The Paris Assignment Read Free Page B

“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
    A bby 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