“How?”
“By announcing to everyone that we were engaged. She had wanted to tell her parents in private.”
“Stop getting the woman annoyed, Gary. You’ve said more than once that when pushed, she tends to push back. After you’ve finished the job, you can sever your ties with Tiffany Steele since you won’t have any more need for her. Just do what needs to be done while you’re there.”
“It won’t be as easy as I thought getting to Chance Steele’s laptop. There are a lot of people around.”
“Do what you can, but don’t raise any suspicions. If you can’t do the breach there, get her to invite you to visit her family’s home at some point. You did say she had a birthday coming up soon, right?”
“Yes, in February.”
“Good timing. You’ll just need to come up with a reason as to why a visit to Charlotte for her birthday is warranted. Maybe you should have waited to ask her to marry you then.”
Gary shrugged. “I needed to make sure I got invited to her parents’ home for Christmas. I figured that being introducedas a fiancé, rather than just a boyfriend, would give me more leverage.”
He let out a long breath. “Listen, don’t worry. I don’t intend to leave here without hacking that laptop. I’d rather do it here and get it over with.”
“Good. The sooner you can accomplish things there, the better. Then we’ll be all set. Once I hack into the Steele Corporation’s network, I’ll have access to sensitive data, which includes trade secrets.”
“Sounds good to me. By the way, does the name York Ellis ring a bell?” Gary asked.
“No, why?”
“He’s an extended family member of the Steeles. A former cop who owns a security company.”
“And?”
“For some reason, I don’t think he likes me. Tiffany told me not to take it personally, but I think he’s the suspicious type. That could become a problem.”
“I’ll see what information I can dig up on him. In the meantime, try getting on his good side. That might help.”
“Okay, I’ll try.”
**
“You okay, sweetheart?” Chance asked his wife as they dressed for dinner.
Kylie smiled over at him. “I’m trying not to feel disappointed about Gary and Tiffany’s engagement.”
He crossed the room and pulled her into his arms. “Don’t be too upset. Tiffany was in medical school a long time. How many times over the past year have you said that you wanted her to start enjoying life, maybe even meet someone?”
“Yes, but I didn’t mean for her to get engaged to the first guy she met, Chance.”
“I know, but when love happens, it happens. We both know that. Remember how things were for us? We fought it tooth and nail but fell in love anyway.”
Kylie rolled her eyes. “Not saying any names, but one of us fought it more than the other.”
Chance chuckled. “And I still won you over,” he said, brushing a kiss across her lips.
“But we were older than Tiffany. Tiffany is only twenty-six, and there is so much we don’t know about Gary. They only met three months ago.”
“They will be joining us for dinner, and you can interrogate him then.”
“Finding out about someone is not the same as interrogating them, Chance.”
“It depends on what questions you ask and how you ask them. I’ve seen you wear your Columbo trench coat more than a few times with Marcus’ dates.”
She rolled her eyes. “Only because when he moved back to Charlotte after law school, it seemed every young woman in the city wanted to latch on to him. And some were so brazen, they came to the house without being invited.”
