Page 76 of Betrayal

“Works for me.Beer or whiskey?”He stood.“From the pile of abandoned tissues, I reckon whiskey’s the go.And a change of scene.Let’s move this to the living room.”

“It’s my turn to cook.”Kate offered the non sequitur while rising to collect glasses and a jug of water.“I’ll order Thai.”Kate hated cooking more than Anna did.

“I heard that,” he called.

Anna rummaged in her bag for more tissues and found the envelope.

“What’s that?”Kate asked.

“Exhibit A,” Anna replied, carrying it with her to the living room.“I got it at work earlier today.No sender identified.Hunter wouldn’t discuss the contents.”

“Did you get witnesses when you opened it earlier?”

Anna rolled her eyes.“You spend too much time with the lawyer.”

Her sister knew Anna hated to lose control.Knew asking Liam to come home would comfort her, calm her, and allow her to keep some pride.She didn’t care much about pride anymore.Taking the corner of the sofa, she kicked off her boots and curled her feet beneath her.She needed this.To be in a different place, to have to talk about different topics.Kate had helped her pick up the pieces after Helen’s death.

In a different way, losing Hunter was worse.

She swallowed a sob.

“Kate just said come home.”Liam poured a few fingers of fine Scottish whiskey into two heavy crystal tumblers and set one on a small table beside Anna.“Is there anything I need to know?”

“I dumped Hunter, or he dumped me.”

“Why?”

“Jees, if I get any more rational questions, I’ll smash something.”

“Not our wedding present whiskey glasses, please.Your mother would notice.”

Liam sipped his whiskey, and in gratitude for his solidarity, Anna sipped hers.

“Have a look.”Anna nudged the envelope across the table with her finger.

“Is Hunter capable of doing that to a woman?”Her sister glanced briefly at the first photo, winced, then focused on Anna.

“No.”

Anna would bet her life on it.He couldn’t knowingly hurt another person like that.She’d had his hands on her body.Seen him with children and vulnerable work-experience teenagers.Seen him in unguarded moments and moments when he hadn’t known she’d been watching.Doing that to a woman wasn’t something you could hide.

“The note says he is.”Liam used a pen to move the note to one side.

“I know.”

“Did Hunter say anything?”Liam used the same pen to push the photos into some sort of order.

“He said he didn’t have to explain himself to me.”

“Any idea who might have sent them?”Liam was astute.

“I’d decided it was his father—Nick Richardson.I wanted to talk the theory over with Hunter, but he didn’t give me a chance.”

“Why Nick?”Kate prodded.

“Because he can’t bear for Hunter to be more successful than he is.He’s tried bribery and threats to get Hunter to join forces.Hunter refused.The only reason Hunter bought the building my childcare centre is in is because Nick—Hunter never calls him his father—was mounting a hostile takeover to cripple Raed Hariri financially.”

“Again, I ask why?”Liam smiled.

---