“How?” I ask instead.
She fiddles with one of the heavy rocks on her fingers. “I knew Maria Royal. She was the queen in Bayview. Everyone loved her, but no one saw how sad she was. I did, though.”
I frown. Where is she going with this?
“I told her I knew where she’d come from and how lonely it could be when you weren’t born into these circles. I was being friendly,” Dinah mutters. “But did she appreciate that?”
“No?”
“No, she certainly did not.” Dinah slams a hand on the coffee table, and I flinch in surprise. “The Royals are like the apple in the fairy tale. Golden on the outside, but rotten to the core. Maria didn’t come from money. She was poor trash from the wharf who opened her legs at the right time to the right man—Callum Royal. Once she was pregnant, he had to marry her. But Maria wasn’t satisfied with Callum’s devotion. She always wanted more, and woe to any woman who stood in her way of total domination over the males in her circle. She was a manipulative bitch who enjoyed playing both sides of the table. To the women, she was spiteful and cruel, running others down constantly. To the men, she was nothing but sweet words and compliments.”
Wow. This is a side of Maria Royal I’d never heard about. Reed and his brothers remember her as a saint. But then the comments Steve made when he dragged me out of school pop up in my head.
No living person is a saint.
On the other hand, Dinah isn’t exactly the most trustworthy person. And she probably paid someone off to send Reed to jail. I’d be stupid to believe anything she says.
Besides, even if Maria was a bitch, Dinah’s obsession with the Royals still doesn’t make sense. “You and Brooke had it in for the Royals and Steve because Maria Royal was rude to you at one time?” I ask in disbelief.
She sighs heavily. “No, honey. Maria Royal represents every other rich bitch around here. You’ve encountered these types at school. They’re the kind who believe their own shit doesn’t stink.”
Like Jordan Carrington. I guess in some ways, Dinah’s lecture isn’t completely crazy. Except the difference between us is that I don’t give a crap about Jordan while Dinah obviously cared a lot about Maria’s opinion.
“And the one time I tried to reach out to her, she slapped me down. Called me a whore and said I was nothing like her.”
“I’m sorry.”
It doesn’t come out sincere enough, because Dinah starts to cry. Big, fat tears roll down her face as she sobs. “No, you’re not. You don’t get it. You still think the Royals are wonderful. The only person who understood was Brooke, and she’s gone. She’s gone.”
It’s the perfect opening, so I take it. “Did you kill Brooke because she was trying to horn in on your piece of the pie?”
“No, damn you, I didn’t kill her.” Anger drips from Dinah’s tone. “Your precious Reed did.”
“He did not,” I answer between clenched teeth.
“Keep telling yourself that, sweetie.”
I face her mocking gaze head on. “Did you pay Ruby Myers to say that Reed threatened to kill Brooke? Did you?”
Dinah smiles. A cold, humorless smile. “And what if I did? How will you prove it?”
“Her financial records. Callum’s investigators will find out the truth.”
“Will they?” She releases a short, angry laugh, her hand snaking out to grab my chin. “The Royal resources won’t buy Reed’s freedom. I’m going to do whatever it takes to see that piece of murderous shit in prison, even if it’s the last thing I do.”
I slap her hand away and jump off the couch. “You’re not going to pin this on Reed!” I spit out. “I’m going to prove that you paid off Ruby Myers. And maybe I’ll even prove that you killed Brooke.”
“Go ahead, Princess. You’re not going to find anything on me.” She tosses back her booze and then refills her glass.
Sick of her smug, awful face, I hurry off to my room and slam the door. The moment I’m calm enough to hold my phone without dropping it, I call Reed.
“What’s up?” he asks.
“I went to Ruby Myers’ house and—”
“What?”
He yells so loud that I have to pull the phone away from my ear.
“Are you kidding me? What are you trying to do? Get yourself killed?”
“You and I both know her statement is a lie,” I shoot back. Then, lowering my voice to a whisper, I say, “Dinah is up to her ears in this. She virtually admitted to buying Myers off.”
“Ella, dammit, stay out of this. Dad has investigators crawling all over this case and we haven’t been able to turn up new information. If Dinah’s involved, then you poking a hornet’s nest is only gonna get you hurt. I can’t have you hurt.”