The Paris Assignment. Addison Fox

aren’t too shabby, either.” The quiet voice inside that had been questioning those instincts rose up to argue, dancing through the back of her mind on swift feet.

      Why was she resisting the help?

      Especially when it came from someone who was capable of understanding her business at its most basic level.

      “I’m sure they’re not. Which is why I can already see you relenting and agreeing to bring me on this project.”

      Abby held back the sigh, unwilling to give up any more ground than necessary, even as she admitted he was in the right. “Okay. Let’s assume I’m in agreement with your capabilities. How do you propose to deal with this...situation? Kensington said she’d leave specifics up to you.”

      “I spent some time assessing your systems.”

      She glanced at the slim, high-tech tablet in his hands, a match for her own. “When?”

      “During the press conference. Your firewalls are good.”

      “You tried to hack into my system during the press conference?”

      “Yes.”

      His expression was so bland—so devoid of any bit of remorse—she had to take a quick breath. “Why the hell did you do that?”

      “Why not? I’m here to find problems, aren’t I?”

      “Yes, but...” She felt herself sputtering to a halt. “You shouldn’t do that.”

      “Do you think your competition is resting?”

      “No.”

      “So I wanted to see what we’re up against.” He lifted the tablet with a slight wave. “Your security is good.”

      “Oh, thank you.”

      He tapped the screen of his device without looking up. “I heard those delightful overtones of sarcasm and snark.”

      “I meant you to.”

      He handed her the tablet and Abby was struck by the heat of his body that still warmed the metal frame. The brief moment of intimacy ran a line of shivers down her spine and she tried to shake it off.

      “Look there.” He leaned closer and pointed to a series of images on the screen, the same heat she felt warming the device now in imminent proximity to her body.

      She pushed thoughts of heat and broad shoulders from her mind and nodded at the layers of commands and computer code that were as familiar to her as reading English. “The system’s secure.”

      “Which means your seven-minute man got in a different way.”

      She sat back and gave the screen of the tablet one last glance before she met his gaze. “Why do you think it’s a man?”

      “A vague sense. And it doesn’t mean I’m ruling anyone out at this point.”

      “Anything beyond that?”

      “There aren’t a lot of people who can pull something like this off. And while there have been some very successful female hackers, women generally aren’t drawn to hacking like men are.”

      “Women have better things to do with their time?”

      “Something like that. Add in a driving sense of anarchy and men have a strange affinity to the field.”

      “You seem to know a lot about it.”

      The ready smile and easygoing nature vanished. “I’ve had my career ups and downs.”

      * * *

      Campbell had spent very little time thinking about past sins, but they weighed around his neck under the intensity of Abby’s gaze.

      He knew women talked and it would be stupid of him not to think Kensington hadn’t shared some of his past exploits with her good friend. But even his sister didn’t know the full depths of his past choices.

      Only Grandfather had a real sense of what he’d done.

      “I know there’s a short list of individuals who have this type of skill. Does that mean I can rule out my staff?”

      “Afraid not. In addition to creating a mess, anarchists have a rather sizeable affinity for mercenary jobs.”

      He saw her agile mind click through the implications of a mercenary-for-hire and the hope that her trusted colleagues weren’t involved faded from her eyes. “So it just got more complicated. Not only are we looking for a responsible party, but we’re also looking for the money.”

      “Yep.”

      “Well, Mr. Steele. It looks like I stand convinced. Consider yourself hired.”

      “Campbell.”

      She nodded. “Campbell.”

      “I understand your annual board meetings are in Paris this week. Any chance I can convince you to postpone them?”

      “I’m not canceling them.”

      “Postpone, not cancel. Just for a few weeks until we have a sense of what you’re really dealing with.”

      “I won’t run in fear and I won’t change my plans. We’ve got serious business to discuss.”

      Whatever fear he’d sensed in her gaze vanished at the implications she should pull back on her business. Campbell turned it over in his mind, again fascinated by just how sexy she was with this intriguing mix of beauty, brains and drive.

      He’d always been attracted to strong women, having been raised around a group of females who could more than hold their own. He didn’t care for weak people—regardless of gender—but he’d never understood men who found strong women a threat.

      Campbell had always believed a smart woman was more than worth his time and interest.

      Besides, what fun was life without a little challenge?

      “Since you won’t postpone them, it looks like you’ve got a travel buddy. It’s a good thing I’ve already got my tickets.”

      “That’s not necessary. You can do the job from here. Computer issues aren’t location-specific.”

      “You don’t want me along?”

      “I don’t want to put you out.”

      “A trip to the City of Lights is hardly being put out. Besides, the technology might not be location-specific, but your problem is centered with an individual. I’m not just digging into your computers, I’m digging into your team.”

      “Campbell. These people aren’t just colleagues. They’re friends. I’ve known them for years. You can’t come in and start poking around. All of them are senior experts in their field and they’ll suss out an investigation in a heartbeat. If—and that’s a big if—one of them is responsible, he or she will be in the wind before you can blink.”

      “Not if I beat them at their own game.”

      He saw it the moment the words hit their mark, those lush brown eyes narrowing under the sleek arch of her eyebrows. “What are you suggesting?”

      “The best hacks are a result of a whole lot of preplanning.”

      “Social engineering the con. I’m familiar with it, Campbell. The mark is identified and a whole host of information is secured in advance before a single piece of technology is breached, like phishing scams for passwords.”

      Once again, Campbell had to admire her agile mind and deep grasp of her business. He’d worked with some of the best and brightest and few had such an immediate and intuitive understanding of the things he rambled off when setting up an investigation.

      Pulling his thoughts back to the problem at hand and off of Abby McBane’s perceptive gaze, he continued. “Let’s