Chapter 21
Gary Palmer frowned. “Really, Tiffany. I honestly don’t understand why you’re upset.”
Tiffany Steele glared across the room at the man lounging in the chair. “The reason I am upset is because we had agreed that I would break the news of our engagement to my parents in private. Instead, you just blurted it out in front of everyone. That wasn’t fair to them.”
“And you think it was fair to me to only be introduced as your boyfriend?”
She placed her hands on her hips. “We had agreed, Gary.”
“Okay, okay, you’re right, we had agreed, but…”
She lifted a brow. “But what?”
“Nothing. At least now they know.” He stood and crossed the room to her.
“You can’t blame me for wanting everyone to know you’re mine, baby, and that my intentions toward you are honorable.
The fact that I want to marry you should prove to everyone how much I love you,” he said, pulling her into his arms and brushing a kiss across her lips.
“Besides, you told me this was a family gathering. You didn’t say anything about this many people being here,” he added.
“This is a family gathering. The Steeles consider their friends to be extended family. And I told you that we’re also hosting a surprise fortieth wedding anniversary celebration on New Year’s Eve for our cousins. A lot of people are here for that as well.”
He didn’t say anything for a minute and then asked, “And what’s up with that guy, York Ellis? He almost stared me down when we were introduced.”
Tiffany smiled. “That’s just the way York is. He’s standoffish until he gets to know you. I’m sure that by the time we leave, once he’s gotten to know you better, you will have won him over.”
Gary frowned. “I shouldn’t have to win any member of your family over, Tiffany. I am your fiancé, and that should mean something to them.”
Her glare was back. “I hate to burst your bubble, but in my family, respect is earned, Gary. They need to get to know you.”
“I’m not marrying them. I’m marrying you.”
“I know that, but I’m close to my family,” she said. “I told you that in the beginning.”
His frown deepened. “Are you saying that I need to seek their approval?”
She rolled her eyes. “If that were the case, I would not have agreed to marry you.”
“Just making sure. And why are we arguing anyway?”
“We wouldn’t be arguing if you had stuck to our agreement about how we’d break the news of our engagement to my parents.”
“I said I was sorry.”
“I don’t recall you apologizing,” she said.
“Okay, then, I’m sorry. Next time, I will not get so excited and just stick to what we have agreed to do.”
“I would appreciate that. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m tired and want to take a nap before dinner. There are still several family members─extended and otherwise─that you haven’t met yet. I will introduce you to them at dinner.”
He nodded. “I do have a question.”
“What?”
“Why were we given separate rooms?”
She rolled her eyes. “Did you honestly expect to share my room? My parents are here.”
“I can see your parents not booking us the same room when they thought I would be coming as your boyfriend, but now that they know I’m your fiancé, that changes things. You should call them and tell them we want to be in the same room.”
“I will do no such thing, Gary. You are my fiancé, not my husband. That is disrespectful, not only to my parents but to all the Steeles.”
He rolled his eyes. “Do you honestly believe they think we haven’t slept together yet?”
“It doesn’t matter what they think. I will not upset them by sharing a bed with you while we’re at the lodge.”
“I didn’t know I would be marrying into such an archaic family.”
“You really don’t have to, you know,” she said, about to remove her ring.
“Hey, wait, Tiffany. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Then please stop acting like an ass,” she snapped.
Gary didn’t say anything as he stared at her for a long moment.
He realized he’d better let up because she was losing her temper with him.
That was the last thing he wanted—it could ruin all the carefully laid plans.
“You’re right. My only excuse is that I’m not used to big families.
It’s just been me and the folks. No cousins, aunts, or uncles.
And once I finished college, my parents seemed to forget I existed.
Especially now that they are traveling the world. ”
“Well, I do hope to meet them at some point before the wedding.”
“And I told you how much they like to travel, so don’t be surprised if they only show up for the wedding.” He glanced at his watch. “I’ll let you rest now since I have a few business calls to make.”
“Alright, and Gary?”
“Yes?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “My family will love you as much as I do. You’ll see.”
“I hope so, baby, because I don’t plan to give you up.”
“I don’t know why you think you would.”
“Because it seems that what they think matters a great deal to you. I hope there doesn’t come a time when you have to choose between me and them.”
Then he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
**
When Gary returned to his room, he placed a call.
“You got good news to tell me already?” the deep, husky voice asked.
For an entire year, he and his team had tried to hack into the Steele Corporation’s computers remotely, but had failed. That meant they had to come up with another plan that involved direct access to the computers—one that meant using the CEO’s daughter as a patsy.
They figured she would be going home for the holidays and made sure Gary’s relationship with Tiffany Steele would be at a level where she would take him home to meet her parents.
He hadn’t counted on her family’s plans to spend Christmas elsewhere.
His team considered breaking into Chance Steele’s house while they were away, but an advanced security system that protected the home made it a bad idea.
“No. Just giving you an update. We arrived a few hours ago, but I didn’t expect that many family members to be here,” Gary said.
“How many are you talking about?” the person on the call asked. “There shouldn’t be more than fifty adults.”
“Well, there are well over a hundred people here now, and others are still arriving. The majority are friends they consider to be extended family members,” Gary responded.
“Damn. That’s going to make what you need to do hard, but not impossible. Are you sure Chance Steele has his laptop with him?”
“According to Tiffany, he never leaves home without it.”
“Did she wonder why you asked?”
“I didn’t have to ask. When I mentioned bringing mine with me, she said that she understood because her father always travels with his.”
“How are things going with you and Tiffany?”
“So far, so good, although I pissed her off today.”
“How?”
“By announcing to everyone that we were engaged. She had wanted to tell her parents in private.”
“Stop getting the woman annoyed, Gary. You’ve said more than once that when pushed, she tends to push back. After you’ve finished the job, you can sever your ties with Tiffany Steele since you won’t have any more need for her. Just do what needs to be done while you’re there.”
“It won’t be as easy as I thought getting to Chance Steele’s laptop. There are a lot of people around.”
“Do what you can, but don’t raise any suspicions. If you can’t do the breach there, get her to invite you to visit her family’s home at some point. You did say she had a birthday coming up soon, right?”
“Yes, in February.”
“Good timing. You’ll just need to come up with a reason as to why a visit to Charlotte for her birthday is warranted. Maybe you should have waited to ask her to marry you then.”
Gary shrugged. “I needed to make sure I got invited to her parents’ home for Christmas. I figured that being introduced as a fiancé, rather than just a boyfriend, would give me more leverage.”
He let out a long breath. “Listen, don’t worry. I don’t intend to leave here without hacking that laptop. I’d rather do it here and get it over with.”
“Good. The sooner you can accomplish things there, the better. Then we’ll be all set. Once I hack into the Steele Corporation’s network, I’ll have access to sensitive data, which includes trade secrets.”
“Sounds good to me. By the way, does the name York Ellis ring a bell?” Gary asked.
“No, why?”
“He’s an extended family member of the Steeles. A former cop who owns a security company.”
“And?”
“For some reason, I don’t think he likes me. Tiffany told me not to take it personally, but I think he’s the suspicious type. That could become a problem.”
“I’ll see what information I can dig up on him. In the meantime, try getting on his good side. That might help.”
“Okay, I’ll try.”
**
“You okay, sweetheart?” Chance asked his wife as they dressed for dinner.
Kylie smiled over at him. “I’m trying not to feel disappointed about Gary and Tiffany’s engagement.”
He crossed the room and pulled her into his arms. “Don’t be too upset. Tiffany was in medical school a long time. How many times over the past year have you said that you wanted her to start enjoying life, maybe even meet someone?”
“Yes, but I didn’t mean for her to get engaged to the first guy she met, Chance.”
“I know, but when love happens, it happens. We both know that. Remember how things were for us? We fought it tooth and nail but fell in love anyway.”
Kylie rolled her eyes. “Not saying any names, but one of us fought it more than the other.”
Chance chuckled. “And I still won you over,” he said, brushing a kiss across her lips.
“But we were older than Tiffany. Tiffany is only twenty-six, and there is so much we don’t know about Gary. They only met three months ago.”
“They will be joining us for dinner, and you can interrogate him then.”
“Finding out about someone is not the same as interrogating them, Chance.”
“It depends on what questions you ask and how you ask them. I’ve seen you wear your Columbo trench coat more than a few times with Marcus’ dates.”