Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 94(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 94(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
I shake my head.
“No, that’s not true. Rev’s friends sometimes make videos. I don’t do it, and I never have. They have a sex-video ring, so to say, where they film themselves in the act and then share the recordings with each other. It’s dangerous, if you ask me. If that shit ever gets out, careers are going to be over and reputations destroyed.”
Cat shakes her head while still sobbing, and I lean over to hand her a tissue. Her narrow shoulders shake and my heart breaks. I feel so bad that Catherine was caught in my twin’s trap. Rev is a heartless user, and clearly, the curvy girl had no idea.
“Listen, you weren’t in the film. It was that girl, Sandrina, and she was coked out within an inch of her life.”
Cat looks up and my heart is torn at how her eyes look so broken.
“So you saw everything,” she says in a low voice.
I shake my head.
“No, not all, but some. I didn’t realize that this was happening in my house. My auditorium isn’t to be used for that purpose, and clearly, it doesn’t take any special equipment to record yourself these days. Any iPhone will do. But yes, I was wondering why people were cheering in the auditorium, and when I stepped over to look, I saw the confrontation. You were marvelous.”
She stares at me, her cheeks tearstained.
“Marvelous?”
“Marvelous,” I affirm. “That woman is ridiculous and my brother even more so. Rev is no good, honey. Yes, we’re identical twins, but he has no principles. He doesn’t give a shit about anybody else, and to be honest, sometimes with his drug use, I wonder if he even gives a shit about himself.”
Cat nods tearily.
“I suspected he was using,” she says in a wavery voice. “He denied it at first, but then sort of admitted it by saying that he was under so much stress at work that he needed a little bit of relief. I didn’t pursue the topic,” she says. “I wish I had.”
I shake my head, clasping my hands.
“If you had, you wouldn’t have liked what you would have found because my brother’s been in and out of rehab three times in the last five years. People call him a “man of mystery” and it’s because he keeps disappearing. He claims he’s off to Barbados or Ibiza, but it’s actually to the Cascade House out in the Nevada desert. It’s a rehab program for the ultra-rich who need to be discreet about their problems.”
“When was the last time he went?” Cat asks in a low voice, her expression still wrecked.
I think for a moment.
“Maybe a year ago? We genuinely thought he was better when he got out. No addict is ever “cured” so to say, but Rev seemed to have his issues under better control at least.”
She gulps and dabs at her eyes again.
“That’s before I met him. I would have noticed if he was gone for an extended period.”
I nod, and my voice is understanding.
“But maybe you wouldn’t have noticed, because he’s a great liar. All addicts are. They have silver tongues and can make you believe anything. Rev would have said something about business trips, or some emergency with extended family in Europe, and he would have disappeared again for a few weeks. It’s totally possible that you wouldn’t have known anything was wrong. Don’t blame yourself, Catherine. This isn’t on you.”
Cat wilts a bit before my eyes, and I feel terrible. She’s a feisty girl and yet I feel like she’s losing some of that vibrant energy. Or maybe it’s just the peace and tranquility of the room that’s helping her decompress a little.
But then she gets some of her spark back.
“Yes, but what about the tape? Even if he’s an addict, what was that about?”
I shrug.
“Honestly, I don’t know much about Rev and his friends. I don’t hang out with him because they’re not my crew, and he’s actually the one who invited them to my party. My own friends are more low-key, to say the least. But yeah, I’d heard rumors that they had a ring going on. It’s a private share space where they film themselves doing NC-17 rated shit, and then watch it together for fun.”
Cat looks befuddled.
“This is fun to them? Why?”
I shrug.
“It’s a bunch of people who have way too much money, who are pretty much perpetually coked out, and also bored beyond belief. They seize on anything to bring spice into their lives, and that includes drugs, sex, and videotape. Add in some lies and deception, and that about sums up their preferences.”
Cat shakes her head, suddenly growing tearful again.
“He said some of his friends wanted to see me perform because I’m fat,” she whispers in a broken voice. “They wanted to see how an overweight girl behaves in bed.”