“Why didn’t I think of all this?” Czar asked.
“Because all of you despise Pierce and you want to blame him. I think you’re just looking for an excuse to go after him,” Seychelle said.
“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.”
Savage didn’t like later when now would do, but he could live with it.
Savage and Seychelle spent yet another entire day lounging in the house. Savage didn’t want Seychelle to do much of anything but heal. An entire week had gone by since the run, and there wasn’t a mark left on her body but that one faint stripe across her bottom—and it was faint. While the stripes were fresh, he’d used the time to make love to her as often as possible. He hadn’t had to get rough. He could be playful or loving; he could take his time, treat her the way she deserved. He wanted her to have everything good he could possibly give her, because she was going to have as bad as it could get very soon. She would need this to hold on to in order to get her through.
After he fed her dinner, she wanted to go to her cottage in Sea Haven. They hadn’t been there since they’d returned, and she wanted to spend the night there. He found he did as well. He liked that bed of hers and the way they were able to talk so openly together. There was just something about the intimacy of the way they could lie together and play their question game that he loved. She did too. It never felt like prying when they were in her bed.
Savage thought it was because the room was small and held an intimate warmth. She made him feel cherished and accepted when she put her hands on him, massaging his scalp and neck with unexpectedly strong fingers. She always surprised him with her thoughtful answers to his admittedly provoking questions. Yeah, he loved that room. It was their room. He’d fallen in love with her in that room.
“You just want to go to the Floating Hat for tea in the morning,” he accused, because he wasn’t going to sound like he was all choked up thinking of that room and lying on the bed with her, falling hard for her.
Seychelle laughed. “That could be true. Actually, before we left, I stashed some tea there from the Floating Hat. I wouldn’t mind going for breakfast if you’d like though. The scones are so good, aren’t they?”
Joy radiated through him. She did that to him. That laugh of hers. The way her smile lit her face, changed the color of her eyes to that particular shade of blue that got him in the gut every time. “They are, baby, but just sittin’ across from you anywhere does it for me.”
Her smile got even brighter. Turned mischievous. “I’ve been saving up questions, Savage. I think this time, I’m going to have you on your toes.”
He drove one-handed, reaching for her hand, capturing it and pressing her palm tightly against his upper thigh. “You always have me on my toes, angel. Love our little cottage. Lookin’ forward to your questions.”