"What would you do?"
Cooper shook his head. "I've never been in a situation like this."
Aspen ran up to us. "Where's Angela? Is she okay?"
"She's at the bookstore. Cooper said she doesn't want to talk to me," I grumbled, still unsure what to do.
Aspen glanced at Cooper and then said, "I'll talk to her then."
When Aspen rushed down the sidewalk, Cooper didn't stop her.
"I have to talk to her, explain that I didn't do what she thinks I did." Then I sighed. "She trusted me, and I violated that trust. Somehow Bill got his hands on that photo." Now I was wondering if he had access to the more risqué photos. But I didn't share those with Wynter. Only the ones where she was covered. Wynter had said that they were similar to the boudoir shots she took in her studio. She didn't think they were illicit orfilthy. But when Bill had put it on that screen, he made it that way. He exposed Angela, and I didn't like it.
"You have to look at it from Angela's perspective. The whole town was there, her family and friends, her boss, and colleagues. We all know what that was, a private moment?—"
"One that never should have been shared."
"You don't think Wynter would have shared it, do you?" Cooper asked.
"Absolutely not. Most of the shop owners have had run-ins with Bill. They'd never hurt Angela like that."
"Maybe you need to figure out how Bill got the photo before you talk to her."
I let out a breath. "That's not a bad idea."
Cooper nodded. "I have them sometimes."
I clasped his shoulder. "You know you're a Sterling, through and through."
He nodded seriously. "Yeah."
I wasn't sure he believed me, but I didn't have time to tell him what he meant to my family. He always had a place with us.
"Change of plans. I have to figure out how that asshole got pics of my girl. You gonna help?" I asked him.
"Let's talk to Bill first." He headed toward the town hall where people were spilling into the street. I had a feeling the meeting was over once Bill revealed that picture.
When we got closer, Eve rushed toward us. "Is Angela okay?"
"Aspen's talking to her." I hated that I couldn't go to Angela to explain what happened. But Cooper had a point. If I didn't know how Bill got the photograph, how would I apologize? I wasn't even sure that it wasn't my fault. I couldn't talk to her until I had the truth.
She blinked at me. "You have any idea how he got that picture?"
Cooper inclined his head toward me. "Hudson shared it with Wynter, hoping she'd edit it. It was supposed to be a gift."
Eve sighed. "This is a mess."
"Bill doesn't want you to renew her lease?" I asked through gritted teeth. I'd wanted to help Angela, and all I'd done was make everything worse.
"I'm not sure what I'm going to do right now," Eve said.
Natasha approached her and asked, "Can I talk to you?"
"Of course." Eve allowed Natasha to pull her away.
I bit off a curse. "I can't believe that Angela might lose her business because of me."
"It's a fucked-up situation. I like Angela and Ayla. I don't want anything bad to happen to them," Cooper said, soothing my unease.
