Page 21 of Dark Tangled Truths
I glance toward the stage and then at Becca. “Are you in time-out?”
She laughs softly. “He didn’t like myenergytonight.” She glances toward him and flips off his back. “He’s such a little nepo-baby.”
“You’re not wrong.” I stretch out and watch as Brandt walks Abby through the scene step by step. She doesn’t look impressed.
When his back is turned to her, she glances over at Becca and makes a face.
“So, no love for the director over here then?” I ask. Everyone in Evan’s cast treats her with respect, because she treats them with respect.
“Hardly.” Becca rolls her eyes. “But what are you going to do? He’s got loads of contacts at his beck and call. EvanAnn is obviously the better director, but they just tote her around as the scholarship kid.”
“They?” I keep my tone politely interested.
She waves her hand vaguely. “Them. They. Like, the people at the school who matter.”
I nod. “So you’re in here hoping to get in good with Brandt for the potential lift he may give to your career.”
“Duh.” She looks down at her magazine and flips the page. “At least we’re past the point of having to do other stuff to get a role.”
My lips tighten. I’m kind of grateful Evan is on this side of the camera. I don’t know how I’d handle it if someone made her uncomfortable on a set. But I can guarantee it wouldn’t end well.
“EvanAnn doesn’t need to worry. She’s got it made. This school is determined to make her something. To have her come back in twenty years and give some grand speech about how she couldn’t have made it without this program. Some of us aren’t so lucky.” Becca frowns at the page in front of her. “We’re just here to keep the lights on.”
That’s the biggest load of bullshit I’ve heard. “You’ve got a shot. It’s not like your parents won’t help you out.”
Becca scoffs and lifts her blue eyes to mine. “I look like a thousand other wannabe actresses. I’m not even the lead in plays at school. I’ll be lucky to be cast as an extra in the future. Hot girl at party number thirteen.”
She flips the page, clearly dismissing me. Which is fine, because I’m here to find out what I can about Brandt. Damon doesn’t like the guy. I don’t know him well enough to have feelings about him. He definitely uses who his father is like a sharply honed weapon.
A few girls dated him because he said he’d introduce them to his father. I’m sure they did more than date him for that opportunity.
Brandt yells at the cast to reset and turns to Becca. “You too, Becca. Bring a better energy.”
Becca sighs loudly, clearly put out, and drops her magazine on the chair next to her before walking over to the set with a practiced smile. The stage lights are on, and it’s mostly dark over here, but Brandt squints at me.
I don’t give a fuck if he knows who I am or that I’m here to watch him.
For all I know, he or one of these fuckers put the rose on Evan’s desk Sunday. She may be doing better, but fuck them. It was meant to hurt her. I still haven’t figured out why. It’s bothering me.
If Brandt wanted to sabotage her, hurting her on Sunday didn’t do that. It took her out of rehearsal for a few hours, but she has an assistant director who took over. They didn’t lose any time. It didn’t hurt her production, which might have been a motive for Brandt.
But it hurt her.
So who wants to hurt her? Abby? Chase’s ex fuck buddy/girlfriend. Becca? She doesn’t really have a motive, but anyone in this play might be bitter about not getting a part in Evan’s play. Bitter enough to hurt the girl who made the decision to cast someone else?
Maybe, but then why wait so long? And what would be the point? The rose wasn’t a great revenge plot for someone hoping to hurt the director. But the boy she ran from? The boy who took her first kiss? The boy who watched us get what he couldn’t have?
That boy makes sense.
She hurt him because she didn’t want him. So he hurt her to prove that he can get to her. That he can make her hurt physically while he hurts emotionally. Does Jackson think he’s in love with Evan? Or is it just obsession? The one who got away? The one he’s always wanted?
Damon, who gets everything, has her. I’m not blind to the way Jackson hates Damon. Damon supposedly has everything. Money, a good school, hockey.
And Evan.
I’ll stay and see what I can pick up about Brandt besides the fact he’s a huge asshole. But the rose was a message. A message to us that as long as she’s with us, he’ll hurt her.
CHAPTER 8
