And the interrogation continued.
**
“Your uncles sure asked a lot of questions at dinner,” Gary said as he walked Tiffany to the area where the theater room was located. It was movie night for the ladies.
She smiled. “They just want to get to know you.”
“If you ask me, they were being nosy.”
“Honestly, I’m surprised they didn’t ask you even more questions. I remember when I brought Freddy Taylor home. He’d asked me to the prom. Poor Freddy. You wouldn’t believe the third degree my parents gave him.”
“Well, I’m not Poor Freddy Taylor, and I don’t like feeling like I’m on trial.”
“Really, Gary, you shouldn’t take things so personally. Earlier today it was York, now it’s my uncles. You haven’t even spent any time with my Bad News Steeles cousins yet. You only talked to Eli and Gannon earlier today, and that was brief. So, get prepared for them.”
“Bad News, who?”
“Bad News Steeles. Those are the six from Phoenix. The people there refer to them as Bad News Steeles because they were known womanizers when they were younger. But now they are all married.”
“Like we will be soon.”
She smiled. “Yes, like we will be soon. And the more I think about it, the more a June wedding appeals to me.”
“Like I said, pick the date, sweetheart.”
**
Later that night, Gary received a call. “What do you have for me?” he asked.
“I checked out York Ellis. Watch yourself around him. He’s a top-notch security expert with connections in every branch oflaw enforcement and the government. He’s one of the best in the field. I don’t think he’s onto anything because so far, our contacts haven’t detected any inquiries from him. However, just in case he decides to be nosy, I’ve established an AI universe for you. Take a look at your parents’ Facebook page.”
He chuckled. “My parents?”
“Fake ones. The page went live yesterday, but my team backdated it to make it appear as though it’s been up for a while. There are even pictures of how they look. One of the graphic designers made sure they are folks who share your likeness, so it can appear believable. They were generated in a number of pictures around the world to substantiate your claim that they are world travelers. I’m even showing younger pictures of the three of you to make it appear even more authentic.”
“You’ve thought of everything.”
“I tried. I intend to destroy the Steele Corporation, and using Chance Steele’s own daughter to do it is the perfect revenge. Just think of where we’d be if it weren’t for that family.”
“Just so you know, she thinks we’re having a June wedding,” Gary said, grinning.
“Let her keep thinking that until we can hack into her old man’s company network. After we get what we want, you can dump her.”
“I can’t wait for that to happen. Her godmother wants to throw us an engagement party in March. Of course, they expect my parents to be there, and we both know there’s no way that will happen.”
“That’s why we need to get to Chance Steele’s laptop ASAP.”
“What if it’s coded?”
“I’m sure it will be, but I have a top-notch decoder on staff.”
“I’ll try to hack into it at the first opportunity. Just make sure you’ve put everything in place to substantiate my cover, including that fake corporation my parents supposedly own. Heruncles were asking a lot of questions tonight at dinner about my parents’ businesses.”
“Let them ask. I have talented people on my payroll who are doing what I need them to do. Even York Ellis won’t be able to detect anything fishy.”
Gary smiled. “Good.”
**
