Love Starved by Kate Fierro Read Free Book Online

waiter returned, carrying beautifully garnished, steaming plates, and followed by a short, portly man in a sauce-spattered white apron.
    “Good evening, gentlemen,” the man said with a barely noticeable accent. “My name is Antonio. I’m the chef and owner of this trattoria. My nephew here told me about your special requirements, so I wanted to personally assure you that everything you are served is perfectly safe to eat. I made sure of it myself; there was not a trace of shellfish anywhere near your food. I hope you enjoy your meal.”
    Micah’s eyebrows shot up. “Thank you, that’s very kind of you.”
    Antonio grinned. “We generally try to avoid killing our customers.” He winked and left with a cheerful “Buon appétito.”
    Micah turned to Angel. “Okay, I get why you love this place. But I’m still withholding my verdict until I try the food.”
    Angel beamed and motioned to his plate, watching as Micah took the first bite before starting on his own. The food was delicious.
    The conversation stalled as they satisfied the first hunger, but then Angel asked, “So what is it that you do, in layman’s terms?”
    Micah swallowed one of his gnocchi. “Well, I started as a one-man business, offering penetrative tests and network vulnerability assessments to small companies. Basically, I simulated attacks on their networks to look for weak points so that they could fix them before anyone got in and did any harm. Sometimes, I also helped track ways in which information was leaking from companies. That was fine for the first year or two, but I soon realized that what does the most damage, even in well-secured networks, is the human factor. Social engineering remains the part that is hardest to control—people are naïve, often believe lies if they are told in an authoritative manner. They reveal sensitive information because of thoughtlessness or ignorance and make all kinds of mistakes that threaten a company’s security. So I decided to offer help with that, too.”
    He looked at Angel to see if his eyes were glazing over the way most people’s did when he started talking about his job, but no, he was listening attentively.
    “I’m guessing you succeeded?” Angel asked with a smile.
    “Well, four years ago I began to develop a series of workshops for different levels of the corporate hierarchy, teaching people how to avoid the social engineering traps while also testing their vigilance in practice before and after the seminars. That was when my company really took off. I’ve been adapting the program to different types of businesses ever since, and recently I’ve been asked to turn my teaching materials into a book. It’s coming out next month. So yes, I think I succeeded.” He smiled proudly. “I have several people working with me now on a more or less steady basis, and I’m thinking about expanding to other cities.”
    Angel seemed genuinely impressed. “Wow. Congratulations! So what is the most basic mistake people make?”
    Micah told him. And then he told him more when Angel asked, and it was so different from talking to either his friends and family or his coworkers. Here was a stranger who seemed fascinated with all the nuances and processes, who asked intelligent, thoughtful questions and didn’t look bored in the slightest when Micah let his enthusiasm take over and rattled on and on about the next books he wanted to write, the thrill of following leaked information to the source like a detective and the subtle details of social engineering simulations. It was refreshing and invigorating, and only when his plate was empty did Micah realize how long he’d been talking, not letting Angel get a word in edgewise.
    “Oh.” He skidded to a stop and reached for his wine glass that had been mysteriously refilled. “I’m sorry; you should have stopped me. I get really garrulous when I start on this topic.”
    Angel put his chin on his hand. “I like it. You have a lot of passion; that’s