White-Hot Hack (Kate and Ian #2)(51)

They sat down to dinner half an hour later.

“Now that Kate’s finished redecorating the house, wouldn’t it be amazing if there was a baby on the way next year at Thanksgiving?” Diane said.

“Oh, I love babies,” Susan said.

Diane took a drink of her wine. “I feel like I’ve been waiting such a long time to become a grandmother.”

“We don’t have any children of our own,” Susan said. “But Ian is like a son to us.”

Ian took a bite of his turkey to hide his grin. A family was something he and Kate both wanted, but he’d decided to leave the timing up to her since she was the one who had to do all the hard parts.

“How long have you been working with Phillip, Ian?” Diane asked. “I don’t think Kate ever told me.”

“Since he arrested me.”

Steve put down his fork. “You’ve been arrested?”

“Just the one time.”

“What did he do?” Steve asked, directing his question to Phillip.

“He hacked the Pentagon.”

“Only to see if I could,” Ian said. “I didn’t mean any harm.”

Susan smiled and looked around the table. “Boys.”

“He was only twenty,” Phillip said. “Haven’t had any problems with him since.”

A slightly awkward silence followed as everyone turned their attention back to their plates.

“So, have you met any of the other Real Housewives?” Chad asked. Kristin shot him a look. “I’m just asking.”

“Oh, Kate tried,” Ian said. “It wasn’t a good fit.”

“I bet the shopping in DC is to die for,” Kristin said. “Have you been to the Galleria?”

“Not yet. I’m not really a mall person. Ian does most of my shopping. He’s better at it than I am.”

“It’s true,” Ian said spearing a green bean. “I’m an expert as long as I don’t have to leave the house.”

“Maybe you should take up a hobby,” Chad said.

“She did,” Diane said. “She started cooking. And judging by how wonderful this meal tastes, I’d say she’s been very successful at it.”

“Maybe there’s a law firm in DC that could use some part-time help,” Steve said.

“There’s nothing wrong with being a homemaker,” Diane said.

“There’s nothing wrong with using her education, either,” Steve said.

The suggestions were good-natured because the Watts family liked each other too much to be deliberately hurtful. Kate might have been smiling on the outside, but Ian could tell it bothered her that everyone assumed she had nothing better to do than cook or shop now that the house had been redecorated.

“Kate’s pretty busy these days,” Ian said. “I hired her and put her in charge of the social engineering for my company. She’s a natural.”

“What is social engineering? What does that mean?” Diane asked.

“Tell me you did not turn my daughter into a hacker,” Steve said.

“Tell me what that is, Steve!” Diane said.

“I did not turn her into a hacker,” Ian said. “Actually, that’s not true. I did. But social engineering is human hacking. I taught her how to manipulate people so they’ll do what she tells them to do. Then I hack them.”

Chad started laughing. “This is awesome. I love how this family has been shaken up over the past year. Our street cred just keeps getting better and better.”

“Kate’s been instrumental in helping me get my company off the ground again. She’s smart, confident, and fearless.”

“She really is a natural,” Phillip said.

“You’re okay with this?” Steve asked.

“It was actually his idea,” Ian said. It wasn’t that he was trying to make Phillip the heavy, but he’d learned over the years that while he usually succeeded in riling people up, Phillip had a knack for calming them back down.

“Who needs more wine?” Kristin asked.

Chad reached for his mother’s glass and Kristin refilled it.

“I simply pointed out that women make fantastic social engineers,” Phillip said. “Ian needed someone to handle that aspect of his business, and Kate seemed like a logical choice.”

“I still don’t understand what it means,” Diane said.

“Let me give you an overview that I’m sure will put you both at ease.” Phillip gave Kate’s parents a detailed explanation of the social engineering portion of penetration testing. He was still answering their questions when the meal ended and the plates had been cleared, but they both seemed a lot calmer.

“Ian? Can I talk to you for a second?”

He thought she’d pull him into the kitchen, but she didn’t stop walking and he followed her all the way to their bedroom. Oh, shit. She must be really mad if she wanted to talk to him in private.

“I had to say something, Kate. I could tell their comments were bothering you. And I was the one who told you to keep it quiet, so it was only fair that I be the one to break the news.”

Kate led him over to the couch. “Sit down. We don’t have much time.”

When he complied, she dropped to her knees in front of him and unbuttoned his pants.