But no… The texts filling his screen have nothing to do with Lyosha or Elizabeth.
I blink, certain I’m seeing things. I have to be. But the blood in my veins is running cold. My fingertips are icy and clumsy as I pick up his phone.
–Courtney: Hey, who the fuck are you?
–Courtney: Are you really Angelika?
–Courtney: If you are, prove it! Send me a selfie!
–Courtney: Are you fucking with me? You think you can get away, bitch?
–Courtney: Angelika contacted me, you shithead!
The level of aggression from Courtney is shocking. I vaguely make note of that, while I also note all her texts to the fake Angelika are hitting Tolyan’s phone.
If he’s been contacting her, why didn’t he say something? And why did he feel the need to contact her anyway?
Courtney warned me to figure out why Tolyan is helping me without demanding anything in return. I didn’t worry about it much because it seemed like an ungrateful thing to do when my life was finally looking up, when the universe finally handed me a lemon I could turn into delicious lemonade!
“What are you doing?”
I jerk my head up, losing my grip on the phone. It clatters on the table.
“Tolyan.”
He’s in a fresh set of clothes, a loose T-shirt and comfortable pants. His feet are bare, but that doesn’t lessen the dangerous edge to him. His hair’s damp from the shower, and he smells of body gel and freshly washed male.
But nothing lessens the betrayal ravaging my heart.
“I didn’t know you were in the habit of going through my phone.” His eyes are unreadable.
“I didn’t know you were in the habit of pretending to be me and texting my friend,” I manage through thick confusion. It pools around me like an impenetrable fog. Still, I try to keep calm. He has to have a good reason for doing this and not telling me. I’m going to listen first, then tell him I want to be looped into things that concern me. Just in case the possibility hasn’t occurred to him.
“I have my reasons.” He’s calm. He doesn’t seem to care he got caught. And his nonchalance stokes my fury.
“Such as?”
“Like thinking of ways to use her to destroy Roy.”
“What?”
“She’s been reporting to him about you.”
It’s like a spear into my heart. Courtney has been my friend all this time. Or so I thought. I trusted her. Told her things I couldn’t tell anybody. But she was spying on me for Roy? “No way,” I rasp.
“It’s true. I already checked everything. She’s a petty criminal who likes to spend more money than she can make. And she doesn’t enjoy honest work. Didn’t you think it odd that every time you give her a clue as to where you were, Roy would strike soon after?”
“Coincidences…” Courtney wasn’t even that close to my stepbrother when we were growing up. She was my friend back then, and she’s my friend still. Besides, it isn’t like I’m in witness protection, and Roy is extremely persistent. He would’ve been looking for me and could have found me about the time Courtney and I texted.
“Little fawn, Roy Wilks seems like an insurmountable monster to you, but he truly isn’t that good. The only reason he’s been able to survive so long is he lives too far away.”
Something about this statement feels off, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Not when my head is spinning with shock, pain and rage.
Tolyan says, “That’s where Courtney comes in. I need somebody to force him to come to L.A., not get some punk to do another pointless hit-and-run. You want him caught and taken care of, don’t you?”
I do, otherwise I’m never going to be free of him. “Why didn’t you tell me you were doing this, then? Why didn’t you warn me about Courtney?”
“I didn’t think it was important.”