Page 95 of Love and Loathing

“Yes. I think it actually might be.”

“What?” Excitement brightened her face as she caught his mood. “What’s happened?”

“That was Andrew. BlacktonGold dropped the case.” He looked at his phone for a moment before he put it back in his pocket, shaking his head a little, still hardly able to believe it. He wanted it in writing. He wanted to see that written statement. “All of it. Said it was a misunderstanding.”

Evie’s eyes widened. “That’s amazing! I’m so glad!”

“I have no idea how, or why. But like Andrew said, maybe I should just be happy and not question it.”

Evie nodded. Much more enthusiastically than people normally did. He gave her a close look, but instead of meeting his eye, she whirled away to the kitchen sink, tipping away her half drunk tea, filling the kettle for more, saying something entirely random about turmeric, of all things.

“Evie…”

“Mm?” She was very intently staring at the boiling kettle.

“This thing you were going to tell me before Andrew rang… Mind telling me exactly what it was?”

“Oh. It’s, um… Well. You see the thing is… Maybe there’s…um…twothings I need to tell you. If we’re being honest. And everything.”

“Yes,” he said slowly. “We are most definitely being ‘honest and everything’.”

She flashed him a look, went to pick up the boiling kettle before it had even finished boiling. He took hold of her wrist, peeled her fingers from the kettle handle and forced her to meet his eyes.

“Evie. Now.”

“Don’t be angry.”

“What did you do?”

“Went to see my father.”

He paused, realisation dawning.

“This morning,” she continued quickly. “Just now, actually. Before you arrived. I didn’t think he’d be so quick. I guess I scared him more than I realised.”

“Scaredhim?”

She wrinkled her nose, grimacing up at him. “I may have…um…threatened him with the exposure of all his shady dealings. Personal and professional. Suggested that my…um…team of hackers had reams of evidence from his work and private accounts.”

Aubrey stared at her.

“Please tell me you didn’t do anything illegal?” He was still holding her wrist, but it was his own pulse he could feel racing. What had she done…? He couldn’t protect her from something like that. And if she’d done it for him…he couldn’t bear it.

“Evie, do you know how serious that is? It’s not just throwing ketchup at someone, it’s—”

“I didn’t really! I’m not stupid. I was bluffing!”

“Bluffing?”

“Yes!”

“And he bought it?” George Blackton, who was one of the most experienced, ruthless businessmen in the country?

“I had some…evidence. The private medical record of his illness this spring. My mum sent it to me, didn’t even ask why I wanted it. She’s no more a fan of my father than I am. But to be honest, I think it was his guilty conscience that did most of the work. He wouldn’t risk himself or his company, not for the sake of some petty revenge on you. It was a risk-benefit calculation. The way he lives most of his life.”

She said the last part quietly, bitterly, talking as much to herself as to him. The grip he had on her wrist had softened, and he used it to pull her to him. He put his arms around her, his cheek on her head as she breathed out shakily.

“God, Evie…” His voice was quiet, too. “I didn’t want you to ever face him again. Especially not for me.”

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