for any clothing line they wanted. But neither of them wanted to make a name on their looks — they wanted to do it with their brains. They also knew it didn’t hurt to look like Greek gods; it got them through a lot of front doors, but they preferred sneaking in through the back.
Tonight, Green went with no vest or cummerbund, and just a traditional black bow tie, black pocket square, and French cuffed shirt. Normally his cufflinks were the five-star Medal of Honor ribbon. This time, though, he put on simple black buttoned cufflinks. His blue eyes all but glowed against all of the black material perfectly fitted to his body.
Smoke wore a vest, the deep V a perfect match to his physique. He opted for the same black bow tie as Green, but went with a deep red pocket square that matched the color of his cufflinks, shaped into a cross that looked like an X. The color blending worked well with his smooth chocolate skin.
The two men entered the front doors, and were met with the sight of a large wooden horse painted with fine flowering vines over its body. The end of the hall made a T and they decided to split up from there and mingle. The building wasn’t overly large, but the decorations were eclectic. Glasses of wine and champagne were distributed throughout while a plethora of hors d’oeuvres were never far from reach.
In times like this, the special operators’ differences contrasted. Green looked at the food, reviewed its contents, took a bite while mindfully tasting the combination of flavors, and taking note of the pros and cons. Smoke, on the other hand, took three or four of the samplers, consuming them in seconds.
The hob-knobbing went on for almost two hours. Smoke was much better at it than Green, who’d always hated high-society events. But Green had something to accomplish, so he made sure to step beside every person there. The cameras had already captured their faces, he needed to capture their data. As far as operations went, and specifically data collection, it was a 100 percent success at the end of two hours. Of course, there was always more to do. Brackish was most likely in nerd heaven. They’d chosen to not wear earpieces, which had annoyed their tech guru.
When the rich had their fill of rubbing elbows with one another and bragging about how much more they had than the next person, the room dimmed, and lights flashed, indicating a speech was about to be made. A few vocal announcements in each room notified the attendees where to go. Green and Smoke moved back together and waited.
Senator Miller stepped up to a microphone. She was good — she was damn good as she looked out at the crowd, making eye contact with several people, nodding her head at others, and sending a secret smile to some as if they had their own language and it was just the two of them in there together. It wasn’t hard for Green to see why she’d seemingly risen from nowhere to become a star so fast.
“Good evening, everyone. It’s so wonderful to be here with you all. I’m thankful you were able to support this organization, and I’m glad to see you’re having a wonderful time,” she began.
“Here, here,” someone called. “This is a top-notch event.”
“Yes, it is. I wish I could take credit for that,” she said, bowing her head the slightest bit before looking back up with an innocent, happy smile. Green was sure she’d practiced that a million times in her mirror. Everything the woman did was practiced.
“Is there anything real about her?” Smoke whispered. He’d noticed her fakeness too.
“I honestly don’t think so,” Green replied. “I think she’s been fake so long she wouldn’t know how to find the real Ms. Miller.”
“Amen, my brother,” Smoke replied.
The senator continued speaking. “I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some of you for the first time tonight, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to be here. Most of you have been with me for years and I couldn’t have done any of this without you.” She paused and looked more people in the eye, gave a few more gestures, and made that innocent smile she was so good at. Green smiled as her eyes met his. He could give it to her just as good as she could. She quickly moved past him, not interested. He knew that would change once she figured out