“Honey, that was a rhetorical question,” Czar said. “And we already have our excuse, although you’re right. We went off half-cocked. I should have thought it all the way through.”
Seychelle rubbed her chin along her knees again, and this time she bit at the end of her sleeve, one of her nervous habits. Savage moved close to her, leaning his hip against the sofa.
“Do you think Brandon was acting alone?” Absinthe asked.
Again, Seychelle hesitated and looked up at Savage as if for guidance. He sent her a small, encouraging nod. She moistened her lips and shrugged. “I wouldn’t know.”
Absinthe’s head jerked up, and his eyes met Savage’s, a dark frown on his face. Savage pulled out his phone and texted one-handed.
Not a good idea to lie with Absinthe in the room, baby. Tell the fuckin’ truth.
At once, color heightened her high cheekbones as she read his text message. She didn’t look at him or the other two men. Her fingers gripped her legs until her knuckles turned white.
“Seychelle.” Savage crouched down in front of her. His voice was very gentle. “You had a lot to say here that was valuable. What don’t you want to say? Do you think we aren’t going to listen?”
Her small white teeth sank into her lower lip, and she raised her eyes to his. There were tears in her eyes. “I think you will listen, Savage. I think all of you are going to listen to me, and maybe that isn’t such a good thing. I could be wrong.”
“But you aren’t wrong, are you, baby?” Savage coaxed the truth out of her. He used the pad of his thumb to erase the tears escaping down her cheek. “Tell us. Brandon isn’t quite as smart as we all give him credit for, is he? He didn’t think his revenge plan up. Someone helped him. Who was it? Not Tawny. Who was the real brains behind Brandon’s carefully thought-out revenge on his half brothers?”
“Brandon is a half brother. They share the same father, don’t they, Seychelle?” Czar said. “That’s why they have the same eyes. Lion, Shark and Brandon all have those eyes.”
“Eden and Brandon’s mother are sisters,” Seychelle whispered. “Their father, Reggie, was with Brandon’s mother, Nina, first. He got Nina pregnant when she was just out of high school. Eden said it was a terrible scandal. Her sister left the baby with Reggie and skipped town. Nina wanted to be an actress. The last thing she said she wanted was a child. Eden was younger by quite a few years, but she felt responsible and did what she could to watch the baby when she wasn’t in school so Reggie could work. They ended up falling in love and getting married. When Brandon was five, Nina came back and demanded they give Brandon to her. She would leave on and off, just take off in the middle of the night, and Reggie would have to go get Brandon, but Nina poisoned him against them. She drank a lot at that time.”
“So Nina is the mastermind behind Brandon’s revenge on his half brothers,” Czar said.
Seychelle nodded slowly. “I spent all day Saturday undoing Brandon’s suggestions on I don’t know how many women. I began to hear her voice. It was subtle at first, but then I could hear her quite clearly. I know it will break Eden’s heart if she ever finds out. These past few years, they’ve grown closer. She thought because Nina had quit drinking, she recognized how important family was and wanted their relationship as much as Eden did. She talked like she did and had begun to do a few things with Eden.”
“What else do you know or suspect, Seychelle?” Savage pushed.
She looked up at him and then back down at her hands. “I think Nina knew Tawny’s family. Her mother at least. Eden said Nina drank a lot. Tawny’s mother drank a lot. If Tawny knew Brandon and Nina, she would most likely go to them whenever she needed anything. She’d do whatever Nina or Brandon asked of her.”
“Where did they get the money to pay to have all those people they wanted killed?” Absinthe asked.
“That’s something I really don’t know. Nina could have a sugar daddy, for all I know. She may have saved money. Brandon works, and he controls women. We saw it with Sahara. He may have gotten women to sign over bank accounts, who knows? I just know that before you decide someone is guilty, you need to look at this from every angle.”
“She’s right,” Czar said.
“And if Brandon is the one who called in the tip to the cops that Savage was the one who had an argument with Tawny on the side of the road, we have to stay away from him,” Absinthe advised. “Let’s back off and see what Plank has to say about all this. If the other clubs don’t handle him, we can always arrange an accident later.”