Addison Fox - The Paris Assignment

“Which is why our new series of satellites, scheduled to enter orbit in the next quarter, will enable the next layer of consumer technology.” Campbell allowed his attention to drift back toward the stage. Abby deftly moved the presentation through several slides, addressing the room with a presence that was as impressive as it was sharp.

He watched heads nod around him and caught the heated excitement of two people next to him as Abby wrapped up the presentation with the implications for the telecommunications industry. Hands flew up and questions buzzed from the floor as she moved into Q and A.

Again, he marveled at her smooth answers as question after question flew her way. From her impressions on the implications to wireless providers to an explanation of how each satellite would orbit Earth, there was nothing she couldn’t answer. No topic she couldn’t speak to with ease.

It was hot as hell, this incredible package of brains and beauty. Campbell felt his attention narrowing on the woman at the podium until a question from the back of the room pulled him from his thoughts.

“Ms. McBane. There are rumors you had a recent security breach of your satellites. Could you explain what that was about?”

The flash of anger in her eyes was brief—he’d have missed it if he weren’t watching her so closely—but it was there all the same. “We have regular maintenance on all of our systems on a daily basis. It’s routine to manage and repair any and all attempted breaches on our security, as anyone in our industry is well aware of. Hackers don’t sleep.”

“Yes, but there’s a difference between offense and defense. Did you not recently deal defensively with a security breach of McBane Communications?”

Campbell turned in his seat to the smug reporter in the back of the room asking the question. Whispers and murmurs echoed through the room at the man’s persistence.

“We have reviewed all of our existing security protocols and found no breaches into or out of our systems.”

Campbell knew the response was technically true—the mysterious seven minutes hadn’t yet been tied to any formal breach, per Kenzi’s intel—but the damage had already been done. Hands were up and people were clamoring with questions, but she drew the presentation to a close.

“Your packets contain all of today’s meeting materials. Thank you for joining us.” Abby left the stage in reverse order of her arrival, the various members of her team following in single file.

Campbell didn’t miss the hard set of her shoulders or the steady clip of her heels as she walked out of sight.

* * *

“Damn, damn, damn.” Abby dropped her head in her hands as she stared at her laptop screen. Her head of PR had already emailed her with the name of the reporter who’d asked the question about McBane security, confirming what she already knew.

Dan Porterfield was a nuisance, but he was damn good at his job.

So who the hell had told him about the seven minutes? The information was on lockdown until they could figure out what had happened and the few members of her team who did know held positions of trust in her organization.

Could the one responsible have leaked the information?

And what the hell was she really dealing with?

Her phone rang and she snatched it up as her admin’s name registered on the display. “Your three o’clock is here to see you. A Mr. Campbell Steele?”

Kensington’s brother.

“Thanks, Stef. You can send him in.”

With one last look at her computer screen, Abby tapped out a brief set of instructions that the party line to Dan or anyone else who asked was the same. There was no breach and there were no problems with their firewalls. “McBane Communications maintains the highest standards and layers of industry-leading technology,” she muttered to herself as she finished typing the email.

Even if the sentiment didn’t sit all that well with her—she was worried enough to call in an outside firm—they technically hadn’t found anything newsworthy.

The door opened and Stef gestured the man through, before closing the door with a light click. Abby crossed the office toward him and took in a sharper-than-normal intake of breath as she stared up into a pair of blazing blue eyes.

“Mr. Steele?”

A smile that was too sweet to be fully cocky lit up the hard planes of his jaw. He extended a hand and she caught the briefest glimpse of long fingers and a broad palm before his hand clasped hers. “Campbell. Please.”

Heat lit up her nerve endings, the sensation completely at odds with the purpose of his visit. She’d seen photos of him before, but nothing two-dimensional could have prepared her for this reaction. “Abby McBane. It’s so good of you to come. Would you like anything? Coffee? Water?”

“Water’s fine.”

She retrieved a bottle for each of them before gesturing him toward the bank of couches on the far side of her office.

The urge to take the seat behind her desk and put some distance between them was strong, but the very fact she wanted to do that had her choosing the opposite.

The brief walk also gave her an opportunity to examine Kensington’s brother. She’d met the oldest, Liam, once before, but never Campbell and she marveled at the distinct differences between the two men. While no one would miss the resemblance as brothers, Liam had a suave charm that was heady when fully turned on. Campbell had a more subtle attractiveness.

His frame was leaner and if she hadn’t felt the strong grip of his hand she might have been tempted to call him skinny.

The memory of that masculine grip had her amending that assessment to lean and rangy as they took a seat on the couch. She watched him shrug out of his jacket and had to acknowledge he was deceptively larger than her first impression, his broad shoulders filling out his button-down shirt.

Oblivious to her assessment, he leaned forward, his hands clasped between his knees. Abby didn’t miss the way his dress shirt stretched to accommodate his movement.

Nope, nothing skinny about him.

“My sister filled me in on your circumstances, but I’d like to hear it from your perspective. Especially since it was obvious the question during the press conference caught you off guard.”

Abby took a deep breath. “I handled Porterfield’s question.”

“Yes, you did. Doesn’t change the fact that he asked it.”

“No. No, it doesn’t.”

“So why am I here? From your perspective.”

“McBane Communications has several satellites in various stages of deployment, development and design. Per today’s press conference, our latest designs are nearing the end of production and will be operational in less than ninety days.”

“Anyone who wants to stop that from happening?”

The decidedly sensual thoughts she’d not been able to shake when looking at him faded at the problems facing her company. “I’ve got a select group of competitors and my competition is stiffer than most. The race for the latest modernizations has implications across the telecom industry.”

“You think it’s another provider?”

She shook her head. “The signature...isn’t identifiable.”

“Signature?” Interest blazed in the depths of his gaze and she felt herself drawn forward at his focus. Most—even members of her own team—tended toward a glazed look when she got going in the inner workings of her business, but Campbell seemed fully engaged.

Tamping the rush of interest that barreled through her own veins, she tried to focus on the point at hand. “Most major providers have a series of protocols in place. Checks and balances in their systems that make it incredibly hard to do anything undetectable. The sheer invisibility of whatever this was—”