Page 146 of Dark Tangled Truths
He tips his glass to me. “An unknown variable that caused quite a bit of problems. But I had an ace up my sleeve, because EvanAnn might not have had a boyfriend before, but she also lacked a friend. Who better to play a friend than an actress?”
“Better yet, an actress who didn’t realize she was playing a part.” Elizabeth laughs lightly. “She was so easy to push in the right direction. Shame she didn’t go for your play though, dear brother.”
Brandt shrugs and smiles. “You win some, you lose some. It ended up working in the end though. I met Tanner. Seemed like a decent guy, but he must have pissed off the wrong people.” He shakes his head.
“You told Mia to befriend Annie?” I ask, trying to connect the pieces of what they’re saying.
He smirks. “I didn’t say, hey, why don’t you go be friends with that girl.” He laughs. “No, but I might have given her a good reason to be EvanAnn’s friend. Even if Mia hooked up with her boyfriend.”
“It’s so hard for a new girl to fit in with a new crowd. Especially a girl like Mia.” Elizabeth smiles knowingly. “She knew what was best for her.”
“But she wasn’t Annie’s stalker.” I need to keep them talking, make them reveal the whole thing.
“I mean, she could have been.” Brandt rubs his fingers over his lips. “But she ended up actually being friends with EvanAnn. I figured she’d eventually sleep with one of you guys and break EvanAnn’s heart, but who knew Mia could be loyal?”
“I certainly didn’t see that coming.” Elizabeth acts like this is some show that she’s chosen to watch.
“Back to Riordan,” I press.
Elizabeth gives me a little smile. “Now that was an undertaking.”
“Almost didn’t happen.” Brandt nods at her.
“We couldn’t have known they had a past. No one did.” She swirls her wine in her glass. “Riordan would show up to parties and keep to himself. Our schools are close enough that they intermix. I knew he was in hockey, and you guys had already begun moving in on EvanAnn according to Brandt and his network.”
I glance at Brandt and he gives me a cocky grin, raising his glass to me and taking a drink.
“I do so love a good scheme, and it wasn’t hard to figure out Jackson hated Damon Storm. A rivalry is always good for pushing buttons.” Elizabeth relaxes into the chair and recrosses her legs. “I don’t personally follow sports, but once Brandt decided Damon was going to be an issue and Olivia was useless, we had to have something. So I hung out with the hockey team. And boy, did they have a lot to say about Riordan. Not sure anyone on the team actually likes him, but he’s too good at hockey to bully off the team.”
“That’s where I came in,” Brandt says and drinks for a dramatic pause. “I needed a rival for Storm and Riordan seemed like the perfect guy. The dislike went both ways. Setting Riordan up with a few coaches was easy enough payment to get him to notice your girl.”
Fuck. “You bribed him to go after Annie?” He didn’t know about their past at all.
“Bribe? Reward? Po-ta-to, po-tah-to.” He shakes his hand in a so-so movement. “It really didn’t take much and the results...” He kisses the tips of his fingers. “Perfection.”
“Honestly, I think he might actually like her.” Elizabeth smiles. “Maybe you guys can add a fourth to whatever you’re doing. I mean, the girl has extra hands.”
Anger burns through me. I’m almost to the end of my rope, but I want everything.
“The text to Annie’s mom?”
“My idea.” Elizabeth raises her hand proudly. “We sent some at the beginning of the year to make EvanAnn’s mom start watching. But then I saw the way Damon looked at EvanAnn at Tom’s birthday party. I’m surprised their parents didn’t figure it out earlier. I was hoping he’d go after Chase at the party, but EvanAnn did the honors. The parents were oblivious, and we needed something after the rose, which Brandt took too far.” She glares at him.
“I’ll do better next time,” he says, not the least bit remorseful.
“See that you do,” she says haughtily. “It’s no good to maim someone. That’s not our style.”
“But kidnapping is?” I arch an eyebrow.
Elizabeth opens her mouth like she has a snappy comeback, but nothing comes out. Brandt sits forward in his chair. It’s the most attention they’ve given me tonight.
“What?” Elizabeth looks at Brandt with wide eyes.
Brandt presses his lips together. All signs of his smirk gone. So this wasn’t part of their plan.
“I wonder if anyone will believe you aren’t part of it?” I step over to the bar and hold my phone up, showing that it’s recording since I walked in. “After all, you pretty much said you sent Riordan after her.”
“What do you mean?” Brandt is pale now. He jerks a little toward me, like he’s wondering if he can take my phone from me. But come on.
