“You have had a terrible time of it, haven’t you?” he said kindly. I let him snuggle me against his chest. It was nice just to have an honest man around.
“Please don’t think it was your fault,” he murmured. “I’ve worked with Hunter and his brothers. All the Svenssons are cutthroat, but Hunter is one of the worst. The fact that he was trying to blackmail you is a new low, even for him.”
“I just can’t believe it,” I said, closing my eyes. “I can’t even sue him because then everything is out in the open.”
“If he publishes your text messages,” Walter said, “my lawyers tell me that we can nab him with copyright laws, as you were the author of the photos.”
I froze. Then I sat up to look at him. “How did you know Karen had the text messages too? I didn’t tell Kate that. I only told her about the pictures.”
Walter smiled ruefully. “I always forget you’re probably the smartest woman I’ve ever met,” Walter said. “Nothing slips past you.”
“What the hell, Walter? You better tell me what’s going on.”
“Please understand,” Walter said smoothly, “I was trying to help you. Politics can be messy. Karen was willing to provide information on Hunter. I had no idea those photos would be on his phone. She only said that she had managed to make a copy of his data but that it was encrypted. She asked if we could help to secure your future as mayor of Harrogate.”
I couldn’t believe it. “What the fuck? Has everyone lost their minds?”
“Of course, I did not look at them once Karen told me what they were,” Walter said calmly.
“You hacked Hunter’s phone.”
“Not personally,” he said. “I had my son do it. He’s good with computers.”
“That is illegal,” I said, freaking out. “And now Karen has all my photos.”
“Yes,” Walter said, “that is unfortunate.”
“Unfortunate?” I turned to stare at him, incredulous. “That’s my life, my reputation! She can use those to blackmail me. You handed her naked photos of me! If you hadn’t stuck your nose in my business, trying to manipulate my life, none of this would have happened. This is all your fault, not Hunter’s!”
“I am having my lawyers look into it,” he assured me. “You don’t have to worry about a thing.”
“I will not,” I said in a low voice, “be jerked around and gaslit and told that I shouldn’t worry my little head about matters that absolutely do concern me. I will not stand for it. Let me out of this car.” I rapped on the divider between us and the driver. The limo pulled over to a curb, and I threw open the door, stepping out.
“You know,” I said shaking my head, “the worst of this is that Hunter was right about you. And now I’m going to have to tell him he was right and apologize.”
“Meg!” Walter begged. “I’m so sorry.”
“You’ll hear from my lawyer, and Hunter’s, too, no doubt,” I informed him, slipping on my sunglasses and marching to my car.
72
Hunter
Imet several of my brothers at the campaign office the next day. After being chewed out by Greg, Garrett, and Archer, who was unhappy that Hazel was unhappy because her sister was unhappy, we had settled on a plan.
If I could at least show Meg that Karen was purely at fault for the photos, then ideally, I could bring Meg back on board to save my sisters.
She still seemed open; she had texted me offering to negotiate. That had to be a good sign. I figured our relationship was toast, but if I could save my sisters, then it would be—not worth it—but it would be a win.
Karen was bubbly and happy late that afternoon when she returned to the campaign office. “You did excellent at the debate,” she crowed when she saw me. “I doubt anyone is going to believe Meg had the idea about the carriage houses. You sounded very authoritative.”
“Karen,” I said.
“Yes?”
“You’re fired.”
“What?” she sputtered.
