Chapter 11
“As far as we are able to determine, the Solveig Consortium will not be able to infiltrate our computer systems. They’ve tried before—numerous times—and they’ve always failed,” Tremaine’s head of cybersecurity said, then glanced at the man standing next to him, as if waiting for confirmation.
The other man jerked his head in a nod. He’d been introduced as Mendez, one of the cybersecurity team. Portia knew that meant hackers. Ash Cutter, a freelance hacker who worked for her on occasion, probably knew him, had likely worked with him. Maybe she’d ask. And maybe—most likely—she wouldn’t. She was still pissed about his role, however unintentional, in Tommy’s death.
“Are you willing to bet the company on that?” she asked.
The department head swallowed hard but nodded. “Yes, ma’am, we are.” His voice wavered. From the corner of her eye, Portia saw Mendez smirk.
“Something you want to share, Mr. Mendez?”
He started at the question and Portia barely hid her smile.
Mendez paused to consider his words. “No system is 100 percent secure.” When his boss opened his mouth, Portia waved her hand to stop him. She wanted to hear what the hacker had to say.
“They did manage to gain access to Tremaine systems, but that was over ten years ago. They haven’t come close since. Unless they’re investing in better tech and a better team, they are unlikely to be successful.” He paused then added, “I can look into that for you.”
Portia studied him. If Ash had taught her anything about the hackers who worked for the company, it was that they were usually smart and were always working an angle. What was Mendez’s? And did she care enough to worry about it right now?
“What would you need?”
He blinked, but responded quickly. “Access to external systems and no handler.”
Ballsy. Very ballsy. She was willing to give him some leeway but not that much. “Access to external systems is granted.” His boss sputtered and she turned her attention to him. He quieted immediately. “Make it happen. No handler is a no-go. As a compromise, I’ll let an external party shadow you, with the understanding that I’ll get a full report of your activities. Ash Cutter. I believe you know him.”
“Yeah, we used to be on a team together. Until he worked for you.” Mendez studied her. “That’s fine.”
As if she cared about his preferences. “Anything else?”
“No, ma’am,” the cybersecurity head assured her.
“Good. Now what do you have for me?” Portia turned her attention to the duo standing patiently next to the cybersecurity team.
“My competitive intelligence team reviewed and updated our profile on the Solveig Consortium last night. It’s usually updated every six months as they aren’t viewed as a high-threat competitor.” The woman spoke in a firm, steady voice, never once indicating that she was thrown by either Portia’s request or her presence.
“And?”
“I’d like my analyst to review the report for you if that’s acceptable.” When Portia nodded, the other woman took a step back while her colleague stepped forward.
Portia smiled, glad to see a team that worked well together, especially in contrast to the cybersecurity team.
“The Solveig Consortium has an active presence primarily in Europe and especially the Scandinavian countries. Their sales, their footprint, and their market share have remained steady in all the years we’ve been tracking them. At least until recently.”
“What changed?” Portia asked, although she had a very good idea.
“The appearance of, uh, Ms. T—, I mean, Dizzie’s appearance,” the analyst finally confirmed.
“What have they done?”
Portia listened intently as the analyst outlined acquisitions, divestitures, and other sneaky moves the company had been making.
“What’s your interpretation of their actions?”
The analyst took a deep breath and straightened. “They’re gearing up for something big. They have a lot of cash on hand and I think they either plan on making a very big purchase or they’re going to war.”
Dammit.
That was Portia’s take as well. She had no doubts about who they were coming after.
Phillip Tremaine had spent his life being a total asshole and now she was stuck with the consequences.
“What kind of timeline are we looking at?”
Aleks’s presence in the city indicated that it could be sooner rather than later. But what if a visit from Dizzie would slow them down? Would she agree for the sake of the company? If she were in Dizzie’s shoes, Portia might just say fuck the whole lot of them.
“There’s really no way to know for sure,” the analyst hedged. “But based on other takeovers, some hostile, some not, that we’ve tracked, we’re talking weeks, not months.”
Sonofabitch. The news just got better and better.
Portia wanted to ask if they could win but stopped herself. That was a question she was supposed to know the answer to.
Could they though? She had no fucking clue. She’d spent the last few months dragging the company out of the mess her father had made. When she wasn’t doing that, she’d been clawing her way out of grief.
Add in the number of senior management she’d had to cut loose because they were as corrupt as her father and the company was facing a potential corporate showdown with untrained staff and a dearth of trustworthy people.
This sucked. A lot.
If the Solveig Consortium wanted a fight, she’d give them one. She just wished she knew what that looked like.
“What does our—” Portia’s question was cut off by the opening of her office door.
“We need to talk, Portia.”
She stared as Killian strode into her office, more formally dressed than she had seen him recently.
Her assistant followed him into the room. “I’m sorry, Ms. Tremaine. I told him you were in a meeting, but he walked right by me.”
Portia stood, determined to control the chaos in her office. “Killian, we can talk after this meeting.”
He shook his head. “This can’t wait.”
She drew herself up to her full height. How dare he presume to determine what could or couldn’t wait.
He met her gaze. “Please. We have a problem.”
The sincerity in his eyes and the gravity of his tone won her over. “Very well. You can stay.”
She shifted her attention back to her employees. “Thank you for your time. Send me your reports and analysis and be prepared for more questions.” She dismissed them with a nod.
They filed out of her office without another word, but her assistant lingered.
“You can go, Melanie. Thank you.” It was a struggle not to let her exasperation show. She really needed to get a new assistant. That hadn’t been a priority before. Maybe it should be now.
Portia wasn’t sure if she imagined a sneer cross her assistant’s face before she turned and left the office.
After the door clicked shut, Portia offered Killian a seat.
“This better be good, Killian.”
“It isn’t, Portia. It’s potentially very bad.”