Tame Me (The Macintyre Brothers 3)

"Have a seat," she said and so I did, watching while she checked out a couple of vials on the counter. She went over my information to make sure I was the right person, and then she removed a vial and took out a stick which resembled a long cotton swab at the end of a wooden stick. "I'm going to have you open your mouth wide and will swab the inside of your cheek. This will collect some cells from the skin on your mouth."

"Okay," I said and opened wide. She took two samples and each time, slipped the swab inside a vial and closed it off. She wrote something on them and then she smiled at me.

"That's it. You can go now. Results usually take two business days, so you should hear back by Thursday."

"Thanks," I said and got up to leave. I thanked the receptionist and then went out of the building and back to my car.

It was one of the easiest tests I'd ever taken.

I drove back to the building and went to my office, glad to have that over with. Now, all I had to do was get through the next forty-eight hours and get the results. Hopefully, someone else was the father, and I would be free to plan my family instead of having it happen out of my control.

Keith came in for our three o'clock meeting and laid out a series of sheets of paper in front of me. He was my CFO and was updating me on the hack that had been discovered weeks earlier and which the IT department finally understood. I knew it wasn't good news when I saw the expression on Keith's face.

"Give it to me straight," I said and leaned back in my chair. "What's the damage?"

"Extensive," Keith said with a sigh. "We've had to totally clean all our servers and get new passwords for everyone and new protocols in place to protect our privacy. Someone -- a new staff member -- made the mistake of clicking on a link in an email that appeared official and the hacker got access to all our email and our servers. It's a nightmare."

"Do they have information that is mission critical? I mean, is there anything that might put us in jeopardy?"

"Can't be sure," Keith said. "That's why I suggested new servers and starting over. There was no way to be sure whoever hacked our servers didn't put some back door in that we aren't aware of. Don't want to find out after the fact."

"Who would want to hack us? What could they gain?"

Keith shrugged. "Extortion? Blackmail? Who can say? MBS has made a lot of enemies over the years. People whose crimes have been exposed to the public. Political scandals. Sex scandals. The company has dealt with it before, and we have a great legal team who knows how to deal with anything that comes up, but this is the digital age and it has new dangers."

We spent the next hour talking about the hack and everything that had been done to fix it.

"Will this stop someone from hacking us? I'd like to prevent it from happening again."

"Can't make that promise," Keith said. "It'll happen again. The hackers are the smartest people in the business and they're also the most excited to push the boundaries and the least likely to care about the fallout."

"I need a drink after that," I said. "Feel like going to Riley's for happy hour?"

"Twist my rubber arm," Keith said. "I'll meet you downstairs in the lobby at," he said and checked his watch. "Five thirty? I have a call in ten, but I should be done before then."

"Sounds good."

After Keith left, I called Ella, to let her know I was meeting Keith for a drink.

"Come if you want," I said. "Keith won't mind."

"No," Ella replied. "I'll go home and make supper. You come home when you're ready, and we'll watch the game."

"Oh, yeah," I said, remembering the game started at seven thirty. "I'll be home before the game starts. We can eat and watch."

"See you then."

I ended the call and spent the next forty-five minutes finishing up some work before going to meet Keith for a drink.

I needed to relax after that day and a drink with Keith and dinner and a game with my love was just the right medicine.

17

Ella

Josh returned after his happy hour visit with Keith and had dinner with me. I felt like something savory, comfort food, so I made a dish that my mother used to make for me when I was home sick with a cold or flu -- creamy chicken pasta with broccoli and mushrooms. I even bought a small carton of this really expensive chocolate ice cream. My cramps were still pretty bad, so I needed to pamper myself. Wine would help, too, and luckily, Josh brought a bottle with him.

We had dinner in front of the television and watched the Knicks game, and it was only when the game ended, that we really got the chance to talk.