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“She promised me a percentage!” Cassandra blurted out. She looked hurriedly back and forth between Howie and Kevin. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s it?! They ask you one question and you cave!” Leighanne shrieked.

“A percentage of what?” Kevin asked, ignoring Leighanne’s screams.

“Of what she was going to get ...” Cassandra paused and looked remorsefully at Brian. “...from Brian in the divorce.”

“Am I the only one who’s not that shocked by this whole situation?” AJ muttered.

“Wait a minute.” Kevin held up his hand to silence everyone. “I don’t understand. Are you saying that you somehow knew that the five of us would have a massive blowout and that Brian would essentially incriminate himself?”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Leighanne shouted. “If you had been around for my explanation the first time, you would already know that my plan only involved the pictures. The video was a nice little bonus. Thankfully, Cassandra had the foresight to film the whole thing.”

Cassandra hung her head in shame at Leighanne’s words. “I needed the money.” She mumbled with her eyes locked firmly on the carpet.

“You must have thought that you were going to get quite the settlement.” Kevin turned to Leighanne “After all, why else would you be so willing to share it?”

Leighanne laughed softly as she responded. “Of course. Thank God that your cousin didn’t listen to your advice about the prenuptial agreement.”

“That’s not what he told me.” Kevin challenged, shooting Brian an angry look.

Brian merely shrugged and stared back at his older cousin. “We weren’t on the best of terms when you gave me that suggestion.”

“I couldn’t have done everything on my own.” Leighanne continued. I needed Cassandra’s connections. Offering her a percentage seemed like a small price to pay, especially when she told me that she had a plan to anonymously release two of the pictures through Twitter. Unfortunately, this Greg guy is apparently better than her so-called graphic expert.”

Cassandra pulled her gaze away from the floor and looked back at Leighanne’s angry face in shock. She seemed genuinely surprised that Leighanne was throwing her under the bus.

“So, you were planning this for months?” Jason mused. “I still can’t believe that you set up the whole thing.”

“Since before the tour even started.” Cassandra admitted.

“Before the tour?” Brian repeated. “But that’s before ...”

“Before you started fucking little Miss Plain Jane?” Leighanne interrupted. She gave me a condescending look as she continued. “Like I said before, I knew that you were looking for a way out. I knew that you had finally figured out that I wasn’t going to give in to your constant pestering for another baby. You started to withdraw well before the start of the tour. I had to do something; because there was no way that I was going to give up all of the perks that come with being a Backstreet wife. My plan was to make you look like a cheater. The fact that you actually became one all on your one was a Godsend, especially when Cassandra’s guy let me down.”

“I was going to say ‘before I even filed for divorce’.” Brian grimaced. “But thanks for that ... explanation.”

“So, John, what was your cut going to be?” Howie asked. He turned to the beefy man and smirked. “I’m assuming that it was going to be pretty hefty. Maybe you and Leighanne were even planning on moving in together.”

“How’d you know that we were moving to Malibu?” John gave Howie a confused look as the rest of us stared at him with our mouths agape. “They just started construction on the place five months ago.”

The man really was dumb.

Leighanne gave John a withering look. I could practically see the steam rising off of her as she struggled to control herself. How the hell had Howie made the connection?

“After all of the shit that you’ve put me through, you were the one who was cheating on me this whole time?!” Brian cried. “With a member of my security team!”

The rest of us looked cautiously at Brian as he rubbed furiously at the back of his neck. That was his signature move when he was upset, and I could feel myself bracing for his impending break down. He continued to stare at Leighanne; dumbfounded as the corners of his mouth slowly inched upwards into a smile. All of a sudden, he let out a full blown snort and practically doubled over in laughter.

“Brian, are you okay?” Nick asked as he watched his friend continue to chortle.

“I’m better than okay!” Brian grinned. “This is priceless!”

“Glad I could make you laugh.” Howie sniggered. “Sometimes my hunches are correct.”

“You’re an idiot.” Leighanne seethed, shooting daggers at John. “Do you realize what you’ve done?”

“What he’s done is give me the upper hand.” Brian asserted. His laughter subsided as he turned to confront Leighanne. “Do you really want to fight this out? If you don’t, I’m willing to settle. If you do, you better be prepared to lose.”