White-Hot Hack (Kate and Ian #2)(54)

“What about nuclear weapons?” Chad asked. “Do you think anyone will ever have the ability to control or override them?”

“They already have,” Phillip said. “In 2009, a computer worm called Stuxnet caused the centrifuges that separate nuclear material to spin out of control at an Iranian nuclear power plant via its control system. You can read about it online.”

“This is some seriously alarming stuff,” Chad said a few minutes later, looking up from his phone. “Is this the kind of thing your task force is involved with?”

“Not yet. The issues we’re trying to combat are domestic, and we have plenty of help. But we’re definitely an exclusive task force, and the threats we deal with are of a certain nature.”

“I’m not sure when would be the ideal time to break this news, but before this discussion goes any further, I think you should know I’m working with the task force again,” Ian said to Steve.

Steve remained silent as he processed Ian’s statement. “Does Kate know?”

“She’s the one who encouraged me to return.”

Steve rubbed his temples. “Of course she did.”

Did Steve regret the day Ian came into his daughter’s life? Probably. But the closeness of this family was the one thing working in his favor. They might still be a bit unsure about him, but they loved Kate, and if they hadn’t completely accepted her decision to stand by him no matter how much havoc he’d already wreaked on their family, he hoped they soon would. The Watts family was a stoic bunch, and Kate came by her roll-with-the punches attitude naturally. Diane especially seemed to want to embrace Ian unconditionally the way she did Kate and Chad. She was simply too kind, too genuinely interested in the well-being of others, to shut him out.

“I was under the impression that working undercover was a risk you were no longer willing to take.”

Ian had a pretty good idea of the thoughts that were probably swirling in Steve’s head. Especially since you dragged my daughter along with you.

“I’m not in an undercover role this time. I’m simply there to help.”

Phillip chimed in. “We’re facing some difficult challenges, and Ian’s had extensive interactions with this particular group. His prior experience is invaluable.”

“What about the person who might be looking for you?” Steve asked. “Do you think that threat has passed?”

Guilt consumed him as he answered Steve. “I’d like to think so.” Before someone had followed his wife home, he would have been telling the truth. But now Ian wasn’t sure, and he worried it might be just the beginning.

Steve’s glass was empty, and Ian poured him another because after everything Steve had learned that night, he was pretty sure his father-in-law needed one.

Ian topped off his own glass too because there was no question at all whether or not he did.



Later, after everyone had retired to their rooms, Kate changed into her pajamas. Ian was still buying them for her. She would go to put clothes away in the dresser and there they’d be. They mostly ended up on the floor next to the bed, but at least she had something comfortable to lounge around in while they were watching TV.

Kate crawled under the covers, and Ian turned off the lamp on his nightstand and joined her, pulling her into his arms and settling her head onto his chest.

“It seems my mother and Susan have come down with a raging case of baby fever,” she said. “I bet if we listen closely, we’ll be able to hear my mother’s clock ticking all the way in Indiana.”

“I noticed that. They weren’t exactly subtle about it, were they?”

She laughed. “No, they were not. The women at Pilates were every bit as forthcoming with their opinions.”

“Is having a baby something you’ve been thinking about?”

“I started thinking about having your babies when we were still in Minneapolis,” she said. “But maybe it’s not a good time.”

“We could wait. We could put everything on hold until we think enough time has passed. If it would ease your mind, then that’s what we should do.”

But how would they know when they’d waited long enough? Should they wait six months? A year? Three? Kate didn’t want to do anything foolish, but she didn’t like giving an outside force the power to make a decision that should only be made by the two of them. “I don’t think my clock is ticking quite as loudly as my mother’s, but I’d like to start trying soon. See what happens. What about you?” She remembered how adorably happy he’d looked when she pretended to have morning sickness. “Is your clock ticking?”

Her head was still resting on his chest, and he ran his fingers idly through her hair. “I’ll be really happy when it happens, but it’s your decision. You’re the one who has to do all the hard stuff. All I have to do is have an orgasm, after I’ve given you one, of course.”

“Naturally,” Kate said.

“I think we should practice right now.”

As he kissed her, he slowly unbuttoned her pajama top and slipped it off her shoulders. His hands caressed her breasts, his touch gradually growing rougher until Kate ached for him to replace his fingers with his mouth, which he did as if he could read her mind.

He kissed his way south, stopping briefly when his lips reached her lower abdomen. “How’s your stomach? Has everything calmed down in there now?”