary arrived to take her to meet with the head of HR.
The interview went much better than she had anticipated. Faster, too, since the woman Bianca was going to temp for had left abruptly, and they needed someone to jump into her shoes as soon as possible. “Mr. McKenna’s personal assistant broke her ankle and will be out for two months,” Ms. Fonseca explained, “His secretary will be taking over for her, but we need someone who will aid her since she’ll basically be doing two jobs at once. She personally handpicked the candidates, so you’ve come pre-approved, and if you can start right away then the job is yours.” Bianca was a little disappointed. The original job posting did say that this would be a temporary position, but only two months? That was far too short a time.
But she was desperate, and a good reference from McKenna Enterprises could potentially open more doors for her, so she decided to accept the offer. An hour and a mountain of paperwork later, Bianca had the pleasure of being introduced to her new (albeit temporary) boss, Janet Hutchinson.
Ms. Hutchinson was a kind but firm woman in her 50s, and Bianca spent the next few hours running through the ins and outs of her new job with her, taking notes and trying to memorize as much as she was able to in such a small amount of time. “I’m so happy you’ve decided to take the position,” she told Bianca, once they were done and making the necessary plans for the next day. “You were my first choice on the list.”
Bianca felt her cheeks redden a little. “Thank you,” she replied, and was just about to ask about the minutes she’d be taking during one of the next day’s meetings when Ms. Hutchinson looked somewhere behind Bianca’s shoulder and exclaimed, smiling, “Hello, Mr. McKenna.”
She turned around to see a handsome young man with a cheerful look on his face. He looked around thirty and had those classically handsome features often favored by the fitness modeling companies: manly, but well groomed. He was tall and cut a fine figure in impeccably tailored attire, with a gold Patek Philippe glinting on his wrist and his entire pose that of a man confident in his style. Bianca found herself envying him; he had the air of a man who was always satisfied with what he saw in the mirror, something she was sure she’d never achieve.
“Janet, please.” He smiled to the secretary, and took her hand for a kiss. “You know you don’t have to stand on ceremony with me. That’s Hector’s gig.” Ms. Hutchinson chuckled.
“In the office, you are Mr. McKenna,” she told him, in a motherly tone that told Bianca Ms. Hutchinson had probably known Jason McKenna since he was a boy.
“So strict,” he sighed dramatically, before his eyes moved to Bianca. “And who is this lovely lady?” Mr. McKenna asked, sizing her up. Despite his charm, she couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable about him, which struck her as strange. Jason McKenna was a very handsome man, even more handsome than the man she had met that morning, and yet she didn’t feel the least bit attracted to him.
“Meet Bianca Jamison,” Ms. Hutchinson said. “She’ll be assisting me while I cover for Mrs. Jackson. Ms. Jamison, this is Mr. Jason McKenna, head of the company’s financial sector.”
Bianca nodded and took the hand Mr. McKenna offered for a shake. “How do you do, sir?” she said politely, “I look forward to working with you.”
Jason McKenna laughed.
“Oh, I’m not Janet’s boss,” he replied, amused. “Though not for the lack of trying. I’ve been trying to sweet-talk both her and Susannah into leaving my brother for me for almost a year now, but they’re just too darn loyal... even though I know I’m their favorite.”
Ms. Hutchinson chuckled, wagging her finger at him playfully. “Not for long, if you keep teasing that way,” she chided him, but her heart was clearly not in it; she was too obviously fond of the man. “It’s bad enough that she’s in such a position that she had to take the job of a glorified errand girl for just two months even though she’s more than qualified to take over for me if she had to,” Ms. Hutchinson told him, “She doesn’t need you playing around with her as well.”
She then turned back to Bianca. “As you know, the company was started and run by Richard McKenna up until his death last fall,” she explained patiently. “His three sons now run the company together, though each of them continues to work mainly in the sectors they were responsible for before Richard passed away. I’ve already told you Jason here runs the finance, but his brothers, Hector and Eric, run IT and marketing respectively.”
Bianca nodded. “And we work for…?” she asked, not hazarding a guess out of fear of appearing silly.
“That would be me,” a familiar voice chimed from behind, and a hot tremor shot down Bianca’s spine.
She turned around to see two men standing before her. The taller one of the pair was built like a linebacker, with huge, bulging muscles, enormous hands and a rough, square face that had a decidedly unfriendly expression. Nothing, not even the clearly expensive tailored suit he wore, could make this man look like anything other than a mob enforcer.
The man standing next to him was the same man from the elevator.
“Hector, Eric,” Jason greeted them merrily, “This is Bianca Jamison. She’ll be helping Janet while she’s filling in for Susanna. Ms. Jamison, these are my brothers. The man-mountain over there is Hector, and the beach bum over there is your boss, Eric.”
Eric McKenna rolled his eyes, but it was Hector who spoke, his voice low and rough as gravel. “That kind of language is rude and unprofessional, and has no place in the office,” he said, his attitude just as formal as his attire, and Bianca now understood Jason’s earlier comment much better.
Eric, however, didn’t seem amused by either of his brothers at the moment. “Leave it be, Hector,” he told his brother, before turning to Bianca. “You’ll have to excuse my brothers, Ms. Jamison. Hector is a stickler for protocol and Jason thinks anyone who doesn’t wear the full Klein Epstein & Parker regalia is a hobo.”
Bianca wasn’t sure whether or not she should say something on the subject, or even if it was expected of her to do so, so she decided to rely on non-committal politeness to get her through this unexpected snag. “I understand, sir,” she replied, nodding first to Eric and then Hector before adding, “Pleased to meet you.” Not terribly eloquent of her, but at least she knew she wasn’t stepping over any lines.
Hector McKenna nodded, but when he spoke again, he was addressing his brother Eric. “I’ll see you later,” he said simply and, after nodding a goodbye to Ms. Hutchinson, left without much ceremony.
Jason snickered but went instantly quiet when Eric shot him a sharp look.
“I should get going too,” the dandyish McKenna brother announced. “I just came by to drop this off.” He then pulled a thumb drive out of the inner pocket of his jacket and handed it over to Eric. “I don’t know why you need it, but I’d like to,” he said, suddenly sounding... serious, almost. But the change in his expression was gone as soon as it appeared, mirth returning to his features. “Ladies.” He smiled at them and nodded before leaving, and Bianca could not help but think that there were probably no three brothers more profoundly different from each other than the McKennas were.
Hector McKenna was terrifying and cold, Jason McKenna irreverent and suave, and Eric McKenna... knowing who he was did nothing to lessen the effect he had on her, but it did change the way she felt about it. Earlier, it was just embarrassing. Now? Now it was downright unprofessional, so much so that she felt awkward just looking in his direction.
Whether or not he could sense her unease, Bianca couldn’t tell, but she was grateful nonetheless when he said, “I’ll leave you to your work now,” and began to walk past them towards his office.