Page 90 of Love and Loathing

“I did.” It came out almost like a gasp. Then she steadied herself. He heard the breath she took. “I did plan it. It was why I came to Conyers. For you, not Domnall. I was supposed to…to befriend you”—he shuddered at the word—“and get access to your laptop. We didn’t know your password, so it had to be when you were using it. If you left the room, left it unlocked—”

“Then you’d sneak on? And steal my emails?”

She flinched as he turned on her. But she didn’t look away. “Yes. Any emails about Domnall, about his business, anything that might confirm illegal tax evasion or any other kind of wrongdoing.”

“And that was the whole weekend,” he said, unable to stop the rising anger in his voice. “That was the basis of everything that happened. Nothing to do with Liv. Nothing to do with anything that was real. But I suppose you failed. Had to follow me to London. Continue lying to me, pretending, fuckingsleepingwithme, Evie—did you really have to go that far? Tell me youlovedme? What the fuck is wrong with you! You hate Domnall so much, you hate us all so much, that you don’t care that you’ve destroyed me?”

His anger rang in the silent room, Evie close to tears—no, crying now, wiping them hurriedly from her face. “I didn’t fail,” she said.

“I bloody well know. The whole world knows.”

“No, I mean at Conyers. I didn’t fail. I got into your laptop. I had it on my knee. All your emails. Everything. And I didn’t do it.” She took a pleading step towards him. “I didn’t do it, Aubrey. I swear on my life. Here—” She got her phone out. “Look. This is the message I sent Zig.”

She held out the phone. He could barely focus on the screen, caught a glimpse of the wordsI can’t… I quit.

“I’m meant to believe that, am I? Maybe you changed your mind.”

“I didn’t.”

“So it’s all a coincidence, is it? My emails get leaked weeks after you were tasked with doing that exact thing, and I’m supposed to believe you had nothing to do with it?”

“Weeksafterwards, Aubrey. Don’t you see? I saw them online. They’re dated right up until you left BlacktonGold. How was I meant to get hold of them if we weren’t even speaking at that point? Unless you think I snuck into your office? Hid under your desk and happened to pop up the minute you left the building?”

Aubrey stared at her. Because there had been someone in his office the day—the very moment—that he quit. Liv.

He thought back furiously. She’d been sitting at his desk. When he went to his computer to download his contact details, his computer had been unlocked, his emails open, just how he had left them when he stormed from his room to confront George.

He’d been gone long enough that the screen ought to have locked. But if someone had seen him leave his office, had snuck in just after he went, gone straight to his computer…

“Fuck.”

He put a hand over his eyes, thinking. He’d been so angry that he’d walked out and left her there, too. She would have had all the time in the world to get what she wanted. But why…?

I’ll save you.Liv, angry and hurt in his flat.You’ll see which one of us you should have chosen.

“It was Liv.”

He looked up, found Evie looking at him, no surprise on her face. Somehow, she already knew.

“It was Liv,” he said again. “She was in my office the day I quit. And she knew about you and FTP. Her goons at HallardPuck had probably been monitoring FTP on Domnall’s behalf.”

Evie nodded. “They had. Got into their emails. Found out all the plans. Slapped a million legal threats on them.”

“That’s how she got the emails. Your emails.”

Evie nodded again, a small, unhappy nod. Because Liv might have betrayed him, but Evie had planned to. How the hell did they move on from that?

“Evie…” he said, because he knew himself. He was close to giving in, forgiving her, or thinking he had. And for the sake of his sanity, he knew he shouldn’t. Not so quickly.

“I know,” she said. “It’s going to take time. But it was real, Aubrey. It’s been real from the start. I just didn’t realise.”

And she left, with a smile so fragile it crushed him all over again.

THIRTY-EIGHT

Even several days afterwards,Evie still woke feeling tired and nauseous. Maybe she’d caught a bug from all the dashing about in the rain, maybe it was simple heartbreak, maybe it was due to another sleepless night on Romona’s lumpy blue sofa and being woken by the smell of frying bacon. Her stomach heaved.

“Morning, sunshine,” Romona called from the kitchen, oblivious to everything. “Chris is coming over early, just to warn you. We’re doing breakfast here. But then we’re going out somewhere on the train. Sussex maybe. You’ll have the flat to yourself for a bit.”

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