Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
A wave of laughter washed across the table. My jaw ticked. It didn’t take a crystal ball to know where the night would go. I could leave and put an end to my misery, but I stayed, because of that slightest ruffle of the curtain. The tiny possibility that Sebastian could be watching us from above, soaking in our laughter by osmosis.
“Oh.” Dallas slapped her forehead. “I forgot the griot Hettie prepared.” She pushed her chair back, hopping to her feet. “If you need me, I’ll be in the kitchen, roasting a pig like Briar did just now.”
“In fact, I’d love a tour of your workplace.” Briar still had her focus on Rom. “I heard Dallas got to drive a tank into a pothole.”
Zach snorted into his crisp tostones. “No, she made a tank fall into a pothole. There’s a difference.”
“Anyway. I’d love to get a tour of the place. I remembered that I’m a huge firearms fan.” Briar patted her hip as if she had something hidden there. “Got my own collection to show for it.”
Romeo reached for his glass, widening the collar of his shirt with a finger. “You own guns?”
“Plenty. I started out small, with about four 500 S&W Magnums, but then I got a little bored with them, so I managed to get my hands on a few historic military weapons and even a fully automatic machine gun.”
Bullshit. My people searched her entire shitty LA apartment up and down. She did not possess a single gun. Certainly not a machine gun. I didn’t call her out on it, of course.
I knew what I owed her.
Zach narrowed his eyes. “What the hell are you planning to do with a fully automatic machine gun?”
“I could think of one thing.” Dallas, who’d just returned, glanced between me and Briar, clearly entertained. “Three, if you count his nuts.”
“I’d love to see your gun collection, Briar.” Romeo indulged her, knowing full-well my arteries were seconds from bursting all over the table. “It would be my honor.”
“Speaking of honor …” Briar turned to Zach. “I just remembered something the other day. I once had the honor of making you a boatload of money.”
He offered her a condescending smile. “Oh?”
“I trended number one on your porn site a few years back. Ad revenue, baby.”
“A sex tape?” Frankie spritzed wine all over the table. “Even I didn’t do that. Dude.” She leaned across the table for a high five, her palm connecting with Briar’s. “You would’ve been the coolest boss ever.”
“In fact …” Briar puffed out her chest. “I think I’m still first in the search results under a certain kink.”
I pasted a fake smile on my face, pretending to be interested in my oxtail. Odds were, Briar had found out everything and decided to dish out my payback one excruciating moment at a time.
She wants you to lose your mind and whatever’s left of your patience, I reminded myself. She probably regained her full memory and knows you won’t confront her about it.
After all, I had to play into her hands, on the off chance she was manic and not a liar.
Great. Fucking fantastic. My life just keeps getting better and better these days.
“You impress me.” Farrow patted Zach’s shoulder, her brows knitted together with mock sympathy.
“How so?”
“For owning a sex site when you, yourself, were a virgin for so many years until you met Farrow. It must’ve been hard.” My fake fiancée pressed her fingers to her lips, widening her eyes. “No puns intended, of course.”
At this point, I twisted and squirmed in my seat like my ass was on fire. Briar was goading me. She wanted to push the boundaries. To see how far she could take this before I confronted her, so I could make an even bigger ass of myself.
Every single piece of my being wanted to fool her right back. She wanted a Frozen-themed wedding in the middle of nowhere? Let’s fucking get it. I wouldn’t be the first one to blink in this stupid game of chicken. I invented petty.
Zach cut into his pork, the picture of boredom. “How do you know I was a virgin?”
“Farrow told me on the plane to Texas.” She jerked her finger in Fae’s direction. “Oops, sorry. Was that a secret?”
We all knew neither of them cared. In fact, the only person at this table who still had any real secrets left was me. These days, my friends lived their lives without shame.
Which was probably why, of all the dirty secrets on Dark Prince Road, Briar had chosen these topics to probe. The safe ones. She wanted to push the boundaries, but she’d never step on anyone’s toes but mine.
My hand curled into a tight fist around my spoon.
Romeo redirected the conversation back. “What kink?”
Servers steered toward us in a flock of white uniforms, clearing the bowls from the table and serving us dous makos and kokiyòl for dessert.