Chapter 88: My Dark Prince: Chapter 87

“We need to talk.”

At Briar’s words, I groaned, slamming a pillow over my face and willing the sunlight to go back to where it came from. “Can it wait until after the room stops spinning? I don’t like this ride. I want a refund.”

“Speaking of refunds …”

I poked an eye out from beneath the pillow, sparing a glance at Briar, who white-knuckled the ring box. A dent cratered half of it. I wondered when that happened. Come to think of it, how did she find that?

Well, fuck. The room swayed as I forced myself upright, trying to remember what happened after Romeo and Zach carried me back home hammock style. The fuckers had bumped my skull into every wall they could on the way up the stairs.

All I remember after passing out was waking up to Briar’s warm fingertips on my cheek, vomiting all over the hardwood, then her delicious mouth around my cock. And just like that, the man in question sprung to life, saluting me beneath the sheets.

Briar stared at the tent forming around my hips, her mouth parting – hopefully to wrap around it and not “to talk,” because that sounded serious, and I couldn’t handle serious with this hangover.

Her phone danced on the nightstand, interrupting what could’ve been the most splendid morning after a hellish day.

It struck me that I hadn’t even bothered to check on Sebastian after I’d dropped him off in his wing like a kid in a time out.

Briar’s ringtone was the Succession theme song. I was going to marry the fuck out of this woman if it was the last thing I did.

“Let me get this.” She set down the ring box, exchanging it with the phone. “Huh. Unknown number.”

“Don’t answer those,” I warned. “You don’t need your credit card debt lowered. You’re about to marry a billionaire, who is too crazy about you to ask for a prenup.”

I’d turn the fake engagement into a real engagement once I had my proposal details ironed out.

Briar’s grin faltered before she replaced it with an incredulous look. “It could be Dallas. Her number is private whenever she calls.”

Ah, yes. Last year, Dallas got blacklisted from a few local restaurants for accidentally double and triple booking.

Briar swiped the screen, putting the call on speaker. “Hello?”

“Briar?”

The temperature in the bedroom dropped ten degrees. At Philomena Auer’s unmistakable voice, Briar’s hopeful smile melted into a scowl. I wasn’t a violent man, but in that moment, I didn’t rule out doing things to her parents that were so heinous, the law had yet to find a fitting punishment for them.

“Yes, Philomena?” Briar’s voice came out as arctic as her expression.

“I wish you’d call me Mom.”

“I wish I had wings and a cute, fluffy tail. We all wish for impossible things sometimes. What’s your point?”

You would look adorable with a fluffy tail, I mouthed to Briar, managing to milk a laugh out of her.

“Fine.” Philomena cleared her throat. “Have it your way. Let the record show I tried to patch things up between us.”

“You mean hop on the gravy train bandwagon? Noted. Now, how can I help you?”

“It is my understanding that you will not be inviting me and your father to your wedding.”

“You mean you and Jason, who is not my real dad? That’s correct.” Briar pressed her knees to her chest, tucking them beneath her oversized shirt – my shirt, I realized. I did my best not to puff out my chest, the only appropriate response to the hottest girl alive wearing your shirt. “As I said before, I’ll only consider it if you give me information about my biological dad.”

“Why do you even want to know him? He obviously deserted you.”

“He wanted to be a part of my life. You pushed him away.”

Ribbons of pride laced around my chest. It must’ve been hard to stand up to someone she once begged to love her. Briar would make a great mother one day.

“I will give you information about your sperm donor.” It sounded as if Philomena had to physically tear the words out of her lips. “If …”

“Yes?” Briar’s eyes cut to mine, hope glittering inside them.

I offered her two thumbs up.

“If you give us money to cover our legal fees,” Philomena finished. Motherfucker. She made Dee Dee Blanchard look like a competent mother. “Paying those nasty people back bled us dry. Your father—”

“Not my father.”

Atta girl.

“Jason,” Philomena corrected, “has been working at a golf club selling coffee to pay the bills.”

“Ah, good ole work. You’d be surprised how many people do that for a living.” Briar paused. “How much do you need?”

“Five hundred thousand dollars should set us off to a good start.”

I can’t believe Philomena managed that without a lick of hesitation. Actually, I could. The woman wouldn’t know shame if it planted flags in her yard and made itself at home.

“Christ,” Briar choked out. “I don’t have that kind of money.”

“I do,” I reminded her.

Briar shot me an alarmed, what-are-you-doing? glare, obviously unhappy I’d chipped in. But I didn’t care about Philomena and Jason getting a big sum of cash. First, they’d likely burn through it within six months like the irresponsible losers they were. And second, I’d buy the fucking sun for a chance to give Briar her closure.

I leaned closer to the speaker, even as Briar’s eyes flared in warning. “I’ll foot this bill in a heartbeat if you give your daughter – who has always been too good for you, by the way – the information she deserves. You should’ve given it for free. But I’m done expecting the bare minimum of decency from you.”

“How soon can you wire it?” Philomena didn’t even hesitate, though she did have the decency to add, “I’m just trying to fend for myself.”

“Yes, well, you’ve always been good about putting yourself first,” Briar muttered, still glaring at me. “Where do we meet?”

“I can come over to Oliver’s house.”

“No, thanks. We don’t trust you with the décor and gold utensils. There’s an animal friendly coffee shop nearby. Text me your number, and I’ll send you the address. I’m sure you’ll feel right at home.”

I frowned at Briar, scratching my temple. “That’s just mean. What did animals ever do to you?”

“Fine.” Philomena ignored our jabs. “How are you going to pay me?”

“We’ll have it to you in cash,” I butted in again. “After you give us the info, you will fuck off for good.”

“No wedding invitation?”

“Christ.” Briar massaged her forehead, shaking her head. “You really are a lost cause. Just text me your number.”

“But I—”

“Goodbye.” Briar hung up on her mother and turned to me. “Am I doing the right thing?”

I nodded. “You need to know who Cooper is. Even if you never contact him. Even if you find out that he’s a grifter, just like Jason. You need to know.”

Briar hopped off the bed, padded into the closet, and returned in a fresh set of clothes. “It feels wrong to give her money for information she should be handing out for free.”

“She’s not going to enjoy this money,” I pointed out. “There’s no blessing in it. Money earned in devious ways always ends up funding misery. I promise you.”

“I can just hire a private investigator.” Briar munched on her lower lip. “It’d be less pricey and won’t feel like I’m enabling her gross behavior.”

“I already did.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “But we don’t have much to go on. Back then, I searched the entire caterer list and couldn’t find a Cooper. I hired a fleet of two dozen PIs to track down every person who worked the party, and all of them came up empty. They came to the unanimous consensus that he joined the catering staff under an alias in case your parents had access to the staff list.”

“You did all that for me?” Her big eyes found mine. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You had so much hope, and I didn’t want to rip it away.” I strode to the closet and returned in a quarter-zip sweater. “Besides, it opened the door to this beautiful scene. Of your mother being handed our petty cash like a peasant. She always treated you like an afterthought. Time to show her the tables have turned.”

Briar banged the back of her head against the wall in light rhythmic thumps, closing her eyes as she thought about it. “What if he is a grifter? A sex offender? A terrible person?”

“Then you did the impossible and managed to become the most flawless person on Earth, even though your DNA worked against you.”

She opened her eyes. “I’m serious, Ollie.”

“So am I.”

The clock tick-tick-ticked in the background, the only sound audible between us. I knew where she was coming from. She hated her parents. What they stood for. The kind of people they were. Finding out her father was just as terrible would be a huge blow.

But I’d be here to help her get on her feet again. She had me now. She could overcome anything. I just needed to find a moment to propose to her and turn this fake engagement into a real one.

“Well, thank you for the five hundred grand. It is … generous to say the least.”

“My money is your money.” I shrugged. “Always has been.”

Her phone pinged in her fist. Philomena, probably.

I pocketed my wallet. “We need to make a pitstop at the bank.”

Showtime, baby.