Page 75 of Kiss Kiss Bang
“He’s a sonofabitch, and he’s using that.”
“Screw him. I’ll debate him. Set it up. I’ll talk to Joey and make sure security is tight.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.”
“Okay, Livie. Take care of yourself and give Sophie a big kiss from me.”
“Will do, Mark. Bye.”
There were so many emails it was going to take forever, so Joey had transferred everything onto a thumb drive and would go through it later that night.
When he walked in, Olivia was on the phone in her home office. “What’s up? Who was that?”
She swiveled her chair around and spun that fidget thing in her hand over and over. “It was Mark. Apparently McGregor has something on me. Something that will destroy me. At least that’s what was leaked from his camp.”
“Destroy you? Like what?”
She stopped spinning the contraption and slammed it down. “I don’t know!”
He leaned across the desk and took her hand. “Calm down. Let’s think about it. What could it possibly be? Maybe they’re just trying to scare you and it’s actually nothing.”
“Or they have something.”
“But you haven’t done anything wrong, so why are you worrying?”
“I don’t know. I just . . . ugh, I hate not knowing. Not being prepared.” She looked down at his hand. “What’s that? Did you find anything out today?”
It was time he told her the truth.
He stood and went around the desk, his arms on the sides of her chair, and kissed her. “I have to tell you something.” He sat on her desk.
She sat up straighter. “Okay.”
“It’s about me. Well, you too, but it’s . . .” He gripped the back of his neck. “I’m the hacker.” He blurted it out. Better to remove the Band-Aid in one single move.
Her eyes bulged out of their sockets but she didn’t say a single word, so he continued. “I started it before I met you.” She still wasn’t talking. “Say something.”
“I—what?”
He hopped off the table and kneeled in front of her. “I’m the hacker. I should’ve told you sooner. I’m Harry’s Hacker.”
She pushed her chair back and stood. “Oh. My God. You could ruin my entire career if we’re connected. What were you thinking!”
He stood now too. “I told you, I started before I knew you and I just did it to fuck with him. Like a hobby.”
Her eyes were now even wider. “A hobby? A hobby! You do understand that the issue is not when you started, right? It’s that you’re doing it. It is illegal. Hacking into someone’s computer, Joey, is very much fucking illegal. He’s a government employee.”
She rarely cursed, and it felt like a blow to hear her that upset. She threw her hands up and continued to rant. “It was cute, the funny Facebook posts, but now we’re dating and it could . . . it’ll look like I put you up to it.”
He walked to her and put his palms on her shoulder. “Listen to me. No one will know it was me. I didn’t steal anything or dig around his secret files. I’m good, Olivia. I’m the best, actually.” It was true, he was. He had millions of dollars and a Ferrari that made it official.
“This is not the time to be arrogant. You can go to jail. And you can bring me down with you.”
“I’m not being arrogant, Livie. I’m being truthful. That’s how I won my car and why I have millions in the bank.”
“Millions? You’re rich?”
