The Paris Assignment. Addison Fox
that way.”
He shrugged. “I’ve been called worse.”
“Well, I count practicality and efficiency as virtues to be celebrated, so please consider it a compliment.” She took a deep breath, the light fall of her blouse fluttering around her breasts. “No matter how poorly given.”
“Why don’t we call it even and start over again.” He leaned forward and extended a hand. “I’m Campbell Steele. It’s nice to meet you.”
She flashed a quick grin before extending her hand. “Abigail McBane. And likewise.”
The feel of her hand in his registered somewhere in the middle of his chest with a hard swift punch as her palm rested against his.
Her deep dark eyes grew wide for the briefest moment before he let her hand go and Abby exhaled on a heavy breath before she sat back. “Okay. The beginning. As you no doubt know, modern business depends on the integrity of the services we provide.”
“As does modern government, modern education and pretty much every other industry you can name in the technology-laden world we live in.”
“Exactly.” She nodded. “So to the point I made in the press conference, we maintain a very strict set of procedures for ongoing checks of our systems.”
“Are the mysterious seven minutes the only breach?”
“Not exactly.”
“You’ve had other problems here at McBane?”
A light flush crept up her neck. “Not exactly.”
“Abby. What’s going on?”
“I’ve had several attacks on my home system.”
Whatever Campbell expected her to say, that answer wasn’t it. “Your home? As in personal threats.”
“Nothing as overt as a threat. Just problems. Inconsistencies. And a whole lot of attacks on my firewalls. I maintain government-level security on my home systems.”
“How long has this been happening?”
“A few weeks. A month, maybe.”
“Well, what is it? A few weeks or a month?”
“The first thing I noticed was about five weeks ago.”
He shook his head, unable to believe it had taken her so long to do anything. “Why’d you wait so long to call us?”
The slight flush of embarrassment flipped to irritation in the blink of an eye. “I know how to manage my own affairs. I called your firm for another opinion. Kensington indicated you could look at our systems.”
“That’s my first priority but my sister led me to believe you need more than another opinion. I’ve got tickets to fly with you to Paris tomorrow.”
“Yes, well, that was a bit premature.”
Campbell stood and paced the office, the sudden wave of panic in his limbs forcing him to walk. He wasn’t easily panicked, but he was well aware something that had escalated to her home was a different sort of threat.
It was personal.
The city spread out before his gaze at the window. He turned around, determined to make his point. And despite his earlier protests to his sister, suddenly very determined to get Abby to take on House of Steele to deal with her faceless threat.
“I don’t think there’s anything premature about it, Abby.” He crossed back to her, ready to sit and attempt to make his case when she stood, meeting him eye to eye.
Or as close as she could get to eye to eye.
Even with heels, her tall frame didn’t match his own six foot two.
“I’m assessing your capabilities.”
“Like hell you are.” Campbell knew he had a competitive streak to rival an Olympic athlete’s, but her words had him seeing red. Add on the image of her scared and in danger from some psycho and his emotions were far more raw than he’d have expected. “I can run circles around any problem you have. And for the record—” he leaned forward, unable to keep the disgust from his tone “—I’m not here to try out.”
Chapter 2
Abby had heard the term “baiting the bear in his den” before—had even experienced it from time to time in difficult negotiations—but the tension that radiated from Campbell gave new meaning to the old adage.
With the focus she’d honed through years of boardroom negotiation, she pressed on and avoided thinking about how interesting it was to stare up into his eyes. “As I told Kensington, I’ve no doubt you’re good, but the team I have in place includes some of the brightest minds in the world.”
“And what if the problem is coming from within your organization? From one of those bright minds?”
“I’m well aware that’s a possibility, but it still doesn’t mean you’re the solution to my problem.”
She saw the light of battle leap into his eyes. “I don’t think you’ve got a better option.”
“There are always options.”
“Actually, darling, I think you’re out of them.”
The “darling” had her snapping her mouth closed before she pressed on with the first words that popped into her mind. “I thought you were the mild-mannered one.”
Although the sentiment wasn’t all that polite, Abby was surprised by the hard bark of laughter that followed his raised eyebrows. “You’ve met my brother, I take it?”
“A few times.”
“Liam’s honed the dark and brooding routine to a perfect fit.”
Abby thought about the large, imposing man who held a James Bond sort of sexiness to his demeanor and couldn’t quite shake the impression that Campbell had been sorely underestimated if they gave his brother more credit. “You’re no slouch. I’ve been in business long enough to know mild-mannered can be a rather effective strategy.”
His smile was back but it bore the distinct notes of family baggage and sibling rivalry. “I’m well aware I have to work a bit harder.”
As an only child, she was endlessly fascinated by family dynamics and the ways siblings related to and communicated with each other. Support and resentment, love and frustration and always—always—a fierce sense of devotion.
If she weren’t mistaken, Campbell’s responses about Liam held a lifetime of feelings toward his brother, from genuine affection to a dose of competition with a small dash of big brother hero worship on the side.
She dropped back into her seat, satisfied when he followed suit. Perhaps the clouds of battle had blown over.
With a firm voice, she tried once again to make her point. She’d always found that calm voice soothed a rowdy business meeting or a loud press conference, but, strangely enough, it hadn’t been all that effective in soothing her nerves of late.
“My take away from my conversation with Kensington was that you’d come over here and evaluate my situation.”
“Consider yourself evaluated.”
His words—were they intentional?—had her fumbling briefly to stay on track. Perhaps she’d been too hasty in thinking the man lagged behind his brother. Where their approaches may be different, both men had a ready sort of charm that made a woman well aware she was being watched.
“Kensington leaped to the plane tickets?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not sure why.”
“I’d trust her instincts.”
Abby