White-Hot Hack (Kate and Ian #2)(19)

The backlash had been severe as the hacktivists felt the FBI used entrapment in order to secure the evidence needed to make the arrest. Ian hadn’t been kidding when he’d told Kate the hacktivists made the carders look like Boy Scouts. He’d been on the receiving end of death threats too numerous to count, and the only saving grace was that the court records identified him by a screen alias and not his real name. If they ever did find out who he was, their vengeance would be immediate.

Phillip had shifted the entire task force over to the carding ring to give them a chance to lie low for a while. Ian hadn’t minded the lower-profile work, but near the end, after spending so much time trying to bring down the carders, he felt a bit unchallenged. He believed wholeheartedly that they needed to be stopped, but he couldn’t help but think of them as low-life crooks that needed babysitting more than anything. Ironically it was more than likely a carder who’d proven to be the biggest threat to Ian’s anonymity, if in fact it was a carder who’d doxed him.

“Anyone paid a visit to Joshua?” Ian asked.

“Yes, and he’s not talking of course,” Charlie said. He passed a thick file to Ian. “Here are the printouts of the evidence we’ve gathered so far.”

“I’ll take a look at it and let you know what I find,” Ian said.



“Why didn’t you tell me this was happening?” Ian asked Phillip after the other members of the task force had filed out of the room to head back to their desks at headquarters.

“Because I knew it would make it hard for you to honor your promise to Kate about leaving the task force, and I didn’t want to be responsible for that,” he said. “You fought hard for her, and I didn’t want to do anything that would jeopardize your relationship. I feel like I’ve gained a daughter-in-law. I want her to be happy the way I want you to be happy, which is why I suggested you let her help you with your company. You two are more alike than you know. Maybe that’s why you get along so well.”

Phillip had never seemed more like a father figure than he did at that moment. “Kate’s the best thing that ever happened to me,” Ian said.

“I think she might say the same.”



It was pouring rain when he got back into his car and headed for home. Lightning streaked across the sky, and he crackled with a similar energy. He hadn’t felt this way in months, and only in its absence did he understand how much the task force made him feel alive. It had become a major part of who he was and how he identified himself.

He found Kate in their bedroom curled up on the couch that used to be in her old apartment. She was reading a book, and he stood in the open doorway watching her, thinking once again how lucky he was to have her. If she had reservations about the task force—and he was certain she did—she was willing to set them aside to make him happy.

As if sensing his presence, she looked up and smiled. “Hello, lover. I’ve been expecting you.”

Grinning, he leaned against the doorway. “Were you tracking me, Katie?”

“You bet I was. That’s quite a storm.” She put down her book. “Why are you not over here showering me in kisses?”

“Unbutton that a little for me.” She was wearing leggings and one of his button-down shirts.

Holding his gaze for a second, she brought her fingers to the buttons and undid two of them. “Like that?”

He could see the lace of her pink bra. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, zoomed in and clicked. “Maybe a couple more.”

He crossed the room to the curtains and closed them. When he turned around, her shirt was open nearly to her waist; a few more buttons and it would hang freely at her sides. “Now the rest.”

She sat up and unbuttoned the shirt all the way.

After snapping a few more pictures, he sat down beside her and twisted his fingers in her hair, pulling her closer and kissing her hard. Then he slipped the shirt from her shoulders, pulled her arms free, and tossed it on the floor. “Lie back.”

She did as he asked. He loved the way she looked in the pink bra he’d bought her. God, she was so beautiful. Her eyes tracked his movements as he ran his hands through her hair to fan it out. He loved her like this: trusting and secure in the knowledge that he’d never do anything she didn’t want him to do. Would never do anything she didn’t like. Again, he pointed and clicked.

Reaching for her feet, he set down the phone and took off one sock at a time. He tickled the arch of her foot, and he smiled when she laughed and tried to pull her foot away. He gripped it harder but didn’t tickle her again.

He leaned over her body, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer and squeezing him tight. She was always so eager, so receptive to his attention and affection, and her desire for him made him feel ten feet tall. He kissed her again, even harder than before. She slid one hand into his hair, closing her fist, and then twisted the other in his shirt to hold him there.

He dragged his mouth away reluctantly because he had other things on his agenda and there would be plenty of time for kissing later. It took him no time at all to strip off the leggings, and he knew he would find pink boy shorts under them because the bra he’d bought her had been part of a matching set. He turned her slightly onto her side, with one arm under her head and the other lying on her hip, and took several more pictures.